GS 4- Moral thinkers and their philosophies [western]

 GREEK PHILOSOPHY

PRE- SOCRATES

Ancient Greek Philosophy 6 century BCE, fringes of Mediterranean sea

Ancient Greek Philosophy is called Greek Miracle

What influenced the philosophy

a.Democratic independent poleis gave rise to philosophy [not many autocrats and hence free thinking]

b.Greek mythology, sacred places, myths, local deities [example- wok of Homer, Hesoid]

c. Travel experiences

Philosophers-

a. Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes [believed water, earth and intelligence to be the beginners of origin of world]

b. Xenophanes, Heracllitus, Pythagoras- critiqued anthropomorphism of gods, fore to be the arche of the world, world is made up of numbers

c. Parmenides, Zeno of Elea, Melissus, Leucippus, Democritus- Only void and matter exists [atomism]. Eleatics believed that only one thing exists and everything else is a manifestation of it. They were also called as Monists.

d. Sophists - Critical thinking and philosophical relativism, attacked traditional thinking, gods, morality. They developed on Drama, Social Sciences, Mathematics, History. Teachers who taught different subjects.

e. Philolaous of Croton, Diogenes of Apollonia - the last generation of pre Socratic - Known for abstract thinking and argumentation. Example, he says- 'It seems to me, overall, that all things are alterations of the same things and are the same thing'. Even though things change shape, they are ontologically the same.

Areas of Study-  

a. Use of reason to understand Cosmology, substance of the universe, workings of the natural world, human society, ethics, religion, medicine. [intuition that a single explanation could explain both plurality and singularity of the whole

b. Sought explanation of natural world than believing in the actions of the god or mythology. [critical thought- rejected supernatural explanations, sought natural principles to understand the world]

c. Works and writings are not well preserved. Mostly known from testimony

d. Coined new terms and concepts such as Rhythm, Symmetry, Analogy, Deductionism, Reductionism, Mathematicazion of nature.

e. However, there was absence of empiricism and experimentation in order to prove their theories. Why - because of lack of instruments, view of the world as an indestructible whole.

f. Minimised the extent of gods but were not atheists

Modern Day relation

They deeply influenced Plato and Aristotle. Liberalism concepts found their roots here, Francis Bacon developed his scientific method on the basis of this, Neitzche called these philosophers 'tyrants of spirits' and admired them deeply, Heidegger founds the roots of phenomenology [ultimate source of value of all things is found in human experiences] here.

SOCRATES

470-399 BC, Greek Philosopher, from Athens, founder of Western Philosophy, first moral philosopher of Western Ethical Tradition

He authored no texts, known from others accounts like Plato and Xenophon [his pupils], Aristophanes [Socrates's contemporary], Aristotle [born after Socrates's death]

Accounts a=written as dialogues - Socratic Dialogue solving the Socratic Problem

A polarising figure, accused of corrupting the youth, sentenced to death. He refused to escape and drank the hemlock.

Contributed to the realm of Ethics, Rationalism and Epistemology

Quotes- I know that I know nothing, An Unexamined Life is not Worth Living

Socratic Methd of Refutation [Elenchus]

Socrates would initiate a discussion with the known expert of a topic, then prove them wrong by detecting inconsistencies in their reasoning.

He also tests his own opinions, expressing their weakness as others. Thus he is neither a preacher nor a teracher, he recognises his own ignorance while participating in the search for truth.

Socrates gave primacy to definitions

He started the discussion with looking for definition such as what is virtue or goodness.

Oracle of Delphi had declared that there was no one wiser than Socrates. But Socrates said that neither does he think he knows, nor does he know what he does not know.

Eudaimonism and Intellectualism

Eudamonia is  happiness, well being. People pursue actions, directly or indirectly because of this. Some argue that Socrates thought virtue, knowledge, and eudaimonia are identical, while another opinion holds that for Socrates virtue serves as a mean to eudaimonia

According to Plato, he believed that no one errs willingly. He be;ieved thet human actions were guided by cognitive power to comprehend what they desire, while diminishing the role of impulses.  Socratic priority to intellect as the mean to live a good life, diminishing or placing aside irrational beliefs or passions, is the hallmark of Socratic moral philosophy.

No one wants bad things unless he has the knowledge of what is good and what is bad. Hence there was little to no space for irrational desires

How can i make my life happy- everyone seeks to achieve it.  Everyone has to lead onto this path. We have to examine our lives. How will be examine- by self knowledge. An Unexamined life in not worth living. Our true self is our soul [pre christian time]. Soul is the thinking and the willing subject. State of a soul determines the quality of our life. What is good and what is bad, we must know. Whatever gives us true happiness is good, whatever brings our pain is bad. happiness is different from wealth etc. If you are virtuous, you will not fear death. How will we decide what is virtuous and what is not- by Socrates Dialogue- that is questioning. Example- what is justice...etc. If we all are inherently good, then why do people commit crime- because they are ignorant. Since all the evil acts are committed by ignorance. People who do injustice- their souls gets tarnished and suffer permanent unhappiness. Hence, it is better to suffer from injustice than to do injustice.

Religion

Believed in rational religion Then this part of her resembles God, and whoever looks at this, and comes to know all that is divine, will gain thereby the best knowledge of himself.

Sacrifices are useless, philosophize and the pursuit of knowledge is the means to worship god.

He believed that goodness is independent of god and gods themselves must be pious.

Against Sophists who charged huge amount of money . Education- Lighting a flame and not filling an empty vessel. Education is the manifestation of the knowledge which is already manifested in a human. Example an uneducated boy who was able to solve maths problem without going to school.

Avid's experiments - secluded a person from society-

Extremely ugly- roamed in the streets, charged for corrupting youth and not believing in Athenian gods.

ACADEMY OF IDEAS

PLATO

427 and 347 BC

Student of Socrates and later made the first known "university," called the Academy.

