 |
Aristotle: Movement within The-Design/God (Logic as source of decisions)
Ancient Defender of Dominator View ('Meta'physics), Aristotelian dualism in Nicomachean Ethics inspired Catholicism
Aristotle biography and profile / The wizard behind the mind body dualisms 'God', 'Metaphysics', 'Individualism', 'Liberty'
Ancient Defender of Dominator View ('Meta'physics), Aristotelian dualism in Nicomachean Ethics inspired Catholicism
Aristotle biography and profile / The wizard behind the mind body dualisms 'God', 'Metaphysics', 'Individualism', 'Liberty'
Learning from history takes the ability to treat ages as years, and treat people in ancient ages as if living in present.
No mistake: Aristotle as brilliant logician had a tremendous impact on the world. Aristotle got trapped though in his own fantasy
 |
Plato, teacher of Aristotle, modestly taught that the sensed world is an always changing sense-picture of ONE Reality. Aristotle, not so modest, distinguished a DUAL reality with a pure metareality (absolute design: non-sense) and ever improving impure realizations (sense). Aristotle thought that the coherence and consistency in this world, could only be explained by a god-directedness (soul, form) in all individual objects of nature. Aristotle describes the activity of 'soul' as 'moving closer to god'. Take care: Aristotle believed that the form of most humans was 'slave', and 'slaves' could get 'closer to god' by serving their 'masters' better. The 'form' of slaves is in the expression of their 'soul', and slaves don't have much 'soul'. Aristotle defines 'motion' as: the fulfilment of the movable as movable, getting a bit closer to God (The Unmoved Mover). On the way to full-formed. .....So 'motion' is the expression of 'soul' ... See a youtube video
450 BC - Anaxagoras (500-428 BC) introduced the concept of "Nous" (mind, reason) into Greek culture. Nous, the infinite and self-organizing eternal 'mind' (by definition 100% pure; TRUE), is the template of reality and transforms chaos into order (the material world; FALSE).
Aristotle saw the world as try outs (acts) towards level heaven (potency). Catholics much later called the try outs: 'fallen world'. A fallen world contains evil, contrary to God (level Heaven). Aristotle did not see that his 'heaven' is the TRUE of an Athenian 'freeman', like Catholics did not see that their heaven/hell was the good/evil of Catholicism.
99.999% of Westerners (roman christian and/or 'rational') are in behavior Aristotelian
Young Aristotle joined the army, AND was thrown out of it;
At the age of thirty, he ended up in Plato's Academy.
Some twenty years later, after Plato's death Aristotle traveled for three years throughout Asia Minor.
After that Aristotle, mainly thanks to family connections, was appointed by King Philip at the Macedonian court
to teach his young son, Alexander. Alexander (not yet The Great) greatly appreciated Aristotle's defense of slavery, None of Aristotle's useful ideals took hold on Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), but the Hellenist type of slavery (Aristotle's concept of a static nature with Masters with big god-factor and slaves with little god-factor; mind-body split) was spread by Alexander (now the Great) all over the Middle East, and influenced Western World and Middle East for 2 millennia.
.
The Natural Design
Aristotle's 'anima' was 'natural law' as seen by the Greek 'freemen' (slavefarmers reassuringly saw slavery as 'part of THE natural design', because freeman life was dependent of not that free slaves). This emotion neglecting view of reality as imperfect 'design product' in 'THE Design' (metareality) TOTALLY influenced the Western World, through Roman Empire, Catholicism (Thomas Aquinas) and Rationalism (Rene Descartes).
Aristotle believed in a passive 'god as forcefield' (form). A kind of supermagnet for 'anima'. Every thing is presumed to be drawn towards its potential god-level Aristotle's 'soul' is form of the body, which in turn is said to be the matter of the soul 'Anima' (soul/mind) is also the link/god-factor between the ultimate position (god-factor in the forcefield 'god') and the human body. So from the very start soul already expresses the ultimate reachable and the motion towards that final towards that potential god-level.
Maybe more important, for Aristotle slavery was not a point of debate, but Aristotle saw slavery as part of god. (Aristotle thought 'anima' was source of motion towards the potential god-level (which he saw as static for every thing) and housed in the heart) . Things 'animate' (move) within the preset borders of God of their potential god-level (god's hands) Aristotle needed a logical process like 'anima' to cause motion (animation), because Aristotle (without 21st century neurogical insights) didn't recognize 'emotion' ('will') as source of decisions (change).
For Aristotle anima = soul is moving towards 'god' and is 'the what it is to be a living body (from De Anima). Per definition a body without 'anima/soul' is dead (doesn't move). Emotion/Will transfers sense experience into change, using ALL brain functions, and can be 'simple' (blushing) or complex (running or kicking). In trillions of years in evolution 'emotion'/'will' became awfully refined. This complex working of the brain, CHANCE product of billions of years evolution, tricked Aristotle into presuming that there is DESIGN in nature. Take care!: The Unmoved Mover in Aristotle's concentric universe became the God of the Roman Catholic Church, with background layer 'Heaven'. .
Aristotle is seen as the godfather of science.
Throughout history science has built a HUGE knowledge archive , trying to uncover the rules governing phenomena.
PRESUMING natural laws (manmade metaphysics, some logic=motion-maker behind physics).
.
Making Sense of Aristotle
Aristotle is totally influence by his youth on the 'slavefarm' of Alexander's royal father. There must have been hundreds of slaves of all kind. Many of them seen as animals, and treated that way. Superior masters and humble slaves (with lesser 'rank' than today dogs).
Later Aristotle moved to Athens that was full of slaves, treated in similar way
Aristotle developed a world design that fitted these experiences. In the view of Aristole, there was a superior blueprint (form, god) behind human matter like superior masters and inferior slaves. Every human had this blueprint in him/her, masters had a near to perfect 'soul', and slaves had a very nuch incomplete 'soul'. Slaves were born to be slave, and to serve the masters. Like nowadays most farmers see cows as producers of milk for human masters. Aristotle distinguishes three sorts of reality: 1) Form (Actuality);2) Dead Matter (Potentiality); Alife Matter (matter with 'soul', mix of compound matter and 'living' form) 'Soul' is the form of a living thing (its actuality); 'soul' is what makes a thing 'living'. In this model of life God (the Unmoved Mover) was a necessary concept to create motion ('living'), not a divinity to be worshipped, but a 'creator' anyway (though not recognized as such). A kind of invisible web without spider that totally influences reality. Aristotle's sense of God as Form but not as Creator was unacceptable to Catholics, Muhammedans, and Hebrews. They all made their God into a Creator (spider in the web).
