Survival of the Fittest Ancient Philosophers (Pre 450 CE)
For a general description of this series, see the main page for the survival of the fittest philosophers.
Moses and the Ten Commandments (14th-12th, 7th, or 6th century BCE are the best guesses for their origin)
Survives
Thou shalt not: 7. Commit adultery; 8. Steal; 9. Bear false witness. These are required in a trusting, cooperative society.
Needs to Adapt
Thou shalt: 5. Honor thy father and thy mother. Thou shalt not: 6. Kill; 10. Covet. Don’t honor people that are wrong. Killing in self-defense or in defense of a just nation is ok because it leads to the long-term survival of the species. There’s nothing wrong with wanting things that others have. Just find your own. Don’t take theirs. And make sure you want the right things.
Gone Extinct
Thou shalt: 1. Have no other gods; 2. Have no graven images or likenesses; 3. Not take the Lord’s name in vain; 4. Remember the Sabbath day. The first four commandments are clearly not concerned with the survival of the species - they are concerned with the survival of the religion. They have no relevance anymore.
Survives
Thou shalt not: 7. Commit adultery; 8. Steal; 9. Bear false witness. These are required in a trusting, cooperative society.
Needs to Adapt
Thou shalt: 5. Honor thy father and thy mother. Thou shalt not: 6. Kill; 10. Covet. Don’t honor people that are wrong. Killing in self-defense or in defense of a just nation is ok because it leads to the long-term survival of the species. There’s nothing wrong with wanting things that others have. Just find your own. Don’t take theirs. And make sure you want the right things.
Gone Extinct
Thou shalt: 1. Have no other gods; 2. Have no graven images or likenesses; 3. Not take the Lord’s name in vain; 4. Remember the Sabbath day. The first four commandments are clearly not concerned with the survival of the species - they are concerned with the survival of the religion. They have no relevance anymore.
Upanishads (12th century BCE is the best guess for the first Upanishads) are philosophical texts considered to be an early source of Hindu religion. 200 or so are known but the first ten, the Mukhya, are the oldest and most important. The most recent of these were written in the last few centuries BCE.
Survives
3. Death as Teacher - The preferable and the pleasurable approach man. The intelligent one examines both and separates them. Yea, the intelligent one prefers the preferable to the pleasurable, (whereas) the ignorant one selects the pleasurable. Arise, awake, and learn by approaching the exalted ones, for that path is sharp as a razor’s edge, impassable, and hard to go by, say the wise. Finding the balance between short-term and long-term, competition and cooperation, self and society, is indeed difficult but necessary for life in the fullest sense.
Needs to Adapt
1. The Inner Ruler - Protect your Self through detachment. Do not covet, for whose is wealth? We are part of this world and desires are natural and necessary for the progress that saves us. Recognize the need for flexible detachment. Covet wisely what is truly needed for oneself and society. The nature of Self is: "That moves, that does not move; that is far off, that is very near; that is inside all this, and that is also outside all this." This mystical riddle intended to broaden one’s awareness should simply be replaced with the need to recognize that the individual is also part of a larger society and larger ecosystem of life. Theoretical grasp about Self is called Vidya, while to take delusory experiences perceived through the senses as true, constitutes Avidya. He who knows these two - both Vidya and Avidya together - attains immortality by transcending them. Actual immortality is not reached this way, but you must know your senses, your reason, and discovered knowledge to understand reality.
Gone Extinct
2. Who Moves the World? - It is the Ear behind the ears, Mind behind the mind, Speech behind speech, Vital Life behind life. A mystical riddle to try to imply supernatural gods at work in the universe. There are no such things. The gravitational pull of the sun moves the world. Ask a more precise question for a more precise answer.
4. Questions - What is the root cause of this world? The union of Spirit and Matter, Spirit being Prana or life force. How many divine elements hold the body? Space, air, fire, water, and earth (matter), and speech, mind, eye, and ear (senses) say they hold the body, but Prana holds them all. How does Prana come into and leave the body? Prana divides himself into five forms. When death comes, life is carried to heaven (if good), hell (if sinful), or the world (if both). Which elements sleep? The way all sunrays go back to the sun at sunset, so all senses go back to their master, the Mind. What do you get from meditating on the holy syllable of Om? One who meditates will merge with the supreme reality. Who is the person with sixteen divine attributes? This is the highest Brahman; there is nothing higher. Life is the force behind all that is good in the universe. Modern science has given us a much stronger understanding of the origins, divisions, and complexity of life. There is no heaven or hell or even souls to go to such places, and reincarnation is certainly impossible in any meaningful way that would transfer individual consciousness. Whatever life brings together, death destroys forever. (In this sense, decaying fossils could still be said to be dying.) Sleep is much better understood; some facts about it remain to be discovered, but since rays do not go back to the sun at sunset, this is a poor metaphor for furthering any understanding. Meditation has been found to relax the mind and body, which has long-term health benefits associated with the reduction in stress, but this does nothing to instruct us about reality other than to make our minds clearer for learning and thinking. Positive psychology is finding more than 16 attributes that humans have found to be necessary to live the good life. There is nothing divine about any of this and there will always be higher excellence to attain. A priesthood (Brahman) teaching falsehoods as truths and claiming to own knowledge through divine revelation has no claims on the highest levels of personal development.
5. Two Modes of Knowing - The knowledge that leads to Self Realization is Great or Divine Knowledge and everything else is Knowledge of the Material World. Though Knowledge of the Material World enables one to earn one’s bread and helps one to understand each object of the universe separately, it does not show the Ultimate Reality or Root Cause of this universe. To attain ultimate salvation, knowledge of supreme reality is attained through the practice of monkhood. Desires cause rebirth in the world and one who renounces all desires will have no such rebirth. There is no reason to separate knowledge into divine or profane categories. Truth is truth. No monks own it with a special brand of thinking, and no one gains anything by sitting still and suppressing all desires. Desires must be understood and channeled into action in this world.
6. Consciousness and its Phases - There are three letters in the word aum. The a stands for the state of wakefulness. The u stands for the dream state. In the state of deep sleep, represented by the sound m, there is no desire and consciousness is gathered in upon itself. But there is a fourth, transcendent state, invisible, ineffable, intangible, devoid of characteristics, inconceivable, indefinable, its sole essence being the consciousness of its own Self; the coming to rest of all relative existence; utterly quiet; peaceful; blissful: without a second: this is the Ātman, the Self; this is to be realized. Consciousness and brain wave states of wakefulness and sleep are better understood now. The empty state of meditation is merely another such state, beneficial though it is for small doses of rest.
7. From Food to Joy - describes the various degrees of happiness enjoyed by the different beings in creation through many meditations. Meditation is nice, but it is not the goal of life. The goal should never be an attempt to remove oneself from life.
8. The Microcosm of Man - The Self only was in the beginning. He thought, “Let me now create the worlds." He created water, light rays, death, and elements such as water. He thought, “Here are now the worlds. Let me create their controllers." He brought out man and gave him shape. Another Genesis-like origin story before science uncovered evolution back to the big bang.