Born in a wealthy family

Goal- wanted people to attain Eudaimonia or fulfillment [having things go well]

Wrote 36 books- called as dialogues

The Republic,The Statesman, The Symposium, The Laws, The Meno, The Apology [On Socratic Trial]

Dialogue writing- For him conversation is better than writing. 'Talking is the talking of the soul itself

4 Great Ideas to live a fulfilled life-

1. Think More- logically, rationally. Most of the time we think with the flow that is Doxa [popular opinion]. These thoughts were filled with wrong assumptions like faith is great, money is the beginning of true happiness. Popular opinions can lead to wrong career, value systems etc. Hence Plato's answer to this is Know Yourself. Hence subject your ideas to examination and not get dragged by your wild feelings and desires.This kind of discussion is called Socratic Discussion. One can have it with oneself or with another person.
2. Let Your Lover Change You.- In Symposium- A party scene where two friends began talking about love, sex and relationship. For Plato- True Love is admiration. For instance you admire, their organised behavior, courage etc. So growing closer to them actually will help you to become like them and attain your true potential. In love, a coupe should not love each pther exactly like as they are now. But they should educate each other and endure hardships together. Hence help in enriching each others life. his own ideas have also changed throughout books. Visible in Socratic Problem.
3. Decode the message of Beauty- We find things beautiful when we find in them what we are missing like strength, harmony etc. Arts is therapeutic
4. Reform Society- First Utopian thinker. Inspired by Sparta [soldiers, education etc] I Republic, he identified how a good life can be lived. Athenian Society was filled with influenced by rich and wealthy. Plato wanted to replace them with guardians, distinguished most honoured and admired people. He wanted to replace democracy. Prevent people from voting until they can think properly. Hence he started The Academy, to train people to think properly so as to not advance to mob rule. It last 300 years. People learned subjects and had to be good inherently as well. for him a good society could not be attained until the kings become philosophers or philosophers king.

Athens was a strong principality, geographical conditions, cultural interactions, religious freedom [before christianity and islam]

The Allegory of Cave [The Republic] -

People who consider themselves as experts do not have an understanding of what a good life is. His best work is The Republic, and his best known concept is the Theory of Forms. That is an idea never dies. The real world of forms is never changing. It cannot be experienced by our senses. A soul has three parts- reason, emotion and desire.

Soul is immortal and can take birth again. Hence Theory of form is the perfect manifestation. Example - Justice and laws exist in all countries, but what can be the perfect sense of justice. That will be a form of Justice. Theory of form helps in guiding towards perfection.

He believed that there is a world where something exists in perfection- Platonic World. And we must draw from that perfect state of being to guide our day to day activities. Hence, it is metaphysics something unobserved, physics of being and knowing, what is the ultimate truth. He believed that our world is transcendental to that perfect world. The world we live in is perfectly in flux, nothing is still. However, the world of forms is unchangeable.

The world that appears to our senses is in some way defective and filled with error, but there is a more real and perfect realm, populated by entities (called “forms” or “ideas”) that are eternal, changeless, and in some sense paradigmatic for the structure and character of the world presented to our senses. Among the most important of these abstract objects (as they are now called, because they are not located in space or time) are goodness, beauty, equality, bigness, likeness, unity, being, sameness, difference, change, and changelessness. The most fundamental distinction in Plato's philosophy is between the many observable objects that appear beautiful (good, just, unified, equal, big) and the one object that is what beauty (goodness, justice, unity) really is, from which those many beautiful (good, just, unified, equal, big) things receive their names and their corresponding characteristics.

We are urged to transform our values by taking to heart the greater reality of the forms and the defectiveness of the corporeal world. We must recognize that the soul is a different sort of object from the body—so much so that it does not depend on the existence of the body for its functioning, and can in fact grasp the nature of the forms far more easily when it is not encumbered by its attachment to anything corporeal. In a few of Plato's works, we are told that the soul always retains the ability to recollect what it once grasped of the forms, when it was disembodied prior to its possessor's birth and that the lives we lead are to some extent a punishment or reward for choices we made in a previous existence (see especially the final pages of Republic).

People are like prisoners, can only see what is shown to them. For them, the puppets and fire is only an illusion. If you remove the chain then, he will see the sun, will realise the illusion. Hence, all level shows 4 level of mind- Men in chains [conjecture- prejudices], Men unbound to cave [Belief], Men out of Cave [ Reasoning], Men fully liberated [understanding].

Theory of Knowledge is something we remember before taking birth.

Characteristics of Idea-

• Ideas are universal, ex- beauty reminds us of the beauty of form. hence such ideas are already present in us, they simply remind us of the dormant ideas already present in us.
• Ideas are eternal and timeless, immortal, they are immutable. Hence ideas can only be thought and not be sensed beacuse we can only think about them.
• Each idea is one and unique.

Hence ideas help us bringing closer to the perfect world.

Characteristics of Idea- Ideas are universal,

On Justice

Degenerating conditions of Athens- 'Tyranny naturally arises out of Democracy', Socrates trial.

Justive should be based on virtues- power of an individual concentration of duty. Justice is manifestation of all virtues in just sense.

social classes and virtues

Philosophers- knowledge- wisdom

Soldiers- Emotion- Courage

Traders- Appetite- Temperence

Justice is also the virtue befitting social order

Hence the 4 virtues are  Wisdom, Courage, Temperance, Justice

On Love

Zeus story, Only Humans- no female and male. Zeus parted them into two man and woman and hence double offering. Hence, all their life they are looking for the better half. Hence the idea of wholeness. Stages of love Love the beauty --+ person ---+ how they are ---+ idea. Falling in love with idea is platonic love. That is falling in love with the idea like beauty etc. However, this beauty will not love you back but you will still love them.

In a real world poets should be banished. Poets talk about forms which is double displaced from the realisty.

The Republic

In the dialogue Socrates reveals that a just life is a precursor to happiness [relation between justice and eudaimonia]

ARISTOTLE

Greek Philosopher

Polymath [writings cover- physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theatre, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics, politics, meteorology, geology, government

Taught by Plato 17 yrs old to 37 yrs old in Plato's Academy, Athens]

After death of Plato, left Athens, Philip II of Macedon requested him to tutor Alexander the Great.

Founder of Lyceum [a school of philosophy] and Aristotelian tradition

His teachings particularly emphasised on the medieval ages, esp till Renaissance.

Aquinas called him 'the philosopher',, aka the first teacher, the father of logic, the father of biology, the father of political science, the father of zoology, the father of embryology, the father of natural law, the father of scientific method, the father of rhetoric, the father of psychology, the father of realism,m the father of meteorology

Cicero - If Plato's prose was silver, Aristotle's was a flowing river of gold

He said, an unplanned life is not worth living. A plan, B plan, etc to give a motive to life - to live a better life. Different things appear good to different people. Hence, living well should be the ultimate thing. We do things -

Necessary to live like eating etc

Something to live well like education

Both make up for better life. Living well just for the sake of living well [ends] living well is happiness.

Why do you want happiness/ not to achieve any other goal but to live happily in itself.

As humans we all are individuals, our individual backgrounds decide different things we value. Hence desires are all different. But whatever we desire, is not always good. Example- pizza everyday. Hence, wants and desires are two different things. Only things good for us are the natural desires that leads to the advancement of ours. The artificial desires that we learn maybe different but are not real goods. Hence, natural desires are common for all. Hence it is important for us to identify real goods.

