Philosophies that are almost like religions?

[TJ in Oregon]

It really depends on the semantics of defining exactly what a "philosophy" is and what a "religion" is. Both make claims about the world that are not universally held. Both can be all-encompassing lens through which the world is seen, with which those on the outside find unverifiable.

There are a couple distinctions though, in that religions generally include philosophies plus some set of revealed belief rather than just rote philosophy, and are, for whatever reason, associated with spiritual ideas. Though there are plenty of non-spiritual things that are called religions and spiritual things called philosophies.