9. Song and Sacrifice - Many meditation practices. Also says, “That thou art,” an expression of the equal non-difference and difference between the individual self as a part of the whole. Again, too much emphasis on meditation instead of learning and action. Also, we are discrete organisms that act within the universe, not some mystical oneness with everything to be thought about and not thought about. Know thyself is a much better dictum.
10. Great Wilderness - the most detailed and magnificent revelation of the ancient philosopher-seers, which, in its six chapters packed with thought and revelation, provides to the students a practically exhaustive and concentrated teaching on every aspect of life, making it an indispensable guidebook to the student of literature as well as the philosopher, the religious devotee, and the mystical and spiritual seeker engaged in meditation for divine realization. There is no such thing as divine realization. Meditation cannot find it. The lack of scientific knowledge at the time it was written and the premise of mystical divinity make this unworthy of a detailed analysis. It is dismissed as a whole even though some common sense recommendations are contained within.
Survives
3. Death as Teacher - The preferable and the pleasurable approach man. The intelligent one examines both and separates them. Yea, the intelligent one prefers the preferable to the pleasurable, (whereas) the ignorant one selects the pleasurable. Arise, awake, and learn by approaching the exalted ones, for that path is sharp as a razor’s edge, impassable, and hard to go by, say the wise. Finding the balance between short-term and long-term, competition and cooperation, self and society, is indeed difficult but necessary for life in the fullest sense.
Needs to Adapt
1. The Inner Ruler - Protect your Self through detachment. Do not covet, for whose is wealth? We are part of this world and desires are natural and necessary for the progress that saves us. Recognize the need for flexible detachment. Covet wisely what is truly needed for oneself and society. The nature of Self is: "That moves, that does not move; that is far off, that is very near; that is inside all this, and that is also outside all this." This mystical riddle intended to broaden one’s awareness should simply be replaced with the need to recognize that the individual is also part of a larger society and larger ecosystem of life. Theoretical grasp about Self is called Vidya, while to take delusory experiences perceived through the senses as true, constitutes Avidya. He who knows these two - both Vidya and Avidya together - attains immortality by transcending them. Actual immortality is not reached this way, but you must know your senses, your reason, and discovered knowledge to understand reality.
Gone Extinct
2. Who Moves the World? - It is the Ear behind the ears, Mind behind the mind, Speech behind speech, Vital Life behind life. A mystical riddle to try to imply supernatural gods at work in the universe. There are no such things. The gravitational pull of the sun moves the world. Ask a more precise question for a more precise answer.
4. Questions - What is the root cause of this world? The union of Spirit and Matter, Spirit being Prana or life force. How many divine elements hold the body? Space, air, fire, water, and earth (matter), and speech, mind, eye, and ear (senses) say they hold the body, but Prana holds them all. How does Prana come into and leave the body? Prana divides himself into five forms. When death comes, life is carried to heaven (if good), hell (if sinful), or the world (if both). Which elements sleep? The way all sunrays go back to the sun at sunset, so all senses go back to their master, the Mind. What do you get from meditating on the holy syllable of Om? One who meditates will merge with the supreme reality. Who is the person with sixteen divine attributes? This is the highest Brahman; there is nothing higher. Life is the force behind all that is good in the universe. Modern science has given us a much stronger understanding of the origins, divisions, and complexity of life. There is no heaven or hell or even souls to go to such places, and reincarnation is certainly impossible in any meaningful way that would transfer individual consciousness. Whatever life brings together, death destroys forever. (In this sense, decaying fossils could still be said to be dying.) Sleep is much better understood; some facts about it remain to be discovered, but since rays do not go back to the sun at sunset, this is a poor metaphor for furthering any understanding. Meditation has been found to relax the mind and body, which has long-term health benefits associated with the reduction in stress, but this does nothing to instruct us about reality other than to make our minds clearer for learning and thinking. Positive psychology is finding more than 16 attributes that humans have found to be necessary to live the good life. There is nothing divine about any of this and there will always be higher excellence to attain. A priesthood (Brahman) teaching falsehoods as truths and claiming to own knowledge through divine revelation has no claims on the highest levels of personal development.
5. Two Modes of Knowing - The knowledge that leads to Self Realization is Great or Divine Knowledge and everything else is Knowledge of the Material World. Though Knowledge of the Material World enables one to earn one’s bread and helps one to understand each object of the universe separately, it does not show the Ultimate Reality or Root Cause of this universe. To attain ultimate salvation, knowledge of supreme reality is attained through the practice of monkhood. Desires cause rebirth in the world and one who renounces all desires will have no such rebirth. There is no reason to separate knowledge into divine or profane categories. Truth is truth. No monks own it with a special brand of thinking, and no one gains anything by sitting still and suppressing all desires. Desires must be understood and channeled into action in this world.
6. Consciousness and its Phases - There are three letters in the word aum. The a stands for the state of wakefulness. The u stands for the dream state. In the state of deep sleep, represented by the sound m, there is no desire and consciousness is gathered in upon itself. But there is a fourth, transcendent state, invisible, ineffable, intangible, devoid of characteristics, inconceivable, indefinable, its sole essence being the consciousness of its own Self; the coming to rest of all relative existence; utterly quiet; peaceful; blissful: without a second: this is the Ātman, the Self; this is to be realized. Consciousness and brain wave states of wakefulness and sleep are better understood now. The empty state of meditation is merely another such state, beneficial though it is for small doses of rest.
7. From Food to Joy - describes the various degrees of happiness enjoyed by the different beings in creation through many meditations. Meditation is nice, but it is not the goal of life. The goal should never be an attempt to remove oneself from life.
8. The Microcosm of Man - The Self only was in the beginning. He thought, “Let me now create the worlds." He created water, light rays, death, and elements such as water. He thought, “Here are now the worlds. Let me create their controllers." He brought out man and gave him shape. Another Genesis-like origin story before science uncovered evolution back to the big bang.
9. Song and Sacrifice - Many meditation practices. Also says, “That thou art,” an expression of the equal non-difference and difference between the individual self as a part of the whole. Again, too much emphasis on meditation instead of learning and action. Also, we are discrete organisms that act within the universe, not some mystical oneness with everything to be thought about and not thought about. Know thyself is a much better dictum.
10. Great Wilderness - the most detailed and magnificent revelation of the ancient philosopher-seers, which, in its six chapters packed with thought and revelation, provides to the students a practically exhaustive and concentrated teaching on every aspect of life, making it an indispensable guidebook to the student of literature as well as the philosopher, the religious devotee, and the mystical and spiritual seeker engaged in meditation for divine realization. There is no such thing as divine realization. Meditation cannot find it. The lack of scientific knowledge at the time it was written and the premise of mystical divinity make this unworthy of a detailed analysis. It is dismissed as a whole even though some common sense recommendations are contained within.
Lao Tzu and the Tao Te Ching (~600 BCE) traditionally considered the foundation of philosophical Taoism. According to Chinese traditions, Lao Tzu lived in the 6th century BCE. By the mid-twentieth century a consensus had emerged among scholars that the historicity of Lao Tzu was doubtful or unprovable and that the Tao Te Ching was a compilation of Taoist sayings by many hands.
