The key difference between religion and philosophy is that religion is the belief in the supreme power and worshipping it as the creator and controller of the universe without reasoning whereas philosophy is a pursuit of wisdom by intellectual search and logical reasoning.
Have you ever wondered about the difference between religion and philosophy? As you know, religion and philosophy are two different topics altogether. Religion is all about practices and customs whereas philosophy is all about metaphysics. A religion preaches its followers what they should do, what they should not do. Often a religion presents rewards and punishments. An example is the belief that people who do good go to heaven while those who sin go to hell. On the other hand, a philosophy searches and questions to get the right and logical answers. Philosophy does not accept everything as a religion does unless it has a logical reason behind it.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Religion
3. What is Philosophy
4. Side by Side Comparison – Religion vs Philosophy in Tabular Form
5. Summary
What is Religion?
Religion is a belief; it has a set of code of conduct, principles, ethics and morals to follow in one’s life. There are several religions in the world. It only means that people of the world follow different kinds of religion that frame different sets of principles, ethics, morals and codes of conduct to follow for the people that belong to them.
Thus you have Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, and Zoroastrianism to mention some of the religions of the world. Each of these religions prescribes a separate set of principles, ethics and morals along with customs to follow by the people of the particular religion.
Religion insists on the performance of rituals. On the other hand, if you are religious you cannot do away with the performance of rituals and rites. They become part and parcel of your life.
What is Philosophy?
Philosophy, on the other hand, speaks about the realization of the supreme truth. It deals with the topic of life after death. It speaks about the existence of the soul and life hereafter. Philosophy establishes the divine nature of man. It questions the absolute truth that each soul is potentially divine. This is philosophy associated with religion. Philosophy can also mean, according to the Oxford English dictionary, ‘the study of the theoretical basis of a particular branch of knowledge or experience.’ An example is the philosophy of science. While religion insists on the performance of rituals, philosophy does not emphasize the ritualistic aspect of life. Philosophy is, in fact, construed to be a way of thinking. This is the reason why philosophers are called thinkers whereas propagators of religions are called leaders. If you are philosophical then you need not perform rituals and other rites connected with religion.
What is the Difference Between Religion and Philosophy?
Religion is the belief in the supreme power and worshipping it as the creator and controller of the universe without reasoning whereas philosophy is a pursuit of wisdom by intellectual search and logical reasoning. This is the key difference between religion and philosophy. Moreover, religions discipline people through a set of code of conduct, principles and ethics whereas philosophy relies on moral self-discipline. Moreover, religion is all about practices and customs whereas philosophy is all about metaphysics. In addition, religion insists on the performance of rituals whereas philosophy does not emphasize the ritualistic aspect of life.
Summary – Religion vs Philosophy
Religion is the belief in the supreme power and worshipping it as the creator and controller of the universe without reasoning whereas philosophy is a pursuit of wisdom by intellectual search and logical reasoning. This is the basic difference between religion and philosophy. Hence, it can be said that religion and philosophy are mutually exclusive and they cannot co-exist.
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God the Father via Wikicommons (Public Domain)