Taylor Seraphim
Angel of Reason
I consider the universe to be divine and worthy of reverence, but do not think it is sentient by any means.
So could this be considered pantheism?
So could this be considered pantheism?
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Non-sentient pantheism?
- Thread starter Taylor Seraphim
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Taylor Seraphim
Angel of Reason
It is strange because that would mean I am Atheistic, Agnostic, Monistic, and Pantheistic at the same time.
Jumi
Well-Known Member
It's not that strange.
I'm also atheist in the sense that I don't believe in any sentient gods and pantheist in my reverence of Nature.
Taylor Seraphim
Angel of Reason
It's not that strange.
It seems we are of one spirit.
Do you believe the universe exists outside of yourself, that it is other to you? If everything is God than I am the divine. I am sentient. So what does this say? Is pantheism a subtle dualism that separates the universe from our own being? Or is the divine sentient because I am?
Ouroboros
Coincidentia oppositorum
It describes my view. I consider myself a naturalistic pantheist, which means that I call the universe/multiverse/panverse or whatever we think of being the ultimate ALL of all things God. Yes, I call it God, because it exists eternally, it's infinite, it contains all knowledge that could every be conceived, and it "created" me. So, for all sakes and purposes, it's very much a God of my existence, but since I'm part of that ALL, it means that I'm part of this God, regardless if I'm good or evil, want it or not, dead or alive, I'm part of it.
Ouroboros
Coincidentia oppositorum
Yup. Or at least they're very similar. They just put emphasis on different aspects of the same thing. It's like saying my car is a vehicle or a method of transportation or a coupe, all different words that in practicality talks about the same object, but with different perspectives.
And for people who find the word "sentience" to be arbitrary, anthropocentric rubbish, like me.
Taylor Seraphim
Angel of Reason
No, we are a sentient part of an insentient being.
So we are not God then? Let me ask it this way. Is your body sentient, or is it just your brain? Are you just a part of your body, and your body is not you?
Taylor Seraphim
Angel of Reason
No more than a cell is us.
So the cells are not you? Who are you then?
Taylor Seraphim
Angel of Reason
The cells as a whole.
So the "you" of your conscious self is the metamind of the cells? Would you say your awareness then is higher than the cells' awareness, since you are aware of them, but they are not of you?
Taylor Seraphim
Angel of Reason
"higher" is an opinion and I am not taking that bait.
A human is a collection of matter and energy in a particular arrangement that has the same building blocks as everything else in the universe, a single cell is not a human.
The universe is a collection of all matter and energy in the universe but a single piece of matter is not the universe.
This sounds a lot like me.
Additional beliefs, like divine sapience and such, is when the belief system seems to be theism. To me, that is too much like chiseling god down to fit in some sort of box.
Tom
Ouroboros
Coincidentia oppositorum
That's the funny thing. Sentience can't be separate from non-sentience in the "ALL" of pantheism. Sentience is natural. it's part of the natural order, just as much as the non-sentient things and forces. So the "insentient being" that we're part of, contains sentience, i.e. us (and perhaps other life forms in the universe we don't know of). We are the universe being sentient.
Taylor Seraphim
Angel of Reason
Well that is because you are using a logical infallacy.
Helium have electrons that are negatively charged but most helium is neutral.
The universe have humans that are sentient but the universe as a whole is not sentient.
Humans also tend to see sapience as the highest level of being. I see no reason to believe that.
I'm confident that God is so much more than we are that we can't even comprehend. It's like comparing the "mental" functions of an ameba to a theoretical physicist. There just really is not a comparison.
Tom