Aristotle himself regarded making material from nothing (creationism) as impossible, he must have seen motion as not material.
Aristotle was convinced that processes in nature aim toward an end or goal
(fighting in the web of life is trying to make sense of God).
A view of nature that fits nicely into the
Christian conception of creation, not of God.The medieval church considered Aristotle as The philosopher
2500 years later the in Space Superiority believing Lutheran director of NASA (and war criminal) Werner von Braun agreed: One cannot be exposed to the law and order of the universe without concluding that there must be design and purpose behind it all.
Similar to Socrates and Plato, Aristotle believed that searching knowledge was looking for harmony with God.
But only in a limit, Aristotle saw intellect as material.Aristotle wrote in Greek language. The 'rational' translation into Western languages, of the almighty Latin transformation, took over the Roman views and added 'rational' prejudices, though translations of texts of Plato and Socrates suffered much more.
.
Averroes' view of Aristotle
The arab translation
The arab translation
Reading Aristotle in Latin Greek or following the Spanish Arab Averroes (1126, 1198) in his translation from Greek does matter ESSENTIALLY.
Averroes found no body mind split, contrary to the latin translation.
Possibly the Romans not only corrupted the texts of Petrus and Paul, but also those of Aristoteles.
The commentary of Aristotle's works by the Islamic philosopher Averroes gave rise to a school of philosophers known as the Averroists
who restored confidence in empirical knowledge.
However, the view of Averroes was in fight with Saint Augustine's view as HOLY in the catholic church.
Averroes' view threatened the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church
and in the eyes of orthodox thinkers was blasphemy. Averroes saw 'soul' as material intellect,analogous to prime matter. Only potentially able to be expressed with imagination in conceptual schemes. When the material intellect is actualized by information received, Averroes succeeded to join science and religion, like later Descartes failed in doing so in 'rationalism. and the views of Averroes was by orthodox scientists seen as 'foreign to Aristotle'.
Aristotle saw human-animal keeping (slave-farming) as biological parasitism, and engineered a model of life around what for him was THE essence.
Aristotle designed not-sensible 'moving hands' from space' who controlled sinful physical body/soul's. And preferred bodies of Greek.For Aristotle man had to be more than material, and have a function uncommon to anything else. Aristotle imagined 'anima=moving hands' steering physical life (ANIMAted muscles = houses of flesh). All life moves within the prescriptive borders of the 'moving hands', totally prescriptive for plants, narrow margins for 'animals', and with room for 'alternatives by anima' in the case of 'humans.
Aristotle's physics relies on an essential distinction between the material realm, within 'natural' 'zero margins' operating earth, water, wind, and fire, and a superior 'moving hands = anima' realm (imprisoning sense = non-sense).
'De Anima' (latin) is the major writing of Aristotle on the nature of living things. According to Aristotle plants only can passively eat and grow (no 'anima'), lower animals actively translate sense-experience in action (lower 'anima'). Humans interact with 'anima'. Aristotle sees his 'moving hands = anima' as an immaterial parasite holding a living thing in hostage; the most human shape of 'anima' is 'god', producing a 'half god'
In CATHOLIC view Aristotle's view of 'god' as 'anima' was by far superior among 'heathen' thinkers.
The Catholic and 'rational' doctrines are based the translation in Latin with an un-Aristotelian belief in supremacy of 'humans' (god's people).
Belief in immaterial 'spirit' ('rational' word = 'mind'). Belief in higher 'substance' (mind) controlling lower 'accident'
(body)..
Aristotle Profile
The Logic of the lonely Snake in the Paradise: killing out of 'egocentrism' (murderous racism)
The Logic of the lonely Snake in the Paradise: killing out of 'egocentrism' (murderous racism)
Superiority thinking in Aristotelian circles / Greeks and Barbarians:The races that live in cold regions and those of Europe are full of courage and passion but somewhat lacking in skill and-brain power .... they lack ...the ability to rule over others. ...the Asiatic races have both brains and skill but are lacking in courage and will-power; so they have remained enslaved and subject. The Hellenic race .. continues to be free, [has] the best political institutions, and [is] .. capable of ruling all others.
Aristotle Politics 7.7.
Athens has so far outrun the rest of mankind in thought and speech that her disciples are the masters of the rest, and it is due to her that the word 'Greek' is not so much a term of birth as of mentality. Isocrates Panegyricus 50
Aristotle was born in 384 BC in northern Greece as son of Nichomachus, in a per definition 'aristocratic' family that already for generations delivered 'court physicians' (home bred house wizards) to the mega-slavefarm 'House of Macedon'. Aristotle's distorted conflict view saw life as logical parasitism, Holy slave-keepers ('logically superior life') exploiting sinful 'houses of flesh' ('logically inferior life').
Nicomachean Ethics in a nutshell.
359 BC Philip II king of Macedonia (Filippos). 20 years of wars with Athens.
338 BC Philip II defeated Athens
337 BC Congress of Corinth agreed on a Common Peace and on war against Persia
336 BC Assassination of Philip II, Accession of Alexander III (the Great) with at 17 tutor Aristotle.
WAR, WAR, WAR
323 BC Death of Alexander the Great at Babylon, age 32.
....
148 BC Macedonia becomes a Roman province.
.
Aristotle: The human is the being that has the logos
The Law is Reason without Emotion
The Law is Reason without Emotion
For Aristotle, the human is the being that was given the logos, i.e. that can speak (and lie). Aristotle's Fiction: THE Quality of Life is (the IDEA) 'anima' (breath, spirit, mind, ..) added to a body.
Mind that Aristotle still imagined that mental activity took place in the heart. Greek scholars still saw the brain only as a sort of radiator.
It is tempting in modern interpretation to find that Aristotle posed that physical reality is fundamental and math is merely approximation. But for Aristotle math is a shadow of the divine structure given by 'god' to nature ('anima' in shape of numbers).
Since Aristotle as VERY influential tutor of Alexander the Great 'aristocrats' exploited 'inferior' peope (with 'arete' = superiority= supremacy= aristocracy). It helps to think of Klu Klux Klan like belief in own 'being right', and readiness as 'leaders' to 'pray' war (if there had been ancient atom bombs, then Alexander Cursed would have dropped a few on Persian Persepolis, AFTER plundering). In order to save own simplistic VERY PROFITABLE racist good-evil view of life, Hellenism.
