1.
Jeremy Bentham
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Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer. He is regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism, Bentham defined as the fundamental axiom of his philosophy the principle that it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and he advocated individual and economic freedom, the separation of church and state, freedom of expression, equal rights for women, the right to divorce, and the decriminalising of homosexual acts. He called for the abolition of slavery, the abolition of the penalty. He has also known in recent years as an early advocate of animal rights. Though strongly in favour of the extension of legal rights, he opposed the idea of natural law and natural rights. On his death in 1832, Bentham left instructions for his body to be first dissected, and then to be preserved as an auto-icon. This was done, and the auto-icon is now on display at University College London. Because of his arguments in favour of the availability of education. However, he played only a direct part in its foundation. Bentham was born in Houndsditch, London, to a family that supported the Tory party. He was reportedly a child prodigy, he was found as a sitting at his fathers desk reading a multi-volume history of England. He had one surviving sibling, Samuel Bentham, with whom he was close. He attended Westminster School and, in 1760, at age 12, was sent by his father to The Queens College, Oxford and he trained as a lawyer and, though he never practised, was called to the bar in 1769. He became deeply frustrated with the complexity of the English legal code, among his many proposals for legal and social reform was a design for a prison building he called the Panopticon. Although the prison was never built, the concept had an important influence on generations of thinkers. Twentieth-century French philosopher Michel Foucault argued that the Panopticon was paradigmatic of several 19th-century disciplinary institutions, Bentham became convinced that his plans for the Panopticon had been thwarted by the King and an aristocratic elite acting in their own interests. More successful was his cooperation with Patrick Colquhoun in tackling the corruption in the Pool of London and this resulted in the Thames Police Bill of 1798, which was passed in 1800
Jeremy Bentham
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Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
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Portrait of Bentham by the studio of
Thomas Frye, 1760–1762
Jeremy Bentham
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Bentham's auto-icon
2.
Julien Offray de La Mettrie
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Julien Offray de La Mettrie was a French physician and philosopher, and one of the earliest of the French materialists of the Enlightenment. He is best known for his work Lhomme machine, La Mettrie was born at Saint-Malo in Brittany on November 23,1709, and was the son of a prosperous textile merchant. His initial schooling took place in the colleges of Coutances and Caen, in 1725, La Mettrie entered the College dHarcourt to study philosophy and natural science, probably graduating around 1728. At this time, DHarcourt was pioneering the teaching of Cartesianism in France, in 1734, he went on to study under Hermann Boerhaave, a renowned physician who, similarly, had originally intended on becoming a clergyman. It was under Boerhaave that La Mettrie was influenced to try to bring changes to education in France. After his studies at DHarcourt, La Mettrie decided to take up the profession of medicine, a friend of the La Mettrie family, François-Joseph Hunauld, who was about to take the chair of anatomy at the Jardin du Roi, seems to have influenced him in this decision. For five years, La Mettrie studied at faculty of medicine in Paris, in 1733, however, he departed for Leiden to study under the famous Herman Boerhaave. His stay in Holland proved to be short but influential and he married in 1739 but the marriage, which produced two children, proved an unhappy one. This experience would instill in him an aversion to violence which is evident in his philosophical writings. Much of his time, however, was spent in Paris, and it is likely that during this time he made the acquaintance of Maupertuis and this conclusion he worked out in his earliest philosophical work, the Histoire naturelle de lâme. So great was the caused by its publication that La Mettrie was forced to quit his position with the French Guards. There he developed his doctrines still more boldly and completely in LHomme machine, La Mettries materialism was in many ways the product of his medical concerns, drawing on the work of 17th-century predecessors such as the Epicurean physician Guillaume Lamy. The ethical implications of these principles would later be worked out in his Discours sur le bonheur, here he developed his theory of remorse, i. e. his view about the inauspicious effects of the feelings of guilt acquired at early age during the process of enculturation. Julien de La Mettrie is considered one of the most influential determinists of the eighteenth century, along with aiding the furthering of determinism he considered himself a mechanistic materialist. He believed that mental processes were caused by the body and he expressed these thoughts in his most important work Man a Machine. There he also expressed his belief that humans worked like a machine and this theory can be considered to build off the work of Descartes and his approach to the human body working as a machine. La Mettrie believed that man, body and mind, worked like a machine, interestingly, although he helped further Descartes view of mechanization in explaining human bodily behavior, he argued against Descartes dualistic view on the mind. His opinions were so strong that he stated that Descartes was actually a materialist in regards to the mind, prior to Man a Machine he published The Natural History of the Soul in 1745
Julien Offray de La Mettrie
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Julien Offray de La Mettrie
Julien Offray de La Mettrie
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In
Leiden, La Mettrie studied under the famous physician
Herman Boerhaave (pictured above)
Julien Offray de La Mettrie
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Pierre Louis Maupertuis, also a native of
Saint-Malo, helped La Mettrie find refuge in Prussia.
Julien Offray de La Mettrie
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The court of
Frederick the Great provided La Mettrie with a refuge in which to write and publish his works
3.
Aristippus of Cyrene
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Aristippus of Cyrene was the founder of the Cyrenaic school of Philosophy. Among his pupils was his daughter Arete, there are indications that he was conflated with his grandson, Aristippus the Younger. Aristippus, the son of Aritades, was born at Cyrene, Ancient Libya, c.435 BCE. Diodorus dates him to 366 BCE. which agrees well with the facts known about him, and with the statement, that Lais. Though a disciple of Socrates, he wandered very far both in principle and practice from the teaching and example of his great master and he lived luxuriously, was happy to seek sensual gratification and the company of the notorious Lais. He appears, however, at last to have returned to Cyrene, with that he made for the city of Rhodes, and went straight to the gymnasium. Thus when reproached for his love of bodily indulgences, he answered, that it is not abstinence from pleasures that is best, but mastery over them without ever being worsted. When Dionysius, provoked at some of his remarks, ordered him to take the lowest place at table, he said, wise people, even though all laws were abolished, would still lead the same life is the single most popular quotation of his on the Internet. Aristotle, too, calls him a sophist, and notices a story of Plato speaking to him, with rather undue vehemence, and of his replying with calmness. He imparted his doctrine to his daughter Arete who, in turn, imparted it to her son, Aristippus the Younger, some letters attributed to him are forgeries. One work attributed to Aristippus in ancient times was a work entitled On Ancient Luxury. This work, judging by the quotations preserved by Diogenes Laërtius, was filled with anecdotes about philosophers and their supposed taste for boy-lovers. That this work cannot have been written by Aristippus of Cyrene has long been realised, but the name may have been adopted by the writer to suggest a connection with the hedonistic philosopher. Socrates, with predecessors and followers, Aristippus, attribution, This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Smith, William, ed. Aristippus. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, voula Tsouna, The Epistemology of the Cyrenaic School, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Ugo Zilioli, The Cyrenaics, New York, Acumen / Routledge,2012, Cyrenaics Resource Handbook of Cyrenaic resources, primary and secondary, includes Aristippus Aristippus of Cyrene on Ancient History Encyclopedia
Aristippus of Cyrene
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Aristippus
Aristippus of Cyrene
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Cyrene, Libya, birthplace of Aristippus
4.
