Tag Archives: Philosophy

The Fall

17 October 2024 By in History, Philosophy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Edward Gibbons’ epilogue to his book, “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”, mentions several factors that led to the collapse of the Empire:

  1. Barbarian Invasions: Incursions and settlements of Germanic tribes, Saxons, Huns, Alans, and others that overtaxed and weakened the Roman military and its infrastructure.
  2. Decline of Civic Virtue: Loss of a sense of civic duty and responsibility and the subsequent decay of public morality
  3. Christianity: Spiritual concerns took the focus away from civic duties. (Gibbons wasn’t an atheist but likely a deist or a detached Christian with a disdain for organized religion.)
  4. Economic Decay: The empire faced heavy taxation, inflation, and reliance on slave labor. Inflation was due to government corruption, excessive trade imports, military spending, and debasement of the currency.
  5. Political Corruption: A corrupt and unstable political system led to ineffective and nonsensical governance.
  6. Military Overextension: The Empire was too large to manage, resulting in an over-stretched military.

Marcus Aurelius in his book, “Meditations” also mentions the Antonine Plague years of 165-180 AD (a second outbreak occurring from 251-266 AD) as the primary cause of the Empire’s decline. The plague reduced Rome’s population, affecting its military’s ability to defend its borders, and the loss of labor to maintain its infrastructure.

Additional factors have also been mentioned by others, including: a disloyal military, civil wars, lead poisoning, and the always useful-climate change.

Source: “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” by Edward Gibbons, 1776-1788. “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius. Graphic: Destruction by Thomas Cole, 1836, from the series: The Course of Empire. New York Historical Society. Public Domain.

Amor Fati

13 October 2024 By in Biography, History, Philosophy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Marcus Aurelius in “Meditations” reflects and instructs continuously on living harmoniously within the constructs of the universe, nature, and reason.

His philosophical foundation, Stoicism, meant living virtuously and rationally within a structured system that he believed was a manifestation of “Logos”, the rational principle that governs the universe. “Logos” can be understood as a divine rationality or intelligence that permeates and directs the universe.

Reason or “Logos” is the central pillar of Stoicism and is the guiding principle that governs the universe. Rational thought, rather than emotional impulse, is about seeking wisdom, demonstrating courage, seeking justice, and exercising temperance: living virtuously.

Nature means understanding that everything in life is interconnected, that all life is part of a larger, harmonious system governed by reason.

The Universe, to Stoics, is a well-ordered system where all actions happen for a reason. Stoics believed that one must live in harmony with the universe and embrace “Amor Fati”, accepting fate and focusing only on matters within one’s control.

Source: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Friedrich Nietzsche.

Life Goes On

10 October 2024 By in Biography, History, Philosophy Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Marcus Aurelius, the last Stoic, stays his fear of death by believing that life’s pauses and changes are preludes to death of which we should not fear. He stated in Book IX of his Meditations: “[as you] …pass to the ages of your life, boyhood for instance, youth, manhood, old age; for each change of these was a death; was there anything to be afraid of?”

This comes directly from Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher and influencer of the first Stoic: Zeno, stating that, “The living and the dead, the sleeper and the watcher, the young and the old are the same.”

St. Augustine in Confessions rephrases Marcus and Heraclitus with the joyful question; “And lo! My infancy died long since, and I am alive… Declare to me, your suppliant, did my infancy succeed to some age of mine that is also dead?”

Joseph Butler, Christian apologist and philosopher, carries the thought to its logical conclusion, writing: “We have passed undestroyed through those many and great resolutions of matter, so peculiarly appropriated to us ourselves; why should we imagine death will be so fatal to us?”

Butler’s argument is that if we’ve survived many transformations throughout our lives, there’s no reason to believe that death would be our ultimate end. His view is grounded in the belief that our continued existence after death is consistent with the enduring nature of our existence during life.

Source: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, edited by Farquharson. Graphic: The Last Judgement by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel. Public Domain.

The Noble Lie

5 July 2024 By in History, Philosophy, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

In Plato’s Republic, a “Noble Lie” is a myth, or a falsehood knowingly propagated by the elites to maintain social harmony, or stated succinctly, to keep the plebs in their place and make sure they love it.

Plato believed that society required a class system led by philosophers who needed to create a lie that unites and binds the lower classes to the state. Without this binding myth the classes will turn on each other, and the government will fail.

The Noble Lie myth promoted by Plato, via Socrates, was that the populace was born with hierarchical souls with the upper classes having better souls. Another myth was Karl Marx stating, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs,” formulating a classless society where goods and services were free.

