PHILO-120 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Xenophanes, Henotheism, Polytheism
29 Oct 2020
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When philosophy and philosophers began to emerge in the ancient greek world it is noticeable that they began to think about religion and religious beliefs in a more critical and analytic way than before. He is negative in criticizing what he saw as the mistakes of some of his contemporaries. In contrast to the predominant anthropomorphism of his day, xenophanes declared that god is totally other. " this is the fruit of his philosophizing about religion: There is only one god, greatest among gods and men, similar in no way to mortals, either in body or in thought. " (fragment 23) He always remains in the same place, not moving at all. It is not fitting for him to go here and there at different times, but without any labour he makes all things shake by the thought of his mind. ". He was one of the earliest greek philosophers adopting a critical view of religious belief.
