Philosophy of Paganism

[jiii]

I was curious as to whether or not any Pagan individual has ever expounded a kind of philosophical or metaphysical foundation for the practice. I know that there are probably many varied threads of Paganism, which I hope won't make this question too difficult to address. In the case that it does, I guess I can narrow it a bit more: "Has there ever been a person that could be called a 'philosopher' that has expounded upon Pagan ideology and practice?" I don't necessarily mean "Socrates"-type philosophers, but writers that have, for one reason or another, philosphically detailed Paganism in a manner that could roughly be called objective and relatively unaffected by personal bias?

ex. Merton => Christianity, Suzuki => Zen

I suck at asking questions...

-jiii

 

[bgruagach]

Since Paganism is a rather generic term that encompasses a wide variety of distinct religions it's not likely that there will be very many books that deal with an all-encompassing Pagan philosophy -- since there is no single Pagan philosophy. However if we look at specific Pagan religions we might find there are some books out there exploring those religions' philosophies.

One that comes to mind for Wicca, for instance, is Amber Laine Fisher's "The Philosophy of Wicca." It's a good start anyway!

 

[florian]

The first name that came to mind when I read your question was the 4th century neoplatonic philosopher Sallustius. He was a friend of the emperor Juilan the Apostate who tired to re-establish paganism.
His treatise on paganism and the gods is online here:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/2923/sallustius1.html

 

[bananabrain]

i also recommend amber laine fisher's "philosophy of wicca" (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1550224875/ref=sr_11_1/104-7044732-8102349?ie=UTF8) - amber's well known to both myself and bgruagach. ignore the reviews, it's a great book. also, if you're interested in the emperor julian, i recommend both the chapters on him in gibbon's "decline and fall of the roman empire" and gore vidal's novel of which he is the eponymous hero.

b'shalom

bananabrain

 

[jiii]

Thanks for your help everyone. I am looking forward to reading Laine's book.

 

[sedated_angel]

For Wicca, I honestly cannot think of any better authors than the ones who were first to stand up and be counted as witches. Gerald Gardner, Raymond Buckland, Gavin and Yvonne (Spelling?) Frost, and Gerina Dunwich. These were the first Wiccans to "Come out of the broom closet." To use an already overused phrase. And as such, I believe what they say over the more modern ones. I suppose that it depends on what you personally believe.