Philosopher Meghan Sullivan argues that religious texts like those of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are rich sources of moral questions and philosophical insight. She challenges the conventional view that philosophy must be secular, highlighting the similarities between religious parables and philosophical dialogues found in works like Plato's Republic. Sullivan emphasizes that these texts not only invite debate but are also essential to understanding ethics and what it means to be human. Engaging with these discussions can foster clearer thinking about life and morality.
Many contemporary philosophers shy away from using religious texts as philosophical sources of evidence or inspiration. They think that because these traditions believe that the texts are inspired by God, they're not capable of interpretation and debate. And that's just a mistake.
The whole tradition of Jewish and Christian ethics is a tradition of debate. You have Jesus or Muhammad or Moses engaged in asking a philosophical question to followers that followers are meant to wrestle with and think about.
There really shouldn't be this sharp division between so-called secular philosophical texts and so-called religious philosophical texts. All of these texts ask philosophical questions, and philosophy doesn't know those boundaries.
There are plenty of instances in the Bible that are in exactly the same genre as the Socratic dialogues, which are the bedrock of how we have taught philosophy for 2,400 years.
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