William Atkinson - The Complete Works of William Walker Atkinson

In both modern pantheism and modern idealism; the influence of the ancient Greek great masters of thought may be plainly discerned. In fact, the modern thought along these lines flows in a direct and unbroken course from the fountains of ancient Greece. While, as we shall see in another chapter, the seeds of all forms of philosophical and religious thought may be found in the early teachings of India and other Oriental lands, still we may regard the schools of philosophy of ancient Greece as the direct source of the fundamental conceptions and ideas which are now experiencing a remarkable revival in popularity and general acceptance. As Prof. John Dewey has said: “The Eleatic school may be regarded as the forerunners of pantheism in their insistence upon the unity and all comprehensiveness of true being. The distinction between finite and infinite, God and the world, had not, however, been made sufficiently clear at this time to justify calling the system pantheism. Through Plato and Aristotle the terms of the problem, both in themselves and in their relation to each other, are made evident. Neo-Platonism and Stoicism are both pantheistic. The former is of a logical, idealistic type, based upon Plato’s theory of the relation between the One Being, Nous , and the Ideas; teaching that the world is simply one of a series of emanations from God, radiating from Him, as light from the sun, and having its apparent distinction only through a negative element, Non-Being or Matter.” And, as Prof. A. S. Pringle-Pattison has said: “The first historical system to which the name of Idealism is applied by common consent is that of Plato.…The Idealistic system might be fitly styled the Platonico-Aristotelian.”

PRE-SOCRATIC SCHOOLS

The Pre-Socratic schools of ancient Greece, which flourished about five hundred years before the Christian era, endeavored to establish a unity or one reality behind the various phenomena of the universe. Rising above the primitive myths, they sought to establish a fundamental substance, of which all the world of appearance was by a manifestation or reflection. Even before their time, thinkers had assumed a fundamental oneness in Nature, and the Pre-Socratic schools endeavored to find out what this One was. Their first questions were, “What is the primal substance? From what does all come? What is the essence of things?” At first, the answers implied the fundamental nature of material substances. Thales thought that “water” was the answer; Anaximenes said, “air;” and Anaximander suggested a “boundless” or “infinite” something, somewhat resembling the modern scientific conception of the ether. Each of their three schools, however, regarded the fundamental substance as animate, and possessing all the qualities and attributes of life and mind.

HERACLITUS

Heraclitus, the Ephesian, (500 b.c.) advanced a newer and much more advanced conception. He held that the universal substance is an ethereal, spiritual essence, symbolized by fire—a living, moving, active principle, constantly manifesting change in form of manifestation. He considered this principle rather in its objective, than in its subjective phase—he held that instead of “being,” it should be thought that “everything is becoming.” Just as the flame is apparently constant, although its particles are constantly changing, so is the universal flame really more of a “becoming” than of a “being.” He held that nothing is stable except instability—nothing constant but change. Everything is in a state of flux—everything begins to change the moment it is created or born. The law of change is ever manifesting itself. Nothing persists. Everything is in constant motion and subject to constant change. The flame evidently “desires” change, and abhors stability. Action and reaction—involution, evolution, and devolution—the laws of cycles and rhythms— an immutable law of change causing a beginningless and endless sequence cause and effect—these were the teachings of Heraclitus. His fire was not a material fire, but a spiritual flame. In many particulars his philosophy agrees with that of Herbert Spencer—across the chasm of nearly 2,500 years these two great thinkers clasp hands. The influence of Heraclitus upon the later Stoic schools was most marked—and through them he has influenced still later schools. The latest works of Western physical science make many a mention of the name of this old Ephesian thinker, whose name has almost become forgotten in the interval. His ideas, I think, will be found much in evidence in the philosophies of the future.

THE ELEATICS

The Eleatics, another school of this period, gave much consideration to the old problem concerning “the One and the Many,” laying special emphasis upon “the One.” Xenophanes was as eloquent and active as any modern Monist in denouncing the anthropomorphic conceptions of Deity, and said boldly that “the One is God—God is the One”—and thus made the first real pantheistic statement of the early Greek philosophy. In this identification of God with “the One,” is found the basic thought of all pantheism, ancient and modern. Parmenides enlarged upon this idea of Oneness, holding that, “What is must always have been, and must always be. Change is impossible to the One, for that would imply that something could arise out of nothing, or pass into nothing, both of which suppositions are foreign to rational thought. He thus identified God with the Absolute.

THE PYTHAGOREANS

The Pythagoreans, in their earlier days at least, devoted less time to speculation than to religious and ethical thought, at least so far as their public utterances were concerned. In their inner circles, they taught a mystical doctrine, in which certain forms of idealistic pantheism undoubtedly had a part, although their conception seemed rather toward that of a transcendental law rather than toward Deity. Their teaching regarding the “mystic numbers,” etc., is believed to have been identified with certain occult doctrines, probably acquired from Egypt and Chaldea. Anaxagorus held that above the atomic forms and ultimate elements, of which the universe was composed, there was the Nous , or Universal Principle of Law and Order, which acts intelligently in ordering the universe—the principle of mind in substance.

SOCRATES

The second great period of ancient Greek philosophical thought is that of the “Socratic Schools,” which derive their name from their founder, Socrates, who lived 469–393 b.c. Socrates did not aim to found a school, and his teachings were expounded most publicly, but his followers established several schools in which his thought was held as fundamental truth. Socrates’ influence upon modern thought is manifested principally through his disciples who came after him establishing great schools of thought, particularly Plato and Aristotle. His influence upon the Stoics was also marked, Epictetus frequently referring to him as authority.

The term “Socratic Philosophy,” is generally used in the broad sense of indicating the developing Greek philosophy from the time of Socrates to the rise of the school of Neo-Platonism, because, with the exception of the Epicureans, the principal philosophical schools of that period were in the habit of basing their respective and varying systems upon the fundamental authority of Socrates. It is quite a difficult matter to pin Socrates down to any particular system or school of thought, because his range of thought was so wide, and his tastes so catholic, that he seemed to embrace all systems of philosophy within his general field of discussion. In fact, we know Socrates principally through the medium of his followers and their several schools of philosophy—chiefly through the writings of Xenophon, Plato and Aristotle. Socrates was rather an inspirer of philosophical thought than the founder of a school of philosophy.