Via Aquinas Aristotle's logos (his IDEAS) were made into 'rationalism' by Descartes, and this 'rationalism' deeply influences the Western World until today.
A conceptual scheme is how people in some culture locally 'attack' their subreality. Example The Western World: 'Rationality' is strengthened by repeating conceptual logic ('rational' parents, 'rational' Google, 'rational' Wikipedia, 'rational' worksettings, 'rational' teaching school, 'universities' as 'rational' churches, 'rational' media, 'rational' politicians,...).
Aristotle as the most influential figure in Western thought is considered the father of scientific terminology. Aristotle designed THE philosophic and scientific subreality of medieval Arabs and Europeans. Aristotle this way in The Catholic World and in the Mohammedan world (not in ALL of Islam) caused a paradigm shift into the tough Aristotelian Paradigm, that until now lasted 2500 years.
Parallel views on life (partly essentially different) are found in subcultures in Middle East, Buddhist Asia, Polynesia, Africa, Indian South America, ...
God-like is an IDEA and causes the BELIEF in SupremacyFor Aristotle physical life (un godlike) grounds all human knowledge.
But Aristotle also believes that reality = material reality + meta-reality.
This peculiar combination of physics + god-like reality is called metaphysics.
REASONING (= repetitive metaphysical noises) makes Aristotle BELIEVE that 'god-like reality =
'un godlike reality + anima' = animal reality + anima = 'spiritual reality' = supremacy
and is immaterial cause of 'sensible reality' (= 'un god-like reality' = animal reality).
| Or: animal reality + anima = material reality + god-like reality god-like = anima (= breath; spirit; mind) = fantasy, like believing to be 'Batman' |
Apartheid: 100% man = man + anima = slave owner, manager, ..in 'mind' connection with supermind 'god'man = ape with inferior spirit = slave, employee, ..bodily related with apes, mind connected with 'devil'
.
Situation in history
399 BC Execution of Socrates
398 BC--King Arnuwanda V of Hatti (say Turkey) grants full independence to the Greek cities on the coast of Anatolia. This begins a new period of many years of Greek-Hittite cooperation
367 BC Aristotle enters the Academia of Plato.
359 Phillip II becomes King of Macedon. Phillip's makes his Macedonian Phalangites into professional soldiers, far better killing machines than other armies (a kind of US Army).
352-322 BC India after ending Persian rule fragments into several kingdoms.
352 BC onward--In the newly independent Indian states, Hinduism becomes very puritan and intolerant, and followers of many other beliefs are persecuted.
342 BC onward ARISTOTLE TEACHES 'ANIMA' TO ALEXANDER THE GREAT (the terrible), the even more ambitious/agressive son of Phillip II of Macedon.
338 BC Philip II of Macedon declares war on Athens and Thebes (chief cities of the Greek coalition which is allied to Hatti) and invades. Hitite forces turn the tide against Phillip of Macedon. The Macedonian army is wiped away by the Hittites.
337 -- Peace treaty between Athens and Macedon. Hellenist League was founded by Philip II and agreed on war against Persia to avenge the wrongs of King Xerxes of Persia. This was decisive for Alexander the Great getting the support and funds for annihilating the Persian cicilization
336 BC onward After the assasination of Philip II at age 46, the combination of young Alexander as leader of the Hellenic League, paranoid much older guru Aristotle, and Philip's very professional killing machine army becomes a disaster for especially Persia
.
The Law is Reason without Emotion
Alexander the Great worshipped Aristotle (Head of his own "Lyceum") like Adolf the Horrible admired Wernher von Braun (later Head of "NASA"). The dictator Hitler annihilitated mainly the mass of Jews (not the very rich), but the innocent looking young handsome blue eyed dictator Alexander especially murdered leading Persian Zoroastrians. This 'spiritual' teenager followed the motto of Aristotle: "The Law is Reason free from passion".
Aristotle grew up on a slave-farm and could not imagine a society without slavery, like a 21st century dairy-farmer can't imagine milk without cows. Aristotle learned to see slaves as bodies of flesh for serving their Masters, just like most 'thinking' 'managers' are helpless in a world without 'working' 'employees'.
Aristotle distinguishes 'reason' and emotion. And made 'emotion' from invalueable 'tool of life' into inferior instinct used by animals.
'Reason' transforms sense perceptions and is by Aristotle seen as 'the source of all 'knowledge''. That 'intuition' does exactly the same job, but endlesly more complex, was completely overseen. Aristotle's view of knowledge was limited to his own cultural prejudices. That's why Aristotle saw slavery as 'natural'
With Aristotle as 'spiritual' guideline Roman big slave owners felt 'spiritful' = 'aristocratic'. This simplistic 'supremacy' view faded away, but ages later this ego-thinking was revived by the 'aristocrat' monk Thomas de Aquinas, who saw Aristote as 'THE philosopher'. The Catholic Church realized very well, that many ideas of Aristotle were VERY dubious. In 1277 many of Aristotle's ideas even were condemned as 'heretic' by the Roman Christian Church.
But the totally dominant 'aristocratic' circles in The Church very much liked Aristotle's clever explanation of 'slavery' as natural behavior. Thomas Aquinas (the model teacher of catholic priesthood) rehabilitated Aristotle's ideas so as to make them safe for Roman Christian consumption. Catholicism started as a powertool of 'aristocracy' and this way restrengthened the bonds. The Church became a subculture in Western culture, devoted to serving aristocrats in power. A rigid subparadigm as anchor within another paradigm.
| Non-sense in a 21st century science text: Plato is an absolute universal realist while Aristotle sees reality as relative to the physical world. Henk Tuten: I have no clue what is a 'absolute universal realist', but Plato's soul exists in BEHAVIOR Aristotle's soul is th IDEA 'harmony of senses'. Aristotle's belief in immaterial 'anima' (supremacy) is not relative at all. |
.
The Church as hidden Power-tool
The hidden role of The Church as 'tool of power' became even more 'foggy'.
