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. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Metaphysics (Greek words meta = after/beyond and physics = nature) is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of first principles and being (ontology). ... Pre-Socratic philosophers are often very hard to pin down, and it is sometimes very difficult to determine the actual line of argument they used in supporting their particular views. ... The Ionian School (occasionally known as the Milesian School), a type of Greek philosophy centred in Miletus, Ionia in the 6th and 5th centuries B.C., is something of a misnomer. ...

There are many basic cosmological positions that form the foundation of virtually all philosophies and religions. These include:

• Naturism: The universe is all that exists. Any God or gods are a product (derived) of the universe. (Western atheism) Some people confuse naturism with naturalism. The latter is a complete worldview, the former, a cosmological position. Cosmological naturism should also not be comfused wth the position that has one running around naked in the woods.
• Negationism: God does not exist, but is a mere illusion. The universe does not exist; it too is a mere illusion. Everything is mere illusion. (Eastern atheism)
• Pantheism: God and the universe have a one to one correspondence. (Hinduism)
• Panentheism: The entire universe is part of God, but God is greater than the universe. (Process theology)
• Dualism: There are two gods and the universe is a product of these gods. (Zoroastrianism, Plato)
• Godism: the universe is an illusion, only God is real and exists. (Eastern philosophy)
• Deism: 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.(Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin were part of the deist movement)
• Theism: God is the always existent, original being who created a universe intended to be known and creatures intended to know it. God is both transcendent and immanent regarding the creation.(Judaism, Islam and Christianity)
• Subjectivism: I am all that exists. (Solipsism)

These are the main heading. Most, if not all, have adherents with slight variations. Naturalism refers to a number of different topics: Naturalism (philosophy): the view that nothing exists but the natural universe, either methodologically or ontologically — that there are no supernatural entities or at least no observations that show them to exist. ... Negationism is the denial of historic crimes. ... Pantheism (Greek: pan = all and Theos = God) literally means God is All and All is God. It is the view that everything is of an all-encompassing immanent God; or that the universe, or nature, and God are equivalent. ... Hinduism (Sanskrit/Hindi: ; also known as Sanatana Dharma - , and Vaidika Dharma - ) is a worldwide religious tradition that is based on the Vedas, and is generally regarded as one of the oldest religions still practised in the world. ... Panentheism (Greek words: pan=all, en=in and Theos=God; all-in-God) is the view that God is immanent within all Creation or that God is the animating force behind the universe. ... Process theology (also known as Neoclassical theology) is a school of thought influenced by the metaphysical process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead (1861 - 1947). ... It has been suggested that Combative dualism be merged into this article or section. ... Faravahar (or Ferohar), the depiction of the human soul before birth and after death. ... Plato Plato (Greek: Πλάτων, Plátōn) (c. ... Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church refers to his beliefs as Godism. ... The usefulness of dividing philosophy into Western philosophy and other philosophies is open to challenge, not the least for speaking down to those other philosophies. ... Historical and modern Deism is defined by the view that reason, rather than revelation or tradition, should be the basis of belief in God. ... Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 N.S. – July 4, 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801–1809), author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founders of the United States. ... Portrait of Benjamin Franklin Dr. Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706–April 17, 1790) was an American journalist, publisher, author, philanthropist, abolitionist, public servant, scientist, librarian, diplomat, and inventor. ... Theism is the belief in one or more gods or goddesses. ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people, with around 14 million followers (as of 2005 [1]). It is one of the first recorded monotheistic faiths and one of the oldest religious traditions still practiced today. ... Islam (Arabic: ; ( (help· info)), submission (to the will of God)) is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions, and the worlds second-largest religion. ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life, teachings, and actions of Jesus, the Christ, as recounted in the New Testament. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Solipsism (from the Latin ipse = self and solus = alone) is the epistemological belief that ones self is the only thing that can be known with certainty and verified (sometimes called egoism). ...

See also

• Cosmogony
• Creationism
• Hylomorphism
• Mechanism (philosophy)
• Monism
• Pre-Socratic philosophy.

To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Creation of Light by Gustave Doré. In Abrahamic religions, creationism or creation theology is the origin belief that humans, life, the Earth, and the universe were created by a supreme being or deitys supernatural intervention. ... Hylomorphism (Greek υλο- hylo-, wood, matter + -morphism < Greek -μορφη, morph, form) is a philosophical concept that highlights the significance of matter in the composition of being, regarding matter to be as essential to a being as its form. ... In philosophy, mechanism is a theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes. ... Monism is the metaphysical and theological view that all is of one essential essence, principle, substance or energy. ... The Pre-Socratic philosophers were active before Socrates, who exerted tremendous influence on later thought. ...

External links

• Cosmology and Cosmogony at the Catholic Encyclopedia.