Poly(?)theism(?). The Polytheistic Notion of God and Philosophical Judgment of Polytheism
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
In social consciousness, polytheistic religions are considered "less mature" than other types of religious beliefs. In older scientific works an explicitly accepted gradation of religions can be found, which places polytheism lower than monotheism. The claim that the multiple gods exist, however, is irrational only from the perspective of monotheistic theology and the vision of the world embraced by it. In fact, interesting metaphysical assumptions can be abstracted from polytheistic beliefs, and they are also capable of producing a rich, rational theology. In this article, I will try to defend polytheism against the allegations of its philosophical idleness. First, I will try to point out some misunderstandings in the common interpretation of polytheism, then I will present the differences in the mono- and polytheistic understanding of the concept of god, in order to finally present possible strategies to justify belief in the personal and intentional nature of gods.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
By submitting his/her work to the Editorial Board, the author accepts, upon having his/her text recommended for publication, that Diametros applies the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license to the works we publish. Under this license, authors agree to make articles legally available for reuse, without permission or fees. Anyone may read, download, copy, print, distribute or reuse these articles without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, as long as the author and original source are properly cited. The author holds the copyright without any other restrictions. Full information about CC-BY: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
How to Cite
References
Bremmer J.N. (2006), Atheism in Antiquity, [w:] The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, M. Martin (red.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 11–26.
Dennett D.C. (1971), Intentional Systems, „The Journal of Philosophy” 68 (4): 87–91.
Dennett D.C. (2003), Naprawdę przekonani: strategia intencjonalna i dlaczego ona działa, „Przegląd Filozoficzno-Literacki” 4 (6): 87–109.
Frauwallner E. (1990), Historia filozofii indyjskiej, t. 1, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa.
Frazer J.G. (2017), Złota gałąź. Studia z magii i religii, Vis-á-vis Etiuda, Kraków.
Jaeger W. (1947), The Theology of the Early Greek Philosophers, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Kozyra A. (2006), Tradycyjne podłoże filozofii Japonii w okresie Meiji, [w:] Japonia okresu Meiji: Od tradycji ku nowoczesności, B. Kubiak (red.), Nozomi, Warszawa: 78–101.
Lehoux D. (2019), All Things are Full of Gods’: Naturalism in the Classical World, [w:] Science without God? Rethinking the History of Scientific Naturalism, P. Harrison, J.H. Roberts (red.), Oxford University Press, Oxford: 19–36.
Maffie J. (2014), Aztec Philosophy. Understanding a World in Motion, University Press of Colorado, Boulder.
Nicholson H.B. (1971), Religion in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico, [w:] Handbook of Middle American Indians, t. 10, R. Wauchope, G.F. Elkhom, I. Bernal (red.), University of Texas Press, Austin: 395–446.
Otto R. (1999), Świętość. Elementy irracjonalne w pojęciu bóstwa i ich stosunek do elementów racjonalnych, Wydawnictwo KR, Warszawa.
Otto W.F. (2003), Teofania. Duch religii starogreckiej (fragmenty), URL = https://www.gnosis.art.pl/e_gnosis/punkt_widzenia/otto_teofania.htm [dostęp 17.09.2020].
Otto W.F. (2015), Bogowie homeryccy. Duchowe znaczenie greckiej religii, URL = http://pantheion.pl/Walter-Friedrich-Otto-Bogowie-homeryccy [dostęp 17.09.2020].
Paper J.D. (2005), The Deities Are Many. A Polytheistic Theology, State University of New York Press, Albany.
Radhakrishnan S. (2017), Filozofia indyjska, Vis-á-vis Etiuda, Kraków.
Ronen S. (2010), Najwyższa istota: Bóg w Biblii Hebrajskiej, „Przegląd Filozoficzny – Nowa Seria” 1 (73): 117–137.
Snell B. (2009), Odkrycie ducha. Studia o greckich korzeniach europejskiego myślenia, Fundacja Aletheia, Warszawa.
Świderkówna A. (1978), Hellenika. Wizerunek epoki od Aleksandra do Augusta, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, Warszawa.
Wojtysiak J. (2018), O tym, jak dowieść istnienia Boga, [w:] Filozofia religii. Kontrowersje, J. Hołówka, B. Dziobkowski (red.), Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa: 75–100.
Zieliński T. (1991), Religia starożytnej Grecji. Zarys ogólny, Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich – Wydawnictwo, Wrocław.