Spinoza and the Religious Fallacy

For philosophers such as Plato, Augustine and Albo, philosophy and theology often were contemplated together. Benedict De Spinoza dismisses this concept, as he believes theology to be rooted in pure faith, and philosophy to be reason based. As reason is not used to prove theological elements, there is no equitable way to compare the two, especially when the faithful have such an ingrained bias. (6) Such biases are a target of great scorn by Spinoza, as he attacks the very element of religion that is faith, considering “Faith has become a mere compound of credulity and prejudices…which degrade man from rational being to beast.” (7) Such degradation of the rationality of man prevents true perception of true and false, ultimately skewing his judgment. Such lack of judgment leads to superstition, an ugly manifestation caused by fear. Superstition, in short, is the exact opposite of everything wisdom stands for. It is the anti-reason. Superstition is a main cause for many quarrels and wars throughout the world, as there is no rational continuity among man. (5) This view on religion differs greatly from Al Farabi’s, who believes it is a means of promoting good within a community, regardless of factual truth.

Why is it that these two philosophers believe similarly on the (potential) ‘factual’ fallacy of religion, but differ so drastically on the practical implications?

The difference lies in the synthesis of religion, and the nature of belief. Al Farabi is concerned mainly with how religion is used within a community towards good, coming after philosophy. (Book of Letters, 2) He states that philosophy is first, but does not articulate the importance of the separation between theology and philosophy. To him, the two are parallel thought processes, while to Spinoza, theology without reason is parasitic to philosophy. Due to this lack of reason he believes to be caused by ‘blind faith,’ there can be no ‘real’ proving of religion. Not only does faith prevent reason, differences in personal faith prevents unification - “As men’s habits of mind differ, so that some more readily embrace one form of faith…[another] scoffs.” (10) In order to banish the misinformation that arises from the superstitious nature of religion, we must prioritize reason. In doing so, we can realize that there is little reasoning behind religion. As we concern ourselves with superstition, we are binding ourselves to temporal gains and disregarding wisdom - the eternal. Moving towards reason and the eternal is the goal of Spinoza, as it allows for the most rational behavior to occur.