Cosmology (metaphysics)

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See: Cosmology (disambiguation).

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Cosmology is the branch of philosophy and metaphysics that deals with the world as the totality of all phenomena in space and time. Presocratic philosophers from the Ionian School are sometimes called cosmologists.

There are many basic cosmological positions that form the foundation of virtually all philosophies and religions. There is overlap between some of these and mysticism, and also with nondual viewpoints and traditions.

1 Atheistic cosmologies
2 Theistic cosmologies
3 Other cosmologies
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Atheistic cosmologies

Naturalism is the belief that the physical universe is all that exists. Materialism and energeticism are two naturalistic cosmologies.

[edit] Theistic cosmologies

Theism is the belief that God exists and created the universe. Types of theism include monotheism and polytheism. Atheism is not a cosmology, but rather the belief that god does not exist. The Abrahamic religions are theisms.

Pantheism is the belief that God and the universe have a one-to-one correspondence. The philosopher Spinoza was a pantheist. Panentheism or emanationism is the belief that the entire universe is part of God, but God is greater than the universe. The Neo-Platonic philosopher Plotinus was an emanationist.

Deism is the belief that God created the universe, set everything in motion, and then had nothing more to do with it. God remains completely transcendent to the creation after He creates it.

[edit] Other cosmologies

Cosmological dualism (as opposed to body-mind dualism) is the belief that there are two gods or metaphysical forces and the universe is a product of these gods or forces. The Persian religion Zoroastrianism is cosmologically dualistic.

Idealism is the belief that only consciousness exists. The various features of the world may be thought of as "ideas in the mind of God." Various forms of idealism can be compatible with either theism or atheism. The British philosopher George Berkeley was an idealist, as was the German philosopher Hegel. See: Hindu idealism, Buddhist idealism, Platonic idealism, German idealism, British Idealism, Panpsychism.

Acosmism is the belief that neither the self nor the universe has ever existed. This is held by some forms of strict Advaita Vedanta, a Hindu philosophy. The Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna, whose beliefs are called voidism, or nihilism (in the Eastern, rather than the Western sense), believed that the world neither exists, nor does it not exist.