Resulting in heavy resistance of The Church against
equality for women and for the 'lower classes'.Catholicism and especially Protestantism in the 'western world' became world-views based on 'white supremacy'/'parasitism by a relatively small superior feeling 'divine' club of 'whites in power' (The Chosen People = The Exploiters).
| There is an Order of Alexander the Great,
dedicated to the international promotion of Freedom, Justice, and Peace
with honory member former President Ronald Reagan, who with billions of tax money supported
right wing supremacy worldwide (Chili, Argentine, Guatemala, Nicaragua, ..., Israel, Afghanistan, ...). Throughout his presidency, Reagan supported the apartheid government in South Africa and even labeled Nelson Mandela's African National Congress as a notorious terrorist organization. Henk Tuten: it makes more sense to notice that the top of the US Army is 'criminally' prejudiced, and in deviant paradigm way creates and maintains conflicts worldwide (in common sense cultures seen as criminally paranoid). In this prejudiced behavior US Army was preceded by 'aristocrats' behind the British Army and commanding catholic armies. The catholic leaders introduced 'Inquisition'. The British Army introduced 'hell camps' (concentration camps). US Army labeled 'hell camps' for Red Indians as 'reservates', and is until now the ONLY army who used atom bombs in wartime. |
.
Dominant and Submissive
In nature dominant and submissive behavior are extremes of family-behavior, and strengthen family bonds.
Every member is protected in The Family, and alpha-animals act as 'sheperds' by using natural talents like strenght and skill.
| The matriarchs in ancient Celtic culture were alpha-animals |
| It is not the goal to accuse Aristotle as person, that would be using exactly his CONFLICT view of reality.
Only to show that local paradigms (dominant basics of a local culture) are like swamps.
In a swamp you are free to move, nevertheless you drown.
Looking back in linear way (at ethical swamps) has no use if in the meantime paradigm shifts changed the relative position
of those ethical swamps.
Periodically (in periods of recession) it is wise to do a complete cleanup of swamps, using common sense. Of course Aristotle was in his own surroundings a genius. Nevertheless his Macedonian swamp-VIEWS (together with his status as super-genius, and help of catholic fans like Thomas Aquinas) prolonged supremacy/slavery for 2.000 years. Whatever one thinks of Aristotle, fact is that in his own time he was hated by most of the common Greek outside power-circles. |
The western godfather Aristotle of Superkiller Alexander the Great studied family-behavior (nature), but could not make sense of dominants who SERVED a family. Aristotle tried to give sense to his surroundings where THE superior Hellinist Greek exploited 'inferior barbarians' (Henk Tuten: 21st-century PuertoRicans are slaves of US citizens).
Aristotle saw 'exploitation' made into caste system in Hinduism as 'Hindu virtue', close to his own dream arete ('superiority').
Aristotle with homemade arrogance replaced evolutional dominance with BIGGER THAN LIFE 'logical superiority' = 'exploitation' (in later Catholicism referred to as 'pure ego'; parasitism formalized in The Western World).
Aristotle's rich family served 'logically superior' slave-hunters who exploited 'logical slaves' + environment (Henk Tuten: like 21st century Exxon, IBM, a tiny but catastrophal sidestep of evolution)
| Tip of Henk Tuten: Read 'slaves' as 'cows', in Aristotle's home made logic 'barbarians' were similar to 21st century cows. Cow-traders don't doubt about farmers being superior to cows and trade in cowmeat (like many 21st century Africans trade in 'bushmeat'), superiority logic using slave-traders measure slaves in 'pounds of muscles' (for labor [and when pleasing the master's eyes] as submissive alife sextoy).
|
.
From common sense to 'spirituality'
The turn from Plato to Aristotle, indirectly leading to Catholicism, was disastrous. It created an ego-istic Western World, believing in superior dreaming (immaterial 'thinking' or 'understanding'). Plato essentially believed in the relativity of moral codes. Aristotle saw 'talking superior' as 'spiritual' = 'god-given' (absolutism). And this superior god designed by Aristotle preferred Macedonians and Greek.
In fact Arisotle made a split between physical sensed reality and his IDEA 'god' (absolute structure of the universe). And Aristotle saw Hellenists running slavefarms (hell camps = concentration camps or reservates; filled with 'Amazones', Egyptians, Turks, Persians, Africans, ...) as 'superior humans parasiting on 'barbarians' ('inferior' human animals). Similar to southern US farmers in the 18th 19th and early 20th centuries (slavery period) who saw black slaves as 'living meat' (good for free muscle-power and sex). And similar to 21st century farmers in the US Bible Belt who see slavery of thousands of cows as innocent behavior. Seeing cows as beings with emotions still needs time, but seeing ALL human animals as friendly intelligent beings in the 21st century should have been human common sense.
Already in Roman times some common sense historians realized that dividing the world in WE and 'pagan' was aimed at exploitation and awfully destructive.
| In over 20 ages skill improved tremendously but ritual behavior in Western circles in 2.000 years only got a lot more rigid (religious). Asian and African Roman slaves in the 21st century have become Chinese, Philippine, Puerto Rican, Mexican ... underpaid servants of US-Empire citizens. 'Human animals' now show totally submissive behavior under ritual Western Democracy. Tamed 'cheap muscle meat' slaves struggle worldwide on 'projects' of western human animals of subclass 'Superior' and tamed sex-flesh slaves are performing sex rituals in generally awfully dirty 'commercial' 'prostitution' temples all over the Western World |
| Making sense in The Western World of guys like Socrates and Plato is almost impossible after the Paradigm Shift in The Western World to the Aristotelian Paradigm. Then before you realize you are judging Socrates/Plato through Aristotelian eyes |
.
Plato - Paradigm Shift - Aristotle
Major paradigm shifts in history are like walls. Many words before and after the shift have different meanings, and sentences completely different meanings.
Comparison is useless. Aristotle's Hellenistic account of Platonism was`seen from Plato's Hellenic Greece (Classical Greece) non-sense
It's WAY too simple to say in 'rational' language: Plato’s motto is 'Mind over matter' and Aristotles motto 'Matter over mind'. In fact Aristotle is more 'Mind over Matter' than Plato
Plato is an idealist/mysticus who loves abstractions, but also PRACTICAL/modest and always tests his abstractions in dialogues.
Aristotle’s approach to science differed from Plato’s. Though Aristotle thought it also very important to study second philosophy' (physics, mechanics, biology), Aristotle much more saw reason (using of mind) as the highest human faculty, Aristotle seems 'rational' and likes THEORY (logic) and systematization. Aristotle trusts in 'understanding', how things work, their causes and their effects, and denies Platos modest view of ONE reality in favor of his own not so modest view of a DUAL reality (a 'god'like absolute design + realization).