Survives
According to the Tao Te Ching, humans have no special place within the Tao, being just one of its many manifestations. People have desires and free will and thus are able to alter their own nature. This is correct.
Needs to Adapt
Many people act "unnaturally," upsetting the natural balance of the Tao. The Tao Te Ching intends to lead students to a return to their natural state, in harmony with Tao. Technology may bring about a false sense of progress. The answer provided by Lao Tzu is not the rejection of technology, but instead seeking the calm state of wu wei. Wu wei, literally "non-action" or "not acting," is a central concept of the Tao Te Ching. The concept is very complex and reflected in the words' multiple meanings; it can mean not doing anything, not forcing, not acting (in the theatrical sense), creating nothingness, acting spontaneously, and flowing with the moment. It includes the concepts that value distinctions are ideological and seeing ambition of all sorts as originating from the same source. Lao Tzu used the term broadly with simplicity and humility as key virtues, often in contrast to selfish action. On a political level, it means avoiding such circumstances as war, harsh laws and heavy taxes. Some Taoists see a connection between wu wei and esoteric practices, such as the "sitting in oblivion," emptying the mind of bodily awareness and thought. Many people do upset the world with their actions, but the “natural state” of humans and animals is not something that should be returned to. The natural state was characterized by heavy competition, which required short-term-focused actions just to stay alive. Humans face little competition anymore except among themselves. It is time to progress to a cooperative long-term focus. That is the true way. That will not look like sitting in oblivion, but it will involve falling into the flow states described by positive psychology. The political suggestions are correct, but do not go far enough to explain the true purpose of government - the correcting of markets so as to ensure progress towards the survival of the species.
Gone Extinct
The numerous passages of the Tao Te Ching are ambiguous, and topics range from political advice for rulers to practical wisdom for people. Because the variety of interpretation is virtually limitless, not only for different people but for the same person over time, readers do well to avoid making claims of objectivity or superiority. This kind of ambiguity must be clarified. The claims of subjectivity over objectivity are the claims of the relativistic nihilist. As living things, the long-term survival of life is an objective good. Everything else flows from this.
Survives
According to the Tao Te Ching, humans have no special place within the Tao, being just one of its many manifestations. People have desires and free will and thus are able to alter their own nature. This is correct.
Needs to Adapt
Many people act "unnaturally," upsetting the natural balance of the Tao. The Tao Te Ching intends to lead students to a return to their natural state, in harmony with Tao. Technology may bring about a false sense of progress. The answer provided by Lao Tzu is not the rejection of technology, but instead seeking the calm state of wu wei. Wu wei, literally "non-action" or "not acting," is a central concept of the Tao Te Ching. The concept is very complex and reflected in the words' multiple meanings; it can mean not doing anything, not forcing, not acting (in the theatrical sense), creating nothingness, acting spontaneously, and flowing with the moment. It includes the concepts that value distinctions are ideological and seeing ambition of all sorts as originating from the same source. Lao Tzu used the term broadly with simplicity and humility as key virtues, often in contrast to selfish action. On a political level, it means avoiding such circumstances as war, harsh laws and heavy taxes. Some Taoists see a connection between wu wei and esoteric practices, such as the "sitting in oblivion," emptying the mind of bodily awareness and thought. Many people do upset the world with their actions, but the “natural state” of humans and animals is not something that should be returned to. The natural state was characterized by heavy competition, which required short-term-focused actions just to stay alive. Humans face little competition anymore except among themselves. It is time to progress to a cooperative long-term focus. That is the true way. That will not look like sitting in oblivion, but it will involve falling into the flow states described by positive psychology. The political suggestions are correct, but do not go far enough to explain the true purpose of government - the correcting of markets so as to ensure progress towards the survival of the species.
Gone Extinct
The numerous passages of the Tao Te Ching are ambiguous, and topics range from political advice for rulers to practical wisdom for people. Because the variety of interpretation is virtually limitless, not only for different people but for the same person over time, readers do well to avoid making claims of objectivity or superiority. This kind of ambiguity must be clarified. The claims of subjectivity over objectivity are the claims of the relativistic nihilist. As living things, the long-term survival of life is an objective good. Everything else flows from this.
Guatama Buddha (563-483 BCE) spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.
Survives
Gautama discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way - a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. Yes. We must strike the balances between short-term and long-term, self and society, and competition and cooperation. Anyone preaching one or the other is overly simple.
The Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Nothing wrong here once “right” is understood.
Rejection of the infallibility of accepted scripture: Teachings should not be accepted unless they are borne out by our experience and are praised by the wise. Buddha would have been a strong proponent of the scientific method for discovering truth.
There is no intermediary between mankind and the divine; the Buddha is only a guide and teacher for beings who must tread the path of Nirvana themselves to attain spiritual awakening and understand reality. Buddha would also be a strong opponent of organized religion. Focus on the secular definition of divine being excellent and delightful. Think of the path of Nirvana as the path filled with bliss, peace, and enlightenment. Define your mind and personality as your spirit. A guide for understanding the reality of these things would be wonderful.
Nirvana: It is possible for sentient beings to realize a dimension of awareness that is totally unconstructed and peaceful, and end all suffering due to the mind's interaction with the conditioned world. Suffering can be alleviated by doing what is possible to live well and accepting the world for what it is when temporary pain is unavoidable.
Needs to Adapt
The Four Noble Truths: 1) suffering is an ingrained part of existence; 2) the origin of suffering is craving for sensuality, acquisition of identity, and annihilation; 3) suffering can be ended; 4) following the Noble Eightfold Path is the means to accomplish this. Suffering does seem unavoidable, but its absolute root cause is the battle between life and death. Sensuality and identity are necessary for life in the short and long run. Suffering comes when we are unable to balance the needs of the short-term and the needs of the long-term. Pain is inflicted when others are unable to strike this balance, or the bodies or environments we inherited fail to provide life.
Gone Extinct
Rebirth is the doctrine that upon death the evolving consciousness becomes one of the contributing causes for the arising of a new aggregation. The consciousness in the new person is neither identical nor entirely different from that in the deceased but the two form a causal continuum or stream. Rebirth is conditioned by the karmas (actions of body, speech, and mind) of previous lives; good karmas will yield a happier rebirth, bad karmas will produce one which is more unhappy. The basic cause for this is the abiding of consciousness in ignorance; when ignorance is uprooted, rebirth ceases. There is no such thing as reincarnation. Neither is there any way for learned behaviors or non-genetic changes to the body to be passed on to descendants. Capabilities can be passed on. Culture can be passed on. Focus on realizing your capabilities and contributing to a life-giving culture and you can be happy with the one life you lead.
Survives
Gautama discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way - a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. Yes. We must strike the balances between short-term and long-term, self and society, and competition and cooperation. Anyone preaching one or the other is overly simple.
The Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Nothing wrong here once “right” is understood.
Rejection of the infallibility of accepted scripture: Teachings should not be accepted unless they are borne out by our experience and are praised by the wise. Buddha would have been a strong proponent of the scientific method for discovering truth.