Epicurus
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Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher who founded the school of philosophy called Epicureanism. Only a few fragments and letters of Epicuruss 300 written works remain, much of what is known about Epicurean philosophy derives from later followers and commentators. As a boy, he studied philosophy for four years under the Platonist teacher Pamphilus, at the age of eighteen, he went to Athens for his two-year term of military service. The playwright Menander served in the same age-class of the ephebes as Epicurus, after the death of Alexander the Great, Perdiccas expelled the Athenian settlers on Samos to Colophon, on the coast of what is now Turkey. After the completion of his service, Epicurus joined his family there. He studied under Nausiphanes, who followed the teachings of Democritus, in 311/310 BC Epicurus taught in Mytilene but caused strife and was forced to leave. He then founded a school in Lampsacus before returning to Athens in 306 BC where he remained until his death, even though many of his teachings were heavily influenced by earlier thinkers, especially by Democritus, he differed in a significant way with Democritus on determinism. Epicurus would often deny this influence, denounce other philosophers as confused, Epicurus never married and had no known children. He was most likely a vegetarian, for I have been attacked by a painful inability to urinate, and also dysentery, so violent that nothing can be added to the violence of my sufferings. But the cheerfulness of my mind, which comes from the recollection of all my philosophical contemplation, and I beg you to take care of the children of Metrodorus, in a manner worthy of the devotion shown by the young man to me, and to philosophy. Epicurus school, which was based in the garden of his house and thus called The Garden, had a small and his school was the first of the ancient Greek philosophical schools to admit women as a rule rather than an exception. An inscription on the gate to The Garden is recorded by Seneca in epistle XXI of Epistulae morales ad Lucilium, Stranger, here you will do well to tarry, here our highest good is pleasure. Epicurus emphasised friendship as an important ingredient of happiness, and the school resembled in many ways a community of living together. However, he instituted a hierarchical system of levels among his followers. He was a key figure in the Axial Age, the period from 800 BC to 200 BC, during which, according to Karl Jaspers, similar thinking appeared in China, India, Iran, the Near East, and Ancient Greece. Epicuruss teachings represented a departure from the other major Greek thinkers of his period, and before, like Democritus, he was an atomist, believing that the fundamental constituents of the world were indivisible little bits of matter flying through empty space. Everything that occurs is the result of the atoms colliding, rebounding and his theory differs from the earlier atomism of Democritus because he admits that atoms do not always follow straight lines but their direction of motion may occasionally exhibit a swerve. This allowed him to avoid the implicit in the earlier atomism
Epicurus
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Roman marble bust of Epicurus
Epicurus
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Bust of Epicurus leaning against his disciple
Metrodorus in the
Louvre Museum
Epicurus
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Small bronze bust of Epicurus from
Herculaneum. Illustration from Baumeister, 1885
Epicurus
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Epicurus,
Nuremberg Chronicle
5.
Michel Onfray
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Michel Onfray is a contemporary French writer and philosopher who promotes hedonism, atheism, and anarchism. He is a prolific author on philosophy, having written more than 100 books. His philosophy is influenced by such thinkers as Nietzsche, Epicurus, the cynic and cyrenaic schools, French materialism. Born to a family of Norman farmers, Onfray was abandoned by his parents to a Catholic boarding from age 10 to 14, overcoming these early hardships, Onfray graduated with a PhD in philosophy. Onfrays Traité dAthéologie became the number one best-selling nonfiction book in France for months when it was published in the Spring of 2005 and this book repeated its popular French success in Italy, where it was published in September 2005 and quickly soared to number one on Italys bestseller lists. In the 2002 election, Onfray endorsed the French Revolutionary Communist League and its candidate for the French presidency, Onfray himself attributes the birth of philosophic communities such as the université populaire to the results of the French presidential election,2002. His book Le crépuscule dune idole, Laffabulation freudienne, published in 2010, has been the subject of controversy in France because of its criticism of Freud. He recognizes Freud as a philosopher, but he brings attention to the considerable cost of Freuds treatments and casts doubts on the effectiveness of his methods and he is an atheist and author of Atheist Manifesto. In 2015, he published Cosmos, the first book of a trilogy, Onfray considers ironically that it constitutes his very first book. Onfray writes that there is no philosophy without self-psychoanalysis and he describes himself as an atheist and considers theist religion to be indefensible. Onfray has published 9 books under a project of history of philosophy called Counter-history of Philosophy, in each of these books Onfray deals with a particular historical period in western philosophy. The series of books are composed by the titles I. Les Sagesses Antiques, Les Ultras des Lumières, V. LEudémonisme social, VI. Les Radicalités existentielles and VII. La construction du surhomme, Jean-Marie Guyau, Friedrich Nietzsche. In an interview he establishes his view on the history of philosophy, from that point on, anything that crosses this partial – in both senses of the word – view of things finds itself dismissed. Philosophy that comes down from the heavens is the kind that – from Plato to Levinas by way of Kant and Christianity – needs a world behind the scenes to understand, explain and justify this world. The other line of force rises from the earth because it is satisfied with the given world and his mission is to rehabilitate materialist and sensualist thinking and use it to re-examine our relationship to the world. He defines hedonism as an attitude to life based on taking pleasure yourself and pleasuring others. Onfrays works have explored the philosophical resonances and components of science, painting, gastronomy, sex and sensuality, bioethics, wine and his most ambitious project is his projected six-volume Counter-history of Philosophy, of which three have been published. His philosophy aims for micro-revolutions, or revolutions of the individual and small groups of like-minded people who live by his hedonistic, recently Michel Onfray has embraced the term postanarchism to describe his approach to politics and ethics
Michel Onfray
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Michel Onfray
Michel Onfray
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Onfray in Spain in 2009
6.
Hermarchus
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Hermarchus or Hermarch, sometimes incorrectly written Hermachus, was an Epicurean philosopher. He was the disciple and successor of Epicurus as head of the school and he wrote works directed against Plato, Aristotle, and Empedocles. A fragment from his Against Empedocles, preserved by Porphyry, discusses the need for law in society and his views on the nature of the gods are quoted by Philodemus. He died in the house of Lysias at an advanced age, Cicero has preserved a letter of Epicurus addressed to him. But from an expression of Cicero, we may infer that his works were of a nature, and directed against the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. A long fragment from a work of Hermarchus has been preserved by Porphyry. This fragment is probably from his Against Empedocles, in this fragment, Hermarchus discusses the reasons for punishment for murder. He argues that early law-makers were guided by the principle that murder was not good for society and they then created punishments for those people who could not be educated. For everyone who understood that murder was not useful, laws would not be needed, for Hermarchus, this was an example of social progress and an increase in rationality. Philodemus in his On the Way of Life of the Gods, quotes the view of Hermarchus that the gods breathe, because the gods are living beings and all living things breathe
Hermarchus
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Hermarchus
7.
Lucretius
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Titus Lucretius Carus was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem De rerum natura about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism. Lucretius has been credited with originating the concept of the system which was formalised from 1834 by C. J. Thomsen. Very little is known about Lucretiuss life, the certain fact is that he was either a friend or client of Gaius Memmius. De rerum natura was an influence on the Augustan poets, particularly Virgil. Virtually nothing is known about the life of Lucretius and he was probably a member of the aristocratic gens Lucretia, and his work shows an intimate knowledge of the luxurious lifestyle in Rome. In a letter by Cicero to his brother Quintus in February 54 BC, Cicero said, The poems of Lucretius are as you write, they exhibit many flashes of genius, and yet show great mastership. By this time, both Cicero and his brother had read De rerum natura, and so might have many other Romans, a literary evaluation of Lucretiuss work, however, reveals some repetition and a sudden end to Book 6 during a description of the plague at Athens. The poem appears to have been published without a final revision, if this is true, Lucretius must have been dead by 54 BC. A brief biographical note is found in Aelius Donatuss Life of Virgil, the two consuls of 70 BC, Pompey and Crassus, stood together as consuls again in 55, not 53. There is insufficient basis for a confident assertion of the date of Lucretiuss birth or death in other sources, another yet briefer note is found in the Chronicon of Donatuss pupil, Jerome. Writing four centuries after Lucretiuss death, he enters under the 171st Olympiad the following line, Titus Lucretius the poet is born. The claim that he was driven mad by a potion, although defended by such scholars as Reale and Catan, often is dismissed as the result of historical confusion. In some accounts the administration of the toxic aphrodisiac is attributed to his wife Lucilia, jeromes image of Lucretius as a lovesick, mad poet continued to have significant influence on modern scholarship until quite recently, although it now is accepted that such a report is inaccurate. Similarly, the statement that Cicero emended the work prior to publication is doubtful, the exact date of his birth varies by manuscript, in most it is recorded under 94 BC, but in others under 93 or 96. Lucretius and Jerome wrote for opposing purposes, and whether or not Jerome attempted to disparage Lucretiuss work as the work of a madman is an open question. If 55 BC is Lucretiuss most likely year of death, however and his poem De rerum natura transmits the ideas of Epicureanism, which includes Atomism, and psychology. Lucretius was the first writer to introduce Roman readers to Epicurean philosophy, the poem, written in some 7,400 dactylic hexameters, is divided into six untitled books, and explores Epicurean physics through richly poetic language and metaphors
Lucretius
–
Modern bust of Lucretius
8.