Plato's views and that of Aristotle are diametrically opposed when it comes to use of 'ideas'. That Aristotle considers physical reality as leading is a 'rational' misreading of his Nicomachean Ethics. Aristote sees a mathematical order in reality (nowadays called metaphysics, for Aristotle 'god'). Afterwards a priori 'math' becomes an indespensable tool for research of an absolute mathematical metareality (in later catholic interpretation a 'godly' creation) through analyzing the impure physical realities. Whatever Plato's views were,his research tool obviously was common sense debate. Aristotle with 'mathematical eyes' observes strictly within THE 'godly' structure, while Plato's seemingly absolute physical laws are sense pictures that are open for discussion
Aristotle's criticizes Plato's idealism (the separation of 'ideas' from the sensible world). Peculiar, because Aristotle introduces the duality of matter and thought (desire/form/idea). Though in Aristotle's theory of knowledge sensation is the source of 'thought', he doesn't realize that there is nothing between sensation and action (like form) thought, that sensation is movement.
It is usually in 'science' considered that Aristotle's merit was to have restored the union between sensible world and ideas, Aristotle considers matter and form as unity (and God as super-form/eternal-intelligence completely above reality), but does not mean that form = sense but that sense detects nature and that nature obeys form (eternal perfection). In Aristotle's eyes 'Form' is perfection, absolute, god. And Laws are there to punish the inferior ones who deviate from perfection. One already recognizes The Inquisition of Catholicism, or the 'Law and Order' in 'rationalism'.
Without comment a few quotes of practical dreamer Plato and the emotionless in perfection (supremacy) believing fundamentalist Aristotle
Practical Dreamer
Emotionless Ratio|
A constitution is the arrangement of magistracies in a state. Piety requires us to honor truth above our friends. Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth. The law is reason, free from passion. Man is by nature a political animal. We make war that we may live in peace. |
|
A hero is born among a 100, a wise man is found among a 1.000, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a 100.000 men. All men are by nature equal, [..] as dear unto God is the poor peasant as the mighty prince. Democracy passes into despotism. Excess of liberty, whether it lies in state or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery. The measure of a man is what he does with power. |
.
Aristotle and Slavery
The Logic of the lonely Snake in the Paradise: killing out of 'egoism'
The Logic of the lonely Snake in the Paradise: killing out of 'egoism'
Aristotle: Men rule naturally over women, and Greeks over barbarians.
Aristotle says about what it is that makes a barbarian a slave:
Some humans (the lower sort) can do nothing better than to use their body, and are by nature slaves, and it is better for them as for all inferiors that they should be under the rule of a master.
Superiority = Thymos = The Spirit in us = Immaterial Life'
Superiority = Farming of Human-Animals = Natural Paracitism is Aristotle's explanation for human animal exploitation.
'Thymos' was a notion invented by Aristotle in his defense of 'natural slavery'. 'Thymos' seems related to 'courage'. The 'warrior class' in the Republic has a lot of 'thymos'. Aristotle considered natural slaves exploited by natural masters as natural dualism.
Thymos = 'master quality', 'breath' or 'warrior spirit', warrior aggression, being fierce, desire to dominate, thirst for glory. 'Thymos' was a mix of 'warrior-courage', and 'feeling invincable'. The 'willpower' of an agressive Superman.
Male 'Humans' with 'thymos'(talking super-apes) have dominant 'superman spirits' and exploit 'barbarians' and women (non-greek apes with 'slave spirit'). Men rule naturally over women, and Greek super-apes over inferior barbarian apes.
| Henk Tuten: As son of a farmer I realize that for many farmers feeling superior to cows is way of life. Like trading in cows and getting a high price for cow-milk is a way of life. Killing all cows in Persia would be done by US Army 'efficiently' with 'Superior Force' on command of The President. Ending the slavery of humans as practiced by greed addicts worldwide is complex and very emotional. Respectful and mutually useful coexisting of human-mammals and other mammals for humans is hugely complex. |
Aristotle had a law and order at all costs view of life, because of growing up at Macedononian Court very near to the household of the cruel dictator King Philip (Filippos) of Macedon.
In Aristotle's fantasy immaterial 'breath' (divine 'spirits') from heaven as benign parasites control the 'soul' of superior humans, and implicitly decide a dual 'natural law' (high quality 'breath 'superior humans' run farms of 'evil' low quality 'breath' 'barbarians').
At Plato's death, because of very dubious and agressive views Aristotle was not appointed head of Plato's open minded common sense 'Academy' but Plato's nephew Speusippus. A 'subtile' reprimand. Xenocrates followed Speusippes at death..
Of course between Plato and his student Aristotle is the IDEA 'friendship', but ignoring Aristotle as candidate successor is clear BEHAVIOR.
Thymos:
Samuel P. Hungtington: the West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence.
.
Aristotle's Paradox
The Logic of the lonely Snake in the Paradise: killing out of 'egoism'
The Logic of the lonely Snake in the Paradise: killing out of 'egoism'
Aristotle's Paradox: The belief in invisible immaterial talking beings (ghosts) proves that 'spirits' exist.
Aristotle meant: Slavehunters are dominant because 'spirits' tell them what to do ('Logical dominancy').
Superiority of slavehunters (individuals, egoists) is basic of life.
(Henk Tuten: This is the 'logic' behind organized violence like 'Inquisition' and 'War on Terrorism'. The 20th century 'thinker' and protestant Jew Karl Popper would have considered this circular reasoning as 'rationally' NOT FALSE, because not falsifiable. Although the same influential Karl Popper also whispered: in so far [a statement] is not falsifiable, it does not speak about reality. I wonder what the protestant Popper 'thought' about 'angels'.).
When close to age 40 Aristotle returned to the Macedonian Court in around 343 BC to tutor 17 year old Alexander the Great; According to the historian Plutarch Aristotle as 'mental counselor' made cleverly use of his HUGE influence over the mind of the young prince. Alexander of Macedonia plundered Persepolis (Takhet Jamshid)and then set fire to it in 330 BC because . Alexander is said to have carried away the treasures of 'Takhet Jamshid' on '20000 mules and 5000 camels'
. It is likely that in this brutal childish way Alexander indicated to Persian nobles that their empire, their days of glory were completely over, by thoroughly erasing their legendary ceremonial capital.
After Alexander conquered Athens, Aristotle with funds of Alexander set up a school of his own, known as the Lyceum. After Alexander's death, Athens rebelled against Macedonian rule, and to avoid death penalty Aristotle fled to his late mother's estate at Chalcis on the island of Euboea, and soon died at age 62.
It is 'aristotelian' to say: "An individual's highest faculty is 'understanding" (Henk Tuten: 'spiritual' quality (virtual) that causes serial killing)'Intelligence' only exists in behavior. Else it is immaterial (spiritual),and only imagination. Aristotle was the first 'Talking Head' (politician). Saying "we come to bring peace" when for own 'profit' burning down cities, raping and killing, and enslaving the strong, is a case of DANGEROUS malicious hallucination..