Humans are animals with unique thinking power. Food, drink, clothing, sh elter etc are important - external goods to live. But there are goods of the soul as well. Desire of love, desire of companionship, skill, respected, loved, honor etc. But wanting pride and be obsessed about it is not what this is related to. Positive habits make positive behaviors which shape our personality. Hence to be happy, need to make conscious decisions at every time- good habits. this will gradually make efforts in the right direction- virtuous behavior. Hence, even material goods, if adopted with temperance and moderation attains virtue. Achieving mastery over anything is courage and this too is a virtue.

For Aristotle- dwelling in here and now is important.

Justice- we cannot be happy just with virtues, but we must also act virtuously

distributive justice

corrective justice

Excellence is not born but comes only with practice.

Similar ideas in western and eastern philosophy

Syllogism

Nichomachean Ethics

Edited by his son

Philosophy is about practical wisdom

Suggested happiness linked to 11 virtues, having individual nature - Temperence, Courage, Friendliness, Modesty, Temperence, Liberality, Magnificence, Magnanimity, pride, patience, trustfulness, wittiness

Golden Mean- between vices are virtues-- talked about moderation. Example- boorishness, excess humour are vices, but wittiness is virtue. [the madhyam marga]

Moral values is a result of habits

Next question he dealt with was what is art

Athenians liked Tragedies

The Poetics dealt with this. Where things go from great to worse. What do people enjoy in this. Example- Edipus Rex [the best tragedy]. Aristotle called it Catharsis-- means cleaning , cleaning of broad things, emotions. purging [purification], Tragedy helps us in having pity and helps us in realizing that one wrong step could lead to many wrong. Like falling of a Jenga tower. We must be compassionate, and stick stark truth to head

A good tragedy should have a beginning and an end. This leads to catharsis. Leads to purging of emotions.

next question is friendship

1. Friends for fun [temporary]
2. Friends for work
3. Friends for life [adding to each others life, starts feeling about the other person as you feel about yourself]

The best argument never always wins a debate or a battle. Why is this so. He invented the art of rhetoric. Acknowledge people's fears, see the emotional side, make it funny, use illustrations etc so that people listen instead of manipulation so that they agree to the best of idea guided by the best of desires or virtues.

About god

Theory of Causality- If everything leads to everything then there cannot be a beginning , hence, he said that god could be the beginning.

We are what we do consistently everyday.

His death is seen as an end of Greek Philosophy

HELLENISTIC PHILOSOPHY

Freedom from disturbance, looking for peace of mind

EPICURUS

341–270 BC

Grew in Hellenistic period [Epicurus, Stoic, Skeptics]. Did not have popularity as high as Greeks.

Grew in response to changing times [Scientific changes, world religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam] and also on criticisms

Set up 'The Garden' as centre of teaching [unlike luxury of The Academy' and The Lyceum'. There was a different sorts of hierarchy- small groups headed who emphasised on personal growth unlike lectures delivered from a formal podium, central question- how to be happy [good companionship, frindship is central to living happily]

an ancient Greek philosopher and sage who founded Epicurean ism

He was born on the Greek island of Samos to Athenian parents

He found that chaos was something that came first. But can something come into being from nothing. No. Nothing can come out of nothing. Like seeds make trees and thus evolves. Objects rather than transforming evolves. Hence the theory of Atoms. Atoms have definite shape size etc. they are constantly falling in their own weight. This explains locomotion. Atoms form compounds. Atoms swerve and collide creates compounds. By themselves, they are at their own free will. But when they become compounds, they give the illusion of stability but moves in its own way.

how atoms are related to truth. when an individual observes the object, the atoms from the object falls into the line with the observer. For instance, if we taste an apple, then the sweet atoms interact with the atoms of the tongue and hence, we feel the sweet taste and hence senses and sensations are the first point of interaction where we experience truth. Hence, all sensations are true.

But then why do different people perceive things differently. For Epicurus, it is not the senses at the failure but the mind that is we might differ in our opinions and the interpretations. Hence interpretations are subjective in  nature.  

Developing a pre conception requires an experience.

And lastly feelings enable what should we do and what we should not. That is what we feel as giving pleasure to us, we do it and we avoid doing where we find pain.

Hence, Feelings, Experience and Senses are the three original things identified by Epicurus helping us to find the truth. But a fourth one was added by the later Epicurean philosophers. This was presentation and opinion. Which allows us to understand that despite misinterpretations, we can find truth. Example, if you hear a dog barking behind the rock, you might feel that there is a dog given your past experiences, but when you actually go to see it is a recording playing. Hence your opinion is not to blame because it is right but you have misinterpreted, Just like how we perceive a mirage.

Thinking what is the meaning of life. Talks about how humans value happiness and pleasure over pain [ but this is not to mean hedonism]

Ideal Epicurean life was to live in austere.

So the ideal way to live a life was to avoid pain of body and soul or mind. We are in need of pleasure only when we are in pain and we are not in pain we do not need pleasure. [hunger vs feast]

aponia and atarexia- absence from pain and absence of fear - live simply because these two things are very important in realising truth. [ valued enjoyed simple pleasures]

Moderate living should be promoted. Not to say that you disregard luxury. But accept luxury if it does not clog your mind and decision making or leading a fulfilled life.

He recommends to Abstain from political life, as against Aristotle who describe men as inherently a political entity.

Recommends not to marry or have a children as it clouds the way to a happy life [emphasising minimum social interactions]. supported friendship which led to personal truth]

He was very generous, The Garden had women, people from frugal backgrounds etc.

Syria was a hub of this philosophy. However, Stoics were far more influential.On the Nature of Things, Titus dedicated poetry to Epicurean.

Materialist and physical philosophy. Everything can be defined in physical terms, life what we need, Senses are the measuring scale to measure and observe the happiness. This is against Palto who believes that senses are fallible and we must not believe them.

On Death and Nature of the Divine

Mind - psyche, depends on the context, seat of reason in human being.

Psyche of a person is corporeal and is a part of human body unlike plato. Hence is subjected to growth and decay. And is subject to mortality as well just like all other atoms. Hence is mortal unlike Plato's immortality.  They believe tat if mind is immortal then why do we not have memories of the past life. Even if we know that everything we are what we have will come to an end one day, why should it instill fear given that we all are well aware of that. Death is the preparation of the sense. It is natural. Hence one must remove the content for immortality. When we die, we can no longer sense any pain or pleasure and hence death is not painful. We fear the pain of dying that death itself. And because we are dead, we cannot explain any sense of loss. When we lose our good ones, we can celebrate life and good deeds of people around us than to experience a sense of loss for them.