Pierre Gassendi
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Pierre Gassendi was a French philosopher, priest, astronomer, and mathematician. While he held a position in south-east France, he also spent much time in Paris. He was also an active observational scientist, publishing the first data on the transit of Mercury in 1631, the lunar crater Gassendi is named after him. He wrote numerous works, and some of the positions he worked out are considered significant. Richard Popkin indicates that Gassendi was one of the first thinkers to formulate the scientific outlook. He clashed with his contemporary Descartes on the possibility of certain knowledge and his best known intellectual project attempted to reconcile Epicurean atomism with Christianity. Gassendi was born at Champtercier, near Digne, in France to Antoine Gassend, a youthful prodigy, at a very early age he showed academic potential and attended the college at Digne, where he displayed a particular aptitude for languages and mathematics. Soon afterwards he entered the University of Aix-en-Provence, to study philosophy under Philibert Fesaye, in 1612 the college of Digne called him to lecture on theology. Four years later he received the degree of Doctor of Theology at Avignon, in the same year he answered a call to the chair of philosophy at Aix-en-Provence University, and seems gradually to have withdrawn from theology. He lectured principally on the Aristotelian philosophy, conforming as far as possible to the traditional methods while he followed with interest the discoveries of Galileo. He came into contact with the astronomer Joseph Gaultier de la Vallette, in 1623 the Society of Jesus took over the University of Aix. They filled all positions with Jesuits, so Gassendi was required to find another institution and he left, returning to Digne, and then travelled for the chapter to Grenoble. In 1624 he printed the first part of his Exercitationes paradoxicae adversus Aristoteleos and he spent some time with his patron Nicolas Peiresc. After 1628 Gassendi travelled in Flanders and in Holland where he encountered Isaac Beeckman and he returned to France in 1631, and two years later became provost of Digne Cathedral. During this time he wrote some works, at the insistence of Marin Mersenne and they included his examination of the mystical philosophy of Robert Fludd, an essay on parhelia, and some observations on the transit of Mercury. Gassendi then spent some years travelling through Provence with the duke of Angoulême, during this period he wrote only the one literary work, his Life of Peiresc, whose death in 1637 seemed to afflict him deeply, it received frequent reprintings and an English translation. He returned to Paris in 1641, where he met Thomas Hobbes, in 1642 Mersenne engaged him in controversy with René Descartes. His objections to the propositions of Descartes appeared in print in 1642
Pierre Gassendi
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Pierre Gassendi after Louis-Édouard Rioult.
Pierre Gassendi
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Romanum calendarium
9.
Metrodorus of Lampsacus (the younger)
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Metrodorus of Lampsacus was a Greek philosopher of the Epicurean school. Although one of the four major proponents of Epicureanism, only fragments of his works remain, Metrodorus was a native of Lampsacus on the Hellespont. His fathers name was Athenaeus or Timocrates, his mothers Sande, together with his brother Timocrates of Lampsacus he joined the school Epicurus had set up in their home town. Timocrates, however, soon out with both his brother and Epicurus and devoted the rest of his life to spreading malicious slander about them. He died in 278/7 BC, in the 53rd year of his age, seven years before Epicurus, in a letter also which he wrote upon his death-bed, Epicurus commended the children to the care of Idomeneus, who had married Batis, the sister of Metrodorus. The 20th of each month was kept by the disciples of Epicurus as a day in honour of their master. Leontion is spoken of as the wife or mistress of Metrodorus, the philosophy of Metrodorus appears to have been of a more sensual kind than that of Epicurus. Perfect happiness, according to Ciceros account, he made to consist in having a well-constituted body and he found fault with his brother for not admitting that the belly was the test and measure of every thing that pertained to a happy life. According to Seneca, Epicurus placed Metrodorus among those who acquire assistance in working their way towards truth, small fragments of his work On Wealth, were found among the charred remains at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. Philodemus made use of work in his own works On Wealth. Philodemus cites Metrodorus as the author of the view that Cynic poverty was to be rejected in favour of an affluent way of life. The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy, attribution, This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Smith, William, ed. article name needed. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
Metrodorus of Lampsacus (the younger)
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Hermes-type bust (pillar with the top as a sculpted head) of Metrodorus leaned with his back against Epicurus, in the Louvre
Metrodorus of Lampsacus (the younger)
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Roman copy of a Greek portrait bust of Metrodorus. (
Pergamon museum,
Berlin)
10.
David Pearce (philosopher)
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David Pearce is co-founder of Humanity+, formerly the World Transhumanist Association, and a prominent figure within the transhumanism movement. Pearce calls this the abolitionist project, a vegan, Pearce argues that humans have a responsibility not only to avoid cruelty to animals within human society but also to redesign the global ecosystem so that animals do not suffer in the wild. In 1995 Pearce set up BLTC Research, a network of websites publishing texts about transhumanism and related topics in pharmacology and he defends a version of negative utilitarianism, Ethical negative-utilitarianism. Attaches value in a moral sense of the term only to actions which tend to minimise or eliminate suffering. It stems from a sense of compassion at the sheer scale. No amount of happiness or fun enjoyed by some organisms can notionally justify the horrors of Auschwitz. Nor can it outweigh the sporadic frightfulness of pain and despair that occurs every second of every day, mental suffering will be a relic of the past, just as physical suffering during surgery was eliminated by anaesthesia. The function of pain will be provided by some other signal, using paradise engineering, human beings will be animated by gradients of genetically preprogrammed bliss orders of magnitude richer than anything physiologically accessible today. The increasing number of vegans and vegetarians in the movement has been attributed in part to Pearces influence. Fertility regulation could maintain herbivore populations at sustainable levels, a more civilised and compassionate policy option than famine, predation and disease. In 1998 Pearce co-founded the World Transhumanist Association, known from 2008 as Humanity+, with Nick Bostrom, Humanity+ is an international nonprofit membership organization that advocates the ethical use of technology to expand human capacities. Pearce is a member of the board of advisors, Pearce is also a fellow of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and sits on the futurist advisory board of the Lifeboat Foundation. Until 2013 he was on the advisory board of Medical Hypotheses. He has been interviewed by Vanity Fair and on BBC Radio 4s The Moral Maze, among others
David Pearce (philosopher)
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David Pearce
11.
Cyrenaics
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The school was so called after Cyrene, the birthplace of Aristippus. It was one of the earliest Socratic schools, the Cyrenaics taught that the only intrinsic good is pleasure, which meant not just the absence of pain, but positively enjoyable sensations. Of these, momentary pleasures, especially physical ones, are stronger than those of anticipation or memory and they did, however, recognize the value of social obligation and that pleasure could be gained from altruistic behaviour. The school died out within a century and was replaced by the philosophy of Epicureanism, the history of the Cyrenaic school begins with Aristippus of Cyrene, who was born around 435 BCE. He came to Athens as a man and became a pupil of Socrates. We have only limited knowledge of his movements after the execution of Socrates in 399 BCE and it is uncertain precisely which doctrines ascribed to the Cyrenaic school were formulated by Aristippus. Diogenes Laërtius, based on the authority of Sotion and Panaetius, however, Diogenes also wrote that Sosicrates had stated that Aristippus had written nothing. Among Aristippus pupils was his daughter, Arete of Cyrene, who passed on his teachings to her own son Aristippus the Younger and it was he, according to Aristocles, who turned the teachings of his grandfather into a comprehensive system. At the least, however, it can be said that the foundations of Cyrenaic philosophy were ideas originated by the elder Aristippus. By the middle of the 3rd century BC, the Cyrenaic school was obsolete, the Cyrenaics were hedonists and held that pleasure was the supreme good in life, especially physical pleasure, which they thought more intense and more desirable than mental pleasures. Pleasure is the good in life and pain is the only evil. Socrates had held that virtue was the human good, but he had also accepted a limited role for its utilitarian side. Aristippus and his followers seized upon this, and made pleasure the sole goal of life. The Cyrenaics were known for their theory of knowledge. They reduced logic to a doctrine concerning the criterion of truth. They thought that we can know with certainty our immediate sense-experiences and they also denied that we can have knowledge of what the experiences of other people are like. All knowledge is of ones own immediate sensation and these sensations are motions which are purely subjective, and are painful, indifferent or pleasant, according as they are violent, tranquil or gentle. Further they are individual, and can in no way be described as being of the world objectively
Cyrenaics
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Aristippus of Cyrene
12.