.
Genocide Inventor
Organized Violence in Nightmares
Organized Violence in Nightmares
Aristotle was an ancient version Hitler's top scientists Dr. Mengele and Dr. Wernher von Braun (later head of NASA).
That takes recognizing Alexander the 'Great' as 'Alexander the Cursed', an ancient version of Hitler. Aristotle was a very clever and persistent researcher, but his essential IDEAS about biology (and inherently his IDEAS about 'Greek' slave tycoons being superior) invited genocide. Aristotle believed that humans (the superior Greek) hosted immaterial 'spirits', and that non-Greek were human-animals without 'spirit' (barbarians). So in Aristotle's view humans were no animals anymore (only in the flesh; the IDEA spirit-body split), but with 'spirit from space upgraded apes. Aristotle designed Alexander the Great's terrible beliefs (horror hallucinations): a good-evil division of life', with superior (= good) Greek' divine 'minds' (driven by immaterial spirit towards THE Truth) and evil sinful 'bodies' (without goal).
Aristotelian duality (good-evil) replaced the Abrahamic religions (Zoroastrianism, Judean Christianity, Mekka Islam) with Hebrewism.
After Aristotle the greedy Roman Senate added to the confusion, and introduced the 'spiritual' Romans equiped with 'Ego' = copy of spirit of the God of The Emperor=Son of God. Roman Christianity:
A pro slavery god.
In fact the son of a carpenter Jesus being called 'Son of God' made the Romans agree with the Israelian Pharisees to crucify the Palestinian prophet 'Jesus', because his 'god' was way too much anti slavery.
Although Roman leaders superficially converted to Christianity, they purpously created a variant that accepted slavery (ROMAN Christianity).
Ages later, since the Council of Chalcedon catholic priests officially taught that 'spirit=soul' was your personal copy of the immaterial and eternal 'holy spirit'. Such independent 'spirits' precisely obeyed Catholic Laws (Nicomachean Ethics). And 'spirit' never had much problems with all kinds of slavery (Aristotle grew up with slaveraids as hunting parties, and never doubted his 'superiority').
And again a few ages later the Muslims accepted a copy of Catholicism: Medina Islam or Mohammedanism
Aristotelian duality resulted (via Catholicism) in 2500 years of man-to-man conflicts, exploitation,
slavery, genocide, ...In weird views like industrialism, capitalism, democracy, freedom of speech.
By introducing 'good' higher 'essence' (immaterial or 'spiritual') and lower sinful 'emotion' (bodily) .
.
Aristotle and Biology
Aristotle and the Supernatural
Aristotle and the Supernatural
Biology was a natural pursuit for Aristotle, given his family's medical background.
His achievements in logic/ethics are very dubious, but 2000 years after his death his research in biology is seen as lasting success (though equally dubious). He identified near to 500 different species of animals. A big part of his achievement was simply the huge amount of data that he collected, but he is also praised for the skill and care with which he organized the data.
Nowadays we would lock up Aristotle as 'psychotic control freak' (Henk Tuten: I hate labels, but this one makes sense)
The biologer Aristotle invented 'immaterial spirit'
Aristotle saw human-animal keeping (slave-farming) as biological parasitism, and engineered a model that made sense to him. THE essence of life.
Aristotle designed heavenly 'spirits from space' who steered sinful physical body/soul's.
For Aristotle psychology was 'higher' than biology, and he saw 'spiritual' motives steering physical life (houses of flesh).
Quote Aristotle: The law is reason unaffected by desire or "The law is reason free from passion".
Aristotle's physics relies on an essential distinction between the material realm, made of the four elements earth, water, wind, and fire, and the 'spiritual' realm, made of immaterial ether and seen as superior.
| That invention of the immaterial 'spirit' as superior to bodily 'emotion' (intuition) allowed commenting brutal killing in slave-raids coldly as: 'necessary'. The 'ideal' tool for emotionless slavehunters. |
.
Aristotle on 'Potency'
Considering 'belief' as material, the basis of Catholicism
Considering 'belief' as material, the basis of Catholicism
Potency is an IDEA.
But Aristotle claims that (in his homemade Nicomachean Logic) 'potency' is a DIFFERENT kind of material.
Against common sense people who sense that 'potency' is only 'in your head' (not part of reality, it can't be sensed) Aristotle claims in Metaphysics IX, 3-4 that 'potency' not being part of reality is not LOGICAL (his own logics?).
Because then one would only possess a potency when one was performing its corresponding act. A man who is sitting, for example, would not have the potency to stand. He would only have the potency of standing while actually standing. Aristotle believes this to be paradoxical.
Aristotle creates an awful confusion. First he claims that an IDEA can be owned.
Like owning the talent to stand. Or owning the status 'rich', or 'superior'.
Of course a man who sits has the ablity to stand, but as long as he sits one can only sense 'sitting'. No use to claim that an alife soldier might be dead in a second.
A snake does not bite if you absolutely manage to stay rigid. Because his senses observe MOTION (odour is also motion). Snakes can't sense 'ideas' (fantasies don't move)
Aristotle sees ideas as a different materiality, that can be sensed with a different kind of sense ('spirituality'). Like claiming: God is of godly material, and godly material can be observed with the sense 'belief'
And inherently very TRICKY Aristotle claims: My extra sense 'belief' senses that 'barbarians' are filled with the 'potency' 'inferiority'.
.
Aristotle and Eudaimonia
A thing in itself
A thing in itself
Aristotle invented 'spirit from space' to make sense of the brutal lifestyle of the Macedonian dictators, the environment in his young years, and considered this fantasy independent 'spirit' as control unit of the body (the flesh). Peculiar is that that Aristotle saw 'spirits' as locked in a physical body.
So not simply soul is part of body as untill then in all earth beliefs (intuition is proven behavior), but 'spirit' as eternal immaterial matter steering a material body. Humans differed in the quality of their 'spirit', with far on top Greek, then other low quality humans, then spiritless mammals, etcetera.
Aristotle also invented 'eudaimonia'. Eudaimonia (living 'good' and doing 'good') is pursued for its own sake (final). Eudaimonia is supposed to be 'a thing in itself', that makes life 'good'. Human happiness according to Aristotle is not 'function' (ergon) of a human. It is not 'behavior', human bodies are merely tools of immaterial superior 'spirits'.
