I suspect most readers of this website are likely already acquainted with Deism, but I figure it would be prudent to use the first article on here to talk about it again. Deism is the belief in the existence of God. There are different types of Deists, but what usually unites those groups is a distrust in religious authority and divine revelation. This is also what differentiates us from Theists.
While Deism became most popular during the enlightenment, it is important to note that Deism has been around since humans started inquiry into the existence of God. Any attempted historical exposition on the origins of Deism is likely to be incomplete and we may never know who the first Deist was. In a way, that may lend credence to the position as Deism is supposed to be timeless and is not a historically or empirically contingent worldview.
Deists during the time of the enlightenment were distinguished from their religious counterparts by their distrust of organized religions and religious texts. It was their belief that religious doctrines were often times irrational, and logically contradictory. Since they used reason to arrive at these conclusions, they realized that they could reconstruct a more reliable worldview by using reason as the arbiter of human knowledge. Humans require reason to grasp and justify truths, and so religious "truths" that do not conform to reason cannot be accepted.
Herbert of Cherbury was the first well-known Deist author, and he posited his five common notions:
- There is one Supreme God.
- God ought to be worshipped.
- Virtue and piety are the main parts of divine worship.
- We ought to be remorseful for our sins and repent.
- Divine goodness dispenses rewards and punishments, both in this life and after it.
Herbert of Cherbury's notions were based upon a form of perennialism, and he stated that innate ideas existed within human minds which allowed these deductions. His approach was challenged by Empiricist authors such as John Locke and Thomas Paine who stated that innate ideas do not exist, and that observation of the natural world is required to deduce the existence of God. The rationalist-empiricist epistemological debate among Deists is one of the most important. I plan to dedicate a future article on this, as it would be too cumbersome to approach in this one.
Americans are often more well-acquainted with Deism than their international counterparts because of the Deist sympathies of some of the founding fathers. It is historically contentious whether or not they can be considered Deists but Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and George Washington are often talked about as Deists or as Deist-adjacent. Thomas Jefferson in particular is considered a de-facto Deist as he excerpted certain parts of the bible which contained miracles and divine intervention when compiling the Jefferson Bible. It would not be prudent to call Deism an American-centric philosophy though as it transcends human ontology and is not bound by time, or place.
I put particular emphasis on the transcendence of those limitations because they are important for contemporary Deists. Deism is certainly not as popular as it once was, but is neither dead, nor refuted. This website is an attempt to form a place where Deist thought can be read by those previously unfamiliar with it. It is my hope that more intellectually curious individuals are drawn to Deism as time goes on.