There is no intermediary between mankind and the divine; the Buddha is only a guide and teacher for beings who must tread the path of Nirvana themselves to attain spiritual awakening and understand reality. Buddha would also be a strong opponent of organized religion. Focus on the secular definition of divine being excellent and delightful. Think of the path of Nirvana as the path filled with bliss, peace, and enlightenment. Define your mind and personality as your spirit. A guide for understanding the reality of these things would be wonderful.
Nirvana: It is possible for sentient beings to realize a dimension of awareness that is totally unconstructed and peaceful, and end all suffering due to the mind's interaction with the conditioned world. Suffering can be alleviated by doing what is possible to live well and accepting the world for what it is when temporary pain is unavoidable.
Needs to Adapt
The Four Noble Truths: 1) suffering is an ingrained part of existence; 2) the origin of suffering is craving for sensuality, acquisition of identity, and annihilation; 3) suffering can be ended; 4) following the Noble Eightfold Path is the means to accomplish this. Suffering does seem unavoidable, but its absolute root cause is the battle between life and death. Sensuality and identity are necessary for life in the short and long run. Suffering comes when we are unable to balance the needs of the short-term and the needs of the long-term. Pain is inflicted when others are unable to strike this balance, or the bodies or environments we inherited fail to provide life.
Gone Extinct
Rebirth is the doctrine that upon death the evolving consciousness becomes one of the contributing causes for the arising of a new aggregation. The consciousness in the new person is neither identical nor entirely different from that in the deceased but the two form a causal continuum or stream. Rebirth is conditioned by the karmas (actions of body, speech, and mind) of previous lives; good karmas will yield a happier rebirth, bad karmas will produce one which is more unhappy. The basic cause for this is the abiding of consciousness in ignorance; when ignorance is uprooted, rebirth ceases. There is no such thing as reincarnation. Neither is there any way for learned behaviors or non-genetic changes to the body to be passed on to descendants. Capabilities can be passed on. Culture can be passed on. Focus on realizing your capabilities and contributing to a life-giving culture and you can be happy with the one life you lead.
Confucius (551-479 BCE) was a Chinese politician, teacher, editor, and social philosopher. Following the victory of Han over Chu after the collapse of Qin, Confucius's thoughts received official sanction and were further developed into a system known as Confucianism.
Survives
Needs to Adapt
Confucius puts the greatest emphasis on the importance of study. Far from trying to build a systematic theory of life and society or establish a formalism of rites, he wanted his disciples to think deeply for themselves and relentlessly study the outside world, mostly through the old scriptures and by relating the moral problems of the present to past political events or past expressions of feelings by common people and reflective members of the elite. Learning is the way to progress and remain viable in a changing environment. Rather than relying primarily on writings from the past though, as if all knowledge has already been obtained, it is better to learn what we have learned in order to see what we still need to know, and then go out and find it.
One of the deepest teachings of Confucius may have been the superiority of personal exemplification over explicit rules of behavior. His moral teachings emphasized self-cultivation, emulation of moral exemplars, and the attainment of skilled judgment rather than knowledge of rules. Confucius, an exemplar of human excellence, serves as the ultimate model, rather than a deity or a universally true set of abstract principles. For these reasons, Confucius' teaching may be considered a Chinese example of humanism. Personal actions are more important than merely professing beliefs. Explicit rules are too innumerable to enumerate. The possibility of variations in circumstances often makes universal statements incorrect or too simple. Whether an action strives toward the goal of continued life over the long-term is what needs to be decided. This is a universally true principle to guide our judgment.
Confucius' political thought is based upon his ethical thought. He argues that the best government is one that rules through "rites" and people's natural morality, rather than by using bribery and coercion. Confucius pushed a new political agenda of his own: a revival of a unified royal state, whose rulers would succeed to power on the basis of their moral merits instead of lineage. These would be rulers devoted to their people, striving for personal and social perfection, and such a ruler would spread his own virtues to the people instead of imposing proper behavior with laws and rules. While he supported the idea of government by an all-powerful sage, ruling as an Emperor, his ideas contained a number of elements to limit the power of rulers. This is well intentioned, but misunderstands the purpose of government, the need for it to have a monopoly on force, the requirement to check and balance its powers. It may not have been permitted then to say that there should be no royal state, but we now know better.
Gone Extinct
One of his most famous teachings was the Golden Rule: What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others. This is too simple on its own. It assumes you and the others know what is good for yourselves. It also fails to recognize the diversity in human abilities and needs. Since it can easily lead to unintended harm, drop this rule. There is nothing golden (eternal and unchanging) about it.
The Confucian theory of ethics is based on three important conceptual aspects of life: ceremonies associated with sacrifice to ancestors and deities of various types; social and political institutions; and the etiquette of daily behavior. There are no deities and while we should remember our ancestors and be thankful for what they have built for us, sacrifices to them are wasteful. A comprehensive theory of ethics must be able to define what is good and why. Lists of political and social etiquette are not enough.
Survives
Needs to Adapt
Confucius puts the greatest emphasis on the importance of study. Far from trying to build a systematic theory of life and society or establish a formalism of rites, he wanted his disciples to think deeply for themselves and relentlessly study the outside world, mostly through the old scriptures and by relating the moral problems of the present to past political events or past expressions of feelings by common people and reflective members of the elite. Learning is the way to progress and remain viable in a changing environment. Rather than relying primarily on writings from the past though, as if all knowledge has already been obtained, it is better to learn what we have learned in order to see what we still need to know, and then go out and find it.
One of the deepest teachings of Confucius may have been the superiority of personal exemplification over explicit rules of behavior. His moral teachings emphasized self-cultivation, emulation of moral exemplars, and the attainment of skilled judgment rather than knowledge of rules. Confucius, an exemplar of human excellence, serves as the ultimate model, rather than a deity or a universally true set of abstract principles. For these reasons, Confucius' teaching may be considered a Chinese example of humanism. Personal actions are more important than merely professing beliefs. Explicit rules are too innumerable to enumerate. The possibility of variations in circumstances often makes universal statements incorrect or too simple. Whether an action strives toward the goal of continued life over the long-term is what needs to be decided. This is a universally true principle to guide our judgment.
Confucius' political thought is based upon his ethical thought. He argues that the best government is one that rules through "rites" and people's natural morality, rather than by using bribery and coercion. Confucius pushed a new political agenda of his own: a revival of a unified royal state, whose rulers would succeed to power on the basis of their moral merits instead of lineage. These would be rulers devoted to their people, striving for personal and social perfection, and such a ruler would spread his own virtues to the people instead of imposing proper behavior with laws and rules. While he supported the idea of government by an all-powerful sage, ruling as an Emperor, his ideas contained a number of elements to limit the power of rulers. This is well intentioned, but misunderstands the purpose of government, the need for it to have a monopoly on force, the requirement to check and balance its powers. It may not have been permitted then to say that there should be no royal state, but we now know better.
Gone Extinct
One of his most famous teachings was the Golden Rule: What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others. This is too simple on its own. It assumes you and the others know what is good for yourselves. It also fails to recognize the diversity in human abilities and needs. Since it can easily lead to unintended harm, drop this rule. There is nothing golden (eternal and unchanging) about it.
