“Two things fill the mind with ever new and
increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect
upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within
me.” (Kant)
Bright
newborn stars shape a nebula --
a glowing cloud of dust and gas --
through their luminous energy, while
the nebula keeps the energy from
dissipating into the galaxy. Hubble Space Telescope
If every step you take measures a year, how far would you have to walk
from Gilman (heading west on Northern Parkway) to get to the following
moments in the history of the universe? Where would you wind up?
Extra
Credit: At three feet per step and fifteen minutes per mile (5280
feet), how long would it take you to get there? Draw a line graph on
the chalkboard to represent the data as close to scale as possible.
Directions:
In a two-three minute presentation summarize the
information on your topic and identify its key idea, or tell
the story
of your myth in an imaginative way.
Directions:
In a two-three minute presentation summarize the
information on your topic and identify its key idea, or tell
the story
of your myth in an imaginative way.
Directions:
In a two-three minute presentation summarize the
information on your topic and identify its key idea, or tell
the story
of your myth in an imaginative way.
Essay Topic: Compare
and contrast the way that Homer characterizes his great epic heroes
Achilles and Odysseus. Draw conclusions about Homer's appraisal of the
changing values of Greek culture which these two men embody.
Proem
to The Iliad (Listen
to The
Iliad in Ancient Greek)
Sing, Goddess, sing of the rage of Achilles, son of
Peleus—
that murderous anger which condemned Achaeans
to countless agonies and threw many warrior souls
deep into Hades, leaving their dead bodies
carrion food for dogs and birds—
all in fulfillment of the will of Zeus.
Start at the point where Agamemnon, son of Atreus,
Essay Topic: Compare
and contrast the way that Homer characterizes his great epic heroes
Achilles and Odysseus. Draw conclusions about Homer's appraisal of the
changing values of Greek culture which these two men embody.
Historiē:
“research” or “inquiry”; To Herodotus’ audience, the term would have
had a vaguely clinical air, coming, as it did, from the vocabulary of
the newborn field of natural science. (Herodotus was born in Ionia.)
Prior to Herodotus, people conceived of their ‘story’ in epic terms, ie
a poem recounting the exploits of a hero, like Achilles in The
Iliad. (Notes on The
Invention of History)
philosophy: Greek word, from phileîn,
“to love,” and sophía, “wisdom,”
cosmology: the
study of the origin, nature, and
structure of the physical universe.
metaphysics: the study of the nature of reality, including the
relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, time
and space, fact and value.
Athens
Internet Tour: The Ancient City of Athens
[At Indiana]
A photographic archive of the archaeological and
architectural remains of ancient Athens.
The
names of the 58,209 American soldiers either killed or missing in
action during
the Vietnam War. As a memorial at Arlington reads: "All gave some . . .
some gave all."
Bust
of a Spartan
Warrior: "Our friend brings us good news.
If the Persians darken
the sun with their arrows, we
will be able to fight in the shade."
(Dieneces)
"Men
do not rest content with parrying the attacks of a superior, but often
strike the first blow to prevent the attack being made. And we cannot
fix the exact point at which our empire shall stop; we have reached a
position in which we must not be content with retaining but must scheme
to extend it, for, if we cease to rule others, we are in danger of
being ruled ourselves. Nor can you look at inaction from the same point
of view as others, unless you are prepared to change your habits and
make them like theirs." Alcibiades' Oration
before the Sicilian expedition as recorded by Thucydides, (VI, 18]
Can
democracy compete with authoritarian enemies? (Athens v. Sparta)
Can
citizens meet their responsibilities? (voting, community service,
military service)
Will the
leaders of a democracy be corrupted by moral relativism and power?
(Alcibiades' imperialism, Aristotle's justification of economic
exploitation; the us vs. them syndrome)
How did Plato and Aristotle both apply Socrates' teaching to the natural world? (ie. how did they resolve the conflict between empiricists and rationalists?)
How did Plato and Aristotle's philosophies contrast?
