Worldbuilding: Religion and Philosophy

This is the start of a new series on Worldbuilding. It takes a lot in terms of inspiration and analysis, so it may be a slow burn, but I hope it’ll be useful to my fellow writers out there!

When building any speculative fiction world (mainly sci-fi/fantasy) it’s useful to come up with people’s beliefs. For thousands of years those beliefs have been intrinsically linked to religion. So let’s examine a real world example of a religious belief influencing a philosophy, then we can examine how to use this idea in our writing to create a more convincing world for our stories.

Religion Birthing Philosophy

Let’s begin with an example. The Birth of Athena is a story from the ancient Greeks, a tale where Zeus swallows whole a woman who would have given him a son that could overthrow him. Instead, because of his clever move, the child she would have had was born from his head.

Following this through, Socrates, in Plato’s “Theaetetus” says he considers himself an intellectual midwife. He assists in the birth of new ideas, not the teacher or educator who implants the idea.

The parallel here is obvious, especially in lieu of the idea that wisdom springs from the mind. Zeus birthed Athena, wisdom, from his head. As such, new ideas are born, not creatio ex nihilo.

The religious view specifically informs the epistemology of the Greek society. If we translate this to our writing, the people have a religion which has gods. These gods pass ideas through stories, and the stories form the basis of the philosophy. This informed philosophy is further than simply theories of knowledge, though.

Morality and Society from Religion

So how can this be used to make a realistic world in a story? I believe value systems are the key. The gods in these stories have certain values and the values inform the morality. From this moral foundation, a society, especially a fantasy/pre-industrial society, would set their entire social structure based on these values.

Religion in pre-industrial Earth created a shared set of values that informed societies. Some cultures shared ideas of fraternity, charity, and humility. Other cultures emphasized ideas of fairness and justice. The value hierarchy shapes the decisions made by a culture, from the presumption of innocence to property rights. It all stems from whatever base morality the society cherishes.

Let’s Build a World

In the case of a fantasy universe, we could create a bronze age society with a monotheistic religion. Because it’s monotheistic, the god is the truth and all else is false. Because of this they may value individualism as a philosophy over collectivism because the god is one individual. Because they value individualism, they may value the rights of kings and rulers over those of the whole society, since their god is a king over all.

But let’s shift this.
We’ve seen this religion before.

What if their god was dead? What if they had one god and the religion teaches he died and left mankind as the new rulers of the universe?

If their god can die, then anyone can die. Funerals are therefore extremely solemn. Perhaps there is no afterlife to them. They value passing things onto their children, as the god passed the universe onto them. If their children are more important, individual rights are valued but individual ambition is stifled. They think in terms of generations, instead of lives.

Governments are temporary now. Because their god can die, so also their king is not all powerful. The individual is cherished still, but the individual ruler is less important because a ruler can die.

What about science and technology? Because their god is not all powerful, the laws of the universe might be inconsistent. Their god did die, after all. So why bother learning these rules? Observation is irrelevant, since something might be different in the future. Nothing is certain. Thus, technology more advanced than the iron age may take millennia to achieve in this setting.

Would that not cause an entire society that would obsess over death? Would people see futility in achievement?

Now to hit the most important question…
what kind of a character would spring up in this hopeless place?

Conclusion

A religion can be extremely powerful for a setting, specifically where worldbuilding is concerned.

Always remember, there are “truths” set about by a religion that are then accepted and valued. This value hierarchy becomes the way a society’s people makes decisions. This impacts their day to day lives, their politics, and their future. Science and technology can be impacted.

I formulate it here as:
Religion > Philosophy > Values > Society > Governance

I hope this helps get you thinking. There’s no right or wrong way to formulate it, I just personally think in that way. In the future if you have any ideas for worldbuilding topics, comment or send me a message!

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You may like some of my other posts about writing:

Going from Outline to Manuscript

Revising Your First Draft Novel

Also check out my book reviews:

Book Review: Space Cadet by Robert Heinlein

Book Review: Slan by A. E. van Vogt

Book Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

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