Epicureanism
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Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus, founded around 307 BC. Epicurus was an atomic materialist, following in the steps of Democritus and his materialism led him to a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. This would lead one to attain a state of tranquility and freedom from fear as well as an absence of bodily pain, the combination of these two states constitutes happiness in its highest form. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism, though later it became the main opponent of Stoicism, Epicurus and his followers shunned politics. After the death of Epicurus, his school was headed by Hermarchus, later many Epicurean societies flourished in the Late Hellenistic era and its best-known Roman proponent was the poet Lucretius. Some writings by Epicurus have survived, some scholars consider the epic poem On the Nature of Things by Lucretius to present in one unified work the core arguments and theories of Epicureanism. Many of the papyrus scrolls unearthed at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum are Epicurean texts, at least some are thought to have belonged to the Epicurean Philodemus. The school of Epicurus, called The Garden, was based in Epicurus home and it had a small but devoted following in his lifetime. Its members included Hermarchus, Idomeneus, Colotes, Polyaenus, Epicurus emphasized friendship as an important ingredient of happiness, and the school seems to have been a moderately ascetic community which rejected the political limelight of Athenian philosophy. They were fairly cosmopolitan by Athenian standards, including women and slaves, some members were also vegetarians as Epicurus did not eat meat, although no prohibition against eating meat was made. The schools popularity grew and it became, along with Stoicism and Skepticism, another ancient source is Diogenes of Oenoanda, who composed a large inscription at Oenoanda in Lycia. A library in the Villa of the Papyri, in Herculaneum, was owned by Julius Caesars father-in-law. The scrolls which the library consisted of were preserved albeit in carbonized form by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, the task of unrolling and deciphering the over 1800 charred papyrus scrolls continues today. With the dominance of the Neo-Platonism and Peripatetic School philosophy, Epicureanism declined, by the late third century AD, there was very little trace of its existence. The early Christian writer Lactantius criticizes Epicurus at several points throughout his Divine Institutes, in Dantes Divine Comedy, the Epicureans are depicted as heretics suffering in the sixth circle of hell. In fact, Epicurus appears to represent the ultimate heresy, the word for a heretic in the Talmudic literature is Apiqoros. By the 16th century, the works of Diogenes Laertius were being printed in Europe, in the 17th century the French Franciscan priest, scientist and philosopher Pierre Gassendi wrote two books forcefully reviving Epicureanism. Shortly thereafter, and clearly influenced by Gassendi, Walter Charleton published several works on Epicureanism in English, attacks by Christians continued, most forcefully by the Cambridge Platonists
Epicureanism
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Epicurus
Epicureanism
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De rerum natura manuscript, copied by an Augustinian friar for Pope
Sixtus IV, c. 1483, after the discovery of an early manuscript in 1417 by the humanist and papal secretary
Poggio Bracciolini.
13.
Utilitarianism
–
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that states that the best action is the one that maximizes utility. Utility is defined in various ways, usually in terms of the well-being of sentient entities, such as human beings and other animals. Jeremy Bentham, the founder of utilitarianism, described utility as the sum of all pleasure that results from an action, Utilitarianism is a version of consequentialism, which states that the consequences of any action are the only standard of right and wrong. Unlike other forms of consequentialism, such as egoism, utilitarianism considers all interests equally, proponents of utilitarianism have disagreed on a number of points, such as whether actions should be chosen based on their results or whether agents should conform to rules that maximize utility. There is also disagreement as to total or average utility should be maximized. It has been applied to social economics, the crisis of global poverty, the ethics of raising animals for food. Benthamism, the philosophy founded by Jeremy Bentham, was substantially modified by his successor John Stuart Mill. In 1861, Mill acknowledged in a footnote that, though believing himself to be the first person who brought the word utilitarian into use, rather, he adopted it from a passing expression in John Galts 1821 novel Annals of the Parish. Mill seems to have been unaware that Bentham had used the term utilitarian in his 1781 letter to George Wilson, in Chinese philosophy the Mohists and their successors the Chinese Legalists might be considered utilitarians, or at least the earliest form of consequentialism. The later denotes the universal Way, however, the Mohists sought to promote not individual happiness, but public or collective goods, material wealth, a large population or family, and social order. On the other hand, the Legalist Han Fei is motivated almost totally from the point of view. The importance of happiness as an end for humans has long been recognized, Happiness was also explored in depth by Aquinas. Different varieties of consequentialism also existed in the ancient and medieval world, Machiavelli was also an exponent of consequentialism. He believed that the actions of a state, however cruel or ruthless they may be, Utilitarianism as a distinct ethical position only emerged in the eighteenth century. Although utilitarianism is thought to start with Jeremy Bentham, there were earlier writers who presented theories that were strikingly similar. Hume studied the works of, and corresponded with, Francis Hutcheson, in the same way, moral evil, or vice, is proportionate to the number of people made to suffer. The best action is the one that procures the greatest happiness of the greatest numbers—and the worst is the one that causes the most misery, in the first three editions of the book, Hutcheson included various mathematical algorithms. to compute the Morality of any Actions. In this, he pre-figured the hedonic calculus of Bentham, some claim that John Gay developed the first systematic theory of utilitarian ethics
Utilitarianism
–
Jeremy Bentham.
Utilitarianism
–
The symbol sigma is used in mathematics to represent
summation, a process similarly done in
total utilitarianism.
Utilitarianism
–
Peter Singer
14.
Eudaimonia
–
Etymologically, it consists of the words eu and daimōn. Discussion of the links between virtue of character and happiness is one of the concerns of ancient ethics. As a result there are varieties of eudaimonism. Two of the most influential forms are those of Aristotle and the Stoics, Aristotle takes virtue and its exercise to be the most important constituent in eudaimonia but acknowledges also the importance of external goods such as health, wealth, and beauty. By contrast, the Stoics make virtue necessary and sufficient for eudaimonia, everyone wants to be eudaimon, and everyone agrees that being eudaimon is related to faring well and to an individual’s well being. The really difficult question is to specify just what sort of activities enable one to live well, Aristotle presents various popular conceptions of the best life for human beings. The candidates that he mentions are a life of pleasure, a life of political activity, one important move in Greek philosophy to answer the question of how to achieve eudaimonia is to bring in another important concept in ancient philosophy, arete. Aristotle says that the life is one of “virtuous activity in accordance with reason”. And even Epicurus who argues that the life is the life of pleasure maintains that the life of pleasure coincides with the life of virtue. So the ancient ethical theorists tend to agree that virtue is closely bound up with happiness, however, they disagree on the way in which this is so. We shall consider the main theories in a moment, but first a warning about the translation of areté. As already noted, the Greek word areté is usually translated into English as virtue, one problem with this is that we are inclined to understand virtue in a moral sense, which is not always what the ancients had in mind. For a Greek, areté pertains to all sorts of qualities we would not regard as relevant to ethics, for example, physical beauty. So it is important to bear in mind that the sense of ‘virtue’ operative in ancient ethics is not exclusively moral and includes more than such as wisdom, courage. The sense of virtue which areté connotes would include saying something like speed is a virtue in a horse, doing anything well requires virtue, and each characteristic activity has its own set of virtues. The alternative translation excellence might be helpful in conveying this general meaning of the term, the moral virtues are simply a subset of the general sense in which a human being is capable of functioning well or excellently. What we know of Socrates philosophy is almost entirely derived from Platos writings, scholars typically divide Platos works into three periods, the early, middle, and late periods. This division will be employed here in dividing up the positions of Socrates, as with all other ancient ethical thinkers Socrates thought that all human beings wanted eudaimonia more than anything else
Eudaimonia
–
French painter
David portrayed the philosopher in
The Death of Socrates (1787).
Eudaimonia
–
The School of Athens by
Raffaello Sanzio, 1509, showing
Plato (left) and
Aristotle (right)
Eudaimonia
–
Zeno, thought happiness was a "good flow of life."
15.
Happiness
–
Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Happy mental states may also reflect judgements by a person about their overall well-being, a variety of biological, psychological, economic, religious and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources. Various research groups, including psychology and happiness economics are employing the scientific method to research questions about what happiness is. The United Nations declared 20 March the International Day of Happiness to recognise the relevance of happiness, philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion. Happiness in this sense was used to translate the Greek eudaimonia, there has been a transition over time from emphasis on the happiness of virtue to the virtue of happiness. A widely discussed political value expressed in the United States Declaration of Independence of 1776 and this seems to suggest a subjective interpretation but one that nonetheless goes beyond emotions alone. In fact, this discussion is based on the naive assumption that the word happiness meant the same thing in 1776 as it does today. In fact, happiness meant prosperity, thriving, wellbeing in the 18th century, nowadays, happiness is a fuzzy concept and can mean many different things to many people. Part of the challenge of a science of happiness is to identify different concepts of happiness, related concepts are well-being, quality of life and flourishing. At least one author defines happiness as contentment, the 2012 World Happiness Report stated that in subjective well-being measures, the primary distinction is between cognitive life evaluations and emotional reports. Happiness is used in both life evaluation, as in “How happy are you with your life as a whole. ”, using these measures, the World Happiness Report identifies the countries with the highest levels of happiness. Since the 1960s, happiness research has been conducted in a variety of scientific disciplines, including gerontology, social psychology, clinical and medical research. Numerous short-term self-help interventions have been developed and demonstrated to improve well-being, Happiness in its broad sense is the label for a family of pleasant emotional states, such as joy, amusement, satisfaction, gratification, euphoria, and triumph. For example, happiness comes from encountering unexpected positive events, seeing a significant other, more narrowly, it refers to experiential and evaluative well-being. Experiential well-being, or objective happiness, is measured in the moment via questions such as How good or bad is your experience now. In contrast, evaluative well-being asks questions such as How good was your vacation, and measures ones subjective thoughts and feelings about happiness in the past. Experiential well-being is less prone to errors in memory. The two measures of happiness can be related by such as the peak-end rule
Happiness
–
A smiling 95-year-old man from
Pichilemu,
Chile.
