Faith and Reason - Philosophy and Theology

[Gloria]

Unlike Theology which involves both Reason and Faith, Philosophy is informed by Reason alone. Reason generally is understood as the principles for a methodological inquiry, whether intellectual, moral, aesthetic, or religious. Thus is it not simply the rules of logical inference or the embodied wisdom of a tradition or authority. Faith, on the other hand, involves a stance toward some claim that is not, at least presently, demonstrable by reason. Thus faith is a kind of attitude of trust or assent. As such, it is ordinarily understood to involve an act of will or a commitment on the part of the believer. Theology is informed by faith. However, the interaction between faith and reason plays a very important role in theology. “..The human person is by nature a philosopher...” and hence the combination of both faith and reason (philosophy) helps in the deeper understanding of theology which is the study of God.
Theology is structured as an understanding of faith in the light of a twofold methodological principle: the auditus fidei and the intellectus fidei. With the first, theology makes its own the content of Revelation as this has been gradually expounded in Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Church's living Magisterium. With the second, theology seeks to respond through speculative enquiry to the specific demands of disciplined thought.
Philosophy contributes specifically to theology in preparing for a correct auditus fidei with its study of the structure of knowledge and personal communication, especially the various forms and functions of language. No less important is philosophy's contribution to a more coherent understanding of Church Tradition, the pronouncements of the Magisterium and the teaching of the great masters of theology, who often adopt concepts and thought-forms drawn from a particular philosophical tradition
Besides Philosophy’s contributions to the better understanding of Theology, Philosophy also plays a major role in the understanding of the human person. Philosophy helps in the understanding of the forms, structures and functions of the human person. The components of the human person and why we do what we do.
According to the Materialists view of the human person, the mind and the inner emotions are the functions of the brain alone and that nothing exists except that which is physical. On the other hand, the Idealists view the human person as the functions of the mind. The mind is the only instrument through which we can know anything and it uses ideas alone. In other words, things exist because there is a mind to perceive them and that “...To be is to be perceived...”
Dualism is the combination of both Materialism and Idealism. Dualism combines the materialist’s view of the human person as a physical body and the Idealists view of the human person as a product of the mind. Dualism therefore sees the human person as composed of both material (body) and the immaterial (soul and spirit). Aristotle a dualist for example believes that, the human person is composed of the body, the soul and the spirit. Aristotle believes that the Soul gives form to the physical body and organizes it as a living being and therefore the body without the soul is dead. The soul without the body is also dead and hence death according to Aristotle is a disassembling of what a person is – the unity of the body, the soul and the spirit.