PANTHEISM PANTHEISM A non-theistic concept of deity Michael P.Levine London and New York First published 1994 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1994 Michael P.Levine All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Levine, Michael P. (Michael Philip) Pantheism: a non-theistic concept of deity/Michael P.Levine. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Pantheism. I. Title BL220.L48 1994 211’.2–dc20 93–34726 ISBN 0-203-01477-4 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-16234-X (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-415-07064-3 (Print Edition) Buddha in Glory Center of all centers, core of cores, almond self-enclosed and growing sweet— all this universe, to the furthest stars and beyond them, is your flesh, your fruit. Now you feel how nothing clings to you; your vast shell reaches into endless space, and there the rich, thick fluids rise and flow. Illuminated in your infinite peace, a billion stars go spinning through the night, blazing high above your head. But in you is the presence that will be, when all the stars are dead. Rilke (translated by Stephen Mitchell) Stephen Mitchell, editor and translator, The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke (New York: Random House, 1982) CONTENTS Preface ix Acknowledgments xi 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Part I Meaning 2 WHAT IS PANTHEISM? 25 2.1 Unity 25 2.1.1 Misunderstandings 26 2.1.2 Pantheistic Unity: a topology 36 2.1.3 Unity as force, principle or plan 40 2.2 Divinity 47 2.3 Monism 71 2.3.1 Substance and Unity 73 2.3.2 Monism and pantheism 84 2.4 Transcendence 93 2.4.1 Panpsychism; animism; macrocosm and microcosm 113 Part II Philosophy of pantheism 3 PANTHEISM AND THEISM 147 3.1 Does theism entail pantheism? 149 3.2 The world as God’s body 161 4 PROBLEMS OF PANTHEISM 175 4.1 Creation 175 4.2 Evil 196 4.2.1 Evil is mysterious 198 4.2.2 Theism’s problem with evil 200 vii CONTENTS 4.2.3 Pantheism and the theistic problem of evil 207 4.2.4 Pantheism and evil: no worries 209 4.3 Ethics and ecology 218 4.4 Salvation and immortality 239 Part III Method 5 WHAT PANTHEISTS SHOULD NOT DO—AND WHY 287 5.1 Belief and practice 289 5.1.1 The Wittgensteinian “non-realist” interpretation 291 5.1.2 Intellectualist and symbolist approaches 297 5.1.3 The practice of pantheism and the theory of religion 308 5.2 Worship and prayer 313 6 CONCLUSION: HOW TO PRACTISE PANTHEISM 341 6.1 Goal: relationship or state? 342 6.2 What to do 351 Bibliography 366 Name index 379 Subject index 385 viii PREFACE The book recognised as containing the most complete attempt at explaining and defending pantheism from a philosophical perspective is Spinoza’s Ethics, finished in 1675 two years before his death. In 1720 John Toland wrote the Pantheisticon: or The Form of Celebrating the Socratic-Society in Latin. He (possibly) coined the term “pantheist” and used it as a synonym for “Spinozist.” However, aside from some interesting pantheistic sounding slogans like “Every Thing is to All, as All is to Every Thing”, and despite promising “A Short Dissertation upon a Twofold Philosophy of the Pantheists” Toland’s work has little to do with pantheism. As far as I know, aside from Thomas McFarland’s excellent study Coleridge and the Pantheist Tradition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969) there has been no other full-length work on pantheism since Spinoza’s Ethics. McFarland’s book is not intended as a philosophical investigation of pantheism although it contains much useful philosophical material. Of course there have been many studies of Spinoza’s Ethics and so indirectly many studies of pantheism. Historically, however, pantheism has numerous forms and Spinoza’s version is best considered as one among many variations, albeit a particularly philosophical variation, on pantheistic themes. In short—and surprisingly in my view—not only is there no recent book-length philosophical examination of the concept itself, there seems to be no such study at any time. No extended analysis of the concept itself exists apart from discussion of particular pantheists such as Spinoza, Hegel (?), Plotinus (?), Eriugena, or the study of panthe- istic aspects of religious and philosophical traditions such as those found in some of the Presocratics. This book is intended to fill what I see as a surprisingly broad ix PREFACE —and somewhat mysterious—lacuna. Given the interest in pantheism, and given that it is the classic religious alternative to theism, I do not understand why there has been no philosophical investigation of it. I should remark that as far as I can tell I am not