The Confucian theory of ethics is based on three important conceptual aspects of life: ceremonies associated with sacrifice to ancestors and deities of various types; social and political institutions; and the etiquette of daily behavior. There are no deities and while we should remember our ancestors and be thankful for what they have built for us, sacrifices to them are wasteful. A comprehensive theory of ethics must be able to define what is good and why. Lists of political and social etiquette are not enough.
Pre-Socratic Western Philosophy (600-440 BCE)
Survives
The efforts of these earlier philosophers had been directed somewhat exclusively to the investigation of the ultimate basis and essential nature of the external world. There was an emphasis on questions of nature. They rejected mythological explanations of the world. And some have continued this tradition down through the ages.
Needs to Adapt
It was during this time that the concept of atoms – uncuttables - was developed. The concept is right, but we are still building more and more powerful supercolliders to find the smallest pieces of matter.
During this time, Sophists held that all thought rests solely on the apprehension of the senses and on subjective impression, and that therefore we have no other standards of action than convention for the individual. This is the basis of thought, but the Sophists failed to recognize that we exist in a universe where failure to act correctly is met with extinction. This creates a powerful standard for action.
Gone Extinct
Philosophers believed water, air, and fire were the principal things and that the primary opposites were hot and cold, and moist and dry. Later (470 BCE) the four elements of earth, air, water, and fire were developed, and two forces – love for attraction, strife for separation - were determined. Our understanding of chemical elements and forces has come a long way.
Survives
The efforts of these earlier philosophers had been directed somewhat exclusively to the investigation of the ultimate basis and essential nature of the external world. There was an emphasis on questions of nature. They rejected mythological explanations of the world. And some have continued this tradition down through the ages.
Needs to Adapt
It was during this time that the concept of atoms – uncuttables - was developed. The concept is right, but we are still building more and more powerful supercolliders to find the smallest pieces of matter.
During this time, Sophists held that all thought rests solely on the apprehension of the senses and on subjective impression, and that therefore we have no other standards of action than convention for the individual. This is the basis of thought, but the Sophists failed to recognize that we exist in a universe where failure to act correctly is met with extinction. This creates a powerful standard for action.
Gone Extinct
Philosophers believed water, air, and fire were the principal things and that the primary opposites were hot and cold, and moist and dry. Later (470 BCE) the four elements of earth, air, water, and fire were developed, and two forces – love for attraction, strife for separation - were determined. Our understanding of chemical elements and forces has come a long way.
Socrates (469-400 BCE) Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the writings of his student Plato.
Survives
His most important contribution to Western thought is his dialectic method of inquiry, known as the Socratic method. To solve a problem, it would be broken down into a series of questions, the answers to which gradually distill the answer a person would seek. The influence of this approach is most strongly felt today in the use of the scientific method, in which hypothesis is the first stage. He cross-examined people to try and discover the meaning of virtues, but mostly exposed ignorance of others. A very useful way to start any task.
Socrates believed the best way for people to live was to focus on self-development rather than the pursuit of material wealth. He invited others to try to concentrate more on friendships and a sense of true community, for Socrates felt this was the best way for people to grow together as a populace. These are the correct focus points for a cooperative species that requires knowledge to maintain its existence.
Socrates opposed the moral relativism of Sophists. He believed there were objective moral standards that could be discovered, that there were right and wrong answers to moral questions that went beyond mere opinion and popular sentiment. We are now discovering these rules through the understanding of the principles of evolution and how species survive.
Needs to Adapt
Socrates objected to any form of government that did not conform to his ideal of a perfect republic led by philosophers. Once the true purpose of government is understood, we see that there are places for many different kinds of people in this sphere - economists, managers, criminologists, educators, scientists. They should not be philosophers in the strict definition of today, but they should all be aware of the philosophy that governs government.
One of the best-known sayings of Socrates is, "I only know that I know nothing." The conventional interpretation of this remark is that Socrates' wisdom was limited to an awareness of his own ignorance. Pithy, but diminishes the enormous wealth of knowledge that humans actually have now. It is worth keeping in mind however that there is still much to learn.
Gone Extinct
In the Dialogues of Plato, Socrates often seems to support a mystical side, discussing reincarnation and the mystery religions. This is an unfortunate side effect of the ignorance of the times.
Survives
His most important contribution to Western thought is his dialectic method of inquiry, known as the Socratic method. To solve a problem, it would be broken down into a series of questions, the answers to which gradually distill the answer a person would seek. The influence of this approach is most strongly felt today in the use of the scientific method, in which hypothesis is the first stage. He cross-examined people to try and discover the meaning of virtues, but mostly exposed ignorance of others. A very useful way to start any task.
Socrates believed the best way for people to live was to focus on self-development rather than the pursuit of material wealth. He invited others to try to concentrate more on friendships and a sense of true community, for Socrates felt this was the best way for people to grow together as a populace. These are the correct focus points for a cooperative species that requires knowledge to maintain its existence.
Socrates opposed the moral relativism of Sophists. He believed there were objective moral standards that could be discovered, that there were right and wrong answers to moral questions that went beyond mere opinion and popular sentiment. We are now discovering these rules through the understanding of the principles of evolution and how species survive.
Needs to Adapt
Socrates objected to any form of government that did not conform to his ideal of a perfect republic led by philosophers. Once the true purpose of government is understood, we see that there are places for many different kinds of people in this sphere - economists, managers, criminologists, educators, scientists. They should not be philosophers in the strict definition of today, but they should all be aware of the philosophy that governs government.
One of the best-known sayings of Socrates is, "I only know that I know nothing." The conventional interpretation of this remark is that Socrates' wisdom was limited to an awareness of his own ignorance. Pithy, but diminishes the enormous wealth of knowledge that humans actually have now. It is worth keeping in mind however that there is still much to learn.
Gone Extinct
In the Dialogues of Plato, Socrates often seems to support a mystical side, discussing reincarnation and the mystery religions. This is an unfortunate side effect of the ignorance of the times.
Plato (428-348 BCE) was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world.
Survives
Many have interpreted Plato as stating that knowledge is justified true belief, an influential view that informed future developments in modern analytic epistemology. When beliefs are justified through the scientific method, they can be said to contain current knowledge. Just as the universe is forever changing and evolving, so knowledge may change and evolve. But just as the universe appears stable over many time horizons, so knowledge can also be stable for great lengths of time.
Needs to Adapt
Plato listed a threefold division of philosophy into dialectic, ethics, and physics. Today, there are six branches of Philosophy: Logic, Epistemology, Metaphysics, Ethics, Aesthetics, and Political Philosophy. Physics is one of the many natural sciences.
Virtue is knowledge, the cognition of the supreme form of the Good. Knowledge of what exactly good actions are is necessary for virtue, but actions are what count.
Gone Extinct
Apprehensions derived from the impression of sense can never give us knowledge of true being (the forms) - that can only be obtained by the soul’s activity within itself (reason). Plato’s forms are merely the definitions we create to separate the world into objects of similar qualities. Just because we see categories of things, this does nothing to imply that there are perfect forms of these categories somewhere in the ether. There are no forms, and knowledge is obtained through the combined use of senses and reason.