And such 'spirits' have arete (excellence). Humans use ergon (speech) to reach arete. Aristotle means that chimpanzees and gorillas cannot speak (cannot reach arete, are inferior' beings). Eudaumonia is the fantasy of 'superiority' (humanism).
According to Aristotle humanoids share certain 'functions' with all life forms. But also Aristotle dreams about Hellenists being superior in 'reasoning' and 'choice' (nowadays called 'rational'). Aristotle suggests that "the SPECIAL function humans consists activity of the 'soul'. Here Aristotle introduced the fantasy mind body split. 'Eudaimonia' is an 'activity' of the Aristotelian fantasy 'soul', built around the other Aristotelian fantasies 'ergon' (function) and 'spoudaios / arete' (being special/superior) 'reasoning' ('understanding')
.
Aristotle initiated the collision between nature and 'mind' (body mind splite)
Aristotle saw 'spirit' as metaphysics, and as hidden power.
Aristotle saw metaphysics (his own abstract concepts about nature) as the knowledge of immaterial being, and calls it first philosophy, the theologic science or being in the highest degree of abstraction."
That way Aristotle became founding father of the Byzantine and Catholic Churches, believing in 'humanism' and supernatural things.
Aristotle saw 'spirit' as explanation behind natural happenings. This belief today widely is referred to as 'metaphysics'. Aristotle saw 'spirit' as the driving power behind the ability of natural life to adapt. That lead to modern day 'scientific beliefs' (religion) like: sex can be learned by reading books. Common sense shows: sexual behavior is learned by copying and training. 'Sex' as IDEA =Illusion.
Early 20th century the 'Goddess of Selfishness' Ayn Rand saw Aristotle as 'the teacher of those who know'.
Once upon a time, 2000 years after Aristotle's pupil Alexander the 'Great', an in top totally corrupted Western World exists following the rules of nature as given by Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics.
Once upon a time ... 2000 years after Adolf Hitler. 'the world' obeyed the rules of nature as given by Dr. Mengele and 'Head of NASA' Dr. von Braun in 'Arian Ethics' .
Dr. Mengele identified hundreds of different types of humans. A big part of his 'research' was simply filling a huge database with collected data, but he is often praised for the skill and care with which he organized the data in subtile medical experiments.
And Dr. von Braun is seen as a rocket technology wizard who innocently practiced with missiles by bombarding the city of London.
But who as Head of NASA with a HUGE step for humanity made humans ready for entering space.
Once upon a time the view on life of Hitler and Nazis was hated and called 'fascism'. But in the meantime in the year 4444 by erasing all emotion being extremely cruel is recognized' as necessary and as being very 'spiritual'......
O.K. 'fascism made about 100 million human victims worldwide, most of them civilians and by using extreme cruelty, but that was all in the game. Not that much more corrupted as things already were.
The incommensurable Zen-Buddhist Chinese paradigm seems much more fun, but in the 44th century is out of reach.
In the time of Aristotle Persia was the gateway for getting Asian knowledge into the Western World. For instance this way mathematics came to Greece and Egypt. The Asian notion "Chi" caused great conceptual confusion. Aristotle mistakenly saw 'chi' as immaterial and 'godly'
Aristotle (384BC - 322BC) introduced the principal of immaterial 'spirit' (much later called metaphysics). The essence of this idea was ages old (but seing it as IMMATERIAL, opened very tricky possibilities). Taoists called it 'chi', the Babylonians 'ti', the Japanese 'rei ki'.
In fact 'chi' was meant as 'low density human', and as border between the Western notions 'biological body life' and 'biological body death'.
Human have a 'high density appearance' (biological body) and a 'low density essence' (chi-energy appearance or aura).
In the Western World the knowledge faded that brains function 'drive by wire' AND wireless (on remote control via the aura). The control via aura is weaker and easier disturbed, and most humans don't use it. All knowledge and intelligence is archived by wire in the brain an wireless in the 'aura', but the biological body adds 'strength. Both 'biological body' and 'aura' can disintegrate, but in common at what Western people came to call 'death' only the biological body stops functioning.
.
Aristotle and Dominator View
Aristotle and Dualism
Aristotle and Dualism
Aristotle was a 'dualist'
The view to split reality in IDEAS+physics (mind + matter) Aristotle inherited from Plato. Nevertheless Plato treats this split in common sense way (dualism useful/damaging), just like earlier Zoroaster (Zarathustra). Plato sees himself as a world citizen among 'equals'.
Aristotle used this dualism in supremacy way, the spiritual Masters and the barbarian Slaves.
Aristotle's idea of a God OUTSIDE of the world, supplying the efficient cause for the universe, was perfectly suited for church leaders who needed dominancy of The Catholic Church as way to pretend that their own catholic laws ruled nature (and that 'Popes' are natural leaders) AND to trick their slaves into 'order'.
Henk Tuten: in a 21st-century article I found the to the point descriptions: 'dominator view' and 'partnership view'.
Quotes about Aristotle
Locke wrote about Aristotelianism: perplexed with obscure terms and useless questions
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) wrote about Aristotle: "a naive and childlike animistic view of the world"
Jeremy Bentham: Aristotle divides mankind into two distinct species that of freeman and that of slaves
Aristotle's convictions
Aristotle considered slavery as 'natural', because 'some men are adapted by nature to be the physical instruments of others.'
Aristotle considered the 'barbarian' as inferior, 'adapted by nature' to be slave of superior people.
Aristotle considered 'the universe' as made by 'God', though not being religious.
Aristotle considered study of theology, as a 'theoretical' (heavenly) pursuit [studying laws 'from heaven'] , as study of the highest kind, and Aristotle in his 'theology' imagined an immaterial (virtual) God outside earth. God's IDEAs are desribed as 'virtue' (virtual), man's facts are seen as sin
Aristotle about Freedom (tricky): "each of us is free to become "a good person or a bad one" (Aristotle's God decides good or 'barbarian': absolutism).
Aristotle's logic of duality in the west practically separated body and 'spirit' (matter and 'mind'), resulting in man-to-man conflicts (about 'spiritual arguments'), exploitation (in the name of 'rights'), slavery (of man without spirit by men with 'spirit'), genocide.
Through Aquinas (1225-74), Aristotelian ethics became the official powertool of the Roman Catholic Church. According to Aquinas 'intelligence' is an immaterial power and, since a thing is as it acts, the soul itself is immaterial and can live without the body
Aristotle became the darling of the medieval Catholic Church, and after Enlightenment his fascist ideas were hidden by the 'modern' Catholic Church in 'rationalism'.
