Were Ancient Greek Philosophers Religious?

Socrates, the begetter of doctrine and 1 of the top ancient Greek minds, was accused of impiety and sentenced to death. Yet, helium was a spiritual man. Painting entitled Socrates Address by Louis Joseph Lebrun, 1867. Credit: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

The past Greek philosophers lived during a play erstwhile spiritual traditions, centered connected polytheistic gods, were considered implicit and beyond challenge.

Divine powerfulness was omnipresent successful the taste discourse of past Greece. The Greeks believed that the gods were not lone contiguous successful each quality enactment but besides intervened astatine their whim. Furthermore, it was considered hubris to contradict their existence.

Greek doctrine emerged successful societies that believed successful story and aggregate gods. The 2 poets who shaped beliefs astir gods, heroes, and the divine assistance heroes received to execute their feats were Homer and Hesiod. These 8th-century BC poets built the theological instauration connected which the polytheistic religion of past Greece was established.

Hesiod wrote Theogony, a cosmological enactment describing the origins and genealogy of the gods. In Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, the main characters are heroes and mortals, but the gods are omnipresent and power the result of the heroes’ adventures. These stories bespeak the spiritual beliefs prevalent successful past Greek society, which the past Greek philosophers aboriginal engaged with, debated, and interpreted successful their ain philosophical works.

The archetypal Pre-Socratic thinkers appeared successful the 6th period BC. Later came Plato and Aristotle, followed by Hellenistic philosophical schools specified arsenic the Stoics and Epicureans. Gradually, the past Greek philosophers developed a caller cognition toward spiritual beliefs, balancing reverence with earthy explanations and moving betwixt metaphorical mentation and skepticism.

It was this skepticism that got Socrates successful occupation with the authorities, starring to a proceedings for failing to admit the authorities gods and yet costing him his beingness for the “crime of impiety.”

The past Greek philosophers the Pre-Socratics and their spiritual views connected the cosmos

Some historians notation to the earliest Greek thinkers arsenic the Pre-Socratics. These past Greek philosophers explored the cosmos utilizing rational methods portion engaging with the spiritual beliefs of their time. Thales and Anaximander of Miletus, Pythagoras of Samos, Heraclitus of Ephesus, Democritus of Thrace, and others attempted to explicate the cosmos without relying solely connected mythology. They examined the earthy world, trying to explicate its bid and the causes of earthy phenomena. Yet their cosmologies were not devoid of spiritual references.

Thales of Miletus, considered by astir to beryllium the archetypal philosopher, is reported by Aristotle to person held that “all things are afloat of gods” (De Anima 411a7). He believed that divinity pervades the earthy satellite and applied rational reasoning to explicate earthy phenomena. It is reported that Thales predicted a star eclipse successful 585 BC.

The doctrine of Heraclitus of Ephesus was explicitly religious; helium introduced the conception of Logos (Reason, successful Greek), a cosmopolitan rule identified with divinity done which each things are interrelated and each earthy events occur. “The one, the lone omniscient thing, does and does not consent to beryllium called Zeus” (fragment 32, DK). For Heraclitus, religion is simply a philosophical concept: the gods symbolize an underlying rational order, and piety lies successful knowing this cosmopolitan Logos.

Pythagoras is champion known for the Pythagorean Theorem successful geometry, but arsenic a philosopher, helium held heavy spiritual beliefs. He believed successful reincarnation: that upon death, humans are reborn into a caller body. This rhythm of birth, death, and rebirth continues until the psyche achieves purification and enlightenment.

Xenophanes of Colophon is known for his opposing presumption of anthropomorphic religion. He said, “Homer and Hesiod person ascribed to the gods each things that are shameful and disgraceful among men: theft, adultery, and communal deception” (Fragment 11, DK). Instead, helium posited a single, omnipotent god: “One deity is top among gods and men, not astatine each similar mortals successful assemblage oregon successful thought” (Fragment 23, DK). This represents a rational monotheism, arsenic opposed to accepted cults, yet inactive affirming the divine.

Socrates’ conception of religiosity

Socrates, who is considered the begetter of philosophy, had a unique, if not radical, conception of religion. He was considered an atheist by immoderate for not participating successful the Athenian spiritual rituals of processions and sacrifices, and was yet condemned for “not believing successful the gods of the city” (Apology 24c). However, his apology reveals a profound religiosity.

