Seeking and Finding Wholeness

In researching philosophies of religions I came across many “isims” so I put together the definitions of all the isims I came across here. Enjoy:

Agnosticism: a (meaning “without”) gnosis (”knowledge”). Agnosticism is the position where one claims they cannot know whether a God or Gods exists. This lack of knowledge may be viewed as temporary (weak agnosticism) or permanent (strong agnosticism).

Animism: A belief that natural phenomena such as rocks, trees, thunder, or celestial bodies have life or divinity. The doctrine that all natural objects and the universe itself have souls. a belief that natural phenomena such as rocks, trees, thunder, or celestial bodies have life or divinity.

Atheism: a (”without”) the (”deity”, or “god”). Disbelief in any supernatural deity.

Autotheism: The viewpoint that, whether divinity is also external or not, it is inherently within ‘oneself’ and that one’s duty is to become perfect; divine. This can either be in a selfish, wilful, egotistical way or a selfless way following the implications of statements attributed to ethical, philosophical, and religious leaders such as Jesus, Buddha, Mahavira, and Socrates. The doctrine of God’s self-existence. Deification of one’s self; self-worship.

Deism: the belief that a god created the world and then left it to run on its own. Popular during the Enlightenment period. The analogy often used to explain it is that of a clock maker who constructs the watch and then leaves it, allowing it to operate on its own.

Dualism: The doctrine that reality consists of two basic opposing elements, often taken to be mind and matter (or mind and body), or good and evil. Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The word’s origin is the Latin duo, “two” . The term ‘dualism’ was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general usage.

Eutheism: the belief that there is a god, and that this god is good. (Omnibenevolence) is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “unlimited or infinite benevolence”. It is sometimes held to be impossible for a deity to exhibit this property along with both omniscience and omnipotence, because of the problem of evil. It is a technical term used in the academic literature on the philosophy of religion, often in the context of the problem of evil and in theodical responses, and even in such context, the phrases “perfect goodness” or “moral perfection” are often preferred.

Existentialism: A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one’s acts.

Fatalism: The doctrine that all events are predetermined by fate and are therefore unalterable.

Hedonism: The doctrine which holds the standard of the good and morality as whatever gives pleasure per se. This theory substitutes ethical purpose for ethical standard, stating (in essence) “the proper value is whatever you happen to value.” Objectivism rejects this formulation.

Henotheism: Devotion to one god, while accepting the existence of others. Much of the Old Testament is henotheistic.

Humanism: is a perspective common to a wide range of ethical stances that attaches importance to human dignity, concerns, and capabilities, particularly rationality. Although the word has many senses, its meaning comes into focus when contrasted to the supernatural or to appeals to authority. Since the nineteenth century, humanism has been associated with an anti-clericalism inherited from the eighteenth-century Enlightenment philosophes. Twenty-first century Humanism tends to strongly endorse human rights, including reproductive rights, gender equality, social justice, and the separation of church and state. The term covers organized non-theistic religions, secular humanism, and a humanistic life stance. The doctrine emphasizing a person’s capacity for self-realization through reason; rejects religion and the supernatural.

Monism: the doctrine that reality consists of a single basic substance or element. is any philosophical view which holds that there is unity in a given field of inquiry, where this is not to be expected. Thus, some philosophers may hold that the Universe is really just one thing, despite its many appearances and diversities; or theology may support the view that there is one God, with many manifestations in different religions.

Monotheism: Believing in the existence of only one god. The belief that there is only one fundamental kind of stuff in the world. The belief that there exists one single basic entity and that the plurality we observe is a manifestation of that single entity.

Mysticism: is the pursuit of communion with, identity with, or conscious awareness of an ultimate reality, divinity, spiritual truth, or God through direct experience, intuition, instinct or insight. Mysticism usually centers on a practice or practices intended to nurture those experiences or awareness. Mysticism may be dualistic, maintaining a distinction between the self and the divine, or may be nondualistic. A religion based on mystical communion with an ultimate reality.

Nihilism: commonly defined as “belief in nothing” or “denial of existence” or the view that value and meaning do not exist.

Noncognitivism: the position that propositions about god are meaningless.

Nontheism: Lookup Atheism

Objectivism: a philosophical system founded by Ayn Rand, being one of several doctrines holding that all reality is objective and external to the mind and that knowledge is reliably based on observed objects and events. The five central concepts of Objectivism are objectivity, reason, rational self-interest, libertarianism and romantic realism.

Omnitheism: The belief that all religions contain a core recognition of the same God. The belief that every entity is a God.

Paganism: any of various religions other than Christianity or Judaism or Islamism. Heathen: not acknowledging the God of Christianity and Judaism and Islam. (from Latin paganus, meaning “country dweller”, “rustic”) is a blanket term used to refer to various polytheistic, non Judeo-Christian religious traditions. Its exact definition may vary:[2] It is primarily used in a historical context, referring to Greco-Roman polytheism as well as the polytheistic traditions of Europe before Christianization. In a wider sense, extended to contemporary religions, it includes most of the Eastern religions, and the indigenous traditions of the Americas, Central Asia and Africa, as well as non-Abrahamic folk religion in general. More narrow definitions will not include any of the world religions and restrict the term to local or rural currents not organized as civil religions. Characteristic of pagan traditions is the absence of proselytism and the presence of a living mythology which explains religious practice.

