Religion and Philosophy Flashcards
Example of presocratic philosopher and views
Xenophanes- one ‘cosmic’ god. ‘We all came from earth and water.’ Heavenly phenomenon explained naturally ie. rainbows aren’t from the goddess Iris but are clouds. Henotheistic view. Gods weren’t anthropomorphic
Socrates’ divine connection
‘daimonion’
Muir religiosity of the people in times of crisis
‘in extreme cases they even toyed with outright atheism’
Muir sophists
none were atheists
Nails Socrates’ gods
‘Socrates leaves no doubt that the quarreling gods Athenians accept are not the ones he believes in’
Nails Socrates corrupting the young
‘the Athenians would not mind his spiritual monitor or his opinions if he were not imitated by the young’
Nails why Socrates was charged (scholar that agrees)
‘political animosity lay behind the impiety charges against Socrates’. Waterfield
When were the Presocratics active?
before Socrates, who was born in 469 BC
When was Xenophanes active?
6th century BC
Tor Xenophanes
‘Xenophanes rejects traditional concepts of divine disclosure as theologically faulty and supplants them with his own, alternative notion of disclosure.’
Evidence of Socrates’ piety
follows is daimonion, a divine voice/sign that prevented him from doing certain things. During his court case, he swears an oath to the gods
Herrmann
‘Socrates’ questioning of common concepts…forms part of a wider trend which had called traditional beliefs and traditional belief into question’
Socrates’ circle
surrounded himself with individuals who turned against democracy, such as Critias, one of the thirty tyrants, and Alcibiades
Others questioning religion
Writers of comedy such as Aristophanes and historians such as Thucydides were critical of the traditional view of religion and mocked them
Socrates’ history
been around some thirty years before he was charged in 399