How did both Plato and Aristotle preserve the centrality of morality within a scientific understanding of nature?
How did Plato and Aristotle both apply Socrates' teaching to the natural world? (ie. how did they resolve the conflict between empiricists and rationalists?)
How did Plato and Aristotle's philosophies contrast?
How did both Plato and Aristotle preserve the centrality of morality within a scientific understanding of nature?
What have the Thebans done to deserve the terrible plague which has descended upon them?
Who can help them? The priests? (What would they do to propitiate the gods?)
No, Oedipus will help, the champion of reason, the hero who liberated Thebes fromthe Sphinx. What is the symbolic meaning of this victory?
But even afterCreonhas reported the Oracle's words and Oedipus has put his plan into motion, the mystery deepens:
Why was there no search forLaios' murderer at the time of his death?
Why such a long wait before renewing the search?
HasJocastaneverspoken with her husband about her previous life?
Is Oedipus' confidence in his ability to use his reason to solve this new riddle a case ofhubris- the kind of reckless pride and arrogance that might bring down the wrath of the gods?
What have the Thebans done to deserve the terrible plague which has descended upon them?
Who can help them? The priests? (What would they do to propitiate the gods?)
No, Oedipus will help, the champion of reason, the hero who liberated Thebes fromthe Sphinx. What is the symbolic meaning of this victory?
But even afterCreonhas reported the Oracle's words and Oedipus has put his plan into motion, the mystery deepens:
Why was there no search forLaios' murderer at the time of his death?
Why such a long wait before renewing the search?
HasJocastaneverspoken with her husband about her previous life?
Is Oedipus' confidence in his ability to use his reason to solve this new riddle a case ofhubris- the kind of reckless pride and arrogance that might bring down the wrath of the gods?
What is Oedipus'
plan to root out the truth? (How has he responded quite
rationally to the crisis?
Even so, have his actions done anything to dispel the mysteries beneath
the surface of the action?)
What effect does Sophocles' use of dramatic
irony have on our impressions of Oedipus?
Who is Teiresias? Why does he
say that there is no
help in the truth? How does Oedipus
treat
the blind prophet even before his shocking revelation?
How
doesJocastacomfortOedipus
when he says that he still fears fulfilling the second part of the prophecy- sleeping with
his mother. (51) Notice
the disturbing irony of the moment.
What is Sophocles doing to our notions of
right and wrong?
DescribePeripeteia
#3. (51-54) What makes this moment a classic perepeteia?
"Tragedy,
then, is an imitation of an action that
is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; ... in the form of
action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper
purgation of these emotions."
Action
(plot) is not merely the sequence of events but "a movement of the
spirit through a community."
How
does the ambiguity of the ancient Hebrew myths
(like The Garden of Eden, The Flood, and Job teach us about the nature
of the covenant between God and his chosen people?
Describe
the path to the truth that must be
followed according to ancient Hebrew thought.
3.
How does the teaching of Jesus integrate ancient Greek and ancient
Hebrew thought?
4. What methods did the early church fathers (Peter, Paul and
Augustine) use to successfully spread Christianity?
5. How did St. Augustine solve the theological problem of evil?
3.
How does the teaching of Jesus integrate ancient Greek and ancient
Hebrew thought?
4. What methods did the early church fathers (Peter, Paul and
Augustine) use to successfully spread Christianity?
5. How did St. Augustine solve the theological problem of evil?.
What
do the ancient founding myths of Rome (Romulus
and Remus, The Rape of the Sabine Women, The Suicide of
Lucretia, The Execution
of Titus Manlius)
teach us about Roman character and values?
How
did Cicero define the law for the Roman Empire?
How
did Lucretius teach us to overcome our fear of
death and to lead our lives?
How
did Marcus Aurelius' personal philosophy
combine elements of Stoicism, Epicureanism and Materialism?
What
vision of the barbarian 'other' did Tacitus
create?
Homework:
Paragraphs
on Roman Thought
Extra
Credit: How does Virgil's revision of Homer teach us about the central
values of Roman culture?
