Philosophies of the Axial Age
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Questions and Answers

What is the Axial Age?

The Axial Age is a period from roughly the 7th - 3rd centuries, BCE, when most of the worlds existent theologies and philosophies and science are born, developed and/or written down.

Which of these philosophies of history are most common?

  • Existentialist
  • Cyclical (correct)
  • Apocalyptic (correct)
  • Pragmatic (correct)
  • Soteriological (correct)

What is the Soteriological view of history?

The past leads to a future salvation (views of Salvation, heaven and Nirvana).

What is the Apocalyptic view of history?

<p>The past leads to a future collapse.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Pragmatic view of history?

<p>Present problems are solved only give way to future problems.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Cyclical view of history?

<p>The past is repeated in the future.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of these are views on how history is made?

<p>Systemic view (A), Actor/Agent centered view (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Actor/Agent centered view of history?

<p>People make history, situations we are in now are a result of the choices people have made.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Systemic view of history?

<p>History is a product of systems/ forces that are beyond human control (i.e History makes people).</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does a Pragmatist focus on?

<p>How human beings solve &quot;material problems&quot;.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What do Systematists focus on?

<p>What system made genius’ possible and necessary.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the defining characteristic of the Paleolithic age?

<p>Climate induced poverty, form bands bonded by affection, key to survival is cooperation via emotional bonds.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following were Paleolithic philosophies?

<p>Shamanism (B), Animism (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Animism?

<p>The belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the intentional stance?

<p>Nature is explained in terms of the intentions of gods that occupy or represent natural object (explanation of behavior in terms of thoughts, beliefs, feelings, etc.).</p> Signup and view all the answers

What problem did the Neolithic age pose?

<p>The economy of scale, there was now a surplus.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the solution to the problem posed by the Neolithic age?

<p>Structure founded on shared belief/knowledge not on emotion.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the new coordination problem brought about by the Neolithic age?

<p>Larger scale human societies, in cities, with more people working at more diverse, specialized tasks, produces a new problem: how to coordinate human activity when emotional bonds can no longer do so.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the meaning of the Ten Commandments?

<p>A set of rules that is God saying to respect him and each other.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are Belief Systems?

<p>faith-based monotheism that is less anthropormorphic.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are Moral/Political Systems?

<p>Seeks universal standards of justice and rigidly hierarchical.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of these are systems that help control and maintain connections in evolving times?

<p>Belief Systems (C), Moral/Political Systems (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why is there one god?

<p>No othering, everyone can be people of the book.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the gist of the 10 Commandments?

<p>Respect authority, respect property.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the cataclysmic conflict that led to the 10 commandments?

<p>Babylonian captivity of the Jewish people, writing down the commandments bonded the Jewish people when they were diasporic.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Divine Command Theory?

<p>Morality is determined by the commands of God.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Divine Command Theory's Dilemma?

<p>Does God pick the 10 commandments because they are good, just, right, true, etc.? If so, then God is unnecessary? Something else makes the 10 commandments good, just, right, true, etc.? Or is it that God picks them that makes them good, just, right, true, etc.? If so, then God is arbitrary. Some other rules could have been good, just, right, true, etc.? God, it seems, is either unnecessary or arbitrary.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the concept of God as a perfect being?

<p>Now that the God of monotheism plays the key role in modeling and underwriting an idealized human conduct, God's qualities must change, God becomes increasingly perfect!</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Cyrenaic Hedonism?

<p>Act always to maximize intense, physical, pleasure now.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the cataclysmic conflict of Epicurean hedonism?

<p>Rise and Fall of Alexander the Great, great upheaval and violence.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Epicurean Hedonism?

<p>Act always to maximize your own physical and emotional pleasures over the long term.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the three types of desire?

<p>Natural and Necessary: We need them to live (i.e water, food); Natural and Unnecessary, we don't need them to live, just disappointed ( fine food, luxurious houses); Unnatural: pleasures derived from social standing (power rank, position).</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Consequentialism?

<p>Each action must be judged in term of how much pleasure it produces,</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Logical entailment?

<p>The relationship between beliefs such that if one or a set of beliefs is all true, then another must be true (If you accept the truth of whats higher up in the system, then you must accept the truth of what is lower down).</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Epicurean Social Contract Theory?

