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The God of Metaphysics
Can philosophy offer reasonable grounds for the existence of a God as the center of actual faith, rather than just a theoretical Absolute? Timothy Sprigge offers a fascinating exploration of the metaphysical systems of a diverse range of philosophers, from Spinoza and Hegel to T. H. Green and Josiah Royce, testing objections to what might be called "metaphysical religion" against the systems of these distinguished thinkers. In the process, Sprigge offers a compelling new defense of a highly unfashionable Idealist worldview.
- GenresPhilosophyMetaphysics
598 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
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62 people want to read
About the author
T.L.S. Sprigge
14 books2 followersTimothy L.S. Sprigge studied at Gonville and Caius, Cambridge, where he was awarded a First in English in 1955 and, in 1961, a PhD for a dissertation entitled 'The Limits of Morals Defined'. He did National Service in the Intelligence Corps.
He was lecturer in philosophy at University College London from 1961 to 1963, then at the University of Sussex from 1963 to 1970, when he was promoted to a readership.
From 1979 he was Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at Edinburgh University until 1989, when he became Professor Emeritus, then an endowment fellow until 1998 and an honorary fellow until 2003.
He was lecturer in philosophy at University College London from 1961 to 1963, then at the University of Sussex from 1963 to 1970, when he was promoted to a readership.
From 1979 he was Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at Edinburgh University until 1989, when he became Professor Emeritus, then an endowment fellow until 1998 and an honorary fellow until 2003.
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September 27, 2025
An Idealistic Study Of Reason And Religion
The French philosopher Pascal contrasted the god of the philosophers unfavorably with the God of Abraham. Many people have agreed with Pascal while others have tried to show a basic harmony between the teachings of reason and religion. The Scottish philosopher T.L.S. Sprigge (1932 -- 2007) falls into the latter category in a highly particular way. In a long career at the University of Edinburgh, Sprigge was an exponent of the philosophy of absolute idealism, which teaches, put simply, that all reality is spiritual or mental and is part of an Absolute mind. Early in the 20th century, absolute idealism went into a deep philosophical decline from which it has never recovered.
Sprigge's book "The God of Metaphysics" (2006) is a study of metaphysics, religion, and their value and interrelationship. The book is long and difficult but Sprigge makes clear that he hoped it would attract lay readers interested in the issues it addresses as well as professional philosophers. I read the book due to my interest in philosophy and religion and in idealism. I have studied at some length two of the philosophers Sprigge considers, Spinoza, and the American idealist Josiah Royce, while other thinkers were to varying degrees unfamiliar to me.
Sprigge does not try to prove the existence of God through the traditional philosophical arguments, such as the argument from design, the cosmological argument, the ontological argument. Rather he argues even more broadly for the existence of the Absolute which for some philosophers does some of the work of, say, the God of Christianity or Judaism, while for some other philosophers is different. As I mentioned, Sprigge's absolutism, which he calls "pantheistic idealism" is a distinctly minority position for philosophers, including theistically inclined philosophers and, I assume for theologians.
In the opening sections of the book, Sprigge discusses the nature of religion and why people find it important. He suggests that religion offers "a truth to live by" "which affects the way in which those who seriously believe in it live their lives." He distinguishes between a shared public religion evidenced by commitment to a denomination and place of worship and a private religion, which may but need not allow the individual to participate communally. In the body of the book, Sprigge explores in detail the philosophical views of several thinkers of whom he approves to varying degrees and tries to show how the metaphysics each develops forms the basis for a philosophically-grounded religion for those who find the metaphysics convincing -- with modifications.
Sprigge begins with an extended discussion of my own favorite philosopher, Spinoza. He observes that Spinoza's system cannot be taken in its entirety today but that if thought through and modified it can and undoubtedly has supported a philosophically religious view of the world and of ethics for some readers. He follows Spinoza with a complex treatment of Hegel (mostly over-stepping Kant) of whom he is less fond. Sprigge considers Kierkegaard and his rejection of philosophical religion in the system of Hegel, with which Sprigge in part agrees while critiquing Kierkegaard's own religious approach in its turn. Then, Sprigge discusses two British idealists, T.H. Green and Bernard Bosanquet who are not much read today. He makes a case particularly for the insights of Green. Sprigge then turns to the American philosopher Josiah Royce, whom I have studied, and offers an unusual but sympathetic discussion of the development of his thinking. (Most Royce scholars prefer his latter work while Sprigge argues for the importance of Royce's early books.) The historical section of the book concludes with a chapter on the process philosophies of Whitehead and Hartshorne. The work of these thinkers is difficult in the extreme but their views still have adherents among religiously-oriented thinkers.
