Demiurge and Deity: The Cosmical Theology of Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker

Demiurge and Deity: The Cosmical Theology of Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker

Joshua Hall

The University of Oxford

Abstract

This paper analyzes the nature of the Star Maker in Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker, as well as Stapledon’s exploration of the theological problem of evil, as compared with philosophical conceptions of God and their respective theodicies in the tradition of classical theism, as propounded by philosophers such as Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, Maimonides, Aquinas, and Avicenna. It argues that Stapledon’s philosophical divergence from classical theism entails that the Star Maker of the novel is more demiurge than true divinity, and that this divergence is integral to the basically amoral character of the Star Maker, as well as the purely aesthetic resolution of the problem of evil articulated in Star Maker. This analysis, in turn, will hopefully bear on future studies touching on the trope of quasi-divinities, evolved and contingent gods, present in the work of other SF authors.

Keywords: Olaf Stapledon, Star Maker, Metaphysics, Theodicy, Theology, Evil.

About the Author

Joshua Hall earned his Bachelor’s degree in Central and Southwest Asia studies and English literature at the University of Montana, and is currently a graduate student at the University of Oxford, pursuing an MPhil in Islamic studies and history. His chief scholarly interests include the Persian poetic tradition, translation and comparative literature, Islamic philosophy in its Neoplatonic and Aristotelian schools, and the academic study of the Bahá’í Faith. He has published in The Journal of Bahá’í Studies, where his article “Bahá’u’lláh and the God of Avicenna” discusses the Bahá’í reception of Avicenna’s metaphysical theology and his historic argument for the existence of God from contingency. At Oxford, Joshua intends to apply an interdisciplinary approach to the reading of medieval Persian poetry, particularly the lyric poems of Hafez, and to analyze the body of Hafez’s work in light of the Islamic mystical and philosophical traditions.

Website: https://joshuahalltranslations.com

Published: 2023 – 06 – 01