<p>Starting with empiricism and his version of physicalism (known as Atomism) epicurus derives both a way for the individual to live (a morality) and a justification for a certain social/political order, Effectively, according to epicurus society and the state exists purely to keep the individual safe from harm, This justification for society and the state has come to be called &quot;social contract theory&quot;.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What did Epicurus think of love and friendship?

<p>A necessary evil.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Buddhism is a rules-based philosophy.

<p>True (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the cataclysmic event that led to the rise of Buddhism?

<p>Arised at a time where older belief systems were becoming less viable, increased trading, increased poverty.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Goal of Buddhism?

<p>Escaping Samsara, reaching Nirvana.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Samsara?

<p>The cycle of birth, growth, decay, and death and rebirth.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why do Buddhists seek to escape Samsara?

<p>Focused on desire leaves us focused on what we lack, focused on what we lack is to suffer.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the three ways to escape Samsara?

<p>Eliminate the self (B), Eliminate/control desire (C), Change our view of the self (E)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How does changing our view of the self help us escape Samsara?

<p>Rather than stay focused on what we lack, we focus on what we are; can be done through meditation, Buddha views this as evasion rather than elimination.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How does eliminating or controlling desire help escape Samsara?

<p>If we eliminate or drastically reduce desire, we will not spend our time focused on what we lack; minimized desire means we are still focused on what we desire (like a diet and cravings).</p> Signup and view all the answers

How does eliminating the self help escape Samsara?

<p>Rather than search for the permanent in us, he accepts that the self is impermanent and constantly changing; The existence of a permanent self is an illusion, and if we escape that illusion, then we escape the &quot;cycle of desire&quot; by eliminating the first part.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the common way to achieve the Buddhist goal?

<p>Follow this recipe (dharma) and you will do your duty (karma) thus you will get closer to wisdom in the next life.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the Four Noble Truths?

<ol> <li>there is suffer: the cycle of desire; 2: there is an original cause of suffering: belief in the permanency of the self; 3: there is a cessation of suffering: understanding the self is an illusion; 4: there is a path to the cessation of suffering :the eightfold path.</li> </ol> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Eightfold Path?

<p>Buddhism's rules to enlightenment (Buddhist Ten Commandments).</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Sangha?

<p>Buddhist community.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the similarity between Epicurean Hedonism and Buddhism?

<p>Solitary element.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Buddhist System?

<p>Epistemology: Cognitivism (e.g 89), Truth is available to those who seek; don't need to be specifically chosen by anyone, A certain level of education is required, and level from freedom from Samsara, Metaphysics: Process Philosophy, Change is fundamental, Reality is constantly in process (i.e changing), Morality: Deontological Renunciation (e.g. 84), Deontological: actions are either good or bad according to a set of rules, Based off of the intent— if the intent was good, so was the act, All about meaning well, Have to do the 8-fold path without the goal of Nirvana, Want to be a nice person not to escape Samsara, but because you want to be a nice person (i.e no ulterior motive), Aesthetics: ?, Politics: Communitarianism (e.g. 197-202), If you surround someone with the good— they will be good—if you surround some with the bad— they will be bad.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of these philosophers are associated with wisdom-based systems?

<p>Confucius (A), Plato (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What do wise rulers believe about rules?

<p>For the virtuous, rules are unnecessary, For the vicious, rules are useless.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How are Socrates and Plato connected?

<p>Plato wrote what Socrates said down.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why does Plato blame the citizenry for Socrates’ execution?

<p>Plato agrees that Socrates’ execution was politically motivated, but what had happened to the citizens that allowed them to be so corrupt, Plato's answers: the sophists.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are Sophists?

<p>Group of itinerant (traveling) teachers who teach rhetoric (persuasive speech), They claim to be able to teach a citizen how to &quot;make the weaker case the stronger&quot;,</p> Signup and view all the answers

How does Plato define knowledge?

<p>A belief (a claim about the world that is) true (a correspondence between that belief and the world that is) justified (proof or evidence of the correspondence).</p> Signup and view all the answers

Plato believes that math is knowledge.

<p>True (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the Forms?

<p>A set of objects that do not change.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Plato believes that we have knowledge of types.

<p>True (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Plato's The Line?

<p>Reality is composed of 4 levels, Each level is logically and causally dependent upon the one above, If the one above did not exist, the one below could not exist, But this relationship is asymmetrical, The one above could exist without the one below.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the lowest level on The Line?

