Category: Philosophy

Philosopher: Michel De Montaigne

9/27/2016

A French Philosopher and writer, Michel De Montaigne, is considered an important philosopher from the period of the French Renaissance.

Fame and tranquility can never be bedfellows.

Unlike some of his contemporaries, Mr. Montaigne believed that seeking one's own glory or fame, keeps one from living a tranquil life.

If you are set on living a tranquil life, then the opinions of others should not matter to you, but if you seek fame, then you are obligated to seek their opinion, and since you are seeking their opinion, you can no longer be tranquil.

In his opinion, we should not of "other people's approval and admiration as being valuable". (p109 philosophers book)

Montaigne went on to say "we should imagine that some truly great and noble being is constantly with us, able to observe our most private thoughts, a being in whose presence even the mad would hide their failings. By doing this, we will learn to think clearly and objectively and behave in a more thoughtful and rational manner." (p.109)

You know I read that and I thought "huh... that is cool"... if we, as believers, realize that God can hear our every thought and idea, would it not cause us to be think through our responses a bit more? Too often we jump the gun, and we act before thinking that we are responsive to a greater being... that being GOD. Fascinating eh?

Anyways, back to talk about this philosopher. :)

Montaigne was born into a catholic family and remained a member of the catholic church his entire life. His family was wealthy and he was educated at home. He made a great friend at age 24 with Étienne de la Boétie. This was an intellectul as well as emotional friendship and they formed a great bond. When de la Boétie died, Montaigne turned to his writing career. Two years after his friend died, he married Françoise de la Chassaigne, and of six children born, only one daughter survived.

He often wrote in a personal manner, which was not the style of the day, and some disagreed with his methods.

Sources:
IEP. Wiki. Britannica.

Thinking Tuesday: Niccolo Machiavelli

9/13/2016

Niccolo Machiavelli was a political philosopher from the 1400's. He was born in Italy during a time of almost constant upheaval. This shaped his political views.

Niccolo Machiavelli wrote a book called "The Prince".   This book was about man willing to be very cunning and unscrupulous in pursuit of his political career.   Because of this book The term Machiavellian came into use.

To have Machiavellian tendencies means one is cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics or in advancing one's career.

Machiavelli won the title of "father of modern political theory."   He also wrote several poems as well.

Machiavelli's basic premise was this
The success of the state or nation is paramount and Whoever governs the state or nation must strive to secure both his/her own glory and the success of the state.
In order to do this they cannot be bound by morality. Therefore the end justifies the means.

Little is known about the early life of Machiavelli, or the education that he received. We do know that he worked in a relatively high position in chancery's, under religious leaders. Part of "The Prince" came as a result from his time working in this position.

At one point he was falsely implicated in a plot against the Medici family (which was in power at the time) he was tortured, fined and imprisoned and lost the ability to find a new political position.   He wrote this book to present as an aide to the prince (a popular thing to do at the time)

The book "The Prince" is witty and cynical, showing a great understanding of Italy in general and Florence in specific It was meant to give ruthlessly practical advice to a prince OR it was written as a satire so that the regular people would do all they could to avoid having a leader such as written in the book.   It's hard to know for sure. :)

So what do you think?   Does the end justify the means?

Click on image to go to source: brainy quotes

Additional Resources:
Britannica. History Guide. biography.

Philosopher: Desiderius Erasmus

5/18/2016

Also known as Erasmus of Rotterdam, Erasmus was a humanist who said to know nothing is the happiest life. He lived 1466 to 1536. Erasmus was a writer, philosopher, scholar, linguist and more. A dutch man born into illegitimacy. He remains a source of controversy with people on both sides of faith arguing for and against him.

Erasmus was the second illegitimate son of Roger Gerard, a priest, and Margaret, a physician’s daughter. He was born Gerrit Gerritszoon, but later adopted the name Desiderius Erasmus. He is called Erasmus of Rotterdam due to his birthplace.

After his parents' death, Erasmus was forced to live with the monks for six years. This experience did not endear the priesthood to him. After leaving the monastery he because a teacher in Paris. He later moved to England and spent most of the rest of his life living there.

Erasmus lived in a difficult time for people who didn't hold to all the teachings of the Catholic church. He didn't agree with everything the reformers said, nor did he see the need for priests to not marry or for the laity to not be involved more in the church.