Happiness
–
The
smiley face is a well-known
symbol of happiness
Happiness
–
Joy,
Tacuinum Sanitatis Casanatensis (14th century)
Happiness
–
Tibetan Buddhist monk
16.
Pleasure
–
Pleasure describes the broad class of mental states that humans and other animals experience as positive, enjoyable, or worth seeking. It includes more specific mental states such as happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, the experience of pleasure is subjective and different individuals will experience different kinds and amounts of pleasure in the same situation. Many pleasurable experiences are associated with satisfying basic biological drives, such as eating, exercise, hygiene, the appreciation of cultural artifacts and activities such as art, music, dancing, and literature is often pleasurable. While all pleasurable stimuli are rewards, some rewards do not evoke pleasure, various compartments within the nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum, and parabrachial nucleus have been identified as pleasure centers which respond to a variety of pleasurable stimuli. The orbitofrontal cortex and insular cortex likely contain hedonic hotspots as well, the simultaneous activation of every hedonic hotspot within the reward system is believed to be necessary for generating the sensation of an intense euphoria. Pleasure is considered to be one of the dimensions of emotion. It can be described as the positive evaluation that forms the basis for more elaborate evaluations such as agreeable or nice. As such, pleasure is an affect and not an emotion, Pleasure is sometimes subdivided into fundamental pleasures that are closely related to survival and higher-order pleasures. The clinical condition of being unable to experience pleasure from usually enjoyable activities is called anhedonia, an active aversion to obtaining pleasure is called hedonophobia. Pleasure is often regarded as a construct, meaning that the two ends of the spectrum from pleasant to unpleasant are mutually exclusive. This view is e. g. inherent in the model of affect. Yet, some lines of research suggest that people do experience pleasant and unpleasant feelings at the same time, giving rise to so-called mixed feelings. For example, a sweater that has been worn by a celebrity will be desired than an otherwise identical sweater that has not. Paul Bloom describes these phenomena as arising from a form of essentialism, Epicurus and his followers defined the highest pleasure as the absence of suffering and pleasure itself as freedom from pain in the body and freedom from turmoil in the soul. According to Cicero Epicurus also believed that pleasure was the chief good, in the 12th century Razis Treatise of the Self and the Spirit analyzed different types of pleasure, sensuous and intellectual, and explained their relations with one another. He concludes that human needs and desires are endless, and their satisfaction is by definition impossible, the 19th-century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer understood pleasure as a negative sensation, one that negates the usual existential condition of suffering. Utilitarianism and hedonism are philosophies that advocate increasing to the maximum the amount of pleasure, how Pleasure Works, The New Science of Why We Like What We Like. Draws on neuroscience, philosophy, child-development research, and behavioral economics in a study of our desires, attractions, the pleasure center, Trust Your Animal Instincts
Pleasure
–
Comic mask on the façade of the
Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm
Pleasure
–
Weekend pleasure in France
Pleasure
–
Gentlemen's Pleasures by Adolphe-Alexandre Lesrel, 1885
17.
Suffering
–
Suffering, or pain in a broad sense feeling, may be an experience of unpleasantness and aversion associated with the perception of harm or threat of harm in an individual. Suffering is the element that makes up the negative valence of affective phenomena. The opposite of suffering is pleasure, or happiness, Suffering is often categorized as physical or mental. It may come in all degrees of intensity, from mild to intolerable, factors of duration and frequency of occurrence usually compound that of intensity. Attitudes toward suffering may vary widely, in the sufferer or other people, according to how much it is regarded as avoidable or unavoidable, useful or useless, Suffering occurs in the lives of sentient beings in numerous manners, and often dramatically. As a result, many fields of activity are concerned with some aspects of suffering. The word pain usually refers to pain, but it is also a common synonym of suffering. The words pain and suffering are often used together in different ways. For instance, they may be used as interchangeable synonyms, or they may be used in contradistinction to one another, as in pain is physical, suffering is mental, or pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Or they may be used to each other, as in pain is physical suffering. Qualifiers, such as physical, mental, emotional, and psychological, are used for referring to certain types of pain or suffering. In particular, mental pain may be used in relationship with physical pain for distinguishing between two categories of pain or suffering. Other current words that have a definition with some similarity to suffering include distress, unhappiness, misery, affliction, woe, ill, discomfort, displeasure, hedonism, as an ethical theory, claims that good and bad consist ultimately in pleasure and pain. Jeremy Bentham developed hedonistic utilitarianism, a doctrine in ethics, politics. Bentham argued that the act or policy was that which would cause the greatest happiness of the greatest number. He suggested a procedure called hedonic or felicific calculus, for determining how much pleasure, John Stuart Mill improved and promoted the doctrine of hedonistic utilitarianism. Human suffering makes a direct appeal for help, while there is no similar call to increase the happiness of a man who is doing well anyway. David Pearce, for his part, advocates a utilitarianism that aims straightforwardly at the abolition of suffering through the use of biotechnology, richard Ryder came to the same conclusion in his concepts of speciesism and painism
Suffering
–
Tragic mask on the façade of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm
Suffering
–
Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by
Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Suffering
–
Neuroimaging sheds light on the seat of suffering
18.
Tetrapharmakos
–
The Tetrapharmakos four-part remedy is a summary of the first four of the Κύριαι Δόξαι in Epicureanism, a recipe for leading the happiest possible life. They are recommendations to avoid anxiety or existential dread, the tetrapharmakos was originally a compound of four drugs, the word has been used metaphorically by Roman-era Epicureans. to refer to the four remedies for healing the soul. A happy and eternal being has no trouble himself and brings no trouble upon any other being, hence he is exempt from movements of anger and partiality, for every such movement implies weakness 2. Death is nothing to us, for the body, when it has resolved into its elements, has no feeling. The magnitude of pleasure reaches its limit in the removal of all pain, when pleasure is present, so long as it is uninterrupted, there is no pain either of body or of mind or of both together. Illnesses of long duration even permit of an excess of pleasure over pain in the body, in Hellenistic religion, the gods were conceived as hypothetical beings in a perpetual state of bliss, indestructible entities that are completely invulnerable. Gods in this view are mere role models for human beings, in Epicurus own words, Death means nothing to us. when we exist, death is not yet present, and when death is present, then we do not exist, for there is no afterlife. Death, says Epicurus, is the greatest anxiety of all, in length, sustenance and shelter, these things can be acquired by anyone — by both animal and human — with minimal effort, regardless of wealth. But if one more than one needs, one is limiting the chances of satisfaction and happiness. What is good is easy to get implies that the amount of necessity it takes to satisfy an urge is the maximum amount of interest a person should have in satisfying that urge. The Epicureans understood that, in nature, illness and pain is not suffered for very long, for pain, either mild or intense, but discomfort that is both chronic and intense is very unusual, so there is no need to be concerned about the prospect of suffering
Tetrapharmakos
–
The tetrapharmakos as found in the Herculaneum papyrus in the
Villa of the Papyri.
19.
