Chapter 3-After Aristotle: A Search For The Good Life Flashcards
What did skepticism and cynicism promote?
Skepticism promoted a suspension of belief in anything, and cynicism promoted a retreat from society
The belief that all beliefs can be proved false; thus to avoid the frustration of being wrong, it is best to believe nothing
Skepticism
How did widespread skepticism come to help the spread of Christianity?
If the philosopher says that nothing is true or false and that there are not reliable standards of judging, then why not except Christian revelation and why not revert to faith in custom as a sources of inspiration?
What did the skeptics use as their guide for living?
Appearances and convention.
By appearances, the skeptics meant simple sensations and feelings. By convention, they meant the traditions, laws, and customs of society
According to the skeptics, any person claiming to have arrived at an indisputable truth
Dogmatist
Studied with the Sophist Gorgias and later became a companion of Socrates. At some point completely lost faith in philosophy and renounced his comfortable upper-class life. He believed that society, with its emphasis on material goods, status, and employment, was a distortion of nature and should be avoided. Questioned the value of intellectual pursuits and preached a back to nature philosophy that involved a life free from wants, passions, and the many conventions of society. True happiness depended on self-sufficiency.
Antisthenes
The son of a disreputable money changer who had been sent to prison for defacing money. Was a disciple of Antisthenes. Believed that conventional labels such as king, general, honor, wisdom, and happiness were social currencies that needed to be exposed or defaced. Advocated natural impulse as the proper guide for action instead of social convention.
Engaged in what was considered outrageous behavior such as farting loudly in crowded places, urinating, masturbating, or defecating in sight of all
Diogenes
The belief that the best life is one lived close to nature and away from the rules and regulations of society
Cynicism
The belief that the best life is one of long-term pleasure resulting from moderation
Epicureanism
The belief that one should live according to nature’s plan and accept one’s fate with indifference or, in the case of extreme hardship, with courage
Stoicism
For a stoic, what is the basic moral choice people make?
Whether to choose to act in accordance with nature’s plan.
When the individuals will was combatable with natural law, the individual was virtuous. When it was not, the individual was immoral
The belief that the good life consists of seeking pleasure and avoiding pain
Hedonism
Philosophy that emphasized the most mystical aspects of Plato’s philosophy. Transcendental experiences were considered the most significant type of human experience
Neoplatonism
Explain how Neoplatonism provided a platform for Christianity?
One form of Neoplatonism combined platonic philosophy with Judaism and, in doing so, created two things lacking in the prevailing religions and philosophies-a concern with individual immortality and human passion.
Plotinus saw the body as the souls prison. Through intense meditation, the soul could be released from the body and dwelt among the eternal and the changeless. Strongly influenced subsequent Christian thought.
What were the dark ages and when did they begin?
Some historians mark the beginning of that portion of the Middle Ages known as the dark ages with the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410; others with the death of Augustine in 430; and others with the abdication of the last Roman emperor in 476.
It is about this time in history when Greek and Roman books were lost or destroyed; little or no progress was made in science, philosophy, or literature; uniform Roman law collapsed and was replaced by a variety of local customs; and villages armed themselves against attack from both their neighbors and invaders from afar
During all this uncertainty the Christian church became increasingly powerful. Europe was dominated by mysticism, superstition, and anti-intellectualism