He did see faith as a personal issue, one of a relationship between God and man and less of relationship based around church doctrines. He wanted people to embrace "the true spirit of the Scriptures - simplicity, naivety and humility. These, he says, are the fundamental human traits that hold the key to a happy life." (p97 philosophy book)

After some time Erasmus divided his time between Brabant and England.

He worked on a translation of the New Testament, wrote several books, pointed out the folly of people and the need to have a personal faith in God. He walked a hard line of wanting to stay loyal to the Roman Church, and yet seeing truth in much said by reformers. He couldn't commit to either fully... at his death he did not ask for last rites, which spoke to understanding of the need for personal faith above church doctrine.

Be mindful of who you are.
Know that if you know nothing, you can achieve happiness.

Sources:
Britannica, Bio, History Guide, Standord, wiki.

Philosopher: Nikolaus Von Kues

5/4/2016

Nikolaus von Kues (also known and Nicholas Cusanus or Nicholas of Cusa) was a medieval philosopher who wanted to understand who God was. He was a Cardinal in the Roman church and worked tirelessly on her behalf. His approach to philosophy would be called Christian Platonism.

Born in Germany in the year 1401 to wealthy parents, some thought his rise in the church was due to his wealth, but he worked hard for the church and that is what helped him attain his position as Cardinal in Germany. Attending school he gained a doctorate in Canon Law.

He was part of several councils within the Western church, as well as councils between the Eastern and Western church. Meeting Byzantine scholars spurred on his own musings.

He wrote several books that were widely read. Though he was never convicted of heresy, some of his beliefs bordered on Pantheism (the belief that God merged into the universe and is no longer a separate entity).

As Bishop of Brixen he wanted to reform the church, which led to clashes with the political authorities, as well as leading Pope Nicholas to revoke some of his changes. Archduke Sigismund of Austria who imprisoned him in 1460 due to some of those clashes. Which in turn led to the Duke being imprisoned, von Kues never returned to his bishopic.

Below is the Cusanus Coat of Arms (source)

The Crayfish on the Coat of Arms comes from his original last name which meant "crayfish".

von Kues was a man with a bright mind who was interested in a great many things, he started a winery, a natural scientist, interested in math and more.

In regards to von Kues and his trying to undertand God. He weaves his philosophy among several disciplines so it's hard to pin down well. He tried to explain it in his book "On Learned Ignorance" . He explained that God came before everything.... even before the very possibility of something existing. But since our reasoning can't make sense of that "Whatever I know is not God and whatever I can think of is not God". God should be described at the "not-other" as it is the best way to describe something that comes before everything else even if our thoughts can't conceive of such a thing happening.

To see a monument erected in his honour, check out this site.
Sources:
Monument. coat of arms. Stanford Encyclopedia. Wiki. Cusanus Portal.

Thinking Thursday: Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi

4/7/2016

Mr. Rumi was born in Persia. Mongol invasions drove him from Persia into Anatoli, Turkey. While in Turkey he meat Persian poets Attar and Shamas al-din Tabrizi and decided to devote himself to Sufism.

The substance of Sufism is the Truth and the meaning of Sufism is the selfless experiencing and actualization of the Truth. The practice of Sufism is the intention to go towards the Truth, by means of love and devotion. (source)

Sufism is the aesthetic and mystical interpretation of the Qur'an. It hasn't always been well accepted by the mainstream of Islamic belief. It was the Sufi concept of uniting with God through love that caught his attention.

Rumi became a teacher in the Sufi movement and as such believed that he was a medium between God and man.   He put a lot of emphasis on daily ritual prayers and litanys rather than analyzing the Qur'an.

He received various visions and shared them with others by writing them down in the form of poetry.

He believe that God is very present and that man is the link between the past and the future.   All of the past, present and future is all on one big continuum.    Everything is an endless cycle... death, decay, and life.... one dies and then is reborn again.

Rumi would say "I died as a mineral and became a plant, I died as a plant and rose to animal and I was Man".

Since life and death are an endless circle we should not grieve death or loss.    We should continually strive for spiritual growth... and that spiritual growth will come through what drives our emotions... music, song, dance etc.   It does not come through reason.

Sufism, as Rumi taught it, was instrumental in turning Orthodox Christian Turkey to Islam.   His beliefs also affected fundamental Islamic beliefs.   Into the 20th century his beliefs are starting to gain ground in western civilization.. think less, emote more.

