Philosophy and Religion in the West by Phillip Cary

Philosophy and Religion in the West by Phillip CarySummary: Overview of how Philosophy and religion in the west have impacted one another.

Phillip Cary was the professor in my favorite Great Courses course, The History of Christian Theology. He is a professor at Eastern University. Philosophy and Religion in the West was nearly as good.

This is a western history of philosophy. I would also like to see an eastern version, but I do not think that exists from Great Courses right now.

The course opens with Plato and Socrates before moving into Jewish and Christian philosophy. Because I have been intentionally trying to work on developing my philosophy background, there were things here that were both repetitive from other Great Courses or reading, but also a number of areas where something finally clicked for me.

The largest overlap in content was the end of this course and the Modern Philosophy course that I listened to earlier this year. This course was particularly focused on religion and philosophy so did not have the breadth of the previous course, but taking a second round within a couple months of the earlier course was helpful.

Part of Cary’s on going points was looking at different ways of conceiving God and human authority. The later point of understanding “˜Authority as other’ was very helpful in understanding some of the shift in understanding of authority and God in later eras of philosophy.

I also just happened to listen to a podcast interview with Alvin Plantinga, who was mentioned toward the end of the course, which was helpful as well.

Overall, I still feel like I have a long way to go before I really get a basic grasp on philosophy, but this was a good course that was able to add to my understanding of theological develop as philosophical development in the West.

Philosophy and Religion in the West by Philip Cary Purchase Links: Audible.com Audiobook

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