a pantheist. It is a regrettable sign of the times that an intellectual endeavour of this sort appears to place one in a camp of some kind. Unlike much—not all—of the mainstream philosophy of religion currently being published, this work is neither a profession of faith nor an outline of an evangelical agenda. It is simply a work in natural theology. Contemporary analytic philosophy of religion (mostly “christian”) has become a task undertaken by the brethren, for the brethren—and it is often startlingly parochial. I am at home, philosophically speaking, in less wide open spaces. Yet, given my interest in the philosophy of religion, and a deepening dissatisfaction with some of the provincialism and idle expertise belabouring traditional theism, I find myself with little choice but to answer—like a shabby wild-eyed desert dwelling but unprophetic character, or an overly intellectual indoor-loving Jack London protagonist—the call of the wild. I hope, then, that this book will appear as a howl—not a hoot. Michael P.Levine x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have been working on this project for a long time and I completed sections of it while holding various research and teaching positions. I gratefully acknowledge the support of the following: the University of Western Australia; the Australian Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, for a research grant to the People’s Republic of China (1987); La Trobe University Research Fellowship, Melbourne, Australia (1986–7); Andrew W.Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Humanities, University of Pennsylvania (1985– 6); Andrew W.Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Humanities, Center for Advanced Studies, University of Virginia (1983–5). Earlier versions of some of the chapters first appeared in journals. “Unity” appeared as “Divine Unity and Superfluous Synonymity,” Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 4 (1990), pp. 211–36; “Monism” appeared as “Pantheism, Substance and Unity,” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 32 (1992), pp. 1–23; “Monism and Pantheism” appeared in the Southern Journal of Philosophy, 30 (1992), pp. 95–110; “Transcendence” appeared as “Transcendence in Theism and Pantheism,” Sophia, 31 (1992), pp. 89–123; “Ethics and Ecology” appeared as “Pantheism, Ethics and Ecology,” Journal of Environmental Values (1994). My thanks to the editors of these journals for permission to use this material; and to Random House Publishers for permission to reprint Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem “Buddha in Glory” in Stephen Mitchell, editor and translator, The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke (New York: Random House, 1982). Mary Ellen Trahan bore the brunt of the early bibliographical research necessary to this work and I thank her. I am especially grateful to Kirn Grant for her editing and comments. I am indebted to the following people (among others) for discussion and xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS interest: Lorna Aikman, Ira Auerbach, Lee Carter; Marie-Louise Carroll; Wendell Dietrich; Sue Dodds; Robyn Ferrell; Colleen Henry; Jeff Malpas; Behan McCullough; Dov Midalia; Page Nelson-Saginor; Jocelyn Rappaport; John P.Reeder Jr; Ted Roberts; Robert Scharlemann; Stewart Sutherland—in whose series the book was long ago to be published; Alan Tapper; Robert Young and Susan Williamson. My mother still on occasion asks me what I do, but thankfully she has stopped suggesting accountancy as a suitable career— despite the fact that, “they do very well you know.” Judi, Madeline, Susan and Debbie are my sisters, and I am their brother, and there is something so marvellously familial about it that it is to them I not only dedicate this book but promise to send a copy. The book is also in memory of my father Charles C.Levine. xii 1 INTRODUCTION There are two and only two systems of philosophy that can be offered. The one posits God as the transcendent cause of things; the other makes God the immanent cause. The former carefully distinguishes and separates God from the world; the latter shamefully confounds God with the universe… The former establishes a foundation for every religious devotion and for all piety, and this the latter fundamentally overturns and takes away.1 Christoph. Wittich There is a great deal of confusion as to what pantheism is, and so I begin by defining pantheism and distinguishing it from theism. I then argue that pantheism is not atheism. The remainder of the introduction describes the general scope and outline of the book, and some of its principal contentions.