Plato posited the theory of forms being unchangeable and eternal. Particular objects of sense are imperfect copies. There are no one, perfect, eternal forms. In a universe that is moving and changing, environments change and objects must adapt to new conditions. Diversity is a necessary ingredient in adaptability. There is no perfect “chair." Particular chairs fit their purpose and their environment. These conditions can change, so chairs must too. Plato’s forms are easy to imagine precisely because they are imaginary.
Platonism is a term coined by scholars to refer to the intellectual consequences of denying the reality of the material world. The idea that reality is unavailable to those who use their senses is what puts him at odds with the common man, and with common sense. Socrates says that he who sees with his eyes is blind, and this idea is most famously captured in his allegory of the cave. According to Socrates, physical objects and physical events are "shadows" of their ideal or perfect forms, and exist only to the extent that they instantiate the perfect versions of themselves. Socrates says in the Republic that people who take the sun-lit world of the senses to be good and real are living pitifully in a den of evil and ignorance. Socrates admits that few climb out of the den, or cave of ignorance, and those who do, not only have a terrible struggle to attain the heights, but when they go back down for a visit or to help other people up, they find themselves objects of scorn and ridicule. For good reason. While we may need other instruments in addition to our senses to perceive it, the material world is real. Imagining perfect forms behind the reality of objects is both ignorant of the necessity for diversity and adaptability, as well as damaging to the appreciation of the beauty of existence.
Plato posited a theory of the cosmos as the physical world created using the world of forms as its model. Forms don’t exist. Modern cosmology knows much more than this.
Survives
Many have interpreted Plato as stating that knowledge is justified true belief, an influential view that informed future developments in modern analytic epistemology. When beliefs are justified through the scientific method, they can be said to contain current knowledge. Just as the universe is forever changing and evolving, so knowledge may change and evolve. But just as the universe appears stable over many time horizons, so knowledge can also be stable for great lengths of time.
Needs to Adapt
Plato listed a threefold division of philosophy into dialectic, ethics, and physics. Today, there are six branches of Philosophy: Logic, Epistemology, Metaphysics, Ethics, Aesthetics, and Political Philosophy. Physics is one of the many natural sciences.
Virtue is knowledge, the cognition of the supreme form of the Good. Knowledge of what exactly good actions are is necessary for virtue, but actions are what count.
Gone Extinct
Apprehensions derived from the impression of sense can never give us knowledge of true being (the forms) - that can only be obtained by the soul’s activity within itself (reason). Plato’s forms are merely the definitions we create to separate the world into objects of similar qualities. Just because we see categories of things, this does nothing to imply that there are perfect forms of these categories somewhere in the ether. There are no forms, and knowledge is obtained through the combined use of senses and reason.
Plato posited the theory of forms being unchangeable and eternal. Particular objects of sense are imperfect copies. There are no one, perfect, eternal forms. In a universe that is moving and changing, environments change and objects must adapt to new conditions. Diversity is a necessary ingredient in adaptability. There is no perfect “chair." Particular chairs fit their purpose and their environment. These conditions can change, so chairs must too. Plato’s forms are easy to imagine precisely because they are imaginary.
Platonism is a term coined by scholars to refer to the intellectual consequences of denying the reality of the material world. The idea that reality is unavailable to those who use their senses is what puts him at odds with the common man, and with common sense. Socrates says that he who sees with his eyes is blind, and this idea is most famously captured in his allegory of the cave. According to Socrates, physical objects and physical events are "shadows" of their ideal or perfect forms, and exist only to the extent that they instantiate the perfect versions of themselves. Socrates says in the Republic that people who take the sun-lit world of the senses to be good and real are living pitifully in a den of evil and ignorance. Socrates admits that few climb out of the den, or cave of ignorance, and those who do, not only have a terrible struggle to attain the heights, but when they go back down for a visit or to help other people up, they find themselves objects of scorn and ridicule. For good reason. While we may need other instruments in addition to our senses to perceive it, the material world is real. Imagining perfect forms behind the reality of objects is both ignorant of the necessity for diversity and adaptability, as well as damaging to the appreciation of the beauty of existence.
Plato posited a theory of the cosmos as the physical world created using the world of forms as its model. Forms don’t exist. Modern cosmology knows much more than this.
Aristotle (384-322 BCE) was a Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology. For almost two millennia, Aristotle was known as “The Philosopher.”
Survives
Whereas Plato sought to explain things from the supra-sensual standpoint of the forms, his pupil preferred to start from the facts given us by experience. As a student at Plato’s academy, Aristotle’s main concern was knowledge, gathered through observing natural phenomena. He loved to categorize things. He virtually invented logic and pioneered several sciences. To him, philosophy was logic and science. Philosophy helps direct our questions with its long tradition of inquiry, but the answers do come from science and logic.
Aristotle recognizes the true being of things in their concepts, but denies any separate existence of the concept apart from the particular objects of sense. Yes. Categories help us make sense of the real world, but there are no perfect forms behind the categories.
Known for the Golden Mean - avoiding extremes in ideals and behavior. Life requires many tradeoffs and many balances between short-term and long-term, self and society, and cooperation and competition. The Golden Mean is the right way to approach finding these balances.
Aristotle taught that virtue has to do with the proper function of a thing. An eye is only a good eye in so much as it can see. Aristotle reasoned that humans must have a function specific to humans, and that this function must be an activity of the soul in accordance with reason. Aristotle identified such an optimum activity of the soul as the aim of all human deliberate action, eudaimonia, generally translated as "happiness." To have the potential of ever being happy in this way necessarily requires a good character, moral virtue, or excellence. The meaning of life is to live. Humans are happiest when they act in ways that ensure the long-term survival of the species.
Needs to Adapt
The end of human activity, or the highest good, is happiness. The highest good is life. Fortunately, we are made happy by good life.
The natural community according to Aristotle was the city (polis), which functions as a political "community" or "partnership." The aim of the city is not just to avoid injustice or maintain economic stability, but rather to allow at least some citizens the possibility to live a good life, and to perform beautiful acts: The political partnership must be regarded, therefore, as being for the sake of noble actions, not for the sake of living together. The sake of living together is a noble action required for the long-term survival of the species. All citizens should be able to participate in this endeavor or else they will revolt and endanger others.
Gone Extinct
In Aristotelian science, most especially in biology, things he saw himself have stood the test of time better than his retelling of the reports of others, which contain error and superstition. He dissected animals but not humans; his ideas on how the human body works have been almost entirely superseded. Aristotle's writings on science are largely qualitative, as opposed to quantitative. Beginning in the 16th century, scientists began applying mathematics to the physical sciences, and Aristotle's work in this area was deemed hopelessly inadequate. His failings were largely due to the absence of concepts like mass, velocity, force, and temperature. He had a conception of speed and temperature, but no quantitative understanding of them, which was partly due to the absence of basic experimental devices, like clocks and thermometers. Though undoubtedly, he would have used these tools if he had them.
Aristotle's justification of the subservience of slaves and others to the virtue of a few justified the ideal of aristocracy. Where some are slaves, none are free. This creates chaos and inefficiency in society. It endangers all. We have not evolved from bee colonies; we have evolved from small egalitarian tribes. No slavery is permitted. Aristotle's aristocracy is wrong.
