The Greek's notion of rational thought is a very strong reason why Western Civilization has become so influential in the world today. During their time, the Greeks spurred an intellectual revolution. They questioned the meanings of life and began using their minds to expand the world. According to Glenn Blackburn: "In many ways, they "discovered" the human "mind" through their philosophy and rational thought [ . . . ]"(64). Their "opening" of the mind influenced all ways of life and society. Major ideas blossomed like politics, governing laws, literature, art, history, and new inventions. Scientific thinking was groundbreaking among Greek minds. Ideas of mathematics, astronomy, architecture, and anatomy engrossed the public. This revolution of rational thought dominated society and began a transition in Western Civilization because people began using reason to explain human and natural events, rather than the gods (Blackburn, 67). Even today, rational thought is used by all of us and continues to influence society. The power of the modern mind has proved greater than any other Greek could have ever expected.
The creation of rational thought began in the Greek city of Ionia. The citizens there were open to new ideas and influenced by traders from around the world. Laws were invented by these Ionians and written down to express the will of their society. The greatest and most recognized Ionian thinker was a man named Thales of Miletues. Considered one of the seven ""wises men" of the day, Thales contemplated water and its connection with the universe. Blackburn remarks that Thales ideas: "mark[ed] an important change in western scientific thought" (68). Thales also used I statements when he philosophized marking for the first time in history a human used reason and the rational mind. Other philosophers surfaced in Ionia during this period creating the study of the "cosmos," or universe. They also founded the study of past human affairs or history.
This new idea of rational thought spread to the Greek capitol, Athens. Here politics and democracy exploded. Politicians and citizens were now able to debate issues and question justice. This form of independent thinking brought great pride and self-confidence to members of the Greek society. This allowed for huge successes for further philosophy, architecture, art, mathematics, anatomy, botany, literature, and creativity.
Among the most famous of the Greek philosophers were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
Greek civilization spurred the modern Western world but the empires before this were lacking, causing a need for the “Greek miracle”. Stark claims that after a period of stagnation and lack of progress, the Greek society brought forth an era of “intellectual and artistic as well as technological” progress (13). The Greeks helped contribute to modern democracy, literature, entertainment, and even warfare. Stark argues that even though the Greeks spent a large majority of their time pondering the meaning of life and how the world around them came into being, they did not believe in God. However, Stark argues that Plato believed in a higher power, but did not specifically name Christ or God. Finally, Stark ends this chapter with the idea that even though the Greeks were eventually destroyed due to the rise of Rome, their ideas and beliefs lived
...Greeks, for their part, considered wisdom a virtue, but their conception of wisdom always contained a conventional, conservative element. ..."Wisdom" is not the term one would use to describe a scientific genius, a brilliant artist, an innovator in any field. But these, for Rand, are the highest exemplars of rationality.
American Exceptionalism: The Cultural Problem of Anti-Americanism in the Competitive Market Trends of the Global Business Community
The Hellenistic period brought a new, refreshing start to Greece. Ancient Greece and its introverted culture transformed into Hellenistic Greece, which infused its culture into countries and empires outside of Greece’s boundaries. With this spreading influence, new forms of art, inventions, and religion emerged in the midst of the cultural growth. An innovated aspect within Hellenistic Greece was philosophy and its new schools. At the time, two of the most popular philosophies, Epicureanism and Stoicism, rivaled each other.
Fiero, Gloria K. “Greece: Humanism and the Spculative Leap” The Humanistic Tradition: The First Civilizations and the Classical Legacy. McGraw Hill. 6th ed. New York: New York, 2011. 76-134. Print.
...y thinks, but is greatly influenced by the society’s conflicts and the mindsets of its people. In the case of Plato and Epictetus, the philosophies that they came up with were formed by the loss of faith in the system of government, life as a slave, and personal experiences in exile. These experiences helped these philosophers to create a set of guidelines that got them through their ordeals and live out the rest of their lives. In understanding these works, we are able to understand how historical events and ideas of the time helped to lead history down the path that it did. Following the change in thought and how different philosophies develop in different environments also allows use to gauge how conditions improve or decline over time. Being able to see the patterns in the past may very well help us predict whether life in the future will flourish or decline.
Herodotus believed that freedom from tyranny, democracy, had a positive effect on Greek cultural identity because tyranny’s are inevitably and fundamentally weak. Tyranny weakens the city state by corruption in high offices with in the city state and suppressed new ideas and growth with in the city state. Herodotus’ opposition to tyranny is deduced from the fact that no Greek state lasted long in tyranny. As for democracy having a positive effect on Greek cultural identity, Herodotus praises the democratic system, because he sees equality as a good thing each man is able to achieve for himself while strengthening the city state. If the people are prospering and achieving then the city state prospers and grows. Democracy allowed for people to have a voice and effect change. Through democracy Greeks were able to control their own destiny, and their own success.
Between the years of 508 BCE and 322 CE, Greece flourished under democracy. However, some question if the flourishing of Athens is due to the democracy that was in place as opposed to other factors relevant in building a successful community. This investigation will examine the effectiveness of Athenian democracy in Greek society. Relevance of Athenian democracy can be seen in foundation of many democracies found worldwide. In this investigation the right to vote, protection of minorities, use of social class, the structure of democracy and how Greek democracy has influenced the world will be addressed. The place investigated will be Greece, specifically the capitol Athens. The effectiveness of Athenian democracy can be seen in social structure, protection of minorities, and right to vote, as well as its structure and influence of other countries around the world.
