The Alternative Tradition : Religion and the Rejection of Religion in the Ancient World

The series Religion and Society (RS) contributes to the exploration of religions as social systems– both in Western and non-Western societies; in particular, it examines religions in their differentiation from, and intersection with, other cultural systems, such as art, economy, law and politics. Due attention is given to paradigmatic case or comparative studies that exhibit a clear theoretical orientation with the empirical and historical data of religion and such aspects of religion as ritual, the religious imagination, constructions of tradition, iconography, or media. In addition, the formation of religious communities, their construction of identity, and their relation to society and the wider public are key issues of this series. PREFACE 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 11 1. INTRODUCTION 15 1.1 Religion and myth 15 1.2 Myth and reality: the primal vision 16 1.3 Myth and ritual 23 1.4 Myth, reality and science 27 2. INDIA 35 2.1 Introduction 35 2.2 The religion of the Vedic period 36 2.3 The beginnings of speculation: scepticism and agnosticism 38 2.4 The Upaniṣadic period 46 2.5 The beginnings of Lokāyāta 53 2.6 Some early freethinkers 63 2.7 Philosophical Lokāyāta or Cārvāka 67 2.8 Early Sāṃkhya and Vaiśeṣika naturalism 76 2.9 Jain and Buddhist naturalism 91 3. CHINA 103 3.1 Early Chinese religion 103 3.2 The beginnings of rationalism 105 3.3 Confucius 108 3.4 Early Taoism 111 3.5 Later Confucian naturalism and scepticism: Hsun Tzu and other sceptics 117 3.6 Wang Ch’ung 121 3.7 The later sceptical tradition 128 4. GREECE 137 4.1 Introduction 137 4.2 Early Greek religion 138 4.3 Ionian naturalism 146 4.4 Atomism 157 4.5 The Sophists 162 4.6 The classical period of Greek thought 170 4.7 The Hellenistic age 179 4.8 Epicureanism 180 4.9 The Sceptics 194 5. ROME 203 5.1 Introduction 203 5.2 Cicero and Lucretius 204 5.3 The early Empire 220 5.4 Conclusion 228 6. APPENDIX 231 6.1 Israel and the ancient Near East 231 6.2 Babylon 244 6.3 Egypt 248 7. POSTSCRIPT 253 BIBLIOGRAPHY 255 NOTES 267 INDEX 279 My theme is the beginnings of the growth of a consistently held naturalistic view of the world, but before turning to these beginnings in ancient India, China, Greece, Rome and the ancient Near East, I have thought it advisable to look at the outlook on the world which naturalism seeks to supplant and which I call 'mythological' or 'mythico-religious'. India -- China -- Greece -- Rome -- Apendix: Israel And The Ancient Near East ... James Thrower. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. [255]-266.