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>Followers of Shinto, unlike Judeo-Christian monotheists and the Greeks before them, do not believe that humans are particularly “special.” Instead, there are s

>Followers of Shinto, unlike Judeo-Christian monotheists and the Greeks before them, do not believe that humans are particularly “special.” Instead, there are spirits in everything, [...] "Empedocles [says that the soul] is composed of all the elements and that each of them actually is a soul [...]" (Aristotle, De Anima, 404b11) "All things are full of gods." (Thales. From Aristotle, De Anima, 411a) "Now consider all the stars and the moon and the years and the months and all the seasons: what can we do except repeat the same story? A soul or souls...have been shown to be the cause of all these phenomena, and whether it is by their living presence in matter...or by some other means, we shall insist that these souls are gods. Can anybody admit all this and still put up with people who deny that 'everything is full of gods'?" (Plato, Laws, 899b) "Animals and plants come into being in earth and in liquid because there is water in earth, and pneuma in water, and in all pneuma is vital heat, so that in a sense all things are full of soul [...]" (Aristotle, Generation of Animals, 762a18-20)

ethbro 8y ago
How many Greek deities were non-anthropomorphic?
- YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
  That doesn't make any difference. The article claims that animistic beliefs are absent from Greek thought. The OP quotes four examples that very clearly say they are instead embraced by the most prominent Greek philosophers, like, ever. As to the belief that humans are "special" - well, you only have to look at the philosophy of the cynics, like Diogenes (the most prominent cynic of all). Or, to the legend of Hades and how the dead are shades without personality or memory- including the most important personnages like heroes and kings (in the Odyssey, Ulysses indulges in a bit of necromancy and calls forth Achiles' shade, by offering it blood from a sacrifice. The poet explains that the blood reminds the dead of who they were in the land of the living. When the rite is over, they go back to being person-less shades). Hardly a "humans are special" kind of vibe, there. In Greek mythology, Gods are special. Humans, not so much. Unless they're heroes, which means, invariably, humans descended from the gods.
  - Barrin92 8y ago
    >That doesn't make any difference. The article claims that animistic beliefs are absent from Greek thought. The OP quotes four examples that very clearly say they are instead embraced by the most prominent Greek philosophers, like, ever. This is needlessly nitpicky. While there is animism in Greek thought, it quickly faded in the West and has been irrelevant for most of the last say, 1500 years. So while you can probably get into a long scholastic discussion about animism in Greek antiquity, it is accurate enough to say that modern Western thought (especially in the context of industrialisation and robotization) has lived with a mindset that is distinctly non-animist. This eradication of animism never happened in many Asian societies, so the authors point stands.
woodandsteel 8y ago
In Western culture, the animism in Greek philosophy and religion was eliminated as pagan by Christianity.
- hutzlibu 8y ago
  Mostly, yes. But some of it survived underground and in christian mystics.
wahern 8y ago
Those descriptions sound more like pantheism than animism, although neither is a great fit. I say pantheism because both authors focused on the distinction between matter (material universe) and form (idea, essence, etc), and according to my simplistic knowledge of their philosophies I immediately interpreted soul to mean something more like essence, which connotes something more elemental and even shared, rather than our meaning of soul which emphasizes individuality and separateness. Animism also emphasizes the individuality and uniqueness of things--it's why animists worship objects (or the unique deities within them, if you will). But pantheism is a poor fit. Someone with knowledge of ancient Greek language and Greek philosophy could set us straight. It's sort of pointless to quibble about semantics when we're reading a translation (and perhaps a translation of a translation). That said, another reason pantheism popped into my head is because while animism long ago was purged from Western culture, pantheism (and a tendency to pantheistic thinking) is pervasive, even among professed Christians.

ethbro 8y ago

How many Greek deities were non-anthropomorphic?

YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
That doesn't make any difference. The article claims that animistic beliefs are absent from Greek thought. The OP quotes four examples that very clearly say they are instead embraced by the most prominent Greek philosophers, like, ever. As to the belief that humans are "special" - well, you only have to look at the philosophy of the cynics, like Diogenes (the most prominent cynic of all). Or, to the legend of Hades and how the dead are shades without personality or memory- including the most important personnages like heroes and kings (in the Odyssey, Ulysses indulges in a bit of necromancy and calls forth Achiles' shade, by offering it blood from a sacrifice. The poet explains that the blood reminds the dead of who they were in the land of the living. When the rite is over, they go back to being person-less shades). Hardly a "humans are special" kind of vibe, there. In Greek mythology, Gods are special. Humans, not so much. Unless they're heroes, which means, invariably, humans descended from the gods.
- Barrin92 8y ago
  >That doesn't make any difference. The article claims that animistic beliefs are absent from Greek thought. The OP quotes four examples that very clearly say they are instead embraced by the most prominent Greek philosophers, like, ever. This is needlessly nitpicky. While there is animism in Greek thought, it quickly faded in the West and has been irrelevant for most of the last say, 1500 years. So while you can probably get into a long scholastic discussion about animism in Greek antiquity, it is accurate enough to say that modern Western thought (especially in the context of industrialisation and robotization) has lived with a mindset that is distinctly non-animist. This eradication of animism never happened in many Asian societies, so the authors point stands.

woodandsteel 8y ago

In Western culture, the animism in Greek philosophy and religion was eliminated as pagan by Christianity.

hutzlibu 8y ago
Mostly, yes. But some of it survived underground and in christian mystics.

wahern 8y ago

Those descriptions sound more like pantheism than animism, although neither is a great fit. I say pantheism because both authors focused on the distinction between matter (material universe) and form (idea, essence, etc), and according to my simplistic knowledge of their philosophies I immediately interpreted soul to mean something more like essence, which connotes something more elemental and even shared, rather than our meaning of soul which emphasizes individuality and separateness. Animism also emphasizes the individuality and uniqueness of things--it's why animists worship objects (or the unique deities within them, if you will). But pantheism is a poor fit. Someone with knowledge of ancient Greek language and Greek philosophy could set us straight. It's sort of pointless to quibble about semantics when we're reading a translation (and perhaps a translation of a translation). That said, another reason pantheism popped into my head is because while animism long ago was purged from Western culture, pantheism (and a tendency to pantheistic thinking) is pervasive, even among professed Christians.