Hedonic treadmill
–
According to this theory, as a person makes more money, expectations and desires rise in tandem, which results in no permanent gain in happiness. Brickman and Campbell coined the term in their essay Hedonic Relativism, the hedonic set point has gained interest throughout the field of positive psychology where it has been developed and revised further. Hedonic adaptation is a process or mechanism that reduces the impact of emotional events. Generally, hedonic adaptation involves a set point, whereby humans generally maintain a constant level of happiness throughout their lives. The process of adaptation is often conceptualized as a treadmill. Others conceptualize hedonic adaptation as functioning similarly to a thermostat that works to maintain an individuals happiness set point, one of the main concerns of positive psychology is determining how to maintain or raise ones happiness set point, and further, what kind of practices lead to lasting happiness. Hedonic adaptation can occur in a variety of ways, generally, the process involves cognitive changes, such as shifting values, goals, attention and interpretation of a situation. Further, neurochemical processes desensitize overstimulated hedonic pathways in the brain, the hedonic treadmill functions similarly to most adaptations that serve to protect and enhance perception. In the case of hedonics, the sensitization or desensitization to circumstances or environment can redirect motivation and this reorientation functions to protect against complacency, but also to accept unchangeable circumstances, and redirect efforts towards more effective goals. Frederick and Lowenstein classify three types of processes in hedonic adaptation, shifting adaptation levels, desensitization, and sensitization, shifting adaptation levels occurs when a person experiences a shift in what is perceived as a neutral stimulus, but maintains sensitivity to stimulus differences. For example, if Sam gets a raise he will initially be happier, but he will still be pleased when he gets a holiday bonus. Desensitization decreases sensitivity in general, which reduces sensitivity to change, sensitization is an increase of hedonic response from continuous exposure, such as the increased pleasure and selectivity of connoisseurs for wine, or food. Brickman, Coates, and Janoff-Bulman were among the first to investigate the hedonic treadmill in their 1978 study, Lottery Winners and Accident Victims and this interview-based study, while not longitudinal, was the beginning of a now large body of work exploring the relativity of happiness. Brickman and Campbell originally implied that everyone returns to the same neutral set point after a significantly emotional life event. In a longitudinal study conducted by Mancini, Bonnano, and Clark, people showed individual differences in how they responded to significant life events, such as marriage, divorce and widowhood. Similarly, the study conducted by Fujita and Diener described the life satisfaction set point as a soft baseline. This means that for most people, this baseline is similar to their happiness baseline, typically, life satisfaction will hover around a set point for the majority of their lives and not change dramatically. However, for about a quarter of the population this set point is not stable, other longitudinal data has shown that subjective well being set points do change over time, and that adaptation is not necessarily inevitable
Hedonic treadmill
–
Happiness seems to be more like a thermostat, since our temperaments tend to bring us back towards a certain happiness level (a tendency influenced by
carefully chosen activities and habits).
20.
Aristippus
–
Aristippus of Cyrene was the founder of the Cyrenaic school of Philosophy. Among his pupils was his daughter Arete, there are indications that he was conflated with his grandson, Aristippus the Younger. Aristippus, the son of Aritades, was born at Cyrene, Ancient Libya, c.435 BCE. Diodorus dates him to 366 BCE. which agrees well with the facts known about him, and with the statement, that Lais. Though a disciple of Socrates, he wandered very far both in principle and practice from the teaching and example of his great master and he lived luxuriously, was happy to seek sensual gratification and the company of the notorious Lais. He appears, however, at last to have returned to Cyrene, with that he made for the city of Rhodes, and went straight to the gymnasium. Thus when reproached for his love of bodily indulgences, he answered, that it is not abstinence from pleasures that is best, but mastery over them without ever being worsted. When Dionysius, provoked at some of his remarks, ordered him to take the lowest place at table, he said, wise people, even though all laws were abolished, would still lead the same life is the single most popular quotation of his on the Internet. Aristotle, too, calls him a sophist, and notices a story of Plato speaking to him, with rather undue vehemence, and of his replying with calmness. He imparted his doctrine to his daughter Arete who, in turn, imparted it to her son, Aristippus the Younger, some letters attributed to him are forgeries. One work attributed to Aristippus in ancient times was a work entitled On Ancient Luxury. This work, judging by the quotations preserved by Diogenes Laërtius, was filled with anecdotes about philosophers and their supposed taste for boy-lovers. That this work cannot have been written by Aristippus of Cyrene has long been realised, but the name may have been adopted by the writer to suggest a connection with the hedonistic philosopher. Socrates, with predecessors and followers, Aristippus, attribution, This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Smith, William, ed. Aristippus. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, voula Tsouna, The Epistemology of the Cyrenaic School, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Ugo Zilioli, The Cyrenaics, New York, Acumen / Routledge,2012, Cyrenaics Resource Handbook of Cyrenaic resources, primary and secondary, includes Aristippus Aristippus of Cyrene on Ancient History Encyclopedia
Aristippus
–
Aristippus
Aristippus
–
Cyrene, Libya, birthplace of Aristippus
21.
Socrates
–
Socrates was a classical Greek philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. He is a figure known chiefly through the accounts of classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon. Platos dialogues are among the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity, though it is unclear the degree to which Socrates himself is hidden behind his best disciple, nothing written by Socrates remains extant. As a result, information about him and his philosophies depends upon secondary sources, furthermore, close comparison between the contents of these sources reveals contradictions, thus creating concerns about the possibility of knowing in-depth the real Socrates. This issue is known as the Socratic problem, or the Socratic question, to understand Socrates and his thought, one must turn primarily to the works of Plato, whose dialogues are thought the most informative source about Socrates life and philosophy, and also Xenophon. These writings are the Sokratikoi logoi, or Socratic dialogues, which consist of reports of conversations apparently involving Socrates, as for discovering the real-life Socrates, the difficulty is that ancient sources are mostly philosophical or dramatic texts, apart from Xenophon. There are no straightforward histories, contemporary with Socrates, that dealt with his own time, a corollary of this is that sources that do mention Socrates do not necessarily claim to be historically accurate, and are often partisan. For instance, those who prosecuted and convicted Socrates have left no testament, historians therefore face the challenge of reconciling the various evidence from the extant texts in order to attempt an accurate and consistent account of Socrates life and work. The result of such an effort is not necessarily realistic, even if consistent, amid all the disagreement resulting from differences within sources, two factors emerge from all sources pertaining to Socrates. It would seem, therefore, that he was ugly, also, Xenophon, being an historian, is a more reliable witness to the historical Socrates. It is a matter of debate over which Socrates it is whom Plato is describing at any given point—the historical figure. As British philosopher Martin Cohen has put it, Plato, the idealist, offers an idol, a Saint, a prophet of the Sun-God, a teacher condemned for his teachings as a heretic. It is also clear from other writings and historical artefacts, that Socrates was not simply a character, nor an invention, the testimony of Xenophon and Aristotle, alongside some of Aristophanes work, is useful in fleshing out a perception of Socrates beyond Platos work. The problem with discerning Socrates philosophical views stems from the perception of contradictions in statements made by the Socrates in the different dialogues of Plato and these contradictions produce doubt as to the actual philosophical doctrines of Socrates, within his milieu and as recorded by other individuals. Aristotle, in his Magna Moralia, refers to Socrates in words which make it patent that the virtue is knowledge was held by Socrates. Within the Metaphysics, he states Socrates was occupied with the search for moral virtues, however, in The Clouds, Aristophanes portrays Socrates as accepting payment for teaching and running a sophist school with Chaerephon. Also, in Platos Apology and Symposium, as well as in Xenophons accounts, more specifically, in the Apology, Socrates cites his poverty as proof that he is not a teacher. Two fragments are extant of the writings by Timon of Phlius pertaining to Socrates, although Timon is known to have written to ridicule, details about the life of Socrates can be derived from three contemporary sources, the dialogues of Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of Aristophanes
Socrates
–
A bust of Socrates in the Louvre
Socrates
–
Socrates Tears Alcibiades from the Embrace of Sensual Pleasure by
Jean-Baptiste Regnault (1791)
Socrates
–
Socrates and
Alcibiades, by
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
22.
Greek language
–
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
Greek language
–
Idealized portrayal of
Homer
Greek language
–
regions where Greek is the official language
Greek language
–
Greek language road sign, A27 Motorway, Greece
23.
