When we talk about religion, we often think of beliefs in spiritual entities
and behaviors performed in specific places of worship, isolated
from the normal flow of life. It would be misleading to view these beliefs
and practices in religions as beliefs and behaviors disconnected
from the normal flow of life. Religion is closely related to the answers
given to fundamental existential questions that give meaning to human
life and to individual and social rules regarding how life should be
lived. Throughout human history, the practice of religions has interacted
dynamically with different dimensions of human life. As a result, religious
teachings and rules were implemented and modified in various
forms in individual and social life.
This book, consisting of fifteen chapters, attempts to map the manifestations
of religion in human life and its interaction with different aspects
of human existence. The first essay in the book serves as a general introduction
to what religion is, what constitutes religion, and how to distinguish
it from what lies outside of religion. Subsequent articles examine
the place of religious teachings in the history of philosophy, particularly
in metaphysical debates, the efforts to understand and implement religious
teachings in life, their relationship with mythological traditions,
scientific theories, discussions in moral philosophy, and how religion
appears from an anthropological perspective. These are followed by articles
examining the interaction of religious teachings and rules with
areas studied in the humanities. These include articles describing the
manifestations of religion in individual life, its relationship with social
life, and discussing how religion manifests itself in economics, politics,
and law, and how it is transformed by factors in related fields. Finally,
there are texts on how religion manifests itself in art and literature,
which are products of the human sense of beauty and emotional orientation.
Manifestations and Interactions of Religion in Human Life provides a map
to conceive how religion manifests itself in different aspects of human
life and how it interacts with various factors in human life. This map
will both provide the reader with a general overview of the subject and
serve as a starting point for more in-depth research.
Keywords: Religion; Philosophy; Methodology; Metaphysics; Mythology;
Science; Ethics; Anthropology; Individual; Society; Economics; Politics;
Law; Art; Literature.