What
do the ancient founding myths of Rome (Romulus
and Remus, The Rape of the Sabine Women, The Suicide of
Lucretia, The Execution
of Titus Manlius)
teach us about Roman character and values?
How
did Cicero define the law for the Roman Empire?
How
did Lucretius teach us to overcome our fear of
death and to lead our lives?
How
did Marcus Aurelius' personal philosophy
combine elements of Stoicism, Epicureanism and Materialism?
What
vision of the barbarian 'other' did Tacitus
create?
Further reading: Greenblatt, The
Answer Man
New Yorker 8-8-11 An ancient poem was rediscovered—and the
world
swerved.Stephen Greenblatt on the influence of Lucretius on
the
Renaissance and Modernity
Directions:
Write a paragraph in answer to the following questions. Specific
attention will be paid to your topic sentences: make sure that they are
terrific!
How
does the ambiguity of the ancient Hebrew myths
(like The Garden of Eden, The Flood, and Job teach us about the nature
of the covenant between God and his chosen people?
Describe
the path to the truth that must be
followed according to ancient Hebrew thought.
How does
the teaching of Jesus integrate ancient Greek and ancient
Hebrew thought?
What
methods did the early church fathers (Peter, Paul and
Augustine) use to successfully spread Christianity?
How did
St. Augustine solve the theological problem of evil?
What do the ancient founding myths of Rome (Romulus
and Remus, The
Rape of the
Sabine Women, The Suicide of Lucretia,TheExecution
of Titus Manlius) teach us about
Roman character and values?
How did Cicero define the law for the Roman Empire?
How did Lucretius teach us to overcome our fear of
death and to lead
our lives?
How did Marcus Aurelius' personal philosophy combine
elements of
Stoicism,
Epicureanism and Materialism?
What vision of the barbarian 'other' did Tacitus
create?
The
13th Warrior starring Antonio Banderas (1999) dir. John
McTiernan and Michael Crichton:
an imagined re-telling of the Beowulf
story set inA.D.
922: an Arab ambassador, exiled from his
homeland to the far north, meets a group of warrior Norseman, who he
soon discovers he is
destined to join. (You
Tube)
Chaucer describes the fertilization of March by April’s sweet showers and the subsequent conception of virtue.
Chaucer inverts traditional Church teaching about the corruption of Earthly Love and the holiness of Divine Love. Augustine’s formulation of Original Sin had deemed the earthly realm to be spoiled and utterly separate from the transcendent City of God.
Chaucer suggests that God’s heaven can be found on Earth: in Love. The most perfect expression of God’s love may be in earthly happiness, particularly the passionate love between man and woman best manifested in Holy Matrimony. Chaucer’s God is immanent. Chaucer’s God gives us permission to enjoy life and to revel in instinct.
However, Chaucer is not suggesting that all human behavior inspired by Spring is holy. Rather, the impulse itself is holy- although it can be perverted by man.
So our task in reading The Canterbury Tales is to use our own critical imagination to play God: we must determine which of the pilgrims will make it into heaven and which will not. And our job is not made easy by Chaucer: he has upset the dogmatic judgments of the Church; instead, we must use our own imagination and determine if each pilgrim is misusing the gifts God has given him or her, or is he or she being true to oneself and thus natural and holy.
11/
06
Day 6
Tues.
The
Knight
The Squire
The Yeoman
Chaucer's General
Prologue to The Canterbury Tales:
"My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man that function
Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is
But what is not.."
It
was during the 1600s that Galileo and Newton founded modern science;
that Descartes began modern philosophy; that Hugo Grotius initiated
international law; and
that Thomas Hobbes and John Locke invented modern political theory. In
the same century
strong, centralized European states entered into worldwide
international
competition
for wealth and power, accelerating the pace of colonization in America and
Asia. The Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, English, and others, all
struggled
to maintain and extend colonies in distant corners of
the globe, with
profound and permanent consequences
for the whole world. They also
fought one
another in Europe, where warfare grew
increasingly complex and
expensive.