[Stoics - always remember the fact that you are bound to die one day, constantly think that, epicurus on the other hand describes that you should enjoy the present and now]

Gods

They exist but are removed from this world. If gods are happy, why do they have jealousy, fight wars like humans. Acc to a definition of [the problem of evil]

if god cannot prevent evil, he is weak

If he can but does not- evil, cannot be perfectly happy etc [he is not Omnipotent, malevolent]

If he can then why does he not, why evil still exists

Thus the question of god is a grey area. One must not fear god. He says that gods does not interfere in the affairs of the cosmos to a certain context if they are perfectly happy beings.

Hence what is an Epicurean life

Pleasure and avoid pain. Pushes for moderation to not let pleasure over burden you. A pleasant life looks for reasons and live an examined life. Hence we transcend joy. Hence we pursuing pleasure [absence of bodily pain] but with philosophy. Not a hedonistic [bodily pleasure] as the joy that we experience when done together with companionship helps us extend us to others who are unable to experience it.

Christianity, Judaism, Greco Roman people criticized him, Said that that those who are Epicurean can never live happily.

Became a jewish term epicuritic or heretic or non believer, hence sometimes also used as to derogratory remark someone.

Lucretius poem De rerum natura [v imp] poetry helped in enlightenment, utilitarianism, marx [commune , Thomas Jefferson ettc.

Teachings of Epicurus included the poet Horace, whose famous statement Carpe Diem ("Seize the Day") also illustrates the philosophy

STOICS

4 BC

Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius [Roman wrote the book - The Meditations, almost nothing is needed in materiality- philosophers [4 BC - 180 CE]

Stoic/impassive/phlegmatic/apathetic/indifferent/face adversity with calm and without excess emotion/ not affected by, showing excess emotion or feeling

realistic and morally idealistic form of living

Had a stron appeal to Christian theologians

Known for leading a rational and logical life. Also were pioneers of epistemology - challenged Platonic and Aristotlean thought, philosophies before them were very abstract.

Athens, Stoa [busy trade area, Zeno [344 BC, came across Memorabilia, wanted to know where he could meet people like Socrates, he found out Cynics and grew under their tutelage] and Zenoniams later called Stoics talked about the meaning and importance of life. adopted the name from Stoa, the place where they came from. Stoic got it's name from Stoa

Preached self control, fortitude and justice. Passion was seen as the cause of all evil.

They despised hope [as an emotion it lifts you for a higher fall], keep reminding yourself for the worst case scenario.

Philosophy was not something abstract but a part of life. Perception is the basis of true knowledge.

Diogenes- Both Ethics and Physics are seen through the consideration of Logic rather than emotions

• Logic - There are certain rules that govern the universe- [It will guide and determine if your perceptions are correct]. Logos [Greek word] hence called Logic. Example, if there is daytime, there is light. Helps us to explain the principles of existence. Wise person or a sage is a person who follows stoics. Logic is an instrument and not an end in itself unlike Aristotle and Plato.
• Ethics- [How to live one's life]  For them Moderation, Justice, Courage and Wisdom, Vices-  Intemperance, Injustice, Cowardice and foolishness. Between virtue and vice is a gray area [not necessarily bad or good]. They called is indifference. Whether you behave morally in this area depends on the context and your ability to reason helps you decide your action. Hence indifference in themselves do not decide happiness but how you use them decides this. Zeno of Citium- founder of Stoic school stated that the goal of life is to smoothly sail along the course of life. 'All things are parts of one single system called nature. The individual life is good when it is in harmony with nature' There are preferred indiffernts like wealth, strength, good reputation, pleasure and unpreferred indifferents- disease, weakness, ugliness, poverty, low reputation - they do not necessarily decide happiness or unhappiness but the way they they are used leads to a happy or an unhappy life.
• Physics- Logos- all encompassing form of reason [Matter- passive and destroyable, whereas Pneuma is the active and force leading the universe, mingled with matter and cannot be destroyed, in simple words pneuma makes the matter alive. Hence the world is both active [figured out by reason] and passive [existing and immutable substance]. Everything according to Stoics is determined. Bur there is soft determinism as well. Many more ruptures we make, many more paths we can follow [Destiny and free will]
• Calvin- in 16th cent. wrote 'Predestination and Free Will', Industrial Revolution rose against Calvinism

Believe nature is rational, universe is governed by a law of reason, humans cannot escape it but they can uniquely follow the law deliberately. A life therefore led according to rational nature is virtuous. Wisdom is the root virtue and it springs from insight, bravery, self control, justice. Passion is irrational, such intense feeling should be avoided. Pleasure is neither good nor bad. It is acceptable if it does not interfere in the quest for your virtue. Virtues should be sought not for the sake of pleasure but for the sake of duty.

William Connolly- To avoid unhappiness, frustration, disappointment, we therefore need to do two things- control things in our power [beliefs, judgments, desires, attitudes] and be indifferent or apathetic to the attitudes which are not in our power [external determinants].

Some of it has been adopted by Christian Serenity Prayer- 'God give me serenity to accept things that I cannot change, courage to change things I can, and I wisdom to know the difference'

Puritans- Who tried to reform the Protestant Christianity [protestants of Rome]

SKEPTICISM

Pyrrho of Elis is said to be the founder [360-270 BC] no writings available

Sextus Empericus [disciple of Pyrrho wrote 'Outlines of Pyrrohinism' 3A.D.]

Goal- freedom from disturbance [annorexhia or perfect state of mind]

rolled over the other three schools

Holds that all beliefs can be proved to be false

All other philosophies were either completely false or irrelevant to human needs

It is best to suspend your belief in anything.

Attacks dogmatism

Arguments for and against any philosophical doctrine are equally compelling. Hence they did not affirm or deny any belief. They just claimed that they were not aware of any reliable criteria of truth. Hence no one could know anything at all.

No matter what one could believes, they would be wrong, hence there is no problem in being wrong, don't believe in anything. It will lead to a simple and happy life as the ones who were dogmatic they lived an agitated life

If truth did not guide the truth then what did - Two things- Appearances and Conventions

Appearances - meant sensations and feelings [they tasted bitter and sweet but the essence of bitterness or sweetness was beyond their grasp]

Conventions - traditions, laws, customs of society. [Various things brought pleasure and pain but the concept of moral goodness or badness was beyond their grasp]

Hence, judgments and interpretations of these appearances and conventions was not.

thought having true knowledge is impossible unlike other schools

Stoics said that one should suspend assertion/judgment until we have reasoned the truth of the assertion [eg cake apple, looks like cake but is really a cake] But skeptics say that we should abandon judgment on everything as one can never be absolute certain. Because for stoics- cognitive impressions were the base. But for skeptics, there is something more than cognitive impressions. [eg- you parked your car outside a mall, come back to see. Although it looks similar, it can be a part of prank as well] Hence, one cannot be certain about anything.