.
Aristotle and the Dominator View
Aristotle introduced the paranoid division greek-barbarians
Aristotle introduced the paranoid division greek-barbarians
Aristotle believed that superior people should rule inferior people, and superior people, in Aristotle's view, were Greek. Aristotle wrote that Greek should not be slaves but that they should be slave owners
Aristotle saw 'anima' (soul, spirit, mind, ...) as sense of purpose. 'Anima' Aristotle believed, moved itself aiming for a goal.
All human intelligence is in the with the eye invisible 'aura'.
| Stanislav Grof quote: A radical [..] transformation [..] might be the only real hope we have in the current global crisis brought on by the dominance of the Western mechanistic paradigm. |
The tragedy of the biologer Aristotle was that he interpreted material aura's as immaterial 'gods', who presented a dual reality of 'spirituality' (good) and 'sinful flesh' (evil).
Because Aristotle failed the imagination to 'see' invisible things (like energy fields) as material. For Aristotle gravity must have been caused by immaterial 'spirits' who pulled everyone down. Aristotle must have argued: 'people who believe in not existing things (like physical life after 'death') can only be close to animals'. And in Aristotle's fantasy 'spirits' were real (though invisible), because they were 'immaterial'.
The aged Aristotle saw the weird hallucinations in his brain as immaterial mind. The young total-zombie Alexander obeyed Aristotle's 'mind' (immaterial = good) and annihilated Persia (quite physical common sense = sinful flesh = evil).
Aristotle practically totally blocked an invalueable source of knowledge for the Western Paradigm, and indirectly he initiated the Catholic belief in 'spirits' (immaterial gods).
.
The Essence
Aristotle introduced the paranoid good-evil thinking
Aristotle introduced the paranoid good-evil thinking
| Thomas Aquinas revived the dubious biological hierarchy ideas of Aristotle. Since the thirteenth century Aquinas is most known for his "Five Ways of Proving the Existence of God" . Aquinas ignorantly revived a fascist ethics, that was largely forgotten apart from unrecognized basic principles in Catholic Ethics (the existence of immaterial 'spirits'). Thomas Aquinas developed his own popular ethics for the masses (Thomistic Philosophy) , which has its roots in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (the 'synderesis' or 'Natural Law' tradition in Catholic ethics). Examples of 'synderesis' (simular to ages later Kant's 'Categorical Imperative'): "Do good and avoid evil" and "Obey God." Catholicism defined 'good' and 'evil', and if necessary this religion organized genocide ('inquisition'). |
| The fascism in Macedonian culture related Serb countries is no coincidence. Serb culture seems to be drenched with paranoid Aristotelian 'we versus they' thinking. Now and then fascism comes in the open. Then happenings like a 'Holocaust' (Persia, Armenia, Germany, Cambodja, Kosovo, Bosnia...) show the true nature of the paranoid split of reality in 'good' and 'evil'. |
The essence is that Aristotle CREATED 'fundamentalism' (creationism = IMAGINING conflict good-evil)
Aristotle without realizing made a blueprint for Catholicism, and Catholicism designed a Western World that in the top-level 'politics' sees reality as conflict between good and evil. With extremes like 'genocide', World Wars and Global War on Terrorism.
A Western World as agressive 'idea-stronghold' in a peaceful 'materialistic' common sense total world.
The used confict model in 'politics' is seen in 2 party systems (United States) and many party systems (social democracy). The common sense family models do not divide families in fighting fractions. Also 'communism' uses the ineffective western made conflict model: Marx is interpreted as 'WE the people' and 'THEY the aristocrats'.
A fight between 'a fantasy reality' of ignorant 'Hellinistic'/'Roman' design and common sense realities (design by firm 'Evolution Incorporated, with billions of years experience)
| Ages later the religion 'Catholicism' made the confusion compete by distinguishing 'good spirits' (those housing in Catholics), and 'evil spirits'
housing in 'pagans'. 'Evil spirits' were fought bloodily with exorcism, inquisitions, crusades, world wars.
This destructive behavior was after European Enlightenment finally completely anchored in the ritual 'rationality', resulting in
annihilating wars on terrorism. As far as Afghanistan, Iraq or Iran. Seen in 21st century common sense 'rationality' resulted in an ever increasing number of Western macho-men dominating nature (multi-billionaires, popes, presidents, premiers, admirals, ...). Such 'Superiors' from 'heaven' considered earth as 'exploitation source' OUTSIDE 'heaven'. When the source is dry and dead, they 'think' that 'heaven'(=virtual reality) will still be quite alife (a dream with near to disastrous consequences; in virtual reality there are no life sources). Reality takes sideways more weird than Science Fiction |
.
Epicurus
No good and evil, senses are 'passive receivers'
No good and evil, senses are 'passive receivers'
Epicurus is an original philosopher in the Hellenistic period, the three centuries following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE (and of Aristotle in 322 BCE).
Epicurus taught that the basic elements of life world are atoms, uncuttable bits of matter, flying through empty space, and he tried to explain all of nature in atomic terms.
Epicurus rejected the existence of 'spirit' and 'immaterial soul', and he said that the influence of gods is fantasy.
Epicurus taught about 'happiness' and how to achieve it in life.
Epicurus believed that happiness would come if people did not fear death, took care of themselves, and did not seek unnecessary desires.
Epicurus felt that people were must create their own happiness.
Epicurus writes, We must then meditate on the things that make our happiness, seeing that when that is with us we have all, but when it is absent we do all to win it
Epicurus taught that we could gain knowledge of the world by relying upon the senses.
He taught that the point of all one's actions was to attain happiness as a group.
And that this could be done by limiting one's 'individual' desires,
and by banning the fear of the gods and of death.
Epicurus' teachings of freedom from fear proved to be quite popular, and communities of Epicureans flourished for centuries after his death.
Epicurus says that there are three criteria of truth: sensations, 'preconceptions' (ideas about sensations) and feelings (intuition).
Sensations give us information about the external world. We can test the judgments based upon sensations against further sensations;
Epicurus says that all sensations give us information about the world, but that sensation itself is a purely passive reception by sense-organs (not true or false)
Instead, error enters when we judge all of life based upon local information received through the senses.
From Mind over Body to BodyMind Paradigm
|
| Interesting links: 1. Aristotle's authority; about experience/behavior versus abstract 'logic'/'understanding'. 2. Aristotelian logic: slavery to words |
Tweet
