WESTERN PHILOSOPHY:
SOCRATIC METHOD OF TEACHING
AND EXPLAIN VIRTUE
1.
Philosophy is a Greek word, philosopis, meaning
a love of wisdom, science of principles. Thales of Miletus 640 BC regarded
Water as source of creation being impressed with its fluidity / assuming shape.
2.
Anaximander 611 BC book on Nature and
philosophy based on injustice in the world and all things in the world goes
back to the source and set right for the injustice done; Law of equity, as a
Principle. Infinite in quantity and uncertain
in quality. He believed, earth is centre
of all creation, cylindrical in form and does not move being the centre. All
earth was in liquid form and slowly land animals grew and soul is aeriform. Doctrine of evolution is believed.
3.
Anasimenes of Miletus being a disciple of
Anaximander further developed the theory.
It is the air, fire, wind, cloud, water and earth arise by air by
condensation and refraction. Just as
breath is life of this body, so air is the life of Universe. Diogene also belonging to similar period
believed in that.
4.
Heraclitus of Ephesus prior to Pythagoras
eternal fire is the divine spirit; it knows everthing, directs everything; all
things are transformed into fire; fire to water, earth and to death. Upward fire is creative process.
5.
Pythagoras of Samos, 582 BC and pupil of
Anaximander. Formed a Society for
political, philosophical reasons.
Believed in transmigration of souls, believed that e was a soldier in
previous birth. Ethical and religious
regulations are important and he followed rigid regiment. He formulated philosophy combining
mathematics and theology. Mystic signs
in numbers of arithmetic and figures of geometry. Four and ten were considered important. Square number like four and four sides of
square expressed principles of action and suffering, punishment and reward.
6.
Pythogoras believed in Helio centric and also
said there is a counter earth under the earth, muic of the spheres and force of
attraction among spheres. Souls is
harmony and its bodily existence is a punishment. It is verily imprisonment for being
essentially free and blissful.
7.
Paramendes, 515 BC belived in doctrine of Unity
and being alone is. Non being is not and
there is nothing s becoming. Reality
alone exist in the form of a single and eternal sphere. Reality continuously fills the space and
change/plurality is a dream shado and they are empty resemblance. Sense cheat and make us talkative about appearances
which are deceptive. The world of
appearance vanished in toto and he saw being everywhere…like Nirvikalpa sahaaja
samadhi of Brahma jnani.
Second phase of Greek philosophy.
8.
Sophists developed concept of perception, desire
and representation; they ceased to deal with origin and nature of world, and it
was more psychological analysis which does not mature into a scientific system
of behaviouristic facts.
9.
Socrates and his disciples
considered the phenomena and laws of ethics and logic. He emphasised the important relation of man,
the thinking subject to the objective universe.
471 to 469 BC tried to study man alongwith sophists logic and morals
with reference to objective reality.
10.
Knowledge and Virtue are his spheres of study
and Knowledge is the basis of all virtue.
Knowledge is moral insight and all virtues are born of moral insight.
Being a greatest educationist of the world, content of education is Virtue.
11.
Virtue may have aspects but all virtues is
essentially one. He introduced a proper philosophical method, induction,
definition and dialectical disputation in the field of philosophy. Socratic
Maieutic and irony are two aspects of the methods in philosophical
conversations. Incissive manner of
putting questions and art of cross examination to the admiration of the
questioner, stimulating interest in parties.
12.
It was the voice of God which gives insight and Demoniac
sign for choosing right against wrong one.
He believed that inner voice will prevail giving instructions to the
good and pure souls, god as divine intelligence governing the World. He was introspective and analytical till the
last conscious moment of death which was quite dramatic. Accusation was that he corrupted youth and he
did not recognise the state recognised gods and introduced new demoniacal
beings, Sentenced to death by drinking
Hemlock (a slow poison).
13.
He gave a rational and practical basis for truth
and morality gave credit to knowledge and virtue. With sincerity and
conviction, he did not allow accusers to sit in judgment and allowed them to
punish him; most noble and worthy of philosopher. Virtues flow from moral
insight and clearly comes closer to Dharma in life giving a powerful impetus
to philosophising.
14.
469 BC in Athens – sculptor father acquired an
ability to engage in conversations in market place, streets, discuss diverse
topics war, politics, arts trade, religion, moral matters in particular. Life
with all interest became subject of inquiries and he was subtle keen quick to
discover the fallacies of an argument but kindly and gentle with good humour.
