Diotima: Is there an issue in the philosophy of religion that you think is not discussed as much as it should be?
Dr. Nagasawa: There are many traditional issues that are not addressed from diverse perspectives. So Western philosophy of religion has focused on this Judeo- Christian concept of God, but there are many different conceptions of the divine in the East, Middle East, and African traditions as well. I have around this project called the Global Philosophy of Religion project, where we collaborate with philosophers of religion, representing diverse perspectives to address these common issues. We have focused on the concept of the divine, death and immortality, evil and suffering. I want to think that there are many different ways of approaching this problem, not just from a Western Judeo-Christian perspective.
Diotima: What is one aspect you love about philosophy, and one aspect that you just despise?
Dr. Nagasawa: The aspect that I love is that in philosophy, we have complete freedom. You can defend anything. You can develop any idea, even crazy ideas, as long as you have an argument. If you don't have a good argument, your idea will be destroyed. But no one will say your idea is stupid, just because it appears so initially. You can defend a stupid idea if you have a good argument. So, I feel like in philosophy, you have total freedom, which is nice. The part I don't like is actually related to the aspect that I like. Sometimes philosophers can create this intellectual battle. Sometimes students get scared of philosophers because they are engaged in this intellectual blood sport. Where people are saying, “I am right, and you are wrong. Or that I can demolish your argument.” I want to think that philosophy is not like that, it shouldn't be like that. Philosophy is more about exploring interesting questions collaboratively. Again, it is important to have diverse perspectives. If you just agree with me, that is kind of boring. Because we just have the same opinions on the same thing. It is nice to have different ideas,
Volume VIII (2025) 67
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