Point brought up by a reader who is more up in history than I am. :)

My appreciation to CN who says:

Turkey, a modern state, has always been officially Muslim . . The region where Turkey is, back then in the time of Rumi was known as Asia Minor, and was Orthodox Christian and a part of the Byzantine Christian Empire. .The region once taken by the Turks, known as Ottomans, became known as the Ottoman Empire and not until recent centuries has been known as Turkey. The Ottomans overtook this region and forced their religion onto whoever remained in a brutal manner, very similar to what is occurring in the Middle East today. Christians were forced to convert, flee or be enslaved or slaughtered. This is the truth. Many Christians during this time became what is known as Crypto Christians..ie. They appeared as Muslims, in order to survive, yet would worship secretly. Because of Turkeys poor tolerance of Christianity, up to 1,000,000 Crypto Christians still live in Turkey today. Turkey is not an Islamic nation because it converted, to Islam, but because its native inhabitants were forced to give up their nation and invaded by Muslims.

So I guess in short......there was no such thing as Orthodox Christian Turkey....only Orthodox Christian Asia Minor - aka part of the Byzantine Empire.

Moses Maimonides: God has no Attributes

2/17/2016

Moses Maimonides (original name Moses ben Maimon) was a Jewish Philosopher who followed Aristotelian thought. He was also a jurist and physician. He wrote a variety of books on Jewish law and Aristotelian thought.

Maimonides didn't like it when people anthropomorphized God.   He thought it was the worst mistake of all to take the Torah as literal truth and to think that God is a bodily thing. He believed this so strongly that he thought anyone believing this should be excluded from the Jewish community.

He developed a strand of thought known as Negative Theology.   In this strand of thought God is described by saying what he is not.

He would say that God has no attributes.    Because attributes are either accidental (something that you can change) or essential (something that you must be).   Since God cannot change (has no accident attributes) and God cannot be described (has no essential attributes) ergo God has no attributes.

Click on image to go to source: quotes

Maimonides issue with definition of God is that we CANNOT define God we can ONLY define what God does. So God can act loving, protective, powerful and so forth but we cannot use those words to actually describe God. For instance, we can say that God is a creator which shows what God does... And if one does use a descriptor with God you must use the double negative to describe him. For instance, God is powerful means that if you want to describe God you would need to say that God is not powerless. Only the negations really show us who God is.

Maimonides early life was easy. Growing up as a Jewish boy in Cordoba. Religious freedom was a given. This ended when a Muslim sect the Almohads took control. They didn't allow the practice of Judaism. The Maimons acted Muslim in public, but practiced their Judaism in secret. They eventually found this too difficult and gradually found their way to Egypt where they could openly practice their faith. He needed to end his studies when his father died and his wealthy brother perished, so he became a physician in order to support his family.

MY THOUGHTS:
Personally I think Maimonides was picking at straws a bit. How is it so different to say that God is powerful then to say that God is not powerless? Isn't that saying the same thing?

I do think he showed some wisdom in insisting that we not anthropomorphize God. God is SO MUCH greater than people are that to say that God is love so often limits people to how they understand love and that limits God. God should not be limited by our finite understanding of who God is infinitely.

Sources:
Britannica.
The Philosophy book
Chabad.

Thinking Thursday: Averroes (Ibn Rushd)

1/28/2016

Averroes is the Latinized name for Ibn Rushd, an Arabic philosopher who followed the Aristolean view on Philosophy. He believed that philosophy and religion are not incompatible.

Averroes believed that "only the educated elite are capable of thinking philosophically and everyone else would be obligated to accept the teaching of the Qur'an literally". (page 82, philosophy book) He said this while believing that the Qur'an was not accurate, but had a poetic closeness which was good enough for the masses...ergo they should believe it as is, but the educated should use philosophy to explain and understand it.

He wrote several books among them the Decisive Treatise on the Agreement Between Religious Law and Philosophy, Examination of the Methods of Proof Concerning the Doctrines of Religion, and The Incoherence of the Incoherence. His position in life was that of chief judge who worked under the Almohads, one of the strictest Islamic regimes in the middle ages. They were slowly becoming less rigid, but not at the speed that Averroes was learning/teaching.

Averroes had no issues dismissing or changing some Muslim tenet beliefs if it didn't fit his philosophy though. For instance, the Muslim belief in the resurrection of the dead, he says we must believe in personal immortality but we don't really have souls it's just our shared intellect that survives. And our bodies die.. no one really survives forever.