Source: Plato’s Republic. A Noble Lie by Plato Intelligence. Introduction to Plato: The Noble Lie by Paul Krause, 2019, Minerva Wisdom. Graphic: Socrates’ Address by Lebrun, 1867, public domain.

End Times for Socrates

22 June 2024 By in Philosophy, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Plato documents Socrates’ final days in four books all written as dialogues. The first dialogue, ensuing shortly before Socrates’ trial for impiety and corruption of Athenian youth occurs between Socrates and the Athenian prophet, Euthyphro, who together attempt to define piety without success.

The second book, Apology, Socrates defends himself to the Athenian court, poorly in all respects, purposefully one suspects, confessing that his life’s quest is one of seeking wisdom, nothing more.

Crito is the third book in this series, and it takes place in Socrates’ prison cell after he has been found guilty of his crimes with his execution scheduled for the next day. Crito, a wealthy friend of Socrates, has come to urge him to escape. Socrates refuses and the ensuing dialogue revolves around justice and the damage to one’s soul through the actions of injustice.

In the fourth book Phaedo, a Greek philosopher, visits on the day of Socrates’ execution, and has a discussion centered on the immortality of the soul. Socrates offers four arguments for why the soul must be eternal while the body is mortal, firmly imprinting the duality of nature into the human psyche for endless generations to come.

Source:  Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo by Plato, 4th century BC. Graphic: Statue of Socrates by Drosis, Athens, Classical Wisdom.

The First Precious

21 June 2024 By in Philosophy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Before the One Ring, created by Sauron during the Second Age, Plato created, as a thought experiment, the Ring of Gyges which gave its wearer the cloak of invisibility. Gyges discovered that when he was invisible, he could commit immoral acts and crimes without suffering any adverse consequences or retribution from society.

Plato in his Republic, using the ring of invisibility as an analogy, explores man’s ability to remain honest and moral in the face of immunity from all consequences. He concludes that if one is free of any consequences he will act in his own self-interest, justice be damned, or as the 19th century historian and writer, Lord Acton states, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

This leads Plato, through the lips of Socrates, to suggest that justice is not a social construct but an inherent quality of one’s soul. The soul must be in harmony with one’s actions and a harmonious soul contributes to a just society. Socrates believed and advised, and he followed his advice, that a harmonious and pure soul leads to true happiness and fulfillment or as the ancient Greeks called it: eudaimonia. For Aristotle eudaimonia is the highest human good and the only human good that is desirable for its own sake, an end in itself. Justice is a by-product of true happiness. Unhappy people and unhappy societies are not just people and just societies.

J.R.R. Tolkien, not only a writer but also a philologist, most certainly was aware of Plato’s Ring of Gyges as an analogy of ultimate power when he used his One Ring in the Lord of the Rings as the definitive symbol of man’s quest to resist and fight evil.

Source: The Republic by Plato. Reason and Meaning.com. Philosophy Terms. Oxford Reference. Graphic: The One Ring, Good Free Photos.

The Myth of Er

14 June 2024 By in History, Philosophy, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

In Plato’s Republic, and his Phaedo, the Myth of Er is recounted to explain the immortality of the soul and the importance of keeping one’s soul morally pure. Myth in this story doesn’t mean the fable or legend of Er but the word or account of Er.

In the Myth of Er a soldier killed in battle is taken to the afterlife where souls are judged for their actions on Earth. Er, though, rather than be judged, is allowed to witness the fate of new souls’ arrival and report his sights and experiences back to the people of Earth.

The judges send the good souls upward through the celestial spheres, which Plato modeled as the Spindle of Necessity; to further cleanse their souls so they can be sent back to Earth to inhabit a new body, forgetful of their past life. The bad souls descend into the ground and return dirty and tired where they are required to pay a penalty before returning to a new life on Earth. The truly evil are forever confined to the underground to be tormented until the end of time.  

In the Myth of Er the three Fates are responsible for weaving the threads of man’s destiny, maintaining the cycle of birth, experience, and death symbolized by the Spindle of Necessity.

Source: Greek Mythology.com. Plato’s Phaedo. Plato’s Republic Book 10. Epoch Times. Graphic: The Three Fates, painting by Paul Thumann, c. 1800s. Public Domain.

Pericles-Funeral Oration:

13 June 2024 By in Philosophy, Politics, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

At the end of first year of the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC Athenians held the customary public funeral to honor the soldiers who gave their lives in the war against Sparta. As Thucydides records in his “History of the Peloponnesian War” the funeral was a procession of citizens that ushered ten cypress coffins representing the ten Athenian tribes plus one more for the soldiers not recovered from the field of battle to the public graveyard at Ceramicus.