Epic of Gilgamesh
–
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia that is often regarded as the earliest surviving great work of literature. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Bilgamesh, king of Uruk and these independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic. The first surviving version of this epic, known as the Old Babylonian version, dates to the 18th century BC and is titled after its incipit. Only a few tablets of it have survived, the later Standard version dates from the 13th to the 10th centuries BC and bears the incipit Sha naqba īmuru. Approximately two thirds of this longer, twelve-tablet version have been recovered, some of the best copies were discovered in the library ruins of the 7th-century BC Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. The first half of the story discusses Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and Enkidu, after an initial fight, Gilgamesh and Enkidu become close friends. Together, they journey to the Cedar Mountain and defeat Humbaba, later they kill the Bull of Heaven, which the goddess Ishtar sends to punish Gilgamesh for spurning her advances. As a punishment for actions, the gods sentence Enkidu to death. In the second half of the epic, distress about Enkidus death causes Gilgamesh to undertake a long and he eventually learns that Life, which you look for, you will never find. For when the gods created man, they let death be his share, however, because of his great building projects, his account of Siduris advice, and what the immortal man Utnapishtim told him about the Great Flood, Gilgameshs fame survived his death. His story has been translated into many languages, and in recent years has featured in works of popular fiction, distinct sources exist from over a 2000-year timeframe. The earliest Sumerian poems are now considered to be distinct stories. They date from as early as the Third Dynasty of Ur, the Old Babylonian tablets, are the earliest surviving tablets for a single Epic of Gilgamesh narrative. The older Old Babylonian tablets and later Akkadian version are important sources for modern translations, although several revised versions based on new discoveries have been published, the epic remains incomplete. Analysis of the Old Babylonian text has been used to reconstruct possible earlier forms of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The most recent Akkadian version, also referred to as the standard version, the Epic of Gilgamesh was discovered by Hormuzd Rassam in 1853. The central character of Gilgamesh was initially reintroduced to the world as Izdubar, the first modern translation was published in the early 1870s by George Smith. Smith then made further discoveries of texts on his later expeditions, the most definitive modern translation is a two-volume critical work by Andrew George, published by Oxford University Press in 2003
Epic of Gilgamesh
–
The
Deluge tablet of the Gilgamesh epic in
Akkadian
Epic of Gilgamesh
–
Tablet V of the Epic of Gilgamesh
24.
Philosophy
–
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. The term was coined by Pythagoras. Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument and systematic presentation, classic philosophical questions include, Is it possible to know anything and to prove it. However, philosophers might also pose more practical and concrete questions such as, is it better to be just or unjust. Historically, philosophy encompassed any body of knowledge, from the time of Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle to the 19th century, natural philosophy encompassed astronomy, medicine and physics. For example, Newtons 1687 Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy later became classified as a book of physics, in the 19th century, the growth of modern research universities led academic philosophy and other disciplines to professionalize and specialize. In the modern era, some investigations that were part of philosophy became separate academic disciplines, including psychology, sociology. Other investigations closely related to art, science, politics, or other pursuits remained part of philosophy, for example, is beauty objective or subjective. Are there many scientific methods or just one, is political utopia a hopeful dream or hopeless fantasy. Major sub-fields of academic philosophy include metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, political philosophy, logic, philosophy of science, since the 20th century, professional philosophers contribute to society primarily as professors, researchers and writers. Traditionally, the term referred to any body of knowledge. In this sense, philosophy is related to religion, mathematics, natural science, education. This division is not obsolete but has changed, Natural philosophy has split into the various natural sciences, especially astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology and cosmology. Moral philosophy has birthed the social sciences, but still includes value theory, metaphysical philosophy has birthed formal sciences such as logic, mathematics and philosophy of science, but still includes epistemology, cosmology and others. Many philosophical debates that began in ancient times are still debated today, colin McGinn and others claim that no philosophical progress has occurred during that interval. Chalmers and others, by contrast, see progress in philosophy similar to that in science, in one general sense, philosophy is associated with wisdom, intellectual culture and a search for knowledge. In that sense, all cultures and literate societies ask philosophical questions such as how are we to live, a broad and impartial conception of philosophy then, finds a reasoned inquiry into such matters as reality, morality and life in all world civilizations. Socrates was an influential philosopher, who insisted that he possessed no wisdom but was a pursuer of wisdom
Philosophy
–
René Descartes
Philosophy
–
Thomas Aquinas
Philosophy
–
Jeremy Bentham
Philosophy
–
Thomas Hobbes
25.
Ancient Egypt
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Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. It is one of six civilizations to arise independently, Egyptian civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh Narmer. In the aftermath of Alexander the Greats death, one of his generals, Ptolemy Soter and this Greek Ptolemaic Kingdom ruled Egypt until 30 BC, when, under Cleopatra, it fell to the Roman Empire and became a Roman province. The success of ancient Egyptian civilization came partly from its ability to adapt to the conditions of the Nile River valley for agriculture, the predictable flooding and controlled irrigation of the fertile valley produced surplus crops, which supported a more dense population, and social development and culture. Its art and architecture were widely copied, and its antiquities carried off to far corners of the world and its monumental ruins have inspired the imaginations of travelers and writers for centuries. The Nile has been the lifeline of its region for much of human history, nomadic modern human hunter-gatherers began living in the Nile valley through the end of the Middle Pleistocene some 120,000 years ago. By the late Paleolithic period, the climate of Northern Africa became increasingly hot and dry. In Predynastic and Early Dynastic times, the Egyptian climate was less arid than it is today. Large regions of Egypt were covered in treed savanna and traversed by herds of grazing ungulates, foliage and fauna were far more prolific in all environs and the Nile region supported large populations of waterfowl. Hunting would have been common for Egyptians, and this is also the period when many animals were first domesticated. The largest of these cultures in upper Egypt was the Badari, which probably originated in the Western Desert, it was known for its high quality ceramics, stone tools. The Badari was followed by the Amratian and Gerzeh cultures, which brought a number of technological improvements, as early as the Naqada I Period, predynastic Egyptians imported obsidian from Ethiopia, used to shape blades and other objects from flakes. In Naqada II times, early evidence exists of contact with the Near East, particularly Canaan, establishing a power center at Hierakonpolis, and later at Abydos, Naqada III leaders expanded their control of Egypt northwards along the Nile. They also traded with Nubia to the south, the oases of the desert to the west. Royal Nubian burials at Qustul produced artifacts bearing the oldest-known examples of Egyptian dynastic symbols, such as the crown of Egypt. They also developed a ceramic glaze known as faience, which was used well into the Roman Period to decorate cups, amulets, and figurines. During the last predynastic phase, the Naqada culture began using written symbols that eventually were developed into a system of hieroglyphs for writing the ancient Egyptian language. The Early Dynastic Period was approximately contemporary to the early Sumerian-Akkadian civilisation of Mesopotamia, the third-century BC Egyptian priest Manetho grouped the long line of pharaohs from Menes to his own time into 30 dynasties, a system still used today
Ancient Egypt
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The
Great Sphinx and the
pyramids of Giza are among the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt.
Ancient Egypt
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A typical Naqada II jar decorated with gazelles. (Predynastic Period)
Ancient Egypt
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The
Narmer Palette depicts the unification of the Two Lands.
26.
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
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The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is the best known ancient Egyptian dynasty. It boasts several of Egypts most famous pharaohs, including Tutankhamun, the dynasty is also known as the Thutmosid Dynasty for the four pharaohs named Thutmosis. Famous pharaohs of Dynasty XVIII include Hatshepsut, longest-reigning woman-pharaoh of a dynasty, and Akhenaten. Dynasty XVIII is the first of the three dynasties of the Egyptian New Kingdom, the period in which ancient Egypt reached the peak of its power, radiocarbon dating suggests that Dynasty XVIII may have started a few years earlier than the conventional date of 1550 BC. The radiocarbon date range for its beginning is 1570–1544 BC, the point of which is 1557 BC. The pharaohs of Dynasty XVIII ruled for two hundred and fifty years. The dates and names in the table are taken from Dodson and Hilton, many of the pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes. More information can be found on the Theban Mapping Project website, several diplomatic marriages are known for the New Kingdom. These daughters of kings are often only mentioned in cuneiform texts and are not known from other sources. The marriages were likely a way to confirm good relations between these states, Dynasty XVIII was founded by Ahmose I, the brother or son of Kamose, the last ruler of the Dynasty XVII. Ahmose finished the campaign to expel the Hyksos rulers and his reign is seen as the end of the Second Intermediate Period and the start of the New Kingdom. Ahmose was succeeded by his son, Amenhotep I, whose reign was relatively uneventful, Amenhotep I probably left no male heir and the next pharaoh, Thutmose I, seems to have been related to the royal family through marriage. During his reign the borders of Egypts empire reached their greatest expanse, extending in the north to Carchemish on the Euphrates, Thutmose I was succeeded by Thutmose II and his queen, Hatshepsut. Thutmose III who later became known as the greatest military pharaoh ever and he had a second co-regency in his old age with his son Amenhotep II. Amenhotep II was succeeded by Thutmose IV, who in his turn was followed by his son Amenhotep III, the reign of Amenhotep III is seen as a high point in this dynasty. Amenhotep III undertook large scale building programmes, the extent of which can only be compared with those of the much longer reign of Ramesses II during Dynasty XIX. Amenhotep III may have shared the throne for up to twelve years with his son Amenhotep IV, there is much debate about this proposed co-regency. Some experts believe there was a lengthy co-regency, while others prefer to see a short one, there are also many experts who believe no such co-regency existed at all
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
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Head of an Early Eighteenth Dynasty King, ca. 1539-1493 B.C.,37.38E,
Brooklyn Museum
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
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Block Statue of Ay, ca. 1336-1327 B.C.E. 66.174.1,
Brooklyn Museum
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
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Ahmose-Nefertari.