Pyrrho was the founder of Skeptics. Despite being awake on a surgery without anesthesia, he did not twitch a muscle. For him, pain was not something bad. One day, he saw his friend in a well. Was skeptic, did not rescue him. Lived upto 90 years of age. Did not believe in writing anything down. Was a soldier in Alexander's army, said to have been influenced by naked philosophers of India.

We should be uncommitted, unopiniated etc -- will lead to speechlessness and then peace of mind.

Negative feelings come from negative judgments and one cannot necessarily know for certain it was negative.

Democritus said- intellect and the senses as follows: Intellect: “Color is by convention, sweet by convention, bitter by convention; in truth there are but atoms and the void.”

So much of satisfaction comes in life because of struggle. It gives you a sense of achievement etc. Things we would have wanted if just appeared, we would have never felt a sense of achievement. Pyrrho said, if it sounds too good to be true, probably it is true but not always. Things are not always this way or that way. Things that seem bad are not always bad. Even if they are bad, they prepare you for the adversity. Hence, suspend judgments.

A good skeptic- as Marcus Aurelius said- a tiger roars, you must not wait to see whether a tiger comes or not, but climb the tree. Hence, talk about enough doubt. Example- knowledge is not possible does not mean that one should abandon education altogether, but how one should make judgments accordingly.

266 BC Arecelaius - Skeptic became head

Carnedius- Nothing can be known, and not even this [also headed the Academy]

Again resurfaced during Renaissance

Rene Descartes [I think therefore I am] Renaissance thinker- Cartesian philosophy methodological skepticism, was influenced by Skeptic, I doubt, I think and therefore I am]

Dissent

Progress at Infinitum [All proof requires another proof and this will go until infinity]

All things are subjected to change

Assumption- Truth asserted is merely a hypothesis

Circularity [truth asserted involves a vicious circle]

CYNICS

Cynicism originates in the philosophical schools of ancient Greece that claim a Socratic lineage.

unconventional and anti-theoretical

primary interests are ethical, but they conceive of ethics more as a way of living than as a doctrine in need of explication. As such askēsis—a Greek word meaning a kind of training of the self or practice—is fundamental.

Cynics, as well as the Stoics who followed them, characterize the Cynic way of life as a “shortcut to virtue”

History and name

The origin of the Cynic name kunikos, a Greek word meaning “dog-like”, is a point of contention. Two competing stories explain the source of the name using the figure of Antisthenes (who Diogenes Laertius identifies controversially as the original Cynic), and yet a third explanation uses the figure of Diogenes of Sinope. Cynic could mean a place of of thought, could also mean “pure and simple”, and is presumably referring to his way of living, philosopher dog.

If Antisthenes was not the first Cynic by name, then the origin of the appellation falls to Diogenes of Sinope, an individual well known for dog-like behavior. As such, the term may have begun as an insult referring to Diogenes’ style of life, especially his proclivity to perform all of his activities in public. Shamelessness, which allowed Diogenes to use any space for any purpose, was primary in the invention of “Diogenes the Dog.” The first Cynics, beginning most clearly with Diogenes of Sinope, embraced their title: they barked at those who displeased them, spurned Athenian etiquette, and lived from nature. the Cynics neglect, and very often ridicule, speculative philosophy. They are especially harsh critics of dogmatic thought, theories they consider useless, and metaphysical essences.

Major figures

Antisthenes, Socrates’ companion, his student, Diogenes of Sinope, to Diogenes’ pupil Crates, and from Crates to both Hipparchia of Maronea, the first known woman Cynic philosopher, and Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism

Cynic Ethics

ethics is that virtue is a life lived in accord with nature. Nature offers the clearest indication of how to live the good life, which is characterized by reason, self-sufficiency, and freedom. Social conventions, however, can hinder the good life by compromising freedom and setting up a code of conduct that is opposed to nature and reason. Conventions are not inherently bad; however, for the Cynic, conventions are often absurd and worthy of ridicule. The Cynics deride the attention paid to the Olympics, the “big thieves” who run the temples and are seen carrying away the “little thieves” who steal from them, politicians as well as the philosophers who attend their courts, fashion, and prayers for such things as fame and fortune.Only once one has freed oneself from the strictures that impede an ethical life can one be said to be truly free. As such, the Cynics advocate askēsis, or practice, over theory as the means to free oneself from convention, promote self-sufficiency, and live in accord with nature. Such askēsis leads the Cynic to live in poverty, embrace hardship and toil, and permits the Cynic to speak freely about the silly, and often vicious, way life is lived by his or her contemporaries. The Cynics consistently undermine the most hallowed principles of Athenian culture, but they do so for the sake of replacing them with those in accord with reason, nature, and virtue.

Living in Accord with Nature and Opposing Conventions Diogenes of Sinope fervently rejects nomos, or convention, by showing the arbitrary and frequently amusing nature of Athenian social, religious, and political mores and trampling the authority of religious and political leaders. Fundamental to this is a redefinition of what is worthy of shame. Diogenes’ body is disorderly, a source of great shame among the Athenians and the reservoir for the principle of shamelessness among the Cynics.

Diogenes uses his body to upend the conventional association of decorum with the good. He breaks etiquette by publicly carrying out activities an Athenian would typically perform in private. For example, he eats, drinks, and masturbates in the marketplace, and ridicules the shame felt when one’s body is unruly or clumsy. This does not mean, however, that there is nothing about which a person ought to feel shame. For example, in Lives of Emminent Philosophers, one finds the following anecdote: “Observing a fool tuning a harp, ‘Are you not ashamed,’ he said, ‘to give this wood concordant sounds, while you fail to harmonize your soul with your life?’ To one who protested ‘I am unfit to study philosophy,’ Diogenes said, ‘Why then live, if you do not care to live well?’”

he Cynics believe that it is through nature that one can live well and not through conventional means such as etiquette or religion. One reads that Diogenes of Sinope “would rebuke men in general with regard to their prayers, declaring that they asked for things which seemed to them to be good, not for such as are truly good”

the crux of the Cynic notion of living in accord with nature and contrary to convention. Praying for wealth, fame, or any of the other trappings convention leads one to believe are good is a mistaken enterprise. Life, as given by nature, is full of hints as to how to live it best; but humans go astray, ashamed by petty things and striving after objects, which are unimportant. Consequently, their freedom is hindered by convention.

i. Freedom and Parrhēsia

The Cynics clearly privilege freedom, but not merely in a personal sense as a kind of negative liberty. Instead, freedom is advocated in three related forms: eleutheria, freedom or liberty, autarkeia, self-sufficiency, and parrhēsia, freedom of speech or frankness. Their conception of freedom has some shared aspects with other ancient schools; the notion of autonomy which derives from the imperative that reason rule over the passions is found in the ethics of multiple Classical and Hellenistic thinkers. A specifically Cynic sense of freedom, though, is evident in parrhēsia.