Throughout the exposition, Sprigge critiques what he finds to reject in the thinkers and praises what he finds valuable. Late in the book, Sprigge tries to develop his own pantheistic idealism which he says is based largely on an attempt to combine Spinoza with the British idealist F.H. Bradley who otherwise gets little attention in the text. As happens when I read idealistic arguments, I was left unconvinced by Sprigge's attempt to show the experiential character of all reality and the existence of an Absolute spirit. Although I am unable to follow Sprigge's own position, there is much in the book that is insightful and worthwhile in its approach and analysis. Much may be learned and much may be found inspiring. Readers will be challenged to think through and modify their own understandings through engagement with this book. I learned in particular from Sprigge's approach to Spinozistic religion and metaphysics.
In its vindication of metaphysics and its claim for the relation of religion and metaphysics, Sprigge is a mostly lonely voice. He doesn't consider some modern approaches considering both religion and science as somehow "narratives" to be used for their own purposes and in their own places, but this sort of approach would probably hold little appeal to him and holds little for me. Here is one of several passages in the book in which Sprigge summarizes well what he is about.
"There is this much in common, however, to all forms of absolute idealism, that they all decisively reject any sort of materialism. No description couched purely in the language of natural science can do justice to what a human being, or indeed an animal, truly is. And it is only in so far as we see others not merely as physical things (in any ordinary sense of 'physical') that we are likely to 'love our neighbors as ourselves'. Not that many of us can really claim to do this, if "neighbor" is taken in the sense indicated by the parable of the good Samaritan, but at least we can move further towards it on the basis of a non-physicalist conception of what each of us is. So in so far as a metaphysical position makes plain the falsehood of physicalism, it serves the cause of religion in the best sense."
In reading Sprigge's book, I was reminded of another recent study of the relationship between reason and religion. Carlos Fraenkel's book, "Philosophical Religions from Plato to Spinoza: Reason, Religion and Autonomy" (2013) is an equally wonderful exploration of the question. Fraenkel's book begins with the ancient Greeks and ends with --- Spinoza -- where Sprigge begins. Fraenkel tries to show the existence of a single philosophical religion underlying thinkers and reflective people from different times regardless of their outward creeds. These creeds and the stories and myths of texts are viewed as allegories or parables for the many people who lack the time, intellect, or inclination to probe to what underlies the stories or "narratives". Fraenkel's "reason" does not appear to be an idealistic reason in the way that Sprigge's is idealistic and pantheistic. But for those readers with a strong interest in metaphysics and religion, it is exhilarating and demanding to read and think about both books. Sprigge's book, as is Fraenkel's, is for readers, not necessarily professional philosophers, with a strong passion for the study of philosophy in its broadest, grandest sense and religion.
Robin Friedman
The French philosopher Pascal contrasted the god of the philosophers unfavorably with the God of Abraham. Many people have agreed with Pascal while others have tried to show a basic harmony between the teachings of reason and religion. The Scottish philosopher T.L.S. Sprigge (1932 -- 2007) falls into the latter category in a highly particular way. In a long career at the University of Edinburgh, Sprigge was an exponent of the philosophy of absolute idealism, which teaches, put simply, that all reality is spiritual or mental and is part of an Absolute mind. Early in the 20th century, absolute idealism went into a deep philosophical decline from which it has never recovered.
Sprigge's book "The God of Metaphysics" (2006) is a study of metaphysics, religion, and their value and interrelationship. The book is long and difficult but Sprigge makes clear that he hoped it would attract lay readers interested in the issues it addresses as well as professional philosophers. I read the book due to my interest in philosophy and religion and in idealism. I have studied at some length two of the philosophers Sprigge considers, Spinoza, and the American idealist Josiah Royce, while other thinkers were to varying degrees unfamiliar to me.
Sprigge does not try to prove the existence of God through the traditional philosophical arguments, such as the argument from design, the cosmological argument, the ontological argument. Rather he argues even more broadly for the existence of the Absolute which for some philosophers does some of the work of, say, the God of Christianity or Judaism, while for some other philosophers is different. As I mentioned, Sprigge's absolutism, which he calls "pantheistic idealism" is a distinctly minority position for philosophers, including theistically inclined philosophers and, I assume for theologians.
