Philosophical Religions From Plato to Spinoza : Reason, Religion, and Autonomy

Many pagan, Jewish, Christian and Muslim philosophers from Antiquity to the Enlightenment made no meaningful distinction between philosophy and religion. Instead they advocated a philosophical religion, arguing that God is Reason and that the historical forms of a religious tradition serve as philosophy's handmaid to promote the life of reason among non-philosophers. Carlos Fraenkel provides the first account of this concept and traces its history back to Plato. He shows how Jews and Christians appropriated it in Antiquity, follows it through the Middle Ages in both Islamic and Jewish forms and argues that it underlies Spinoza's interpretation of Christianity. The main challenge to a philosophical religion comes from the modern view that all human beings are equally able to order their lives rationally and hence need no guidance from religion. Fraenkel's wide-ranging book will appeal to anyone interested in how philosophy has interacted with Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious traditions." Contents 9 Preface 11 Acknowledgments 19 Translations, conventions, abbreviations 23 Al-Frb 23 Aristotle 23 Augustine 24 Averroes 24 Avicenna 24 Cicero 24 Clement 24 Diogenes Laertius 24 Epicurus 25 Eusebius of Caesarea 25 Gregory Thaumaturgus 25 Hegel 25 Herbert of Cherbury 25 Herodotus 25 Hesiod 25 Josephus 25 Kant 26 Lessing 26 Maimonides 26 Mendelssohn 26 Meyer, Lodewijk 26 Narboni, Moses 26 Origen 26 Philo 27 Plato 27 Plotinus 28 Presocratics 28 Proclus 28 Reimarus 28 Samuel ibn Tibbon 28 Schiller 28 Spinoza 28 Tertullian 29 Thucydides 29 Xenophon 29 Introduction What is a philosophical religion? 31 Introduction 31 The concept of a philosophical religion 35 Theocracy and the perfection of reason 36 The handmaid of philosophy 41 Philosophy and religion 46 Theocracy and autonomy 47 Contextualism and progress 50 Tensions in the concept of a philosophical religion 52 Towards a history of philosophical religions 54 Reason, religion, and autonomy: revising the conventional wisdom 58 An encounter between philosophy and religion? 58 When was autonomy invented? 59 The Alexandrian project - between Athens and Jerusalem? 60 Athens and Jerusalem - a perennial conflict? 62 Spinoza - continuity or break? 65 Chapter 1 Reason, divine nomoi, and self-rule in Plato 68 Introduction 68 Socratic politics 70 The rule of God as Reason 78 Why the philosophers life is best 81 Guiding non-philosophers: the handmaid of philosophy 88 From coercion to self-rule 99 The wisdom of non-philosophers 108 From cultural revolution to philosophical reinterpretation 112 Divine Law - one or many? 115 Chapter 2 Moses, Christ, and the universal rule of Reason in antiquity 117 Introduction 117 Appropriating the Platonic model: the evidence of Eusebius 121 Reinterpreting cultural traditions 130 From the divine nomoi of the Greeks to the divine nomoi of the Jews 133 Moses and Homer - philosopher-poets? 135 Judaism as a philosophical religion 138 Christianity as a philosophical religion 152 Philosophers in paradise 169 From Magnesia to a Christian world-state 171 Chapter 3 Communities of Reason in the Islamic world 174 Introduction 174 Plato and Aristotle 176 Al-Frb on philosophy and the Divine Law 184 Averroes and Maimonides - disciples of al-Frb? 194 Islam as a philosophical religion 197 Judaism as a philosophical religion 205 Leading non-philosophers out of the cave 211 Theocracy and autonomy 224 Medieval Jewish Enlightenment 232 Between Maimonides and Spinoza: Elijah Delmedigo 235 Chapter 4 Christianity as a philosophical religion in Spinoza 243 Introduction 243 Spinozas early dogmatism 248 The evidence of Lodewijk Meyer for Spinozas early dogmatism 259 The concept of a philosophical religion in Spinozas later writings 262 Religion and the freedom to philosophize 284 From God as Reason to Deus sive Natura 292 Interpreting Christianity as a philosophical religion 295 Were the prophets philosophers after all? 300 Spinozas critique of religion 305 Epilogue Did the history of philosophical religions come to an end? 312 Introduction 312 Disregarding Spinozas critique of religion from Lessing to Hegel 313 Philosophys new handmaid? Art as a pedagogical-political program 323 Making the handmaid redundant: equality as a moral-political value 325 Prospects of a philosophical religion 327 Bibliography 331 Index 349 "For many thinkers from Antiquity until the Enlightenment, no meaningful distinction between philosophy and religion was possible. Instead, the concept of a philosophical religion was strongly influential on pagan, Jewish, Christian and Muslim philosophers alike. Carlos Fraenkel provides the first account of this concept and traces its history back to Plato, the Jewish Philo of Alexandria and the Christians Clement of Alexandria and Origen. He then follows it through the medieval period in both Islamic and Jewish forms; he closely analyses its appearance in the work of Spinoza in the early modern period; and he shows how it largely disappeared after the Enlightenment, when religion began to be increasingly regarded as a promoter of ignorance and superstition from which philosophy needed to be liberated. His rich and wide-ranging book will appeal to anyone interested in how philosophy has interacted with Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious traditions over the centuries"-- Provided by publisher "For many thinkers from Antiquity until the Enlightenment, no meaningful distinction between philosophy and religion was possible. Instead, the concept of a philosophical religion was strongly influential on pagan, Jewish, Christian and Muslim philosophers alike. Carlos Fraenkel provides the first account of this concept and traces its history back to Plato, the Jewish Philo of Alexandria and the Christians Clement of Alexandria and Origen. He then follows it through the medieval period in both Islamic and Jewish forms; he closely analyses its appearance in the work of Spinoza in the early modern period; and he shows how it largely disappeared after the Enlightenment, when religion began to be increasingly regarded as a promoter of ignorance and superstition from which philosophy needed to be liberated. His rich and wide-ranging book will appeal to anyone interested in how philosophy has interacted with Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious traditions over the centuries"-- Résumé de l'éditeur Machine generated contents note: Introduction: what is a philosophical religion?; 1. Reason, divine law, and self-rule in Plato; 2. Moses, Christ and the universal rule of reason in antiquity; 3. Communities of reason in the Islamic world; 4. Christianity as a philosophical religion in Spinoza; Epilogue: did the history of philosophical religions come to an end?. This book argues that for many pagan, Jewish, Christian and Muslim philosophers there was no meaningful distinction between philosophy and religion until the Enlightenment. It also offers a new interpretation of Spinoza's take on religion that reveals the extent to which it is rooted in medieval Muslim and Jewish philosophy.