Supplementary materials for

Experiments in Mystical Atheism

Godless Epiphanies from Daoism to Spinoza and Beyond

by Brook Ziporyn

To address topics pertinent to the overall argument of the book but too intricate or delicate to be explored unintrusively within its physical confines, the author has added two online appendixes, available here for download as PDFs. Appendix A consists of twelve separate experimental essays of various lengths and depths, which are explicitly mentioned in the main text and endnotes at points where their content is of particular relevance. These are suggested additional readings that provide detailed interpretations of notable themes, thinkers, and religious figures, clarifying in detail how each of them would look in the light of the position developed in the book. An effort is made here to present at least some of the reasoning and evidence behind the portrayals of these topics, which might otherwise strike some readers as gratuitously controversial or contrarian, in the hopes of dispelling both misconstruals of the claims being made and any nagging sense of unaddressed objections and possible counterexamples to those claims. But they are also set off from the main text because they are truly “essays,” in the literal sense of “attempts”: somewhat speculative and tentative discussion-starters, endeavors to provide a voice for a neglected point of view, in the hope of giving it a seat at the table and complexifying a cultural conversation that might otherwise give a false appearance of unproblematic consensus and unanimity.

Online appendix B, “World Without Anaxagoras: Dispelling Superficial Resemblances,” is set apart in a different sense. It is one continuous piece of writing, parallel to Part Two of the book in offering detailed expositions of a number of specific systems of thought, but in this case systems of non-European origin, with particular focus on Chinese traditions, where non-theistic philosophical and religious speculation has historically been especially abundant. The intent is not only to offer a comprehensive account of these systems, but also to zero in on aspects of them that have been susceptible to interpretation in terms that assimilate them to monotheist ways of thinking, and to clarify why this should be deemed seriously misleading and regrettable.

Readers’ comments on this material, and on the book itself, are welcome. So are suggestions for revisions and adjustments to the arguments, indications of neglected evidence pro or con, or possible reservations and qualifications that might improve the conversation. All feedback can be submitted on the author’s website, “Moretoitivities,” where any future revisions or ruminations on these themes, if there are any, will also be posted: https://voices.uchicago.edu/ziporyn/