God, Religion and Society in Ancient Thought: From Early Greek Philosophy to Augustine

The relationship between religion, social structures and political institutions has always played a fundamental role in human societies. This collection of essays aims to explore possible ways in which philosophical conceptualizations of god, the gods, and the divine in the ancient world interact with traditional religious practices and institutions, as well as with non-philosophical images of the divine. It spans from the ‘rationalization’ of the divine operated by early Greek philosophers to the notion of toleration one may find in Augustine. It features such authors as Plato (who uses for the first time in history the words ‘theology’ and ‘atheism’), and Aristotle, with his intellectualist view of God. It will be valuable to readers interested in intellectual history, political theory, history of religion and classics. **With contributions by** Sylvana V. Chrysakopoulou | Francesca Eustacchi | Silvia Gastaldi | Giovanni Giorgini | Christoph Horn | Elena Irrera | Jakub Jinek | Manuel Knoll | Maria Liatsi | Francisco L. Lisi | Alberto Maffi | Maurizio Migliori | Josef Moural | Nurdane Şimşek | Bernat Torres | Denis Walter Cover Introduction References The Polis as the Measure of All Things: The Relation of Greek Mythology to Polis Religion I. The dynamic structure of Greek mythology II. Common features and differences between Greek mythology and polis religion III. Polis religion as center of Greek religiosity IV. The Polis as the measure of all things References On the Rationalization of Ancient Greek Theology: The Purge of Anthropomorphism from Hesiod to Plato and Aristotle I. The transition from myth to logos and the progress of theological reasoning II. Different interpretations of the development of ancient Greek thought III. From Hesiod to Thales IV. Anaximander and Anaximenes V. Xenophanes’ criticism of the anthropomorphic gods VI. Two different traditions of ancient Greek theology References The “Theology” of the First Philosopher-Poets: the Case of Xenophanes I Introduction II. The notion of theology in Xenophanes, Parmenides and Empedocles: State of the question III. The notion of unity (monism) in Xenophanes’ theology according to Aristotle References Gods and Religion in the Sophistic Context: between Agnosticism and Utilitarian Rationalism I. Introduction: the Sophistic investigation of the divine 2. The origin of religion and of the gods 2.1 Democritus’ distinctive position 2.2. The Sophists’ positions 3. The instrumental advantages of religious belief 3.1. The Sophistic debate: between tradition and innovation 4. The epistemological level: between agnosticism and atheism 4.1 Protagoras’ agnosticism 4.2 Atheistic positions References The Man who Invented God: Atheism in the Sisyphus Fragment I. Setting the stage II. The Athenian context: religion and politics III. Critias, the wickedest man on earth IV. The Sisyphus fragment V. Conclusion References Greek Polytheist Cults and Monotheist Thinking in Tension (and its Political Reverberations) I. II. III. References Eusebeia for the Gods as a Matter of Justice. Greek Popular Religion and Plato’s Euthyphro I. Introduction II. Εὐσέβεια between justice and lawfulness. A comparison with ὁσιότης III. Does religious reverence differ from justice? Εὐσέβεια and ὁσιότης in Plato’s Euthyphro IV. The missed co-extensiveness between justice and religious reverence. Conclusive Remarks References Demiurge, Good, Forms. Some Reflections on a Crucial Problem of Plato’s Metaphysics The figure of the Demiurge The Demiurge as a personal god The Relationship between Demiurge and Forms The Form of the Good and the Demiurge The Demiurge and the Gods The Demiurge as a religious figure Conclusion References Religion in Plato’s Laws: Traditional Cults and Astral Theology Law and Cosmic Order Cosmology and Theology: The Nocturnal Council The Citizen’s religion. Traditional Cults Choruses for the gods: education to the harmony of the soul Conclusion: The Order of the Soul and the Cosmic Order References Plato, Lg. 910: What Impiety? APPENDIX Review of the main interpretations. References Plato: The Pervasive Nature Of The Divinity And The Importance Of Religion In The Polis Two Premises 1. How Plato writes 2. The conception of the divine 3. A binary model 4. The role of the divine Cause 5. The divine soul 6. Poetry and prophecy 7. The attitude of human beings 8. The platonic multifocal approach 9. The ambiguous nature of the laws 10. The relationship with God and with divinity References: Naming God as “King” and the Figure of the Legislator in Plato’s Cratylus 1. Introduction 2. Homeric names 3. Genetic Synonymy 4. Names of gods 5. The philosopher-king and the lawgiver Bibliography Aristotle’s Departure from the Commonsense Concept of God: His Doctrine of the Prime Mover and its Relation to the Ideal Human Life References Variants of Cosmopolitanism and Individual States in Cicero’s Works 1. Is there Cosmopolitanism in Cicero’s Thought? a) The Moral Cosmopolitan Community b) The “Political” Cosmopolitanism. The Community of all Beings under God’s or Natural Law’s Rule. c) The Multitude of Individual States 2. The Individual State and the Competence of magistratus and rectores. 3. The Role of “Imperialism” in Cicero’s Concept 4. Conclusion Bibliography Religious Toleration in Augustine? I. II. III. References Gods, Puppets and Impiety. Leo Strauss and Eric Voegelin on god and the divine in Plato’s Laws Introduction 1. Strauss and Voegelin on Plato’s Laws: between the hermit and the ecclesiastic statesman 2. The puppets of the gods: the men and the city and the new Platonic anthropology 3. Laws concerning impiety: defending Socrates or constituting a civil theology Conclusions: Socrates, Plato and the search of truth References Index Modern and Contemporary Authors Secondary Literature