01/07/2026

Philosophy of religion has historically concentrated on Christianity and, to a lesser extent, the other major world religions, leaving the metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical resources of the Global South largely unexamined. This special issue addresses that imbalance by offering a sustained philosophical engagement with Brazilian religious traditions. Shaped by Indigenous, African, and European influences, Brazil’s religious landscape provides conceptual resources that challenge and expand dominant categories in ontology, epistemology, and ethics. The issue brings together scholars who engage philosophically with Afro-Brazilian religions (Candomblé, Umbanda), Brazilian Spiritism (Kardecismo), and new religious movements such as the Vale do Amanhecer, Santo Daime, and others. Its emphasis is not on anthropological description but on the philosophical questions these traditions raise about reality, knowledge, personhood, embodiment, and moral life. Their relational ontologies raise fresh questions about the metaphysics of causation and agency; their embodied epistemologies challenge disembodied models of religious experience; and their integrated views of nature and spirit offer novel resources for environmental ethics. This special issue seeks to establish Brazilian religions as a central resource for philosophical reflection, showing how they illuminate perennial questions about the nature of reality, knowledge, and the sacred. It invites philosophy of religion to take seriously the intellectual traditions of the Global South and to engage with them as partners in shaping a more inclusive and globally relevant discipline.