| Pantheism is hardly a new phenomenon, counting among its official and unofficial exponents many renowned philosophers, poets, and artists. It is also an ingredient, often an undigestible one, in most of the world's religions. In recent years the rather diffuse pantheistic currents have gathered together in a number of formal and informal associations -- one, the World Pantheist Movement, is well organized and growing and represents a particular form known first as Scientific and now Naturalistic Pantheism. An excellent introduction to Naturalistic Pantheism as a religious movement can be found in Paul Harrison's ELEMENTS OF PANTHEISM. Unlike Harrison's short and eminently readable book, Michael P. Levine's PANTHEISM is formal, philosophical, slower going, and more opinionated. He insists, for example, that pantheism is not atheism -- a point I agree with while acknowledging that many pantheists would not insist on that being true. Levine also states upfront that he himself is not a pantheist. I find it a fascinating conundrum that a "non-believer" would take such a hard line on what constitutes the conviction he himself doesn't hold. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this book and value it enormously. It is a philosophical and pantheological tour de force, and whether or not one agrees with its conclusions it is to date the best textbook on the subject in existence. |
Spinoza's Ethics has long been considered the most complete attempt at explaining and defending pantheism. Historically, however, pantheism has had numerous forms. Michael P. Levine manages to disentangle the concept from Spinoza to present a broad philosophical and historical survey of pantheism.
The book deals with definitions of pantheism and examines critical distinctions between them. It analyzes both historical and contemporary concepts of pantheism. Levine compares pantheism to theism, discussing how some philosophical problems usually associated with theism can be recast in pantheism and how, if at all, they might be resolved. He also looks at the relationship between belief and practice in pantheism. |