15.
Man of remarkable self control, noble, capable
of endurance. Respect for authority and
loyalty to govt and laws. He was short,
stocky, snub nosed with large mouth and careless in his dress, clumsy and
uncouth, but all these peculiarities forgotten when he begn to speak, personal
charm and effect of his brilliant conversation.
Truth is the defence for challenging the Sophistry and knowledge is a
virtue as per Socrates.
Some more Socrates
16.
Socrates clearly saw political and ethical
fallacies of sophistry which undermined morality due to mis conception of
meaning of truth. The problem of
knowledge was the effective key and he was able to arouse love of truth and
virtue. His purpose was practical and
methodology was lived.
17.
The Truth required to be understood through
socratic method of discussions, questionining and cross examination. He pretended not to know any more about
subject and often acted he knew less (Socratic irony). After finding out / making evident the
contradictions in what the other say, guide them into his own channels. The
confused and erroneous notions of the disputants shape up into a form and
understanding enters their mind.
The popular and hastily formed
opinions are brought out and through dialogue form correct opinions. Skilful questioning was his forte.
18.
Through a process of induction,
Socrates evolves definition. With the
help of examples, a provisional definition formed and then tested with other
examples and broadened or narrowed to meet requirement, until a satisfactory
result reached.
19.
Sometimes he test the statements made by going
at once to principles, criticising them in the light of correct definitions,
and here the method is deductive. Any subjective opinion is
analysed with reasons for reaching such conclusion and defining the terms would
result in testing the statement made.
PLATO’S THEORY OF IDEA
20.
428 BC originally named as Aristocles, pupil of
Socrates. Being an extensive traveller
was a prisoner of War also. Platonic
standard of ethics and politics. He
authored a larege number of books and 36 out of 56 are available. He recorded
the teachings of Socrates very faithfully and made him immortal
Dialectics, Ethics and
Physics:
21.
Platonic dialectics – is his idealism. All the objects of the world are perceived in
the world are conditional in their existence being limited by time, space and
change. The essential characteristics is
the reconciliation of the object and its idea.
Concept has two objects, physical and ideal, the thing and its idea.
22.
Idea is a meta physical concept of the object
and it never dies even though the object itself may not survive. The physical object is a travesty of the idea
and its mere a caricature, mere shadow, very imperfect and distorted
image.
23.
The world of appearances, the phenomena, ever
remains inferior to the reality of idea.
Ontologically and logically, the idea is the object of the concept, and
by no means the essence of individual objects.
The idea is the ultimate reality of the individual. Its two fold being physical and ideal, the
thing and its idea
The idea as spoken by Plato is
not just a thought, intellectual image or event, it is a metaphysical reality
and archetypal essence, in all its perfection compared to the imperfect
physical object. It’s the orgin as well
as the ultimate of end of the object.
The physical object is a travesty of the idea and mere
caricature/shadow, being imperfect and distorted.
24.
The world of appearances, the phenomena ever
emains inferior to the reality of the idea and the idea is a multiple
projectivity of material manifestation. More youthink of the particularities,
the more stress on the concept, the more you conceptualise your meditation,
more youindividusalistic, whole world of ideas exist as replica of phenomenal
world. It’s a theory of ideas as a form
of pluralism.
25.
Plato is the father of idealism which inspired
many Europen philosophers who saw with a sense of poetic wonder and magic
bdauy. Some view it as a mental
gymnastics, intellectual jugglery, dreamy accomplishment, lyrical imagination,
cultural amusement.
26.
Plato developed this theory and believed that
this symbolism in philosophy can give perfection. The concept of Savikalpa Samadhi and journey
towards Nirvikalpa Samadhi is a comparable concept in Vedantha and the physical
world of objects is very imperfect projection appearing to be a shadow
unreality a mockery.
27.
Plato’s philosophy is compared Vedantha of
Greece, his world of plurality of ideas, as compared to beings in
saatyaloka/brahmaloka who are perfect, we have a phenomenal world with imperfect
beings. It was an institutional reality
and a methodology for dropping off the physical and material aspects resulting
in purity of thought, word and deed.
28.
It has a parallel concept of Abhasavada of
Advaitha Vedantha and also reconciles unity with plurality of Vishistadvaitha
and Bhedabeda. The eternal nature of
Brahman can be seen in the concept of Idealism of Plato.
29.
