Reason and faith – Polish philosophers’ attempts to reconcile both realms

Abstract

This paper presents three attempts of grasping the relations between faith and reason made by M. Heller, J. Tischner and K. Tarnowski. Reason and faith are two foundations for human desire to understand the world. Without them, no attempts to understand can take place. As Heller points out, both of them, due to cooperation, support development and help to eliminate dangerous simplifications. Faith, or more precisely – religious thinking – is, as J. Tischner famously argued, a condition for dialogue, for being open to others and community. Faith gives strength and courage, supports the search for existing (although very often unconscious) ties that bonds people. Faith allows us to discover the meaning and purpose of our lives. K. Tarnowski goes even further and claims, that faith reveals “the surplus” of meaning, which invites us to investigate what is impossible to express- the Mystery. Only in the face of Mystery, by a communion with the Other, can we feel that the presence of the Other is important for our existence. The three philosophers from Krakow emphasized in their works, that the relations between faith and reason, although connected and supplementing themselves, require much attention from both scientists, who create rational models of reality, and theologians, who aim to create a coherent vision linking these two aspects of human world.