Classical pantheism

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Classical Pantheism, as defined by

pantheists such as Baruch Spinoza and the Stoics. Hartshorne sought to distinguish panentheism
, which rejects determinism, from deterministic pantheism.

The term has also been used to mean Pantheism in the classical Greek and Roman era,[1][2] or archetypal pantheism as variously defined by different authors.[3]

Hartshorne's Classical Pantheism

This usage of the term Classical Pantheism was first presented by Charles Hartshorne in 1953,[4] and by others discussing his presentation.[5] In making his case for panentheism, Hartshorne sought to distinguish panentheism, which rejects determinism, from deterministic pantheism.[6]

The term "pantheism" is derived from Greek words pan (πᾶν, "all") and theos (θεός, "God"), together meaning "All-God" or "All is God." It is often associated with monism, the view that reality is a single thing.

The Encyclopedia of Religion refers to this form of Pantheism as an "extreme monism," stating that in Classical Pantheism, "God decides or determines everything, including our supposed decisions."[7] Other examples of deterministic-inclined pantheisms include the views of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ernst Haeckel, and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.

Quotations

The following quotations illustrate Hartshorne's concept of Classical Pantheism:

  • "For no particular thing, not even the smallest, can have happened otherwise than in accordance with the common nature and its reason." - Chrysippus[8]
  • "In the mind there is no absolute or free will; but the mind is determined to wish this or that by a cause, which has also been determined by another cause, and this last by another cause, and so on to infinity." - Baruch Spinoza[9]

Other uses of "Classical Pantheism"

  • Typical or archetypal pantheism. This usage varies according to the judgement of the writer as to what constitutes typical or archetypal pantheism, but usually includes Spinoza.[10]
  • Pantheism of the Classical period, specifically Ancient Greece and Rome (for example, Stoicism).[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ Principles of Natural Theology, George Hayward Joyce, 2003, p. 482.
  2. ^ Anti-Theistic Theories: Being the Baird Lecture for 1877, Robert Flint, p. 536.
  3. ^ Pantheism: A Non-Theistic Concept of Deity, Michael Philip Levine, 1994, p. 163.
  4. ^ Charles Hartshorne and William Reese, "Philosophers Speak of God," Humanity Books, 1953, ch. 4.
  5. ^ David Ray John B. Cobb, Clark H. Pinnock, "Searching for an Adequate God: A Dialogue Between Process and Free Will Theists", William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000, p. 177.
  6. ^ Park, Chan Ho, "Transcendence And Spatiality of the Triune Creator", European Academic Publishers, 2005, p. 4.
  7. ISBN 0028657330
    .
  8. ^ Bobzien, Susanne, "Determinism and Freedom in Stoic Philosophy", Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 28.
  9. ^ Spinoza, Baruch, "The Ethics", Proposition 48.
  10. ^ Pantheism: A Non-Theistic Concept of Deity, Michael Philip Levine, 1994, p. 163.
  11. ^ Paul Harrison, "Elements of Pantheism" Element Books 1999 p. 13.
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