<p>Likeness (e.g Paintings, pictures, drawings)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Allegory of the Cave?

<p>All human beings start out at the bottom of the cave, Some humans manage to escape, When they do, they come to have knowledge, not mere opinion.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Ladder of Love?

<p>Love of the physical beauty shared by many individuals— erotic love, Love of physical beauty in another individual— erotic love, ↓ Love of Beauty in Customs and Institutions, Love of intellectual beauty in individuals, ↓ Love of beauty itself... what all of the beautiful objects below shared, Love of beauty in knowledge, When you go up the ladder you leave behind pain.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the reasons to leave the Cave?

<p>The cave is the realm of love and loss, birth, decay and death, The cave is therefore filled with pleasure and pain, satisfaction and dissatisfaction, In other words, the cave is samsara, Diotima offers is a way not to lose the self, What Diotima offers is a way to possess what you desire forever!</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Plato's The Chariot?

<p>The Charioteer: Reason, The Bad Horse of Desire, The good horse of will, Each part of the person has its proper purpose; desire must be informed by and controlled by other parts of the chariot, In order for the chariot to move; the horse must both be going in the direction under the guidance of the charioteer, Intellect must dominate, be it also needs will.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the message of Plato’s The Chariot?

<p>In order to escape the cave, we must put reason in control of the self, This is not an abandonment of self, It is a reconfiguration of self, If we follow desire, then we are doomed to stay in the cave, If we follow reason, then there is the possibility of escape.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the roles of philosophers in Plato's world?

<p>Call those who have already escaped the cave &quot;philosophers&quot;, As far as plato is concerned, philosophers, for their own good, must return to the cave to try and do two things: Determine who in the cave can get out, Tell those who cannot get out, for the good of everyone, what to believe and how to behave</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is The Myth of the Metals?

<p>Gold (Represents intellect/reason), Silver (Represents will), Bronze (represents desire), Some people have more gold than others, Reason works with will to dominate desire.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the jobs of the different metals in Plato’s myth?

<p>Gold: rulers, Silver: soldiers, Bronze: everything else</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the structure of Plato's ideal state?

<p>It is hierarchical (guardians→ soldiers→ workers), It is elitist, It is paternalist (the people at the top function as parents), It is authoritarian, Not an inherited power structure.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are Plato's views on equality?

<p>All inequalities are done away with; but there is inequality based on &quot;metal&quot;.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are Plato's views on art and aesthetics?

<p>All expression, including that of artists , must be strictly controlled, Art must become an engine of propaganda for the state, This will be the one way the population who is not Gold can be controlled.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Plato's System?

<p>Epistemology: Rationalism: believe pure reason, Metaphysics: Dualism: Reality is bifurcated, Morality: Deontology: Do your duty, In order to be a good person we must do our duty, Duty is defined by following what reason tells us, Politics: Paternalism: Follow Authority, Allegory of the metals, Aesthetics: Communitarian: Art must lie well, His view of art is that it is a lie that can serve us badly or well, Noble Lie: if it can attach people to this system; it does work, Only good art is art that binds people together.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the cataclysmic event that influenced Plato?

<p>Polypennesian war.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the cataclysmic event that influenced Confucius?

<p>Zhou dynasty, warring states period.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What did Confucius believe about the different zones in society?

<p>Emphasis on one zone will produce disharmony and imbalance.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Li?

<p>Translated as ritual what is meant by ritual is something more like civility or etiquette.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are Confucius’ thoughts on equality?

<p>Everyone is equally deserving of respect, everyone is morally equally (unless they are failing to perform Li with Ren); but everyone is not equal.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why can Confucius be described as a Historicist?

<p>To live in our own time we must compare, via analogy, our time with the ideal past, The harmony of today, in every zone, depends upon each of us living how people like us lived in a previously harmonious time, The central subject is history.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Confucian system?

<p>Epistemology: Historicist, To know in our time we have to look to the past, Metaphysic: Naturalist, Not a big emphasis on the supernatural Historically inflected, supernatural doesn't play the pivotal role that it plays for others, Not concerned so much with the transcendent as with whats around, Not concerned so much with the transcendent as with whats around, Morality: Deontologist, Performance of duty is important, Doing your duty given your role in a zone, Performing your duty well is in light of history (whether you are doing it well), Aesthetics: Classicist, Art in terms of a set of classics See valuable art as a manifestation of those classics, The role of art is to be innkeeping with the spirit of the past, Politics: Paternalist, The state is about a certain paternal relationship.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the cataclysmic event for Taoism?

