Pantheism, Panpsychism, and Secularization - Case Studies from Early Modernity
January 1, 2024 Elisabeth Blum, Paul Richard Blum
Pantheism, panpsychism, and panentheism—views that see the divine as present in everything or that God encompasses the world—emerged during the Renaissance and contributed to the secularization of early modern thought. Through case studies including Renaissance magic and cosmological debates about the Creator and creation, the book argues that these ideas prefigured modern secularism by making religion and theology irrelevant to science. The concept of universal ensoulment influenced the development of a secular physics, particularly in theories of mind and the evolution of monadology.