The Logic of Polytheism

Study Guide Questions:

1. What puzzle does religious diversity pose for monotheism?

2. What is Greer's argument for polytheism?

3. How does Greer support the premise of his argument, which concerns monotheism?

4. What are two varieties of exclusive monotheism, and what might be wrong with them?

5. What is inclusive monotheism, and what might be wrong with it?

[ΚώσταςΠ-κω]

Greetings from Athens you are 100% correct some of us still believe in polytheism here the way you describe in your video .We don't have any problem with their jesus, buddha or allah but they are just 3 more gods and nothing more than that.

[JulianApostate]

I was recommended this video about a year ago and I finally got around to watching it. Brilliant! I love it! I probably need to buy Greer's book now

[sonofzeus-ygyz]

The old gods live! Monotheists relabel other deities as evil or lesser beings/nonexistent to fit their little box of beliefs.

[azazelgrigori]

"Hey, there are many paths t worshiping Cthulhu" I just spit out my drink. That was such a weird phrase.

[rosekindle]

im am functionally a polytheist but philosophically pantheistic. this works fine in my religions parameters. thats why i love traditional polytheism, its very versatile.

[DIBBY]

The Cat analogy is great! One human could never contain all qualities of humanity. One God could never contain all the qualities of Divinity.

[Traumatizedllama]

Im glad you addressed atheism some. I agree that polytheism is more likely than monotheism. I just have trouble getting from atheism to polytheism. My personal experiences are very explainable naturalisticaly. And i haven't experienced others so i don't know.

[anousseeker]

Great video.

I think Greer's argument is a good one. I agree up until the "inclusive monotheism" argument. But that's because, as a Platonist/ Monist, I would make the argument that reason shows that there is a "One" above the other Principles (Gods).

I'd also say that many Polytheists in antiquity were "inclusive" in the same way as Inclusive Monotheists. Namely the Greeks/Romans, who only considered a God a "new" one when they had no equivalent in their Pantheon, otherwise they would call them a "face" of one of their known Gods. I would consider myself among these types of Inclusive Polytheists.

Anyhow, this is an absolutely great video. Every one that comes out is better than the last!

[andrewhanson]

I love the darkest dungeon references in these, it’s one of my favorite games. Great lectures

[cybirddude]

Another issue with all types of monotheism is that their claims are unfalsifiable; with existence exclusive monotheism, it is impossible to prove or disprove that there is only one god and that every other is imaginary; with value exclusive monotheism it is impossible to prove or disprove that the god worshipped by monotheist(s) is the only real god and that others are demons ESPECIALLY because of the fact that, according to value exclusivists, demons can imitate the abilities of gods, which makes it impossible to test if a deity is a genuine god or a demon; with inclusivists, it is impossible to prove or disprove their claim because if the one god manifests himself in different, contradictory ways to different people, it is impossible to test if every single god is actually just a mask for the one true god.

[mattcat]

The analogy with cats is amazing, made even better with paper-doll cutouts from Darkest Dungeon, quite the punitive Lovecraftian game.

[delphinea.]

This video was so informative and easy to understand. Thank you!

[ben]

21:08 I think the easy way to resolve this conundrum is for the inclusive monotheist to admit that they too worship one of G-d's faces and that they do not have privileged access to the "true" nature of G-d.

[the_Jollyface]

That was really entertaining and informative, thank you! I should finally read the republic...

[mohmayakibaat]

The monotheists themselves have different and conflicting notions of their notion of God. They then argue that their sectarian notion is only correction instead of maybe they are 2 different gods

[thekrustysponge]

Really appreciated how you would read/state the allegorical examples then follow up with a more literal one. Awesome video

[Dusticulous]

I'm a Norse Polytheist and I believe every god/goddess exists, and many unknown ones even. But I only worship a few, as they are the ones I feel connected to. The others just might not care about me, and that's no biggie to me

[Pangaios]

I adore this video. I’m a polytheist that interprets reality through a Greek translation of reality… I would love to talk.

[Volleyball_Chess_and_Geoguessr]

Inclusive monotheism - I got the feeling this was the Narnia theology, at one point when they were deciding who was going to heaven, someone who worshipped something else they said it was actually the same. Anyone else remember this?

[ericv]

The problem with includive monotheism is its sheer arbitrariness: all other gods are mere facets of my god because it's MY god! Then you point out that there are gods in some pantheons that are morally ambiguous or have a dark side, and the inclusive mono will retort, "Oh, not those. Only the cool gods bro!"