A NEW METAPHYSICS AND THE UNDERSTANDING OF RELIGION

Abstract

After the different theories of secularization and the extraordinary “eruption of the gods” in our century, religion has become a major object of research in countless sciences and philosophical proposals. How does philosophy understand the religious phenomenon? What specifies its consideration of religion? L. B. Puntel's structural-systematic philosophy considers religion at two levels which he calls approaches. For the first one, the religious phenomenon comes from the human spirit itself and is seen as intentionally coextensive with the Being as a whole. Human beings, in their concrete lives, tend to understand their position in the universe and to articulate a form of life that corresponds to its explicit reference to this all-encompassing space, understanding it as an ultimate supreme intelligence and will. The second approach seeks to clarify from within itself the ultimate or supreme dimension mentioned above as being the fundamental point of reference, one that is absolutely central to religion.