And of course they are, for the whole point of asking a question, if you are honest, is the hope of finding an answer. You learned the Baltimore Catechism, didn't you? How do we know anything? Once you’ve mastered basic principles of logic you will be able to recognize an argument when you see one—not in the sense of disagreement but whether sound reasons are being offered for some claim. We don’t know when the sand in our hourglass will run out, but know this: nothing entitles anyone to a given number of days. What are philosophy and theology, and why are they crucial to a young persons education today? We need philosophy because we need to explore such reasons, reasons for studying, reasons for universities' existence, even (especially) reasons for your own existence. It gives you a "big picture," a "world-view" and a "life-view." Sign up for the Thought Catalog Weekly and get the best stories from the week to your inbox every Friday. If you don't know that, you may get all A's in all your subjects, but you flunk Life. For example: In philosophy, unlike in other areas of study, an ancient historical figure like Plato is just as relevant today. 5. Yes, you did. Religious theology (or "revealed theology") is a rational exploration of the meaning and consequences of faith in a revealed religion – in our case, the "deposit of faith" or "Sacred Tradition" of the Catholic Church which comes from Christ and His apostles, and the scriptures they wrote. To articulate your worldview: your most basic beliefs about what kind of world this is, including how or whether a God fits into your particular answers, and what is of greatest value in life or most worth pursuing. This is especially true in theology. Most of the controversies in our world today can be understood and solved only by good philosophy and theology; for instance, the relation between world religions, especially Islam and Christianity; human life issues such as abortion, euthanasia and cloning; the justice of wars; the meaning of human sexuality and of the "sexual revolution"; the relation between mind and brain, and between human intelligence and "artificial intelligence"; the relation between creation and evolution; how far we are free and responsible and how far we are determined by biological heredity and social environment; the relation between morality and religion, and between religion and politics; and whether morality is socially relative or universal, unchanging and absolute. “Studying philosophy, I learned to analyze closely and critically, to question thoroughly, and to write and think rigorously. Theology comes in two forms, philosophical and religious. It is the art of living a good life. The study of philosophy enhances, in a way no other activity does, one’s problem-solving capacities. Why did God make you? And that is the reason for going to college in the first place: not to make money, or things, or even to live better, but to be better, to be more, to grow your mind as you grow your body. Anyone who is simply not interested in these questions is less than fully human, less than fully reasonable. Most philosophers were geniuses. 7. The Philosophy of Language is devoted to the study of questions concerned with meaning and communication. You should ignore detractors like Neil deGrasse Tyson, who are undoubtedly brilliant in their own fields but may never have read a line of philosophy. Here are nine reasons you should study philosophy. © 1996-2019 Catholic Education Resource Center | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Sitemap, CERC is an entirely reader-supported web site and non-profit charity. Their effect on students is much more often to weaken their faith than to strengthen it, not only in controversial moral issues such as abortion, contraception, cloning, euthanasia and sexual morality, but even in fundamental doctrines such as Christ's divinity and resurrection and the historical truth of the Gospels. They make us bigger persons. To appreciate the central fact of the human condition: mortality. Productive sciences perfect some external thing in the material world that we use; practical sciences perfect our own action, our own lives; and theoretical sciences perfect our very selves, our souls, our minds. Such questions tend to be called philosophical.

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