Socrates said that helium was guided by an interior divinity, a daimonion, that gave him proposal and directed his actions: “This began for maine successful childhood—a definite dependable that comes, and whenever it comes, it ever turns maine distant from what I americium astir to do, but ne'er directs maine to bash anything” (Apology 31d). This intimate spiritual acquisition of divine guidance suggests that Socrates, similar different past Greek philosophers, held genuine spiritual beliefs.

The philosopher was a pious man, profoundly faithful to Apollo’s oracle astatine Delphi. When the oracle proclaimed that Socrates was the wisest person, helium took it arsenic a ngo to analyse beingness and question divine truth. “The unexamined beingness is not worthy living,” helium declared (Apology 38a). For Socrates, doctrine itself was a spiritual practice, a work to divine reason.

In Apology (23a–b), Socrates says that helium lone trusts and obeys his god, due to the fact that “the deity is omniscient and…human contented is worthy small oregon nothing.” In effect to accusations of impiety by the Athenian authorities, helium bravely replies, “I volition obey the deity alternatively than you” (Apology 29b).

The past Greek philosopher Plato continues Socrates’ spiritual and philosophical thought

As a disciple of Socrates, Plato deepened the transportation betwixt doctrine and spiritual belief. Like his mentor, the past Greek philosopher Plato believed that information could lone beryllium obtained done rigorous questioning and examination. For him, the pursuit of information was inseparable from a longing for the divine.

Plato’s doctrine centers connected the Theory of Forms, the essence of things and ideas, with the Form of the Good arsenic the highest rule that humans should follow, arsenic it is the eventual root of each goodness.

In the Republic, helium portrays the eventual entity of philosophical contemplation arsenic the Good, a transcendent world beyond being: “The Good…is the origin of each that is close and beautiful” (509b). Here, the past Greek philosopher’s rule recalls spiritual language, with the Good functioning arsenic a divine rule akin to God.

Plato besides projected a spiritual magnitude to the soul’s destiny. In the Phaedo dialogue, successful which Socrates discusses the immortality of the psyche and the quality of the afterlife with his friends, helium asserts that the philosopher prepares for death, for “those who signifier doctrine successful the close mode are successful grooming for dying” (67e). The soul, Plato argues, is immortal, and its purification leads to national with the divine.

For Plato, the psyche has 3 parts—reason, spirit, and appetite—and they correspond to 3 virtues: Wisdom, Courage, and Moderation. The virtuousness of Justice is the enslaved that unites the different virtues, by which each portion of the psyche is confined to the show of its due function.

In his Socratic dialog Symposium, we spot Plato embracing mysticism. This occurs successful the last signifier of the philosopher’s ascent, erstwhile helium reaches philosophical truth, which resembles the aggravated revelation astatine the climax of a enigma ritual. Here, Plato straight references the Eleusinian Mysteries done a dialog betwixt Socrates and a seer named Diotima.

While explaining her doctrine of love, Diotima uses the words “telea” erstwhile referring to the Eleusinian rites and “epoptika,” which is the eventual revelation oregon “beholding” astatine the last signifier of initiation. Thus, Plato’s religiosity is philosophical mysticism: the divine is approached done dialectic, contemplation, and motivation purification.

Aristotle and the abstract deity

Aristotle was a rationalist, claiming that each our cognition has its origins successful perception, and helium attached large value to the elaborate reflection of applicable facts successful a fixed subject.

The past Greek philosopher did not judge successful the accepted gods worshiped during his time. His conception of the divine is precise good expressed successful Metaphysics XII. In it, helium describes this rule arsenic axenic actuality, eternal, immaterial, and the origin of question successful the cosmos—the Unmoved Mover oregon Prime Mover—but it moves successful a non-physical way:

“On specified a principle, then, beryllium the heavens and the satellite of nature. And its beingness is specified arsenic the champion which we enjoy, and bask for but a abbreviated time; for it is ever successful that state… it is simply a surviving being, eternal, astir good” (Metaphysics 1072b).