Survives
Whereas Plato sought to explain things from the supra-sensual standpoint of the forms, his pupil preferred to start from the facts given us by experience. As a student at Plato’s academy, Aristotle’s main concern was knowledge, gathered through observing natural phenomena. He loved to categorize things. He virtually invented logic and pioneered several sciences. To him, philosophy was logic and science. Philosophy helps direct our questions with its long tradition of inquiry, but the answers do come from science and logic.
Aristotle recognizes the true being of things in their concepts, but denies any separate existence of the concept apart from the particular objects of sense. Yes. Categories help us make sense of the real world, but there are no perfect forms behind the categories.
Known for the Golden Mean - avoiding extremes in ideals and behavior. Life requires many tradeoffs and many balances between short-term and long-term, self and society, and cooperation and competition. The Golden Mean is the right way to approach finding these balances.
Aristotle taught that virtue has to do with the proper function of a thing. An eye is only a good eye in so much as it can see. Aristotle reasoned that humans must have a function specific to humans, and that this function must be an activity of the soul in accordance with reason. Aristotle identified such an optimum activity of the soul as the aim of all human deliberate action, eudaimonia, generally translated as "happiness." To have the potential of ever being happy in this way necessarily requires a good character, moral virtue, or excellence. The meaning of life is to live. Humans are happiest when they act in ways that ensure the long-term survival of the species.
Needs to Adapt
The end of human activity, or the highest good, is happiness. The highest good is life. Fortunately, we are made happy by good life.
The natural community according to Aristotle was the city (polis), which functions as a political "community" or "partnership." The aim of the city is not just to avoid injustice or maintain economic stability, but rather to allow at least some citizens the possibility to live a good life, and to perform beautiful acts: The political partnership must be regarded, therefore, as being for the sake of noble actions, not for the sake of living together. The sake of living together is a noble action required for the long-term survival of the species. All citizens should be able to participate in this endeavor or else they will revolt and endanger others.
Gone Extinct
In Aristotelian science, most especially in biology, things he saw himself have stood the test of time better than his retelling of the reports of others, which contain error and superstition. He dissected animals but not humans; his ideas on how the human body works have been almost entirely superseded. Aristotle's writings on science are largely qualitative, as opposed to quantitative. Beginning in the 16th century, scientists began applying mathematics to the physical sciences, and Aristotle's work in this area was deemed hopelessly inadequate. His failings were largely due to the absence of concepts like mass, velocity, force, and temperature. He had a conception of speed and temperature, but no quantitative understanding of them, which was partly due to the absence of basic experimental devices, like clocks and thermometers. Though undoubtedly, he would have used these tools if he had them.
Aristotle's justification of the subservience of slaves and others to the virtue of a few justified the ideal of aristocracy. Where some are slaves, none are free. This creates chaos and inefficiency in society. It endangers all. We have not evolved from bee colonies; we have evolved from small egalitarian tribes. No slavery is permitted. Aristotle's aristocracy is wrong.
Epicureanism (3rd Century BCE) is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism, though later it became the main opponent of Stoicism.
Survives
Epicurus was an atomic materialist. His materialism led him to a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Ok, so far.
Needs to Adapt
Epicurus believed that pleasure is the greatest good. But the way to attain pleasure was to live modestly and to gain knowledge of the workings of the world and the limits of one's desires. This led one to attain a state of tranquility and freedom from fear, as well as absence of bodily pain. The combination of these two states is supposed to constitute happiness in its highest form. Although Epicureanism is a form of hedonism, insofar as it declares pleasure as the sole intrinsic good, its conception of absence of pain as the greatest pleasure and its advocacy of a simple life make it different from hedonism as it is commonly understood. Life, not pleasure, is the sole intrinsic good. The observation that “this life is all there is” is correct. The conclusion that “we ought to just enjoy it then” ignores the fact that progress is required in order to hold on to life. Fortunately, after billions of years of evolution, we do derive pleasure from applying ourselves to this effort. A fuller understanding of pleasure is required to consider this belief system. The simplicity with which it is represented is often dangerous.
In practical questions, the feelings of pleasure and pain are the tests. Pleasures of sense however are subordinate to the pleasures of the mind so the renunciation of pleasure or the endurance of pain is often a means to a greater pleasure. The cardinal virtue then is prudence, which is shown by true insight in calculating the consequences of our actions as regards pleasure or pain. Prudence is a chief virtue, but pain and pleasure are not the ultimate tests. Life or death is the ultimate test. If the environment changed so that pain was required to survive, we would suffer this pain. We already do.
Gone Extinct
Epicureanism admitted abstruse learning only when it serves the ends of practical wisdom; hence logic is subservient to physics, which in turn is subservient to ethics. It has hard to say ahead of time what learning is abstruse or not. It may all lead to knowledge that is crucially connected to our long-term survival. In a vast interconnected web, no form of learning is absolutely subservient to another.
Epicureanism emphasized the neutrality of the gods, that they do not interfere with human lives. It states that gods, matter, and souls are all made up of atoms. Souls are made from atoms, and gods possess souls, but their souls adhere to their bodies without escaping. Humans have the same kind of souls, but the forces binding human atoms together do not hold the soul forever. Nonsense theories before science uncovered what atoms and bodies actually are.
Survives
Epicurus was an atomic materialist. His materialism led him to a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Ok, so far.
Needs to Adapt
Epicurus believed that pleasure is the greatest good. But the way to attain pleasure was to live modestly and to gain knowledge of the workings of the world and the limits of one's desires. This led one to attain a state of tranquility and freedom from fear, as well as absence of bodily pain. The combination of these two states is supposed to constitute happiness in its highest form. Although Epicureanism is a form of hedonism, insofar as it declares pleasure as the sole intrinsic good, its conception of absence of pain as the greatest pleasure and its advocacy of a simple life make it different from hedonism as it is commonly understood. Life, not pleasure, is the sole intrinsic good. The observation that “this life is all there is” is correct. The conclusion that “we ought to just enjoy it then” ignores the fact that progress is required in order to hold on to life. Fortunately, after billions of years of evolution, we do derive pleasure from applying ourselves to this effort. A fuller understanding of pleasure is required to consider this belief system. The simplicity with which it is represented is often dangerous.
In practical questions, the feelings of pleasure and pain are the tests. Pleasures of sense however are subordinate to the pleasures of the mind so the renunciation of pleasure or the endurance of pain is often a means to a greater pleasure. The cardinal virtue then is prudence, which is shown by true insight in calculating the consequences of our actions as regards pleasure or pain. Prudence is a chief virtue, but pain and pleasure are not the ultimate tests. Life or death is the ultimate test. If the environment changed so that pain was required to survive, we would suffer this pain. We already do.
Gone Extinct
Epicureanism admitted abstruse learning only when it serves the ends of practical wisdom; hence logic is subservient to physics, which in turn is subservient to ethics. It has hard to say ahead of time what learning is abstruse or not. It may all lead to knowledge that is crucially connected to our long-term survival. In a vast interconnected web, no form of learning is absolutely subservient to another.
