PHIL1000_567
Meeting Online_Clarence Mark Phillips, Ph.D. (Department of Philosophy, University of New Orleans)
567 #overall: this generation of philosophers were able to create concepts and further figure out implications out of them, which becomes ethos. (Inferring mind from order – Measurable fluctuations – let reason be your guide.)
#Ethos (in this world, how are we humans going to live?)(arête or happiness is not yet an issue) 1) Heraclites (that of: universe, balance, moderation, accordance with the logos (speak the truth and act as the nature) - Before Heraclites, thinkers did not make arguments on moral philosophy. Nor wanted to influence human behavior. Anaximander and Xenophanes did find people modify themselves as to make themselves beneficial, but it was not argued how humans ought to behave. 2) Rationalism as episteme and ethos. Senses tell us objects move, but reason tell us that it cannot move. If it moves it cannot be measured. The fact that we can measure them indicates that objects cannot move. (The questions about senses- then where did the objects go? – remains. However, according to the idea of reduction ad absurdum Zeno makes a valid argument that objects cannot move. -If objects move, we cannot measure the fluctuations among them.
#LOGOS (Fluctuation_Measurable) Unity to opposites: Opposites contradict/compete with each other, like the water demolish/crushing the bank of the river. The unity of opposites is hard to conceive. In fact, objects or parts themselves are also on the state of constant change. There, they are on the equivalent level as parts that are governed by the whole. From the fluctuation, certain laws (physical; of physics) or the order could be found there, which is what logos refers to. The fact that there is law and order, implies the constancy to the structure. - What Pythagoras contended was that this order could be explained in numbers. That it is measurable. All things are in measurable relations with each other. Numbers express the underlying order. - Plato contended as a contradiction: Heraclitus accepts that opposition is necessary - but that the fact that some things change makes possible the continued existence of other things. Perhaps more generally, the change in elements or constituents supports the constancy of higher-level structures. As for the alleged doctrine of the Identity of Opposites, Heraclitus does believe in some kind of unity of opposites. *Ex: Indeed, it must be precisely because the waters are always changing that there are rivers at all, rather than lakes or ponds. The message is that rivers can stay the same over time even though, or indeed because, the waters change. The point, then, is not that everything is changing, but that the fact that some things change makes possible the continued existence of other things. Logos, order, concept Logos signifies order, it refers to a concept: The logos of the river, the logos of a soccer team. The water of the river might be changing and the members of the team are now completely different from times. Logos is the identity of the river and the soccer team to maintain itself. - Thinking about the logos of something/subject/object (or logical way of thinking) is much more than grasping the appearance. It is to grasp how things function together as a whole with complication and precision. - Biology: we find order or structure exists; animate and inanimate (living things and things that don’t live (inanimate). Logos could be said as a field of which we study. - What exists and what does not exist: The concept exists. To rationalists like Parmenides, it made him trust the fact that thoughts exist. (are these related?)
[Contemplation] -The haste: The notes that I took, it seems, have been caught up on the limits of time and limits of wisdom. Not doing performing reality appearance distinction, also not reading history. Love of wisdom or Philosophy itself nonexistent, the words I wrote are read as keen but hasty memoirs of my experiences, on awfully small part of the universe.
-Reading the pre-Socratic philosophy I find, what was it exactly people in history attempted to achieve. As having been born later in time then these bright men, modern philosophers were not able to or perhaps could not take the initiative to construct a new basis for western philosophy. They instead read their notes over and built a system upon that.
-Parmenides and the Courage: He had a strong belief on what he was looking for. In conclusion he argued that the thoughts are real, and the thoughts prove the being. Always associated rationalism with neo-classical economists or scientists. They seem to be indifferent to the problems of the world. In fact the original idea of reason and rationalism came from a man who had the ultimate courage to discover the world. He in fact encouraged the citizens of Athens t-o improve the world altogether.
-The weeping philosopher, Heraclitus on opposition and logos: Heraclites’ thoughts show his will power to overcome/surpass the oppositions. The logos
- Heraclitus is the first Western philosopher to go beyond physical theory in search of metaphysical foundations and moral applications. (SO NOT EVERY PHILOSOPHER) Most people sleep-walk through life, not understanding what is going on about them. Yet experience of words and deeds can enlighten those who are receptive to their meaning.
-Prejudice: Was perhaps my impression on western thought, that it encourages debate or competition be-tween different groups, instead of encouraging harmony like the eastern thinkers did. The east and the west think alike, by regarding the opposition/flux/change as necessary (more than inevitable)
