With the beginning of the industrial revolution in Europe, the worldview of people was rapidly changing. Science was actively developing: the textile industry appeared, invented metallurgy, and explained many natural phenomena from the point of view of physics. As a result of this, the dogmas of the Catholic Church were doubted, and persecutions began against scholars who had renounced their faith (Inquisition).
European society of the 16-17th centuries needed a new teaching, giving people comprehensive answers to the questions that arose. Deism was called upon to explain insoluble issues within the framework of religion.
Definition
What is meant by deism? Can it be considered a religion?
Deism in philosophy is the direction of social thought that arose in the 17th century. It is a synthesis of rationalism with the idea of God. According to deism, the root cause of the emergence of the world was God or some Higher Mind. It was he who gave impetus to the development of that amazing and beautiful that surrounds us. Then he left the world to develop according to natural laws.
Deism in philosophy arose thanks to the revolutionary bourgeoisie, who denied feudalism and the unlimited power of the Church.
Is it time to figure out what deism is: religion, philosophy, or a worldview concept? Most sources define it as the direction or flow of thought that explains the world order. Deism is definitely not a religion, since it denies dogma. Some scholars even define this philosophical trend as hidden atheism.
Where did deism originate?
England was the birthplace of deism, then the teachings became popular in France and Germany. In each of the countries, the direction had its own characteristic coloration, combined with the mentality of people. It was these three countries that were the centers of the ideology of the Enlightenment; most of the scientific discoveries occurred in them.
In England, deism was not ubiquitous among educated people. Only a narrow layer of writers and philosophers, led by Lord Cherbury, “ignited” a new idea. They wrote numerous works, drawing on the ideas of ancient philosophers. The founder of deism sharply criticized the church: he believed that it has unlimited power, based on the blind faith of people.
The second name for deism is the religion of the mind described in The Treatise on Truth, a work by Cherbury. The peak of the trend in England came in the first half of the 18th century: even deeply religious people began to share the ideas of teaching.
Deism was of great importance for France: Voltaire, Mellier and Montesquieu harshly criticized the power of the church. They did not protest against faith in God, but against prohibitions and restrictions imposed by religion, and also against the great power of church officials.
Voltaire is a key figure in the French Enlightenment. A scientist from a Christian turns into a deist. He recognizes rational faith, not blind faith.
Deists of Germany read the works of their English and French contemporaries. Then they formed the popular Enlightenment movement. The German philosopher Wolf was a deist: thanks to him, the Protestant religion became more free.
Deists - Famous Historical Persons and Scholars
It is not surprising that the classical adherent of deism had a higher education and was fond of history. When a person knows physics, it is impossible to convince him that a rainbow or thunder are divine phenomena. The scientist may assume that the root cause of everything was God, who formed a harmonious and beautiful world, gave him logical laws by which everything lives and moves. But the Almighty does not intervene in the events taking place. They occur in accordance with open physical laws.
Famous deists were:
- Isaac Newton.
- Voltaire.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
- David Hume.
- Alexander Radishchev.
- Jean Boden.
- Jean Baptiste Lamarck.
- Mikhail Lomonosov.
The ideas of deism are still popular. Many Western scholars are deists - they recognize the divine principle of the world, while perfectly know their field of science.
Theism, deism, pantheism - what is the difference?
The difference between these similar-sounding words is great:
- Theism is a worldview concept based on faith in one God. Two world religions - Christianity and Islam - are theistic. They belong to monotheistic religions, that is, they recognize the one God.
- Deism is not a religion, as mentioned earlier, but a symbiosis of two ideas: the ideas of the Creator and the laws of science. This philosophical line is not based on revelation, but recognizes reason, intelligence, and statistics.
- Pantheism is a religious and philosophical trend that equates God with nature. You can understand “God” through rapprochement with the Universe and with nature.
Having defined the concepts, we list the main differences between these concepts from each other:
- Theism is the same as religion. Recognizes the existence of one God, who created the world and still helps people. Pantheism and deism are philosophical directions that describe the world order.
- Deism is a stream of thought that combines the idea of God who created the Universe and the idea of further development of the world according to certain laws, already without the intervention of the Creator. Pantheism is a philosophical trend that identifies the concept of God with nature. Deism and pantheism are fundamentally different things that should not be confused with each other.
The influence of deism on the development of philosophy
Deism in philosophy is a completely new direction, giving rise to at least three worldview concepts:
- Empiricism.
- Materialism.
- Atheism
Many German scholars relied on the ideas of deism. Kant used them in his famous work Religion Within the Mind Only. Echoes of the European Enlightenment even reached Russia: in the 18-19th centuries, a new direction became popular among Russian progressive figures.
Deistic ideas contributed to:
- Combating prejudice and superstition.
- Dissemination of scientific knowledge.
- A positive interpretation of progress.
- The development of social thought.
conclusions
Deism is a fundamentally new trend in philosophy, rapidly spreading throughout Europe during the Enlightenment. The inquiring minds of medieval scholars, philosophers, and thinkers combined the idea of God the Creator with scientific discoveries.
We can say that the public request for a new worldview concept was successfully satisfied. Deism contributed to the development of science, art and free thinking.