An element of parrhēsia, which can be overlooked when it is defined as free or frank speech, is the risk that accompanies speaking so freely and frankly. Legendary examples of the Cynic’s fearlessly free speech occur in Diogenes of Sinope’s interchanges with Alexander the Great. One such example is the following: “When he was sunning himself in the Craneum, Alexander came and stood over him and said, ‘Ask of me any boon you like.’ To which he replied, ‘Stand out of my light’”. At another point, Alexander pronounces his rank to Diogenes of Sinope by saying, “I am Alexander the Great King.” Diogenes responds with his own rank, “I am Diogenes the Cynic,” which is to say “Diogenes the Dog”.

The Cynics strive for self-sufficiency and strength, neither of which is capable of being maintained once one enters into the conventional political game. The life of an impoverished, but virtuous and self-sufficient philosopher is preferable to the life of a pampered court philosopher.

Diogenes Laertius writes that, “Plato saw [Diogenes of Sinope] washing lettuces, came up to him and quietly said to him, ‘Had you paid court to Dionysius, you wouldn’t now be washing lettuces,’ and [Diogenes] with equal calmness answered, ‘If you had washed lettuces, you wouldn’t have paid court to Dionysius’” (Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book 6, Chapter 58). The lesson of this exchange is clear: whereas Plato views paying court as freeing one from poverty, the Cynic sees poverty as freeing one from having to pay court to a ruler. This second sense of freedom so forcefully advocated by the Cynics, comprises both autarkeia, or self-sufficiency, and parrhēsia, or the freedom to speak the truth: something one at court is never free to do. It is no surprise, then, that when asked what is “the most beautiful thing in the world,” Diogenes replied, “Parrhēsia.”

ii. Training and Toughness

In order to live the Cynic life, one had to be inured to the various physical hardships entailed by such freedom. This required, then, a life of constant training, or askēsis. The term askēsis, defined above as a kind of training of the self but which also means “exercise” or “practice,” is appropriated from athletic training. Instead of training the body for the sake of victory in the Olympic Games, on the battlefield, or for general good health, the Cynic trains the body for the sake of the soul.

The examples of Cynic training are multiple: Antisthenes praised toil and hardship as goods; Diogenes of Sinope walked barefoot in the snow, hugged cold statues, and rolled about in the scalding summer sand in his pithos; Crates rid himself of his considerable wealth in order to become a Cynic. The ability to live without any of the commodities usually mistaken for necessities is liberating and beneficial. It is also, however, a difficult lesson: “[Diogenes of Sinope] used to say that he followed the example of the trainers of choruses; for they too set the note a little high, to ensure that the rest should hit the right note”

Cosmopolitanism

Cosmopolitanism can be fully understood within its Cynic context if it is taken as more than an oxymoron or a pithy retort: “Asked where he came from, [Diogenes of Sinope] said, ‘I am a citizen of the world. It is important to note that Diogenes does not say that he is apolis, that is, without a polis; he claims allegiance to the kosmos, or the universe.

The Cynics, then, cast the notion of citizenship in a new light. To the Greek male of the Classical and Hellenistic period, citizenship was of utmost value. The restrictions on citizenship made it a privilege and these exclusions are, to the Cynic, absurd. Under cosmopolitanism, the Cynic challenges the civic affiliation of the few by opening the privilege to all. General national affiliation was likewise esteemed, and Diogenes’ cosmopolitan response is therefore also a rejection of the limitations of such a view.

Finally, cosmopolitanism revises the traditional conception of the political duties of an individual. As such, the Cynic is freed to live according to nature and not according to the laws and conventions of the polis. The conventional polis is not just rejected but replaced. This has important ethical connections to the notion of living in accord with nature, and can likewise be seen as an important precursor to the Stoic understanding of physis, or nature, as identical to the kosmos, or universe.

Legacy of Cynics

Within political philosophy, the Cynics can be seen as originators of anarchism. Since humans are both rational and able to be guided by nature, it follows that humans have little need for legal codes or political affiliations. Indeed, political associations at times require one to be vicious for the sake of the polis. Diogenes’ cosmopolitanism represents, then, a first suggestion that human affiliation ought to be to humanity rather than a single state.

The impact of Cynicism is also felt in Christian, Medieval, and Renaissance thought, though not without a good deal of ambivalence. Christian authors, for example, praise the Cynics for their self-discipline, independence, and mendicant lifestyle, but rebuke the bawdy aspects of Cynic shamelessness.

Finally, the mark of the Cynic is found throughout the texts of literature and philosophy. Menippean Satire has a clear debt, and Diogenes of Sinope in particular appears as a character in literary and philosophical contexts; Dante, for example, situates Diogenes with other virtuous but pagan philosophers in the first level of hell and Nietzsche is especially fond of both Diogenes and the Cynic attitude. One striking example occurs in section 125 of The Gay Science. Here Nietzsche alludes to the anecdote wherein Diogenes searches for a human being with a lit lamp in daylight (D.L. 6.41). In his own rendition, Nietzsche tells the story of the madman who entered the marketplace with a lit lamp on a bright morning seeking God. It is this same madman who pronounces that God is dead.

MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY

Using philosophy to expand their religion

SAINT AUGUSTINE

354-430 CE, decline of Roman Empire

saint of the Catholic Church, and his authority in theological matters was universally accepted in the Latin Middle Ages and remained, in the Western Christian tradition, virtually uncontested till the nineteenth century

Because of his importance for the philosophical tradition of the Middle Ages he is often listed as the first medieval philosopher.