<p>Increase technology, increase war, same time as Confucius.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Taoism is a practice-based philosophy.

<p>True (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Tao or The Way?

<p>The Metaphysical Interpretation: that the Tao is a thing or substance (e.g. 7, 16), 2. Al's Epistemic Interpretation: that the Tao is about a way of knowing (e.g 14, 17), We are going to focus on interpretation 2.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the difference between Knowledge That and Knowledge How?

<p>Knowledge that fails to provide knowledge how (ex. Cooking based upon a recipe, Dancing based upon counting steps, Sport performance and coaching).</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Tao as Knowledge How?

<p>The Taoist Master is a moral coach, 1: Do not find the Tao in talk 56: The genuine master is somebody who can do the thing.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Knowlege How?

<p>Practice.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the death of Knowledge How?

<p>Self consciousness.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How do people gain Knowledge How in Taoism?

<p>Practice and not forcing it.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Flashcards

Axial Age

Period from roughly the 7th - 3rd centuries, BCE, when most of the worlds existent theologies and philosophies and science are born, developed and/or written down

Soteriological

The past leads to a future salvation (views of Salvation, heaven and Nirvana)

Apocalyptic

The past leads to a future collapse

Pragmatic

Present problems are solved only give way to future problems

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Cyclical

The past is repeated in the future

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Actor/Agent centered view

people make history, situations we are in now are a result of the choices people have made

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Systemic view

history is a product of systems/ forces that are beyond human control (i.e History makes people)

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Pragmatist

how human beings solve "material problems"

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systematists

what system made genius' possible and necessary

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The Paleolithic age

climate induced poverty, form bands bonded by affection, key to survival is cooperation via emotional bonds

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Animism

the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence

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Shamanism

the practice of part-time religious specialists who establish and maintain personal relations with specific spirit beings through the use of controlled and culturally scripted altered states of consciousness

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The intentional stance

Nature is explained in terms of the intentions of gods that occupy or represent natural object (explanation of behavior in terms of thoughts, beliefs, feelings, etc.)

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What problem did the Neolithic age pose?

the economy of scale, there was now a surplus

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Answer to Neolithic's problem?

structure founded on shared belief/knowledge not on emotion

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The Ten Commandments

a set of rules that is God saying to respect him and each other

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Belief Systems

faith-based monotheism that is less anthropormorphic

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Moral/Political Systems

seeks universal standards of justice and rigidly hierarchical

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What is the gist of the 10 Commandments?

respect authority, respect property

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Divine Command Theory

morality is determined by the commands of God

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Divine Command Theory's Dilemma

Does God pick the 10 commandments because they are good, just, right, true, etc.? If so, then God is unnecessary? SOmething else makes the 10 commandments good, just, right, true, etc.? Or is it that God picks them that makes them good, just, right, true, etc.? If so, then God is arbitrary. Some other rules could have been good, just, right, true, etc.? God, it seems, is either unnecessary or arbitrary.

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God as a perfect being

Now that the God of monotheism plays the key role in modeling and underwriting an idealized human conduct, God's qualities must change God becomes increasingly perfect!

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Hedonism

act always to produce pleasure

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Cyrenaic Hedonism

act always to maximize intense, physical, pleasure now

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Epicurean Hedonism

Act always to maximize your own physical and emotional pleasures over the long term

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Three Types of Desire

Natural and Necessary: We need them to live (i.e water, food); Natural and Unnecessary, we don't need them to live, just disappointed ( fine food, luxurious houses); Unnatural: pleasures derived from social standing (power rank, position)

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Logical entailment

the relationship between beliefs such that if one or a set of beliefs is all true, then another must be true (If you accept the truth of whats higher up in the system, then you must accept the truth of what is lower down)

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Epicurean Social Contract Theory

Starting with empiricism and his version of physicalism (known as Atomism) epicurus derives both a way for the individual to live (a morality) and a justification for a certain social/political order Effectively, according to epicurus society and the state exists purely to keep the individual safe from harm This justification for society and the state has come to be called "social contract theory"

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Epicurus' view on love and friendship

a necessary evil

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Is Buddhism rules, wisdom, or practice based?

