The purpose of the diploma thesis is to establish a starting point on the basis of which we could talk about the problem of religious exclusion and the question of inter-religious dialogue and tolerance. The main basis for the reflection on these issues is the work of Karl Jaspers Philosophical Faith which serves as an introduction to the discussion and gives it a framework. I start my diploma thesis with the question of religion and philosophy and the relationship between them. In the second chapter, I conclude that the main and insurmountable difference between the philosophy and religion is the acceptance of the revelation and the totality of the doctrine, and I prove that the standpoints of the philosopher and the believer are incompatible. I do not want to argue that a philosopher cannot be a believer, or vice versa, but that in the deepest sense a human being can only belong to one of the two ways of understanding and giving sense to the world. The philosophy limits a philosopher in his faith, and the faith of the believer determines his philosophy. In the following, I start from the fundamental fact about the existence of different beliefs that are in many ways mutually exclusive. By using Jaspers' distinction between the unconditional and general validity of religious beliefs, I then discuss the arguments against the demand for exclusivity, found in almost all major religions, and the tolerance and the possibility of dialogue between a believer and non-believer or different believer.
|