Aristotle’s God is the entity of tendency and thought, engaging successful eternal self-contemplation. Unlike the human-like gods of Homer, Aristotle’s deity is extracurricular of this world; helium is the last origin of each question and improvement successful nature, abstract and impersonal. Yet, Aristotle sees contemplation (“theoria) arsenic the highest quality enactment due to the fact that it imitates the divine. In the Nicomachean Ethics, helium writes: “Such a beingness volition beryllium superior to man’s nature, for it is not successful truthful acold arsenic helium is antheral that helium volition unrecorded so, but successful truthful acold arsenic thing divine is contiguous successful him” (1177b).

Aristotle’s Unmoved Mover is simply a being perfectly beautiful, indivisible, and contemplating lone the cleanable contemplation: self-contemplation. Thus, Aristotle’s spiritual ideas, similar those of different past Greek philosophers, prevarication successful aligning quality beingness with divine intellect done rational contemplation. In Metaphysics, helium says, “There indispensable beryllium an immortal, unchanging being, yet liable for each wholeness and orderliness successful the sensible world.”

Pythagoras and “The Beginning of Science”. Painting by Veloso Salgado, Public Domain

The Hellenistic philosophers and their spiritual ideas

Following Aristotle, the large schools of Hellenistic doctrine appeared, the main ones being Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Skepticism. All of these developed chiseled attitudes toward religion, reflecting the pluralism of past Greek philosophers’ spiritual thought.

The Stoics: The Stoics were profoundly religious, arsenic respective texts admit the quality of Stoicism. Several ideas expressed by Stoics are akin to Aristotle’s conception of humans surviving to the highest level wrong nature.

Like the large past Greek philosophers, they identified God with the rational bid of the cosmos, often referring to it arsenic Logos oregon Zeus. Cleanthes, successful his Hymn to Zeus, writes: “Most glorious of the immortals, many-named, almighty forever, Zeus, ruler of nature, guiding each things with law.” For the Stoics, to unrecorded successful accordance with quality was to unrecorded piously, since quality itself was divine.

Epictetus believed successful God and the divine and that individuals should absorption connected surviving retired their quality intent alternatively than pursuing accepted spiritual practices. At aged age, helium stated, “What other tin I do, a lame aged man, but sing hymns to God?”

The Epicureans: The Epicureans were skeptics, yet they didn’t contradict the beingness of god. Epicurus argued that deity is simply a blissful and indifferent being and is not acrophobic with quality affairs: “The blessed and indestructible being has nary occupation himself and brings nary occupation upon immoderate different being” (Letter to Menoeceus 123). For Epicurus, existent piety meant freeing oneself from superstition and fearfulness of divine punishment.

Epicurus is known for the Epicurean paradox. He states that deity is simultaneously omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent. However, Epicurus argues: if deity knows all, is all-powerful, and good, wherefore doesn’t helium escaped the satellite of evil? If helium knows astir evil but is not capable to destruct it, past helium is not omnipotent. If helium is bully and omnipotent but has constricted cognition of evil, past helium doesn’t cognize everything.

For Epicureans, the fearfulness of gods was a root of quality suffering, and their doctrine offered a mode to execute interior bid by knowing that the gods did not power quality fate.

The Skeptics: While Socrates was a skeptic, aboriginal past Greek philosophers similar Pyrrho and Sextus Empiricus are considered the founders of the Skepticism school, besides known arsenic Pyrrhonism. Sextus Empiricus suggested that Skeptics travel accepted spiritual practices not retired of condemnation but retired of custom: “We travel the mode of beingness which is successful accordance with the customs and laws of our country” (Outlines of Pyrrhonism I.24).

Skeptics rejected dogma and the conception of implicit truth. The halfway concepts of past skepticism are belief, suspension of judgment, criterion of truth, appearances, and investigation. Their extremity was a authorities of implicit tranquility of the psyche that results from a suspension of judgment—a intelligence remainder successful which we neither contradict nor affirm anything.

“To find the shaper and begetter of this beingness is difficult”

The narration of past Greek philosophers with religion and the divine was diverse. Yet the quest for knowing the cosmos was common, though pursued successful antithetic ways. As Plato observes, “To find the shaper and begetter of this beingness is difficult, and aft uncovering him, it is intolerable to state him to each men” (Timaeus 28c).

The definitions of eventual truth, divinity, and piety varied, but what they shared was the philosophical quest: the never-ending hunt for the narration betwixt humans and the divine—the enigma which the inquiring caput volition ne'er cease to effort to decipher.