Rules

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Samsara

the cycle of birth, growth, decay, and death and rebirth

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Why escape Samsara?

Focused on desire leaves us focused on what we lack, focused on what we lack is to suffer

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Three Ways to escape Samsara

Change our view of the self, eliminate/control desire, eliminate the self

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Change our view of the self

rather than stay focused on what we lack, we focus on what we are; can be done through meditation, Buddha views this as evasion rather than elimination

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Eliminate, control or minimize desire

If we eliminate or drastically reduce desire, we will not spend our time focused on what we lack; minimized desire means we are still focused on what we desire (like a diet and cravings)

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Eliminate the self

Rather than search for the permanent in us, he accepts that the self is impermanent and constantly changing; The existence of a permanent self is an illusion, and if we escape that illusion, then we escape the "cycle of desire" by eliminating the first part

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The Common Way to achieve the Buddhist goal

follow this recipe (dharma) and you will do your duty (karma) thus you will get closer to wisdom in the next life

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The Four Noble truths

  1. there is suffer: the cycle of desire; 2: there is an original cause of suffering: belief in the permanency of the self; 3: there is a cessation of suffering: understanding the self is an illusion; 4: there is a path to the cessation of suffering :the eightfold path
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The eightfold path

buddhism's rules to enlightenment (buddhist Ten Commandments)

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sangha

buddhist community

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Similarity between Epicurean Hedonism and Buddhism

solitary element

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Buddhism System

Epistemology: Cognitivism (e.g 89) Truth is available to those who seek; don't need to be specifically chosen by anyone A certain level of education is required, and level from freedom from Samsara Metaphysics: Process Philosophy Change is fundamental Reality is constantly in process (i.e changing) Morality: Deontological Renunciation (e.g. 84) Deontological: actions are either good or bad according to a set of rules Based off of the intent— if the intent was good, so was the act All about meaning well Have to do the 8-fold path without the goal of Nirvana Want to be a nice person not to escape Samsara, but because you want to be a nice person (i.e no ulterior motive) Aesthetics: ? Politics: Communitarianism (e.g. 197-202) If you surround someone with the good— they will be good—if you surround some with the bad— they will be bad

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Wisdom based systems

Plato and Confucius

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Wise rulers attitude towards rules

For the virtuous, rules are unnecessary For the vicious, rules are useless

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How are socrates and plato connected?

Plato wrote what socrates said down

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Why does Plato blame the citizenry?

Plato agrees that socrates execution was politically motivated, but what had happened to the citizens that allowed them to be so corrupt Plato's answers: the sophists

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Sophists

Group of itinerant (traveling) teachers who teach rhetoric (persuasive speech) They claim to be able to teach a citizen how to "make the weaker case the stronger"

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How does Plato define knowledge?

A belief (a claim about the world that is) true (a correspondence between that belief and the world that is) justified (proof or evidence of the correspondence)

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Plato believes what about math

Math is knowledge; one truth and knowledge--- proves relativism false

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What are the forms?

a set of objects that do not change

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We have knowledge of types

This knowledge cannot be learned from experience because we need this knowledge in order to have experience We must obtain knowledge of types directly, and before we are born (all knowledge is recollection, recalling things, not learning new things) Thus... both we and the types must exist outside and independent of the spatio-temporal world we experience, call this the "realm of the forms"

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Plato's The Line

Reality is composed of 4 levels Each level is logically and causally dependent upon the one above If the one above did not exist, the one below could not exist But this relationship is asymmetrical The one above could exist without the one below

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Lowest level on the Line

Likeness (e.g Paintings, pictures, drawings)

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The allegory of the cave

All human beings start out at the bottom of the cave Some humans manage to escape When they do, they come to have knowledge, not mere opinion

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Ladder of Love

Love of the physical beauty shared by many individuals— erotic love Love of physical beauty in another individual— erotic love ↓ Love of Beauty in Customs and Institutions Love of intellectual beauty in individuals ↓ Love of beauty itself... what all of the beautiful objects below shared Love of beauty in knowledge When you go up the ladder you leave behind pain

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Reasons to leave the Cave

The cave is the realm of love and loss, birth, decay and death The cave is therefore filled with pleasure and pain, satisfaction and dissatisfaction In other words, the cave is samsara Diotima offers is a way not to lose the self What Diotima offers is a way to possess what you desire forever!

