Philosophy in the Garden
Philosophical meetings of discussion initiated in the Common Garden in May 2016 are always very popular. They are conducted by Tomasz Stawiszyński and Paweł Boguszewski.
During the first meetings, we talked about the pandemic and its consequences, both from a scientific and philosophical-existential perspective. In the second part of the year, we devoted our series to religious issues.
We have adopted a non-religious attitude when talking about religion. We have not interpreted religion in terms of religion – that is, in terms in which it presents itself. Instead, we looked for scientific and philosophical perspectives that allow – using the words of Daniel Dennett – to make religion a natural phenomenon.
Some questions that we tried to answer with our guests and participants: What are its sources? What social, cultural and psychological functions does it fulfill? Is there a conflict between religion and science? Why are religious fundamentalisms gaining more and more followers, even though – theoretically – we live in an era of triumph of rationalism and enlightenment? Are religious beliefs justifiable anyway? What do neurosciences, psychology, sociology, and other fields of knowledge say about religion today? Is man a natural creature – and if so, what would that actually mean?