(August 8, 2024 at 11:53 pm)Astreja Wrote: Existentialism seems to be a theoretical philosophical framework built around a common psychological experience, but in terms of actionable ideas it comes up a bit weak. Stoicism is where the useful stuff can be found, IMO.
The Stoics' views on God are really interesting. They are far closer to the classical theology of someone like Augustine, rather than like modern Protestants.
Quote:the Stoics make God a corporeal entity, identical with the active principle. God is further characterized as eternal reason (logos: Diogenes Laertius, 44B) or intelligent designing fire or breath (pneuma) which structures matter in accordance with its plan (Aetius, 46A). The Stoic God is thus immanent throughout the cosmos and directs its development down to the smallest detail. The entire cosmos is a living thing, and God stands to the cosmos as an animal’s life force stands to the animal’s body, enlivening, moving and directing it by its presence throughout. The designing fire is likened to sperm or seed which contains the first principles or directions of all the things which will subsequently develop (Diogenes Laertius, 46B; Aristocles in Eusebius, 46G). This makes cosmic nature and all its parts inherently governed by a rational force. God and divine actions are not, like the gods of Greek Mythology, random and unpredictable. It is rather orderly, rational, and providential. The association of God with pneuma may have its origins in medical theories of the Hellenistic period
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stoicism/#God
