Philosophy and Religion Six Lectures Delivered at Cambridge

"Philosophy and Religion" by Hastings Rashdall is a series of talks given at Cambridge that consider how thinking and faith connect, focusing on the logical reasons behind having personal beliefs and looking closely at God, right and wrong, and what it means to be alive. Rashdall wants to give smart people a way to understand their beliefs using reason, not just following rules. The book begins by discussing the most basic ideas of mind and stuff, rejecting the idea that everything is just physical and arguing that a divine Mind is needed to explain the universe, saying that we always experience things through our minds, and that physical things can't exist without awareness. Rashdall highlights that seeing reality as only material is not enough and stresses the need to see everything as part of a spiritual reality, which he then associates with the necessity of a universal Mind, or God. The beginning sets the stage to explore an understanding of how humans comprehend the connection between our existence, morality, and the divine.