Family- had christian influence [baptism], studeis and influenced by religion

From ancient thought Augustine inherited the notion that philosophy is “love of wisdom” (Confessiones 3.8; De civitate dei 8.1), i.e., an attempt to pursue happiness as Christian, liked to put it, salvation—by seeking insight into the true nature of things and living

He is convinced that the true philosopher is a lover of God because true wisdom is, in the last resort, identical with God, a point on which he feels in agreement with both Paul (1 Corinthians 1:24) and Plato (cf. De civitate dei 8.8). This is why he thinks that Christianity is “the true philosophy”  [true philosophy is equal to true religion]

Infused Christian doctrine with NeoPlatonism

for him, arrogance or pride of humans is the main error, Out of arrogance the philosophers presume to be able to reach happiness through their own virtue (De civitate dei 19.4, a criticism primarily directed against the Stoics), and even those among them who have gained insight into the true nature of God and his Word (i.e., the Platonists) are incapable of “returning” to their divine “homeland” because they proudly reject the mediation of Christ incarnate and resort to proud and malevolent demons instead, i.e., to the traditional pagan cults and to theurgy

Idea of Original sin- sin of Adam, a desire to dominate- we cannot properly love, constant ego, pride, lust, fail to understand ourselves etc Hence he rejected philosophy which said that lives here on earth is entirely happy, because we are humans, predestined to what the divine has made for us [Augustine pessimism]

Two cities- city of man, city of god- one imperfect and the other perfect. Man could never build a perfect world - hence, no true justice, virtues etc

On skepticism- I exist [ it proves not only my existence and my thinking (and, by implication, my being alive) but also my loving and willing.]

Theory of Illumination/Knowledge- similar to Plato [sense perceptions and guidance of teachers, reliable source of information are necessary. while all human beings are by nature capable of accessing intelligible truth, only those succeed in doing so who have a sufficiently good will presumably those who endorse Christian religion and live accordingly. The first step toward perfection is to believe the words of Scripture; the second is to realize that the words are outward signs of an internal and intelligible reality and that they admonish us to turn to and to “consult” inner truth so as to reach true understanding and, accordingly, the good life

On Happiness- he defers happiness to the afterlife and blames the ancient ethicists for their arrogant conviction—resulting from their ignorance of the fallen condition of humankind—that they could reach happiness in this life by philosophical endeavor. “Happy is he who has God” [ The Supreme Being is also the greatest good; the desire of created being for happiness can only be satisfied by the creator.]

Virtues- Augustine replaces the ancient definition of virtue as “right reason” (as in Stoicism) or “activity in accordance with reason” (as in the Aristotelian tradition) with a definition of virtue as love of God or, in later texts, as love of God and neighbor. Virtue is an inner disposition or motivational habit that enables us to perform every action we perform out of right love. There are several catalogues of the traditional four cardinal virtues prudence, justice, courage and temperance that redefine these as varieties of the love of God

On Love- . The only thing possible is the general recommendation to “Love and do what you will” (ib. 7.8), i.e., to take care that the inner disposition or intention behind one’s actions is love of God and neighbor and not self-love or pride.  our inner motivational and moral life opaque even to ourselves and fully transparent only to God.  We can never be fully sure about the purity of our intentions, and even if we were, we could not be sure that we will persist in them. All human beings are therefore called to constantly scrutinize the moral status of their inner selves in a prayerful dialogue with God

On Gender- Outright misogyny is rare but socialisation of patriarchy is prevalent.  Eve having been created as a helper to Adam and for the sake of reproduction, she was subordinate to him already in paradise

AVICENNA

Ibn Sina

Born in Bukhara, Samanid Empire 980 AD [Uzbekistan] [europe was in dark ages and arab world - golden ages]

Father- respected scholar in afghanistan

Absorbed knowledge from everyone, learned maths from Indi, learned Islamic Jurisprudence from Hanifis

New methods of medical treatment, ability to cure the emir

Turned to writing at 21- logic, metaphysics etc

Arabic or Persian language

His work - Canon of Medicine [description of communicable and STD, death with hygiene, composition and preparation of remedies]

Kitab al Shifa

Belonged to Islamic Golden Age

Proved existence of god

Metaphysical philosopher

Primarily a metaphysical philosopher of being who was concerned with understanding the self’s existence in this world in relation to its contingency, Ibn Sina’s philosophy is an attempt to construct a coherent and comprehensive system that accords with the religious exigencies of Muslim culture. As such, he may be considered to be the first major Islamic philosopher

 God as the Necessary Existence lays the foundation for his theories of the soul, intellect and cosmos

He articulated a development in the philosophical enterprise in classical Islam away from the apologetic concerns for establishing the relationship between religion and philosophy towards an attempt to make philosophical sense of key religious doctrines and even analyse and interpret the Qur’an. Late 20th century studies have attempted to locate him within the Aristotelian and Neoplatonic traditions.

Avicennan metaphysics became the foundation for discussions of Islamic philosophy and philosophical theology.

On theory of knowledge -  The human intellect at birth is rather like a tabula rasa [Aristotle inspired philosophy as mind as cleared tablet], a pure potentiality that is actualized through education and comes to know. Knowledge is attained through empirical familiarity with objects in this world from which one abstracts universal concepts. It is developed through a syllogistic method of reasoning; observations lead to prepositional statements, which when compounded lead to further abstract concepts.  theory of intuition. A syllogistic inference draws a conclusion from two prepositional premises through their connection or their middle term.  God’s knowledge. The divine is pure, simple and immaterial and hence cannot have a direct epistemic relation with the particular thing to be known. Thus Avicenna concluded while God knows what unfolds in this world, he knows things in a ‘universal manner’ through the universal qualities of things. God only knows kinds of existence and not individuals.

Mysticism and Oriental Philosophy

Maybe Avicenna was a mystic [similarity with Suhrawardi]. But other say he was not.  Avicenna is rooted in the rationalism of the Aristotelian tradition. Intuition does not entail mystical disclosure but is a mental act of conjunction with the active intellect.

Aristotle- soul and mind are same, but Avicenna- believed that soul and body are different. 'Flying Man Thought Experiment'- Suppose you have just come into existence, flying in universe, aberration of body does not lead to aberration of mind/soul. Soul is immortal, and is separate from the body. It was disagreed by orthodox philosophers, who said that both mind and soul regenerate in the kingdom of god.

THOMAS AQUINAS

Medieval saint and philosopher

religion and science, faith and reason

He opened the world of intelligence to the whole world, not exclusive

Aristotle and religion. Christian Aristotelian- there must be prime mover of something- god

God created world on one day, 

Faith and reason are compatible with each other. Without faith one can never understand the true nature of thing,  as nature was created by the free will of god. Reason has certain limitations. If god created this world but he existed before. 

