Work · Empiricism, Enlightenment & Liberalism
The Philosophy of Religion
Religion is examined not as knowledge of the supernatural but as faith in the conservation of value – the conviction that what has value is not lost in the course of the world; dogmas are symbols of this experience.
Introduction
Høffding’s “Religionsfilosofi” appeared in 1901, with German and English translations soon after. It treats religion not as a source of knowledge about the supernatural, which critical philosophy cannot provide, but as an expression of human experience of value. The core of all religion, Høffding argues, is the “axiom of the conservation of value”: the faith that what has value is not lost in the course of the world. Dogmas and myths are symbols of this experience and must be judged by how far they express it. The book belongs to the liberal philosophy of religion around 1900 and influenced debates in Scandinavia and Germany.
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