To
gain an edge against other powers in war, European governments invested
in research
in military technology, and the seventeenth century was consequently an
age
of military revolution, enabling Europeans from then on to defeat most
non-European peoples
relatively easily in battle. (Somerville)
All Nature is but Art, unknown to thee; All Chance, Direction which thou canst not see; All discord, Harmony not understood; All partial Evil, universal Good: And in spite of Pride, in erring Reason's spite, One truth is clear, WHATEVER IS, IS RIGHT. Alexander
Pope(Essay on Man) (289-95) (1732)
"A
man who thinks all the world exists for his benefit is no better than
the pampered goose who believes that the farmer who fattens him exists
for his." (Alexander
Pope)
How
can this guy who argues that 'Whatever is, is right' say such a thing?
Know
thyself, presume not God to scan The
proper study of mankind is Man (1-2)
"Evil" defined: Evil
cannot be
defined as merely the consequence of crime or unfortunate events. Evil
shakes our faith in the order of the universe:
metaphysical
evil suggests a
defect in the relation
between the
physical structure of matter and time: entropy
natural
evil
results from earthquakes, tsunamis, and the like
moral
evil
results from deliberate human wrongdoing or from the reward of vice
and the punishment of virtue.
Defending
Optimistic Determinism:
"Everything is for the best in this the best of all possible worlds."
(Prof. Pangloss) Evil must be part of a plan which will lead us to
ultimate harmony.
Voltaire on Final Causes
from his Philosophical
Dictionary
What compromise regarding
the possession of
Cunegonde was reached between the
Inquisitor and Don Isaachar? (Can reason enable natural enemies to overcome their
differences?)
Who does the commandant
of the Jesuit mission turn out to be? Why does
Candide kill him?
What does Candide find out right after saving the
girls in
the jungle
by shooting the
monkey men that had been chasing them? (Do we make this kind
of judgment about foreign cultures often? See Pinker on
the teddy bear named 'Muhammad'.)
What did the Biglugs
plan to do to Candide after they capture him? How does
Cacambo save
Candide once again?
What is the most basic law
of nature? (Would Voltaire call this law evil?)
(Compare to Hobbes
and Locke)
How did the
slave lose his hand and leg? Describe the conditions on sugar
plantation
in the French West Indies. These plantations were the most
profitable
in all the French Empire. (How do you think they financed their wars?)
When Candide hears the black man's story, what does
he
finally
conclude?
(Is this a bad
moment for him?)
How does Candide get ripped
off by Mynheer
Vanderdendur?
How does Candide meet
Martin the Manichean? (What is a Socinian?
What
is a Manichaean?)
What is the topic of their conversations enroute to France?
What is
Martin's argument for the existence of Satan?
Does what happens during the
sea battle to confirm Martin’s philosophy?
What is Voltaire’s
point?
What is the
purpose served by the design of the universe, according to
Martin?
Would Voltaire agree with Martin?What is
Martin’s conception of man
in the state of nature?
How has Candide emended Pangloss’ philosophy? What
keeps Candide
from
embracing Martin's dark philosophy? What has he learned?
How did all our heroes wind up in this part of the
world?
(I thought
the
Professor and the Baron were both dead!) How did the
Baron wind up
enslaved and tortured in the Pasha’s galley? How did
Pangloss
survive hanging?
How did Pangloss wind up in hot
water again?
(How does Pangloss hint
that he
has modified his belief in optimistic determinism?)
What sad
event prevents Candide from achieving perfect happiness? How
will
this occurrence complete his education?
Where do Candide and his friends decide to make their
home? (Recognize this place?)
Why does the family decide to
get rid of the
Baron? (How
do they do it?) What is life
like on Candide’s little farm? Is that so bad?
What wisdom does the
dervish share with the family about the origin of evil?
What
is their
neighbor's philosophy of life? How does the existence of ice
cream fit
into Voltaire’s philosophy?