Thucydides further states that “When the bodies had been buried, it was customary for some wise and prudent notable and chief person of the city, preeminent in honor and dignity, before all the people to make a prayer in praise of the dead, and after doing this, each one returned to his House. That time to report the praises of the first who were killed in the war, Pericles, son of Xanthippus, was chosen; who, having finished the solemnities made in the tomb, climbed on a chair, from where all the people could see and hear him, and gave this discourse.”

Pericles’ speech was given not only as a tribute to the fallen, but a celebration of the Athenian citizens’ patriotism and urged them to honor the dead by continued support for the city and its democratic ideals.

The following is the first paragraph of the speech recorded by Thucydides:

Most of those who have spoken here before me have commended the lawgiver who added this oration to our other funeral customs. It seemed to them a worthy thing that such an honor should be given at their burial to the dead who have fallen on the field of battle. But I should have preferred that, when men’s deeds have been brave, they should be honored in deed only, and with such an honor as this public funeral, which you are now witnessing. Then the reputation of many would not have been imperiled on the eloquence or want of eloquence of one, and their virtues believed or not as he spoke well or ill. For it is difficult to say neither too little nor too much; and even moderation is apt not to give the impression of truthfulness. The friend of the dead who knows the facts is likely to think that the words of the speaker fall short of his knowledge and of his wishes; another who is not so well informed, when he hears of anything which surpasses his own powers, will be envious and will suspect exaggeration. Mankind are tolerant of the praises of others so long as each hearer thinks that he can do as well or nearly as well himself, but, when the speaker rises above him, jealousy is aroused and he begins to be incredulous. However, since our ancestors have set the seal of their approval upon the practice, I must obey, and to the utmost of my power shall endeavor to satisfy the wishes and beliefs of all who hear me.

Source: Richard Hooker, 1996, University of Minnesota, Human Rights Library. Graphic: Pericles Funeral Oration by Philipp Foltz, 1877, Public domain.

Phaedo

26 May 2024 By in Philosophy, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Phaedo is the fourth and final Socratic dialogue by Plato (the others being Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito) discussing the day Socrates was put to death by the Athenian state. Phaedo, who was with Socrates on the day of his death, is in the Greek city of Phlius at a later time and is asked by his friend Echecrates to tell him all about that eventful day.

The dialogue begins with Socrates proposing that a philosopher should look forward to death, but it is immoral for one to take his own life. He posits that the soul is immortal and one’s life should be geared to keeping one’s soul pure. He then provides three, or four depending on interpretations, arguments for the immortality of the soul. First, he puts forth the cyclical argument that death follows life which is followed by death and so on. Second, he proposes that we are born knowing what our souls knew before birth, we just can’t remember it until the proper questions are raised. Finally, Socrates puts forth the Affinity argument which states that the body is mortal and visible, and the soul is immortal and invisible.

After these arguments Socrates introduces Forms, actually a Platonic idea, the fourth argument according to some, sometimes known as the two-world theory where reality is set against what our senses tell us. Our senses give us a visible but imperfect perception of the world as opposed to Forms which are only conceived in one’s mind and are invisible and unchanging.

At the end of the dialog Socrates tells his audience the myth of Er, a discussion of where to soul goes upon death. He then says his goodbyes, drinks hemlock, and slowly dies.

The Phaedo is more a compilation of Plato’s beliefs than a thorough discussion of Socratic philosophy, especially the discussions of Forms.

Source: Ancient Greek Philosophers, translated by Benjamin Jowett, published 2018. Phaedo by Tim Connolly, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Graphic: Copy of a Bust of Plato, original by Silanion. Photo of bust by Nguyen, 2009.

Resilience and Patience

2 May 2024 By in Books Nonfiction, Philosophy, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Epictetus was a 1st and 2nd century AD Greek Stoic who lived a simple life and taught philosophy at his school in Nicopolis, Greece. No writings of his have survived, if there were any to begin with, but his pupil Arrian captured his teachings and collected them into two separate works: The Discourses and the Enchiridion.

In The Enchiridion Epictetus briefly discusses 52 or 53 maximums or rules a practicing Stoic should live by with the first and main rule being that you should “only concern yourself with matters that you can control.” Everything else is irrelevant to living a pleasant life.

Stoicism is the philosophy of resilience and patience. Adherents believed in leading a life of virtue, which one did by acquiring wisdom, exhibiting courage, practicing temperance, and promoting justice.

Famous Stoics throughout Greek and Roman history include Zeon of Citium, Eratosthenes of Alexandria, Lucius Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius.

Source: The Enchiridion by Epictetus/Arrian, translated by Elizabeth Carter contained within Ancient Greek Philosophers, published 2018. Graphic of Epictetus by William Sonmans 1715, public domain.