In the opening sections of the book, Sprigge discusses the nature of religion and why people find it important. He suggests that religion offers "a truth to live by" "which affects the way in which those who seriously believe in it live their lives." He distinguishes between a shared public religion evidenced by commitment to a denomination and place of worship and a private religion, which may but need not allow the individual to participate communally. In the body of the book, Sprigge explores in detail the philosophical views of several thinkers of whom he approves to varying degrees and tries to show how the metaphysics each develops forms the basis for a philosophically-grounded religion for those who find the metaphysics convincing -- with modifications.
Sprigge begins with an extended discussion of my own favorite philosopher, Spinoza. He observes that Spinoza's system cannot be taken in its entirety today but that if thought through and modified it can and undoubtedly has supported a philosophically religious view of the world and of ethics for some readers. He follows Spinoza with a complex treatment of Hegel (mostly over-stepping Kant) of whom he is less fond. Sprigge considers Kierkegaard and his rejection of philosophical religion in the system of Hegel, with which Sprigge in part agrees while critiquing Kierkegaard's own religious approach in its turn. Then, Sprigge discusses two British idealists, T.H. Green and Bernard Bosanquet who are not much read today. He makes a case particularly for the insights of Green. Sprigge then turns to the American philosopher Josiah Royce, whom I have studied, and offers an unusual but sympathetic discussion of the development of his thinking. (Most Royce scholars prefer his latter work while Sprigge argues for the importance of Royce's early books.) The historical section of the book concludes with a chapter on the process philosophies of Whitehead and Hartshorne. The work of these thinkers is difficult in the extreme but their views still have adherents among religiously-oriented thinkers.
Throughout the exposition, Sprigge critiques what he finds to reject in the thinkers and praises what he finds valuable. Late in the book, Sprigge tries to develop his own pantheistic idealism which he says is based largely on an attempt to combine Spinoza with the British idealist F.H. Bradley who otherwise gets little attention in the text. As happens when I read idealistic arguments, I was left unconvinced by Sprigge's attempt to show the experiential character of all reality and the existence of an Absolute spirit. Although I am unable to follow Sprigge's own position, there is much in the book that is insightful and worthwhile in its approach and analysis. Much may be learned and much may be found inspiring. Readers will be challenged to think through and modify their own understandings through engagement with this book. I learned in particular from Sprigge's approach to Spinozistic religion and metaphysics.
In its vindication of metaphysics and its claim for the relation of religion and metaphysics, Sprigge is a mostly lonely voice. He doesn't consider some modern approaches considering both religion and science as somehow "narratives" to be used for their own purposes and in their own places, but this sort of approach would probably hold little appeal to him and holds little for me. Here is one of several passages in the book in which Sprigge summarizes well what he is about.
"There is this much in common, however, to all forms of absolute idealism, that they all decisively reject any sort of materialism. No description couched purely in the language of natural science can do justice to what a human being, or indeed an animal, truly is. And it is only in so far as we see others not merely as physical things (in any ordinary sense of 'physical') that we are likely to 'love our neighbors as ourselves'. Not that many of us can really claim to do this, if "neighbor" is taken in the sense indicated by the parable of the good Samaritan, but at least we can move further towards it on the basis of a non-physicalist conception of what each of us is. So in so far as a metaphysical position makes plain the falsehood of physicalism, it serves the cause of religion in the best sense."
In reading Sprigge's book, I was reminded of another recent study of the relationship between reason and religion. Carlos Fraenkel's book, "Philosophical Religions from Plato to Spinoza: Reason, Religion and Autonomy" (2013) is an equally wonderful exploration of the question. Fraenkel's book begins with the ancient Greeks and ends with --- Spinoza -- where Sprigge begins. Fraenkel tries to show the existence of a single philosophical religion underlying thinkers and reflective people from different times regardless of their outward creeds. These creeds and the stories and myths of texts are viewed as allegories or parables for the many people who lack the time, intellect, or inclination to probe to what underlies the stories or "narratives". Fraenkel's "reason" does not appear to be an idealistic reason in the way that Sprigge's is idealistic and pantheistic. But for those readers with a strong interest in metaphysics and religion, it is exhilarating and demanding to read and think about both books. Sprigge's book, as is Fraenkel's, is for readers, not necessarily professional philosophers, with a strong passion for the study of philosophy in its broadest, grandest sense and religion.
Robin Friedman
August 28, 2023
Could have had more life in it. Much of this felt like the bookification of lecture notes. Spinoza is dry enough without overlaying a starkly analytical commentary. The long section on Whitehead is worth a look.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews