ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors address matters of methodology, both in their shared inquiry and in inquiry into religious and secular worldviews in general. They consider five ways by which to enhance the spirit that so many of us value when assessing religious and secular worldviews in the practice of philosophy. The ways are the Golden Rule; a principle of charity in philosophical exchanges; the role and nature of evidence; the use of thought experiments; and the importance of recognizing the primary, indispensable role of philosophy as a practice. A scientific community would not be possible without a shared philosophy of reliability, integrity and trust, as well as a shared conception of what counts as science. In philosophy of religion there is a considerable tradition of using thought experiments – that is, introducing hypothetical narratives to make an important point about non-hypothetical conditions.
