I see Western Civilization as two distinct ages, the of philosophy and age of empirical science. The age of philosophy, starting with the Greeks, spanned from the 6th century B.C. until the birth of Modernism in the 16th century. The age of Empiricism, spanning until the present, began in 1543 with the Copernican Revolution. The […]
Category Archives: Greek Philosophy
90. Plato’s Dialogue Laches, What is Bravery?, Part II
What is Bravery? In an age of feckless leadership in the West, we need to go back to the 20th century to find examples of leaders, such as Winston Churchill, who exemplified courage to an almost unknown degree today. And where did Churchill turn for his inspiration? To none other than the ancient Greeks. One […]
89. Plato’s Dialogue Laches, What is Bravery?, Part I
We usually reserve the term bravery for a selected group of people in our society, whether military, first responders, or an average citizen who intervenes extraordinarily to save somebody’s life. Imagine that Plato invites you for the gathering in home with several other guests, and in the course of dinner, Plato turns to you and […]
87. Plato’s Love-Hate Relationship with the Arts, Part II
Plato sowed the seeds of Western art theory. His brief discussions on the topic, spread throughout his dialogues, give us a glimpse into his ideas. On one hand, these ideas can seem incomplete, fragmented, or even confusing. On the other hand, they can be strikingly profound and thought provoking. Regardless, one thing that Plato’s art […]
86. Plato’s Love-Hate Relationship with the Arts, Part I
One reason why Plato’s perspective on the arts and beauty is important is because it directly applies to modern life. As you know, modernity is often characterized by ugliness. Whether it’s in city planning such as strip malls, or in modern art, much of which can be confusing at best. Part of the journey to […]
85. Plato’s Dialogue ‘Ion’ -Inspiration in Poetry, Human, Divine, or Demonic?
Musical artist Joni Mitchell once said, “Music comes from the muses, and not other musicians,” illustrating that the concept of the muse is alive and well in modern times. Many would say that she was speaking figuratively, but was she? Music comes from the muses. -Joni Mitchell This leads us to the question: where do […]
80. Phaedo on the Soul and the Afterlife, Part 3
Despite all of our technology, the Greeks were, in many ways, wiser than we are. We should not mistake knowledge for wisdom, for we have much more knowledge. They were wiser for many reasons, but especially because they recognized that human beings have immortal souls, something that we have lost today. This is the subject […]
79. Phaedo on the Soul and the Afterlife, Part 2
Many people think about the afterlife on a regular basis, while others avoid the subject. But coming to grips with our mortality is essential if we are going to have any sort of meaningful life. This is what Plato’s Phaedo is all about. After all, as the saying goes, if you don’t know how to die, […]
78. Phaedo on the Soul and the Afterlife, Part 1
Phaedo deals with the remaining hours of Socrates’ life. As such, there is much we can learn from it. The contrast above is stark and represents what Socrates accomplished in his death: turning the West from a violence-based culture to one of reason. On the right, we have the famous Greek hero Achilles, whose death […]
76. Plato’s ‘Meno’ Part 2; A Common Uneducated Slave
Can a common, uneducated slave do complex geometry without ever learning it? This is one of the questions in Plato’s Meno. Plato was hoping that the answer to this question was yes, for that would give hope to slaves everywhere. This and other unusual aspects of the dialogue make it one of Plato’s most interesting […]