• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• v.126
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• pp.321-343
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• 2013

The Reformation seems to have nothing to do with modern philosophy, but in reality closely related to it. From a philosophical point of view, the Reformation had a profound effect on the formation of modern philosophy in two respects. Voluntarism, asserting the predominance of divine will over divine reason, which is the basic principle of the Reformation, allowed an arbitrary interpretation of the Bible by ignoring the tradition of the Church and emphasizing 'Sola Fide'. As a result, the severe religious disputes arose and the modern intellectuals sought a deism and natural religion as an universal religion which is expected to put an end to religious conflicts. Moreover, voluntarism changed the way of inquiring nature from the speculative to the experimental based on observation and experiment, and provided the clues of the birth of experimental philosophy (empiricism) which is the experimental inquiry of human nature. In short, the Reformation brings about the search for universal religion on the one hand, but on the other the advent of experimental philosophy. Universal religion is not a mystic religion on which the religious behaviors and practices are based but just a world view that is the basis for scientific inquiry, and it was nothing but a philosophy for science. And also the experimental philosophy was a philosophy by science in that it is a science of human nature through experiment and observation, After all, the Reformation expelled religion from the main living room of philosophy and placed science on the spot instead.