World operates on two laws- Secular rational natural law and Eternal law [Islamic fundamental rejected of rationality and faith was regressive and therefore, he gave due credence to both knowledge and faith]

Italian [1225], believed in God

5 Arguments to prove existence of god [cosmological arguments], based on the natural world, through understanding of science

• Argument of motion [movement is caused by movers, set to motion by something else already in motion. The idea of infinite regress is absurd, that is cause of starting of the world is nothing, hence there must have been a time when nothing would be in motion, the one to start static to motion would be god- the first mover]
• Argument from causation [the first causer uncaused, as effects have causes, the first cause is god]
• Argument of Contingency [we exist but we could have never been, our existence is contingent on our birth, and going back in time, birth is contingent is god- the creator, meaning tat infinite regret is impossible]
• Argument from degrees [god is the pinnacle of measuring value of anything- good, bad, less, more etc] But all these arguments do not give an evidence of loving, caring god as we see god as today.
• Teleological argument [intelligent design]- argument by analogy- the watch maker analogy [teleology- goal oriented or with purpose- watch cannot come into existence without a watchmaker makes it, similarly complexity of human body, purposefulness of the world makes us believe us into the existence of god. Example beautiful sunsets- must be god etc. But things like nipples, blindspot in the eye which do not have purpose, why would we or god create it then. But aquinas said that only because we do not know the purpose is we cannot say they are purposeless. but we too make sense of purpose of things around. The world has flaws as well. Does this mean that we have a flawed creator as well. 

Aquinas took it for given that infinite regress is impossible. If we follow these rules, then even god should be subjected to this arguments and if we think he is beyond these arguments, why not others.

THE AGE OF RENAISSANCE

Middle ages are called Dark Ages [war - Crusades, no ground breaking idea. The church seen as a unifying factor among the European countries but it was also rigid- latin, inaccesible] [human history is seen as through the eyes of intellectual changes, but this dark ages also have high dark age- Arab] . The word Renaissance is an Italian word that means re-birth or regeneration or reawakening. It was a revolution reviving the spirit of Greek and Latin learning. This revival of classical knowledge is called the Renaissance. It conveys the idea that for centuries. It shows a larger change in point of view.

1348- Black Death- bubonic plague, different types of diseases, tumours, pandemic- 40 to 60 percent of Europe fell to death--population crisis, people stopped going to work -- led to ecoonomic crisis --- translated into a political crisis--- peasant revolt of 1351. Gave rise to thinkers-- if god exists why not helping etc-- thought started resurfacing. Erasmus [dutch]- said that he would turn his attention towards ancient greek philosophy [first but greek books, then clothes]. Being ignorant is a part of living. Was a humanist.[Humanist- a category applied to thinkers who associate with humans are subject to err].

The Renaissance was essentially a European movement that originated in Italy and then spread gradually to other countries of western and northern Europe like Germany, France, and England. It was a glorious age in which men of genius like Shakespeare, Spenser, Bacon, Marlowe contributed a lot in English literature. 

The English Renaissance has many important features. Some of the important features are—

Intellectual rebirth, thirst for knowledge, freedom of thought and action, humanism, scientific outlook, love for beauty, love for adventure, love for the remote past, the spirit of discovery, individualism, desire for unlimited wealth, earthly pomp and power and so on.

• 1)The most important feature of the Renaissance is intellectual rebirth or regeneration. It conveys the idea that for centuries. Europe had been dead intellectually and then by some means, had recovered life. The rebirth or regeneration came to Italy first and then to other European countries.
• 2)Freedom of thought and action is another important feature of the Renaissance. An awakening of the minds of men, freedom of thought, and action were the dominant passions of the Renaissance.
• 3)Thirst for knowledge is another important feature of the Renaissance. It was an age of great curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Man desire to know the unknown and to see the unseen.
• 4)Scientific Outlook: During the Renaissance period, European explorers and scientists contributed significantly to the development of inquiry.
• 5)Humanism is another important feature of the Renaissance. During the Elizabethan age, there was the revival of classical learning which passion became with the people. The rediscovery of Greek and Roman antiquity gave birth to a new culture and that is called Humanism.
• 6)Love for adventure: The age Renaissance was an age of great curiosity and love for adventure. During this age, people show their love for adventure. In the 15th century, Columbus reached America and Vasco da Gama reached India. This kind of love for adventure influences the Renaissance greatly.
• 7)Love for beauty is another feature of the Renaissance. Here beauty signifies the beauty of culture, the beauty of the civilized world the beauty of women, and so on. We notice this kind of love for beauty in Renaissance literature.
• The desire for unlimited power and wealth is another important feature of the Renaissance. England’s trade and Commerce improved and the country grew rich and prosperous. Dr.Faustus by Christopher Marlowe is one of the best examples of the Renaissance play in which the hero sold his soul to Lucifer only to get earthly wealth and power.
• Translations started happening [bible in english], drama- mystery plays, morality plays etc became the order of the day, dramatise the stories from the Bible
• Printing press 

To sum up, we can say that the Renaissance has many features. Renaissance literature reflects the Renaissance features very clearly.

MACHIAVELLI

[1469-1537]  Italian Diplomat, in the court of Florence [ Medici] Refer the Western Political Thought

Machaivellian [cunning, two faced], but he said that if one is always good, he is bound to be removed, hence for stability, All armed prophet have been victorious, and all unarmed prophets have perished, hence violence is not always have to be looked negatively. He gave this idea of use of law and use of force [a prince has to use his knowledge to know when to use what]. It is better to be feared than loved if one cannot be both. You have to know when people should be treated with love and violence. Book- Discourses, The Prince. for estb of the state you need violence, once it is established, then the ideal state can be established.  Intelligence is required for the Prince [one must know who can do what for you]. 

MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE

(1533 – 1592) is a french humanist, philosopher and essayist, influential in reviving and popularizing greek sceptical theories during the Renaissance. His influence is reflectied in the writings of Blaise Pascal, René Descartes, or Nicolas Malebranche, and their several followers.Montaigne’s own sceptical philosophy was set out in his essay Apologie de Raimond Sebon, defending the views of a 15th century spanish rationalist theologian. Supported by examples from Sextus Empiricus, Montaigne argued that rationality is no more than a form of animal behaviour.

In summary, despite their alleged superiority, men can often ne shown to be, through vanity, stupidity, and immorality, inferior to animals. We do not succeed in living as happily as they do. Failure of all attempts to achieve knowledge, shown by disagreements through the ages between the experts in every science, leads to the conclusion that the only true principles men can possess, and their only hope of achieving contact with reality, is through divine revelation.

Philosophy has failed to secure man a determined idea of his place in the world, or of his nature. Metaphysical or psychological opinions, indeed far too numerous, come as a burden more than as a help. Montaigne pursues his quest for knowledge through experience; the meaning of concepts is not set down by means of a definition, it is related to common language or to historical examples.  The aim is to properly exercise our judgment.