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The Chariot- Plato

The Charioteer: Reason The Bad Horse of Desire The good horse of will Each part of the person has its proper purpose; desire must be informed by and controlled by other parts of the chariot In order for the chariot to move; the horse must both be going in the direction under the guidance of the charioteer Intellect must dominate, be it also needs will

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Message of the Chariot

In order to escape the cave, we must put reason in control of the self This is not an abandonment of self It is a reconfiguration of self If we follow desire, then we are doomed to stay in the cave If we follow reason, then there is the possibility of escape

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What are the roles of philosophers in Plato's world?

Call those who have already escaped the cave "philosophers" As far as plato is concerned, philosophers, for their own good, must return to the cave to try and do two things: Determine who in the cave can get out Tell those who cannot get out, for the good of everyone, what to believe and how to behave

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The Myth of the Metals

Gold (Represents intellect/reason) Silver (Represents will) Bronze (represents desire) Some people have more gold than others Reason works with will to dominate desire

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What are the jobs of the different metals?

Gold: rulers Silver: soldiers Bronze: everything else

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What is the structure of Plato's ideal state?

It is hierarchical (guardians→ soldiers→ workers) It is elitist It is paternalist (the people at the top function as parents) It is authoritarian Not an inherited power structure

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Plato on Equality

all inequalities are done away with; but there is inequality based on "metal"

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Plato's view on art and aesthetics?

All expression, including that of artists , must be strictly controlled Art must become an engine of propaganda for the state This will be the one way the population who is not Gold can be controlled

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Plato's System

Epistemology: Rationalism: believe pure reason Metaphysics: Dualism: Reality is bifurcated Morality: Deontology: Do your duty In order to be a good person we must do our duty Duty is defined by following what reason tells us Politics: Paternalism: Follow Authority Allegory of the metals Aesthetics: Communitarian: Art must lie well His view of art is that it is a lie that can serve us badly or well Noble Lie: if it can attach people to this system; it does work Only good art is art that binds people together

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Cataclysmic event for Plato?

Polypennesian war

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Cataclysmic event for Confucius?

Zhou dynasty, warring states period

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What did Confucius believe about the zones?

emphasis on one zone will produce disharmony and imbalance

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Li

translated as ritual what is meant by ritual is something more like civility or etiquette

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Ren

translated as virtue, speaks to the internal component of Li

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Junzi

translated often as "gentlemen" this is a gendered notion in Confucius that it need not be

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Confucius on Equality

Everyone is equally deserving of respect, everyone is morally equally (unless they are failing to perform Li with Ren); but everyone is not equal

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Confucius as a Historicist

To live in our own time we must compare, via analogy, our time with the ideal past The harmony of today, in every zone, depends upon each of us living how people like us lived in a previously harmonious time The central subject is history

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Confucian system

Epistemology: Historicist To know in our time we have to look to the past Metaphysic: Naturalist Not a big emphasis on the supernatural Historically inflected, supernatural doesn't play the pivotal role that it plays for others Not concerned so much with the transcendent as with whats around Morality: Deontologist Performance of duty is important Doing your duty given your role in a zone Performing your duty well is in light of history (whether you are doing it well) Aesthetics: Classicist Art in terms of a set of classics See valuable art as a manifestation of those classics The role of art is to be innkeeping with the spirit of the past Politics: Paternalist The state is about a certain paternal relationship

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Caclysmist even of tao

increase technology, increase war, same time as Confucius

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What is the Tao or The Way?

The Metaphysical Interpretation: that the Tao is a thing or substance (e.g. 7, 16) 2. Al's Epistemic Interpretation: that the Tao is about a way of knowing (e.g 14, 17) We are going to focus on interpretation 2

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Knowledge That vs Knowledge How

Knowledge that fails to provide knowledge how (ex. Cooking based upon a recipe Dancing based upon counting steps Sport performance and coaching)

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The Tao as Knowledge How

The Taoist Master is a moral coach 1: Do not find the Tao in talk 56: The genuine master is somebody who can do the thing

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Knowlege How

practice

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What is the death of knowledge how

self consciousness

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How to gain knowledge how?

practice and not forcing it

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Study Notes

Axial Age Philosophies

  • Axial Age (roughly 7th-3rd centuries BCE) marked a period where significant theologies, philosophies, and scientific ideas emerged and were recorded.