The population size of the polis were small, and each male citizen was cognizant of their role and value within the community, and developed a strong spirit of independence. This sense of independence is what led the citizens within the polis to choose their own leaders, and overthrowing leaders that had done wrong by the greater populist or that the populist felt had abused their power. Athens, furthered this sense of independence by creating a democratic Athens, where full citizens were expected to run the governme...
“The Greeks molded the mind of Western Civilization, if not the body and the culture” (PowerPoint #6). The Greeks had a very powerful impact on the entire world, making them a huge influence to Western culture. The Greeks showed their power over the world by their great intellect. Through their accomplishments in art, architecture, government, philosophy, education, and science they helped shape Western Civilization. They built strong and intricate buildings, allowing others to see throughout history the plan of the architecture used. The Greek government was one of the first to have a Democracy. Their ac...
In Ancient Greece, people known as philosophers began contemplating the world in a different light. They had a different way of thinking than what was normal in the day. While others practiced paganism and worshipped the Gods of Olympus, philosophers thought about the body, the soul, and ways to create a better world. Greek philosophers are still known today and their works are still being read and taught. They have left a mark on this world. One topic that philosophers frequently discuss is politics and government. How could they make it less corrupt? Is the one they have now satisfactory or could it be better? What are the different forms of government and how do they connect to the individual person? Which one is the best? These are some questions that Greek philosophers answered in their teachings. Plato and Aristotle are two great philosophers who formulated separate ideas of government that concurred in aspects such as the importance of justice while differed in areas relating to the ideal ruler. Both philosophers lived in ancient Athens with a democratic government that contrasted with their ideal governments though Aristotle’s had more similarities than Plato’s with Athens. Whose government is the best is subject to opinion though it can be argued that Aristotle’s is the best.
Socrates and Plato were some of the world’s most famous philosophers. Yet, they caused much trouble in the midst of their philosophizing. These philosophers, in the view of the political elites, were threatening the Athenian democracy with their philosophy. But why did they go against the status quo? What was their point in causing all of this turmoil? Plato and Socrates threatened the democracy as a wake-up call. They wanted the citizens to be active thinkers and improve society. This manifested itself in three main ways: Socrates’ life, his student Plato’s life, and their legacy in our modern age.
Rationalism goes by the idea of questioning everything. This method can be extreme in some aspects, meaning that certain things may be denied such as the senses, including taste, smell, vision and sound. It also tends to use mathematical principles to explain the world in which we live in; examples include equations modeled for change in climate, the economy and population, but math cannot be used to understand every single aspect of life. Many rationalists also believe in the concept of perfectionism, in which there is perfect order and everything works out the way we would like it to. The biggest problem with Rationalism’s ideology however, is its strong use of skepticism, everything around us does not have to be questioned, but rather understand through simple observation.
Western Philosophy began in the Greek cities of Asia Minor otherwise known as Ionia, with Thales of Miletus. Thales was born around 624 B.C.E. and died around 546 B.C.E. Though Thales had never recorded any of his ideas, many future students and writers had recorded his notable attributes to philosophy. He is credited with figuring out a method for measuring the height of the pyramids, inventing a device used to measure the distance between ships out at sea, as well as some clever military strategies. His most famous idea though, was that the originating principle in nature was water. This question of what matter is composed of has influenced philosophers from the Ancient Philosophy period to modern science of today. Thales’ most noted pupil was Anaximander , who “agreed with his teacher that there is some single basic stuff out of which everything comes,” but argued that instead of water, the ‘most basic stuff’ was To Apeiron. This word, To Apeiron, according to Anaximander is the primary substance out of which all specific things come. A young associate of Anaximander, and Anaximenes, also desired to find the answer about what “basic stuff” consisted of. He stated that air was the primary substance from which all things came. With the introduction of western philosophy came other thinkers and different ideas regarding ‘basic stuff.’ Pythagoras, who lived from around 569 to 500 B.C.E., was born on the Greek island of Samos. Unlike many philosophers of his time who reasoned that there was a tangible substance that all matter was composed of, Pythagoras took the view that all things were made of numbers. Heraclitus of Ephesus, who lived through the years 540 to 480 B.C.E., shifted attention from the question concerning ‘basic stuff...
To provide solutions to philosophical problems such as, how world process was created, man must be in possession of rational, intuition, and intuitive knowledge. Rational knowledge is human reasoning and requires verification. The ability of man to reason while giving logical step by step demonstration and arguments is referred to as human knowledge and it has a rational source. According to Carriero and Broughton (2011), genuine rational knowledge is provided by clear and separate knowledge of wholesome intellect with sense deliverances interaction. Sen (1996) considers rational knowledge as the knowledge of change in states of specific entities, in the sense that human experience is a confirmation of change. What are its classes, provisions and philosophical problem associated with rational knowledge? The paper seeks to examine rational knowledge by addressing the above three issues.