RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY Flashcards
1
Q
Rise of philosophical thinking and how it was viewed within Greek society ..
A
- Religion and philosophy closely linked: philosophical theology and more generally thinking about the gods becomes evidence in philosophical treaties and historical texts of Herodotus and Thucydides which formulate their own thoughts on religion, the gods and their worships, albeit embedded written in their historical writings in 5th century BC
- THUCYDIDES: “Fear of gods or law of man there was none to restrain them”
2
Q
PRESOCRATIC PHILOSOPHERS
A
- Developed theologies in their studies that DEVIATED from what we may call ‘the religion of the many.’
- The traditional Greek gods = discussed and sometimes CRITICISED and RIDICULED
- This may not have been the case.. –> Criticism may have been directed at the worshippers and popular beliefs, DEBATED in modern scholarship.
- Not the gods themselves that were ridiculed but TRADITIONAL conceptions of the gods.
- XENOPHANES: first to suggest one ‘cosmic god’. At the same time, other interpretations of DIVINE put forward = expanding on the polytheistic system that the Greeks cities supported –> SOCRATES NOT ACTUALLY MONOTHEISTIC, IN AN EXCLUSIVE SENSE BUT IN HIS POLYTHEISTIC ENVIRONMENT
3
Q
ONLY HAVE FRAGMENTS OF GREEK PHILOSOPHERS BEFORE PLATO
A
- Fragments we have = image emerges that PRESOCRATIC PHILOSOPHERS = discussing the Olympian gods and rituals their worship entailed
- 5th, 6th century BC no clear division between science and philosophy, empirical and theoretical enquiry
- Aristotle names THALES the first presocratic, natural philosopher. By enquiring about world from SCIENTIFIC P.O.V scholars like Thales automatically QUESTION traditional ideas of the gods as presented in HOMER AND HESOID.
4
Q
XENOPHANES
A
- XENOPHANES formed the most outspoken criticism of the traditional idea of the gods.
- Ionian scholar who lived in 6th century and as wandering intellectual and poet brought Ionian intellectualism to MAGNA GRACEIA, the Greek colonies in southern Italy, including Sicily.
- Fragment form taken from sources hostile to him
- 2 elegiac passages on how to conduct a civilised SYMPOSIUM & civic importance of XENOPHANES own work and wisdom.
- His cosmology suggests that origin of everything is found in WATER and EARTH alone ‘We all came from earth and water’
- He undermined supernatural interpretations of natural phenomena. On the appearance of rainbows he said : ‘She whom they call Iris ( rainbow goddess ), she too is a cloud, purple and red and yellow to view
5
Q
XENOPHANES CRITIQUE OF THE GODS OF HOMER AND ANTHROMORPHISM
A
- Other fragments show ancient scholars thought of XENOPHANES = criticised HOMER AND HESOID FOR PORTRAYING GODS AS BEHAVING IN WAYS MORTALS WOULD BE BLAMED FOR
- Xenophones said that Homer and Hesoid “ spoke of manifold wickedness of the God, stealing and adultery and deceit. “
- Attack Hesoid and Homer denouncing what they say about the Gods
- evidence only fragmentary – may not accurately describe what XENOPHANES wanted to express
- Possible that rather than actually criticising Greek religion, he modernised the ARCHAIC theologies and divine concepts of Homer and Hesiod.
- QUOTE OF XENOPHANES –> ridiculing the anthropomorphic conceptions of the Greek deities and this is what he is MOST famous for:
“But mortals seem to have begotten Gods to have their own garb and voice and form”
- Xenophanes suggests one god who is ‘greatest among men and gods, like unto mortals neither in body nor in mind.’ He is ‘one greatest god’ is singer and eternal. He is not in any way resembling humans and is able to effect anything by mind alone.
- Idea of one god = NEW to Greek thought.
- BUT, whether Xenophanes = MONOTHEIST = debatable.
- Some call his view HENOTHEISTIC, describes a religious system in which there exists ONE ALMIGHTY GOD BUT THE EXISTENCE OF OTHER DIVINE BEINGS IS ACKNOWLEDGED.
6
Q
XENOPHANES critique .2
A
- We do not have much evidence for XENOPHANES’ contemporaries’ reactions to his radical views, but Herodotus, was influenced by XENOPHANES’ conception to describe Persian religion:
Herodotus says it was not their custom to ‘make up statues and temples and altars’ but those who do such things ‘they think foolish’ because they have never believed gods to be like the men as Greeks do…“but they call the whole circuit of heaven Zeus and to him they sacrifice.” - HERODOTUS
- Were Greeks offended or insulted that he mocked ‘their’ gods? Were non intellectuals aware of his work? What about civic administration of the Greek cities: would they have accepted that someone comes along and undermines something as essential to the Greek society as Sacrifice?
- Never know for sure but we are well informed about a case of another philosopher who was tried by the Athenians for his IMPIETY –> SOCRATES
7
Q
SOCRATES ACCUSED OF IMPIETY
A
- Socrated was charged and tried by the Athenian state for impiety, irreverence toward the gods of the police
- ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN ATHENS’ EXTENSIVE RELIGIOUS LIFE INCLUDING ALL ITS FESTIVALS AND CEREMONIES WAS CIVIC OBLIGATION.
- CONSEUQENCE = prosecute impiety was to act in the public interest of Athens as Athenian law forbade impiety. This charge against Socrates = further specified and it was argued that first of all he did not believe in the right deities; civic deities of Athens and secondly –> introduced new deities.
