At their most fundamental, I think religion and science are perhaps the
defining ends of a continuum. Religion requires holding steadfast to
certain fundamental beliefs in the face of any attack; while science
requires altering the most cherished of beliefs in response to evidence
of falsity. Each serves a different role in being human and they are
interconnected ( logic helps to structure philosophical considerations
and inspiration's role in science is manifold.) I am not at all
surprised that those who organize their lives by one system feel those
who organize their lives by any other to be blind. As Schopenhauer
said, "Every person takes the limits of their own field of vision for
the limits of the world." I'm not sure how to define the role that
philosophy (or theology, or religion) plays in our interactions with the
universe, but I feel it to be an apparently necessary part of us all.
It's a good tool for what it does. I may have the world's finest paint
brush, but am apt to be frustrated trying to use it to carve roast beef.