Four Common Philosophies of History

  • Soteriological: Focuses on past events leading to future salvation.
  • Apocalyptic: Emphasizes the past as leading to future collapse.
  • Cyclical: Suggests history repeats itself.
  • Pragmatic: Views present problems as solved only to create future problems.

Actor/Agent-Centered vs. Systemic View

  • Actor/Agent-Centered View: Focuses on how individual choices shape history.
  • Systemic View: Emphasizes the influence of larger systems and forces beyond human control.

Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages

  • Paleolithic Age: Characterized by climate-induced poverty, small bands bonded by affection, and survival reliant on cooperation. Key philosophies were Animism and Shamanism.
  • Animism: Belief that objects and creatures possess spirits.
  • Shamanism: Practice of religious specialists who interact with spirits.
  • Neolithic Age: Introduced the problem of surplus resources as a driving force. Solutions were based on shared beliefs and formal structures to manage increased populations.

Types and Purposes of Belief Systems

  • Belief Systems: Faith-based monotheism, less anthropomorphic, evolving to emphasize perfection.
  • Moral/Political Systems: Seek universal justice and rigid hierarchy.
  • Controlling and Maintaining Connections: Belief systems and moral/political systems evolved to manage human interactions in growing complex societies.

Divine Command Theory

  • Divine Command Theory: Morality comes from divine commands.
  • Dilemma: Is something inherently good, or does a god's decree make it good? Is God necessary or arbitrary?

Hedonistic Philosophies

  • Hedonism: Act to maximize pleasure.
  • Cyrenaic Hedonism: Prioritize intense, physical, immediate pleasure.
  • Epicurean Hedonism: Prioritizes long-term physical and emotional pleasure.
  • Three Types of Desire: Natural and Necessary, Natural and Unnecessary, Unnatural.
  • Consequentialism (Epicureanism): Judge actions based on pleasure produced.
  • Social Contract Theory (Epicureanism): Society exists to protect individuals from harm.
  • Love & Friendship (Epicureanism): Viewed as a necessary evil.

Buddhism

  • Goal: Escape Samsara (cycle of rebirth) and reach Nirvana (enlightenment).
  • Samsara: Cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
  • Ways to Escape Samsara: Change self-view, eliminate desire, eliminate the self.

Buddhist System

  • Epistemology: Cognitivism emphasizes attainable truth through seeking.
  • Metaphysics: Process philosophy emphasizes change and constant process.
  • Morality: Deontological renunciation, where actions judged by intent and duty is without ulterior motives.
  • Politics: Communitarianism, a principle of positive influence in the community around you.

Plato

  • Knowledge: Justified true belief.
  • Forms: Abstract, unchanging, ideal types that exist outside the physical world.
  • The Line: Four levels of reality, ascending from likenesses to forms.
  • Allegory of the Cave: Depicts passage from ignorance to knowledge.
  • Ladder of Love: Ascend through different types of love to apprehend universal beauty.
  • Chariot Analogy: Reason controls desire and will.
  • The Myth of the Metals: Justifies social hierarchy.
  • Ideal State: Hierarchical, elitist, paternalistic, authoritarian.
  • Art & Aesthetics: Strictly controlled, potentially harmful unless purposeful

Confucius

  • Li: Etiquette and civility.
  • Ren: Inner virtue.
  • Junzi: Ideal virtuous person.
  • Equality: Everyone deserves respect based on their moral performance, but inherent inequality exists.
  • Historicism: Learns from history for present conduct.

Taoism

  • The Tao: "The Way" is a way of knowing, not necessarily a thing or substance.
  • Knowledge How: Emphasis on practical understanding and skill.
  • Death of Knowledge-How: Self-consciousness
  • Gaining Knowledge-How: Practice without forcing it

Summary of Systems

  • Plato: Rationalist, Dualist, Deontologist.
  • Confucius: Historicist, Naturalist, Deontologist.
  • Taoism: Focuses on practical knowledge, avoiding self-consciousness

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Description

Explore the significant philosophies that emerged during the Axial Age, including soteriological, apocalyptic, cyclical, and pragmatic views of history. Additionally, learn about the actor/agent-centered versus systemic perspectives and the key philosophies from the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages.

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