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J have I have argued that "all religions have to do with the constitution of human existence," and that this means that "the 'basic supposition' of all religions is that human existence is constituted somehow, while the 'basic question' all religions answer is the question of how human existence is really constituted" (Notebooks, 4 November 1989; rev. 13 April 2001; italics added). But if this is so, even the most recent of my earlier formulations of the "basic supposition" of religion, etc., requires to be revised. 

Specifical1ySpecifically, the "basic supposition" of religion, or the content of our "basic faith" in the meaning of ultimate reality for us, is threefold: Ilot

(1) that human existence is constituted somehow, so that not everything is permitted and there is a true and authentic, because realistic, way to understand oneself and others as parts of the aU-encompassing whoJe;all-encompassing whole;

(2) that to understand oneself in this way and to lead one's life accordingly are both really possible and, like everything else, unconditionally significant; and

(3) that the structure of ultimate reality in itself is such as to determine its meaning for us, which liS, which is to say, to determine that human existence is so constituted that not everything is permitted and there is a true and authentic, because realistic, way of understanding oneseJf oneself and others in relation to the whole; and that this self-understanding and the life-praxis expressing it are both renlly really possible and, like everything eJseelse, of unconditinal significance.

(1) that human existence is constituted somehow, so that

(2) that to understand oneself in this way and to lead one's life accordingly are both really possible and, like everything else, unconditionally significant; and

(3) that the structure of ultimate reality in itself is such as to determine its meaning for

unconditional significance.

Given this "basic supposition," or this "basic faith" in the ultimate meaning of life, one already supposes, or believes, what any religion necessarily presupposes and, therefore, is able to ask the "basic question" to which every religion re-presents an answer as well as to make the "open commitment" to accept the true answer to the question as and when some religion re-presents it.

 November 1996; rev. 7 December 2005; 24 November 200811