Practical way of soul moving upward journey to
the super celestial region wherein the astral body of man frees itself from the
physical sheath and makes a sojourn, which can be done only through
contemplative reasoning – accessible only to the contemplative view of the
reason. It includes logic, physics,
metaphysics, psychology, ethics, intuition methods and processes,
30.
For those who could not do this, the path of
faith and worship suggested. Individuals
are limitations of the ideas and good is God is alone and the cause of being
and becoming, like sun in the realm of ideas.
ARISTOTLE ABOUT GOD
31.
384 BC at Macedonian city north of Athens.
Father was a physician to king of Macedon and gand father of Alexander. Studied
under Plato for long and he was a reckless and irregular youth initially. His
love of books was recognised by Plato by clling his house of the reader also
showing certain book wormshness in Aristotle.
He had certain authentic quarrel with the teacher and developed Oedipus
complex for him.
32.
He founded a school of oratory to rival
Isocrates and had wealthy pupils who would later become Autocrats. He was called upon by the King Philip He
guided Alexander as a philosophical aid and tutor for unification of Greece.
Alexander was a wild youth of thirteen, passionate, epileptic, almost alcoholic
and it was his past time tame horses.
Alexander recognises him as a father giving art of living. Aristotle liked by British for they compared
their own king seen as God.
His meta physics and nature
of God:
33.
Aristotle’s meta physics grew out of his study
of biology and he believed that everything in the world is moved by an inner
urge to become something greater than it is. Both the form and reality expanded
and grew. According to him, the man is
the form of which the child was the matter.
Child is the form and embryo is the matter. Embryo the form the ovum matter and so back
till we reach in a vague way, the conception of matter without form at all.
Such a formless matter is no-thing for everything has a form.
34.
Matter, in its widest sense, is the possibility
of form, the form is the actuality, the finished reality of matter. Matter
obstructs and form constructs, form is merely the shape but the shaping force,
is the potential of matter, sum of powers residing it and the Nature is the
conquest of matter by for, constant progression and victory of life.
35.
He believed that there is no accidental
evolution, and there is direction from within, by nature and structure. There
is no external providence designing earthly structures and its only that the
divine providence coincides completely with natural causes.
36.
Aristotle yet say that there is God, though nor
perhaps a simple and human God, conceived by anthropomorphism of the adolescent
mind. The vast process of motion and formation begin the Universe with infinity
of shapes. God does not create, but he
moves the world, not as a mechanical force but as the total motive of all
operations of the world. God moves the world as the beloved object moves the
lover. God is the final cause of nature,
the drive and purpose of things, form of the world, energizing principle and
pure energy.
37.
He also contradicts by saying that God is a self
conscious spirit rather mysterious in nature, doing nothing, no desires no
will, no purpose but activity is pure and perfect. Being the essence of al
things, the form of all forms, and his sole employment is contemplation
himself.
38.
Critics say that he is a “roi faineant”, do
nothing King, king reigns but he does
not rule (British liked Aristotle since his God is obviously copied from their
King). His God is far from Philospher
king of plato, stern flesh and blood reality of Yahveh and gentle/solicitous
fatherhood of Christin God.
PROBLEM OF EVIL IN
CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY HOW ST.AUGUSTINE
RESOLVE THIS
39.
The first sin of a fallen angel, corrupted the
entire man kind and needed divine help, which came in the form of Jesus
Christ. Manichaens, persian Mani (+277)
brought I Persian dualism and Gnosticism into scriptures and combined
Christianity with doctrines of Zoroaster.
They taught that by ascetism, assentation from meat, wine, marriage,
property and labour it is possible to purify and return to kingdom of God.
40.
Christ came to save man from sin and will to
chose right or wrong. God being
absolutely good and just, cannot be responsible for the Sin of man and man
himself is the author of Sin. Sin is not
transmitted from generation due to the fact that every man has free will and
sin implies freedom. Adams sin was
baneful and imitation of his bad example led to a habit which is difficult to
overcome. Only a divine grace would play
in his redemption and Church will lend support in choosing the good. Baptism
and faith in Jesus necessary to admission into Kingdom of heaven.
41.
St Augustine born in Northen Africa in 353, to a
christian mother and later influenced by Plato and became a monk/bishop of
Hippo. His theory of Knowledge is characteristic of the spirit of entire
Christian age that only knowledge worth having is Knowledge of God.
42.
Understand in order that you may believe, believ
in order that you may understand. Reason, must first decide whether a
revelation is correct and we cannot understand everting we elieve, and hence
accept authority of church whichis the representative of God on earth.