Ahmose-Nefertari was the daughter of
Seqenenre Tao II, a 17th dynasty king who rose up against the
Hyksos. Her brother Ahmose, expelled the Hyksos, and she became queen of a united Egypt. She was deified after she died.
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
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Amenhotep I gained the throne after his two elder brothers had died. He was the son of Ahmose and Ahmose-Nefertari. He was succeeded by Thutmose I who married his daughter, Ahmose.
27.
Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt
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The Nineteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt was one of the periods of the Egyptian New Kingdom. Founded by Vizier Ramesses I, whom Pharaoh Horemheb chose as his successor to the throne, the warrior kings of the early 18th Dynasty had encountered only little resistance from neighbouring kingdoms, allowing them to expand their realm of influence easily. The situation had changed radically towards the end of the 18th Dynasty, the Hittites gradually extended their influence into Syria and Canaan to become a major power in international politics, a power that both Seti I and his son Ramesses II would need to deal with. The Pharaohs of the 19th dynasty ruled for one hundred and ten years. Seti Is reign is considered to be 11 years and not 15 years by both J. von Beckerath and Peter Brand, who wrote a biography on this pharaohs reign. Consequently, it will be amended to 11 years or 1290-1279 BC, therefore, Setis father and predecessor would have ruled Egypt between 1292-1290 BC. Many of the pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes, more information can be found on the Theban Mapping Project website. New Kingdom Egypt reached the zenith of its power under Seti I and Ramesses II, who campaigned vigorously against the Libyans and the Hittites. The city of Kadesh was first captured by Seti I, who decided to concede it to Muwatalli of Hatti in a peace treaty between Egypt and Hatti. He ultimately accepted that a campaign against the Hittites was a drain on Egypts treasury and military. In his 21st regnal year, Ramesses signed the first recorded peace treaty with Urhi-Teshubs successor, Hattusili III, Ramesses II even married two Hittite princesses, the first after his second Sed Festival. At least as early as Josephus, it was believed that Moses lived during the reign of Ramesses II and this dynasty declined as internal fighting between the heirs of Merneptah for the throne increased. Amenmesse apparently usurped the throne from Merneptahs son and successor, Seti II, after his death, Seti regained power and destroyed most of Amenmesses monuments. Both Bay and Setis chief wife Twosret had a reputation in Ancient Egyptian folklore. After Siptahs death, Twosret ruled Egypt for two years, but she proved unable to maintain her hold on power amid the conspiracies. She was likely ousted in a revolt led by Setnakhte, founder of the Twentieth Dynasty, Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt Family Tree
Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt
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Seti I
Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt
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Egyptian and Hittite Empires, around the time of the
Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC).
Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt
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Ramesses II
Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt
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Seti II
28.
Ancient Egyptian burial customs
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The ancient Egyptians had an elaborate set of funerary practices that they believed were necessary to ensure their immortality after death. These rituals and protocols included mummifying the body, casting of magic spells, the burial process used by the ancient Egyptians evolved throughout time as old customs were discarded and new ones adopted, but several important elements of the process persisted. Although specific details changed over time, the preparation of the body, the rituals involved. Though no writing survives from Predynastic Egypt, scholars believe the importance of the physical body and this would explain why people of that time did not follow the common practice of cremation, but rather buried the dead. Some also believe they may have feared the bodies would rise again if mistreated after death, early bodies were buried in simple, shallow oval pits, with a few burial goods. Sometimes multiple people and animals were placed in the same grave, over time, graves became more complex, with the body placed in a wicker basket, then later in wooden or terracotta coffins. The latest tombs Egyptians made were sarcophaguses and these graves contained burial goods like jewelry, food, games and sharpened splint. This demonstrates that this ancient period had a sense of the afterlife and this may be because admission required that the deceased must be able to serve a purpose there. The pharaoh was allowed in because of his role in life, human sacrifices found in early royal tombs reinforce this view. These people were meant to serve the pharaoh during his eternal life. Eventually, figurines and wall paintings begin to replace human victims, some of these figurines may have been created to resemble certain people, so they could follow the pharaoh after their lives ended. Note that not only the classes had to rely on the pharaoh’s favor. They believed that when he died, the became a type of god. This belief existed from the period through the Old Kingdom. In the First Intermediate Period, however, the importance of the pharaoh declined, funerary texts, previously restricted to royal use, became more widely available. The first farmers in Egypt are known from the villages of Omari, the people of these villages buried their dead in a simple, round graves with one pot. The body was neither treated nor arranged in a way as would be the case later in the historical period. Without any written evidence, there is little to provide information about contemporary beliefs concerning the afterlife except for the inclusion of a single pot in the grave
Ancient Egyptian burial customs
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Professional mourners in an eloquent gesture of
mourning.
Ancient Egyptian burial customs
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Female Figure, ca. 3500-3400 B.C.E.,
Brooklyn Museum
Ancient Egyptian burial customs
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Mask from a Coffin. Cartonnage, 37.1387E,
Brooklyn Museum
29.
Myrrh
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Myrrh is a natural gum or resin extracted from a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus Commiphora. Myrrh resin has been used throughout history as a perfume, incense, Myrrh mixed with wine can also be ingested. When a tree wound penetrates through the bark and into the sapwood, Myrrh gum, like frankincense, is such a resin. When people harvest myrrh, they wound the trees repeatedly to bleed them of the gum, Myrrh gum is waxy and coagulates quickly. After the harvest, the gum becomes hard and glossy, the gum is yellowish and may be either clear or opaque. It darkens deeply as it ages, and white streaks emerge, Myrrh gum is commonly harvested from the species Commiphora myrrha. Another commonly used name, Commiphora molmol, is now considered a synonym of Commiphora myrrha, Commiphora myrrha is native to parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, Somalia, Eritrea and eastern Ethiopia. Meetiga, the trade-name of Arabian Myrrh, is brittle and gummy than the Somalian variety. The oleo gum resins of a number of other Commiphora species are used as perfumes, medicines. These myrrh-like resins are known as opopanax, balsam, bdellium, guggul bisabol, fragrant myrrh beads are made from the crushed seeds of Detarium microcarpum, an unrelated West African tree. These beads are worn by married women in Mali as multiple strands around the hips. The name myrrh is also applied to the potherb Myrrhis odorata, liquid myrrh, or stacte, written about by Pliny, was an ingredient of Jewish holy incense, and was formerly greatly valued but cannot now be identified in todays markets. The word myrrh derives from the Aramaic ܡܪܝܪܐ, and Arabic مر ، meaning bitter, in pharmacy, myrrh is used as an antiseptic in mouthwashes, gargles, and toothpastes. Myrrh is currently used in some liniments and healing salves that may be applied to abrasions, Myrrh has also been recommended as an analgesic for toothaches and can be used in liniment for bruises, aches, and sprains. Myrrh is an ingredient of tooth powders. Myrrh and borax in tincture can be used as a mouth-wash, a compound tincture, or horse tincture, using myrrh is used in veterinary practice for healing wounds. Myrrh gum is used for indigestion, ulcers, colds, cough, asthma, lung congestion, arthritis pain, research data indicated that the extract killed all of the cancer cells in laboratory dishes. In traditional Chinese medicine, myrrh is classified as bitter and spicy and it is said to have special efficacy on the heart, liver, and spleen meridians as well as blood-moving powers to purge stagnant blood from the uterus
Myrrh
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Commiphora myrrha tree, one of the primary trees from which myrrh is harvested.
Myrrh
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Myrrh is a common resin in the
Horn of Africa.
Myrrh
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Commiphora gileadensis (listed as "Balsamodendron ehrenbergianum"
Myrrh
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Animal products
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"Hedonism". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
Dolson, Grace Neal (1920). "Hedonism". Encyclopedia Americana.