- CORRUPTION OF YOUNG HE HAD INFECTED WITH THESE THOUGHTS
- In his defence of Socrates (APOLOGY) Plato makes it clear that he was not an atheist but merely engaged in the theological thinking. FROM P.OV of Athenian state –> socrates = GUILTY OF IMPIETY AND EXECUTED
- Unlike XENOPHANES, spreading his wisdom all around Socrates = LOCAL born in ATHENS AND LIVED THERE MOST OF HIS LIFE
- Did not leave any written work himself but we can reconstruct his philosophy from various sources PLATO AND XENOPHON both pupils of Socrates and Aristophanes the comedian. All 3 knew Socrates and all 3 wrote different things about Philosopher
- Aristophanes likened him to SOPHISTS
- Xenophon and Plato = EVERYTHING TO DISTINGUISH Socrates from this group:
- WHILE SOCRATES = ENGAGED IN THE SOCRATIC METHOD, just like the sophists, Socrates refuses to receive money for his teaching
- Plato’s Socrates = AMBIVALENT ABOUT HIS OWN VIEWS (unlike sophists who propagated clear distinctions) and he never sees himself as a teacher of anything.
- While both XENOPHON and PLATO’S SOCRATES share the same goal in refuting the formal charges under which Socrates was tried, their portraits of the man himself differ significantly. Which of the two drew the more accurate image of the historical Socrates = DEBATED. –> scholars tend to lean towards Plato
8
Q
SOCRATES IDEAS ON THE DIVINE JUSTICE AND WHY HE MAY HAVE DISAGREED WITH THE HOMERIC/HESIODIC IDEAS OF THE GODS
A
- When trying to pin down exactly what Socrates’ ideas of the divine were: HE RESPECTED THE GODS AND HE BELIEVED THEIR EXISTENCE
- FAR AWARE THEY ARE FAR SUPERIOR TO HUMANS BOTH IN THEIR WISDOM AND POWER
- TO SOCRATES, GODS HELP THOSE WHO ARE VIRTUOUS WHICH IS IN LINE WITH HIS PHILOSOPHICAL THINKING. A MOST PIOUS ACT IS RATIONAL SELF-EXAMINATION LEADING TO THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE POWER AND WISDOM OF THE DIVINE. FOR ALL WE KNOW THROUGH PLATO, SOCRATES WAS SIMPLY ASSUMING EXISTENCE OF THE GODS BUT NEVER FELT NEED TO PROVE EXISTENCE AND SPECIFY IDEAS OF DIVINE.
9
Q
Did Socrates agree or disagree with Homeric/Hesoidic idea of the Olympian gods?
A
- Don’t know as he never fully acknowledges or denies their existence
- Socrates we know through PLATO is religiously pious
- Obeys ‘the god’ APOLLO at the oracle at DELPHI who said about Socrates that the fact that he knew nothing made him wises amongst men and ordered him to practise philosophy
- SOCRATES DECISIONS AND ACTIONS are influenced by divine intervention: he refers to a “DAIMONION”, Instead of following reason, Socrates follows his daimonion.
- ’ A SORT OF VOICE COMES, WHICH, WHENEVER IT DOES COME, ALWAYS HOLD ME BACK FROM WHAT I’M ABOUTT TO DO BUT NEVER URGES ME FORWARD’
10
Q
HOW DID SOCRATES DEAL WITH HIS CHARGE?
A
- Despite being charged with impiety he refers to the “gods of whom we have been speaking” meaning the Athenian civic deities such as ZEUS AND ATHENA and swears by these gods
- Yet his views = NOVEL
- Socrates = gave the gods much more moral high ground that Hesiod or Homer
- JUSTICE = SOCRATES ASSUMES is a virtue and he tries to show that acting in accordance to justice = BETTER. REPRESENTED BY LAWS OF THE CITY –> ATHENIAN LAWS
- In Socrates’ understanding of justice, it is ALWAYS better to OBEY rules than riot.
- CLEAR in his behaviour at trial. Despite charges against him UNJUST As Plato’s Apologies and Xenophanes imply, he never left ATHENs or tried to escape his FATE. Willingly abided by them.
11
Q
THE EXTENT TO WHICH HIS IDEAS = RADICAL OR CONTROVERSIAL
A
According to SOCRATES ‘from perfectly good gods we have nothing to fear’ on the CONTRARY –> They may reward us and aid us in our development of JUSTICE in souls since they are ‘perfectly knowledgeable.
- Socrates never explicitly criticises the civic deities or appears to be impious, let alone denies their existence and questions the gods in a way according to his moral philosophy and principles. Some believe that the threat to the Athenian authorities = POSSIBILITY of a spread of this questioning of the traditional attitude towards the gods.
- This trend = RED FLAG for the Athenian authorities. Triggered civic authorities to charge Socrates = IMPIETY. Others argue that ALL HE DID WAS NOT BELIEVE IN CORRECT GODS –> prescribed by city.
- POLITICAL CIRCLE = OTHER REASONS equally important in his trial, Socrates surrounded himself with authorities who turned against democracy such as CRITIAS, one of the 30 TYRANTS and Alcibides.
Alcibiades = TRIED for religious charges in 414 that were interpreted = ANTI-DEMOCRATIC SENTIMENTS not unlike SOCRATES but he managed to flee before he had to stand trial. Socrates’ charges = IMPIETY AND INTRODUCTION OF NEW GODDS AND CORRUPTION OF YOUNG MEN –> ARISTOPHANESS DRAWN IN FROG