PanDeism: is a kind of Pantheism which incorporates a form of Deism, holding that the Universe is identical to God, but also that God was previously a conscious and sentient force or entity that designed and created the Universe. God only became an unconscious and nonsentient God by becoming the Universe. Other than this distinction (and the possibility that the Universe will one day return to the state of being God), Pandeist philosophy is identical to Pantheism. (derived from Greek ‘pan’ = ‘all’ and Latin deus = God, in the sense of deism), is a term describing religious beliefs coherently incorporating or mixing elements of pantheism (that God is identical to the Universe) and deism (that the creator-god who designed the Universe no longer exists in a status where he can be reached, and can instead be confirmed only by reason). It is therefore most particularly “the belief that God precedes the Universe and is the Universe’s creator, [and] that the Universe is currently the entirety of God”, with some adding the contention that “the Universe will one day coalesce back into a single being, God”. It is through this incorporation pandeism claims to answer primary objections to deism (why would God create and then abandon the Universe?) and to pantheism (how did the Universe originate and what is its purpose?).

Panendeism: combines deism with panentheism, the belief that the universe is part of God, but not all of God. A central[citation needed] component of Panendeism is “Experiential Metaphysics” – the idea that a mystical component exists within the framework of Panendeism,[vague] allowing the seeker to experience a relationship to Deity through meditation, prayer or some other type of communion.[50] This is a major departure from Classical Deism. Belief in a God who is both panentheistic and deistic, e.g. a God who contains all of the universe, but who nevertheless transcends or has some existence separate from the universe, but also who does not actively intervene in the universe and can only be determined from reason.

PanenTheism: Classical pantheism has many features in common with panentheism, such as the idea that the universe is part of a god. Whereas the pantheist god and the universe are synonymous, panentheism finds God extends beyond the universe. Many of the major world religions described as pantheistic could also be described as panentheistic. For example, elements of both pantheism and panentheism are explicitly found in Indo-European religions such as Hinduism and Zoroastrianism. Many interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita and Shri Rudram in Hinduism and the Gathas in Zoroastrianism support this view.

PanTheism: (Ancient Greek: (pan) “all” and (theos) “god”; literally “belief that God is all”) is the view that everything is part of an all-encompassing immanent God and that the Universe (Nature) and God are equivalent. Pantheism promotes the idea that God is better understood as an abstract principle representing natural law, existence, and the Universe (the sum total of all that was, is and shall be), rather than as a transcendent and especially anthropomorphic entity.[1] Pantheists thus do not believe in a personal god; rather, they refer to nature or the universe as God. Pantheism is a metaphysical and religious position. Broadly defined it is the view that (1) “God is everything and everything is God … the world is either identical with God or in some way a self-expression of his nature” (Owen 1971: 74). Similarly, it is the view that (2) everything that exists constitutes a “unity” and this all-inclusive unity is in some sense divine (MacIntyre 1967: 34). A slightly more specific definition is given by Owen (1971: 65) who says (3) “‘Pantheism’ … signifies the belief that every existing entity is, only one Being; and that all other forms of reality are either modes (or appearances) of it or identical with it.” Even with these definitions there is dispute as to just how pantheism is to be understood and who is and is not a pantheist. Profound religious reverence for the Univers/Nature.

PanPsychism: in philosophy, is either the view that all parts of matter involve mind, or the more holistic view that the whole universe is an organism that possesses a mind (see pandeism and panentheism). The theory that all material entities possess a degree of mind.  the doctrine that each object in the universe has either a mind or an unconscious soul. The view that all matter has consciousness.

Physicalism: There is only one basic substance, matter/energy (ie.e all matter, all forms of energy, anti matter, unknown matter and fields)

Polytheism: Believing in the existence of more than one god.

Pragmatism: A movement consisting of varying but associated theories, originally developed by Charles S. Peirce and William James and distinguished by the doctrine that the meaning of an idea or a proposition lies in its observable practical consequences. Is a philosophical movement that includes those who claim that an ideology or proposition is true if it works satisfacton. The willingness or tendency to set aside one’s ideal or higher goal, in order to pursue a lesser, more achievable objective.

Reductionism: The position that higher structures of matter can be explained by the emergent properties of units acting on each other. A theory that all complex systems can be completely understood in terms of their components. The analysis of complex things into simpler constituents.

Solipsism: theory that the self is the only thing that can be known and verified, or that the self is the only reality.

Spinozism: Look up Pantheism

Theism: Believing in a deity or deities (god/gods). A belief in religion. (Greek theos: god). Belief in one personal, judging, creator God who transcends the world, and who may or may not be immanent in it.. The belief that a god or gods exist.

Find more relevant terms on Pantheism Today

Know of other “isims” that are ‘religious’ in nature? Please let me know by leaving a comment. Thanks!