He lived in a time when most Muslims believed that philosophy was not a legitimate form of study. He ended up exiled (with his books banned) from his homeland for two years because popular opinion was against him.

Sources:
philosophy book
IEP.
Britannica.
Humanities.

click image to go to source: quotes

Thinking Thursday: St. Anselm of Canterbury

1/13/2016

St. Anselm of Canterbury was born in Aosta, Italy in 1033. He held numerous positions within his life, within the Catholic Church. From being a Benedictine Monk to the archbishop of Canterbury. He was a philosopher and a theologian.

Anselm lived in a time when Christian believers were keen to prove rationally, what they knew by faith. Anselm developed the Ontological Argument.

Anselm imagined himself arguing with a fool, a person who denied the existence of God. I figured the video would explain the argument better than I could. :) As with all philosophies people either embrace it or fight against it. :)

Anselm wrote Monologion (sixty-five chapters of complicated argument) and Proslogion (a simpler argument).

Correctly understood, Anselm says, the argument of the Proslogion can be summarized as follows:

That than which a greater cannot be thought can be thought.
If that than which a greater cannot be thought can be thought, it exists in reality.

Therefore,

That than which a greater cannot be thought exists in reality. (source)

He wrote several other books as well. :)

As Archbishop he defended the church. He endured exile twice for disagreements with a couple of different kings. Despite the exiles, Anselm ended his life while completing his duties as Archbishop.

Sources:
Wiki.
Internet Encyclopedia.
Stanford.
Catholic online.

Avicenna - The Soul is Distinct from the Body

12/10/2015

Avicenna is also known as Ibn Sina, the most important philosopher in Arabic tradition. He made a point to not be an Islamic theologian but rather to study the Greek Philosophers, in particular Aristotle. In some ways he thought remarkably like Aristotle and in other ways he was completely different.

One of those differences came to be in the relationship between mind (self/soul) and body. Aristotle taught that the mind and body were one unit, the mind is responsible for all the things the body does and ergo is not able to be separated from it.

Ibn Sina was a dualist, saying the the body and the mind are two distinct substance (just as Plato did). He came up with the Floating Man experiment to demonstrate his thinking.

Also called the Flying man or the falling man experiment. Even with sensory deprivation a person is still aware of their own experiences.

By all account Acivenna was a brilliant person, memorizing the Qur'an by age 10, surpoassing this educators in logic by age 12, studying medicine by age 16 and so forth. His study of medicine helped him cure the Sultan, therefore giving him access to the Sultan's extensive library.

Acivenna was a man with great medical knowledge, his Canon of Medicine influenced European Schools of medicine into the 17th century. He also studied: physics, natural sciences and metaphysics. He was already writing books by the time he was 21 years of age, with his Canon of Medicine being his renown work. He wandered for years from one place to the next until he settled in Hamadan living there until the death of the emir, when he left to live the last 12 years of his life working with the ruler in Isfahan. He died at 58 years old from severe Colic.

Sources:
The Philosophy book
Philosophers UK.
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Encyclopedia Brittanica.
Kevyn Lim.

Thinking Thursday: Boethius

11/26/2015

Boethius was a Roman Philosopher who was also a Christian. He proposed a solution to this question "If God already knows what we are going to do in the future, how can we be said to have free will?"

His thinking went thusly
God lives in the eternal present
God KNOWS the future as if it were the present
God knows what decisions we will make
God foresees our free thoughts and our actions.

God is outside of our time as we know (past, present, future). God lives in the eternal present. Just because God knows what we are going to do, doesn't mean that he interferes with our decisions. Our decisions are our own, God just knows what those decisions are going to be.

Boethius lived when the Roman Empire was in it's decline, he was orphaned at age 7 and raised in a Aristocrat Roman household. He was well educated, speaking fluent Greek and had a thorough understanding of Greek and Latin literature.   He wrote "The Consolation of Philosophy" while he was in prison awaiting execution for treason (a wrongful accusation).

A good part of Boethius' life was spent in translating Aristotle's logical works into Latin, and then writing commentaries on them as well as logical textbooks,   He used his logical training to contribute to the theological discussions of the time.

In his book Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius argued that there was a higher power and that all suffering had a purpose. He argued that true happiness can not be found in wealth and power but by turning to other virtues.

He also wrote books on math and music, introducing the concept of the threefold classification of Music.

For more information on Boethius Check out these resources
Stanford. UK Philosophers. The Basics.   Anglican. Grade-saver.