His theology is neo platonic
conception of absoluteness and majesty of God and insignificance of his
creatures. God is eternal, transcendental, al powerful, all good, absolute
intelligence and spirit, free. Decisions are unchangeable and he works without
help of any intermediate being or logos, which he proceeded rationally in
creating the world from out of nothing.
43.
God is the cause of everything which means
including evil from the world. Augustine
states that eveil must also be good in its way.
Shadows in picture it belongs to the beauty of the whole, as a defect,
as privation of essence as n omission of the good. Absence of good is Evil and hence it is
conceived that if there is no good, there could be no evi. Good is possible without eveil, bur evil is
not possible without good.
44.
God could have omitted evil from creation, from
the scheme of things, but in order to use it as a means of serving the good,
the glory of universe is enhanced by its presence. The worst evil is turning away from God and
highest good to the perishable world.
45.
In order to save God’s goodness alongwith his
omnipotence, Augustine
a)
denies the existence of evil or makes it
relative
b)
defines it as a privation of good
c)
shifts the responsibility for it to man..
THOMAS AQUINAS – GOD AS
FIRST AND FINAL CAUSE
46.
The system is a movement of explaining
rationality of universe as a revelation of God.
Actus purus (form and matter) actually and potentially, four kinds of
causation are believed. Philosophy passes from facts to God and theology from
God to facts.
47.
Distinction between reason and faith. We cannot
prove them nor can we disprove. But we
can disprove objections to them and hence no necessary need to be offered. World is created in time, is a matter of
revelation. Any attempt gives a rational proof will detract religion from
faith.
48.
Passed resolution/decree that noteacher of
philosophy shall consider any one of the specifically theological questons and
accepted by orthodox Christianity. Aquinas takes the help of Aristotlein
principle to proof God
a)
Everything that is moved requires something to
move it, there must be a first unmoved princiule of motion
b)
Natural objects are merely contingent
c)
Things form a graduated scale of excellence and
there must be higher form of perfection
d)
Everything in nature realises and end purpose
Teleological proof and God is therefore first and
final cause of universe. God creaed universe and matter included, out of
nothing and hence God is the first cause of things, he must be cause of matter
and form. No proof can be given for the beginningof time but world owes its
existence to god.
KANT’S FIRST CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
49.
Immanuel Kant born in Konigsberg, never went
forty miles away of city. He was a
methodic pedant, touched Rousseasitic piety and Prussian rigidity. Clock work life made them set watch,
proverbial funny picture of servant Lampe running with umbrella so save his
master who is self absorbed. No love for
music and no esteem for women. Notable
conversationalist, a successful teacher of philosophy.
50.
Touchstone of intellect in the West. It’s a matter of pride to understand kant and
Indian professors take greatest pride in teaching Kantt.
51.
18th Century age of reason fired
with enthusiasm for science and logic.
Kant in his early life steeped in religion and developed aversion to
Church, German puritan left Church and who ever dlung to God, immortality.
Wrote a book of 800 pages for 15 years and Critique of Pure Reason. All knowledge comes from senses and knowing
mechanism is complex. Transcends experience since it suggestsexistence of
something from its absence.
KANT’S MORAL PROBLEM OF
MEANS AND END.
52.
Inherent limitation of Reason, god’s existence
cannot be disproved by anyone. God
immortality soul freedom are last refuge of reason. Reason is baffled with morality and change
everywhere, reason fails to find self in the flext, it goes to God and through
intuition finds as a spiritual entity.
53.
In the practice of ethically good, the will of a
rational being is a law unto itself.
Moral law is of the nature of a Categorical imperative, as an absolute,
unqualified and unconditioned command of will to itself. Its rational as much as its logic does not
experience.
54.
About lies of life, which are transactional, he
says that its devoid of reason. Telling
lies is not a universal principle and the rational alternative is to speak
truth. Naure has gifted with intuiton
and man is endowed with a moral sense, conscience, inescapable feeling to do
good. Moral law is rational but treat
humanity in every case as an end and never as a means only.
55.
Will is intrinsically good. God is a postulate of practical reason arises
out of moral governance in which virtue is crowned with happiness the summum
bonum. Immortality is another postulate
of practical reason. Freedom is another
postulate of practical reason, primacy of practical reason we feel we are
deathless and strongly feel God is there, we feel we must be free. Conclusion
is “Above the logic of the head, is the feeling of heart”.