Epicureanism emphasized the neutrality of the gods, that they do not interfere with human lives. It states that gods, matter, and souls are all made up of atoms. Souls are made from atoms, and gods possess souls, but their souls adhere to their bodies without escaping. Humans have the same kind of souls, but the forces binding human atoms together do not hold the soul forever. Nonsense theories before science uncovered what atoms and bodies actually are.
Stoicism (3rd Century BCE) was a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium. Stoicism became the foremost popular philosophy among the educated elite in the Hellenistic world and the Roman Empire. Stoic doctrine was a popular and durable philosophy until the closing of all philosophy schools in 529 AD by order of the emperor Justinian I, who perceived their pagan character as at odds with the Christian faith. (Setting humanity back for the next 1,000 years.)
Survives
All true being is corporeal. Yes. There are no supernatural incorporeal elements to our existence.
The word stoic has come to mean unemotional or indifferent to pain, because Stoic ethics taught freedom from passion by following reason. The Stoics did not seek to extinguish emotions; rather, they sought to transform them by resolute practice and asceticism that enables a person to develop clear judgment and inner calm. Logic, reflection, and concentration were the methods of such self-discipline. Physics embraces the doctrines as to the nature and organization of the universe, and ethics draws from them its conclusions for practical life. Philosophy is the science of the principles on which the moral life ought to be founded. Yes. Had the Stoics had more scientific knowledge, they would have arrived at the right conclusions.
A distinctive feature of Stoicism is its cosmopolitanism: all people are manifestations of the one universal spirit and should, according to the Stoics, live in brotherly love and readily help one another. This sentiment echoes that of Diogenes of Sinope, who said, "I am not an Athenian or a Corinthian, but a citizen of the world." Yes! And racism, nationalism, and religious belief systems keep us in separate tribes.
Needs to Adapt
The agreement of human action with the law of nature, of the human will with the divine will, or life according to nature, is virtue, the chief good and highest end in life. There is no divine will, but we must obey the laws of nature and learn to survive to reach our highest possibilities.
The Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and that a sage, or person of "moral and intellectual perfection," would not suffer such emotions. We are all evolved from the same emotional animals. We will always suffer the tension of short-term individually focused emotions raging against our long-term societal interests. It is true though that a sage can learn to control their emotions through reason and stop them from wreaking destruction.
The Stoics introduced little that was new. They sought instead to give a practical application to the dogmas that they took ready-made from previous systems. The practical application of wisdom is a true virtue of philosophy, but previous systems have not been good enough to follow. New ideas still need to be introduced. I believe these come from the understanding of life inside an evolutionary system.
All knowledge originates in the real impressions of the senses, which the soul, being a blank slate at birth, receives in the form of presentations, which when confirmed by repetitions, are developed by the understanding into concepts. Knowledge does come from our senses and understanding after repetition, but our genes prime us to perceive the world in certain ways. We are not blank slates at birth.
Later Stoics, such as Seneca and Epictetus, emphasized that because "virtue is sufficient for happiness," a sage was immune to misfortune. This belief is similar to the meaning of the phrase “stoic calm." Because the universe is changing and we are in a competition to survive, nothing is immune to misfortune. A sage will accept this, however, and handle it well.
Gone Extinct
Stoicism held a pantheistic belief where God is never fully transcendent but always immanent. Stoicism equates God with the totality of the universe. Stoicism, unlike Christianity, does not posit a beginning or end to the universe. No god is manifested in this universe. It is run as if created by a blind watchmaker. We can now trace back to a beginning of this universe, although we do not know what came before it.
Survives
All true being is corporeal. Yes. There are no supernatural incorporeal elements to our existence.
The word stoic has come to mean unemotional or indifferent to pain, because Stoic ethics taught freedom from passion by following reason. The Stoics did not seek to extinguish emotions; rather, they sought to transform them by resolute practice and asceticism that enables a person to develop clear judgment and inner calm. Logic, reflection, and concentration were the methods of such self-discipline. Physics embraces the doctrines as to the nature and organization of the universe, and ethics draws from them its conclusions for practical life. Philosophy is the science of the principles on which the moral life ought to be founded. Yes. Had the Stoics had more scientific knowledge, they would have arrived at the right conclusions.
A distinctive feature of Stoicism is its cosmopolitanism: all people are manifestations of the one universal spirit and should, according to the Stoics, live in brotherly love and readily help one another. This sentiment echoes that of Diogenes of Sinope, who said, "I am not an Athenian or a Corinthian, but a citizen of the world." Yes! And racism, nationalism, and religious belief systems keep us in separate tribes.
Needs to Adapt
The agreement of human action with the law of nature, of the human will with the divine will, or life according to nature, is virtue, the chief good and highest end in life. There is no divine will, but we must obey the laws of nature and learn to survive to reach our highest possibilities.
The Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and that a sage, or person of "moral and intellectual perfection," would not suffer such emotions. We are all evolved from the same emotional animals. We will always suffer the tension of short-term individually focused emotions raging against our long-term societal interests. It is true though that a sage can learn to control their emotions through reason and stop them from wreaking destruction.
The Stoics introduced little that was new. They sought instead to give a practical application to the dogmas that they took ready-made from previous systems. The practical application of wisdom is a true virtue of philosophy, but previous systems have not been good enough to follow. New ideas still need to be introduced. I believe these come from the understanding of life inside an evolutionary system.
All knowledge originates in the real impressions of the senses, which the soul, being a blank slate at birth, receives in the form of presentations, which when confirmed by repetitions, are developed by the understanding into concepts. Knowledge does come from our senses and understanding after repetition, but our genes prime us to perceive the world in certain ways. We are not blank slates at birth.
Later Stoics, such as Seneca and Epictetus, emphasized that because "virtue is sufficient for happiness," a sage was immune to misfortune. This belief is similar to the meaning of the phrase “stoic calm." Because the universe is changing and we are in a competition to survive, nothing is immune to misfortune. A sage will accept this, however, and handle it well.
Gone Extinct
Stoicism held a pantheistic belief where God is never fully transcendent but always immanent. Stoicism equates God with the totality of the universe. Stoicism, unlike Christianity, does not posit a beginning or end to the universe. No god is manifested in this universe. It is run as if created by a blind watchmaker. We can now trace back to a beginning of this universe, although we do not know what came before it.
Skepticism (3rd Century BCE) originated in ancient Greek philosophy with Pyrrho of Elis who traveled and studied as far as India and propounded the adoption of practical skepticism. The idea of this school of philosophy was to produce in the student a state of aversion to arbitrary arguments filled with inconsequential babble. Its search for happiness also continued the practicality of Stoicism and Epicureanism.
Survives
Needs to Adapt
Stoicism and Epicureanism made the search for pure truth subordinate to the attainment of practical virtue and happiness. Skepticism denied that pure truth was even possible to discover. It disputed the possibility of attaining truth by sensory apprehension, reason, or the two combined. In a large and changing universe, pure truths may indeed be impossible to know, however practical virtues and happiness will come from the search for them. Sense and reason are adequate for this search because the universe is natural and rational. We are a product of this universe so we can surely know it.
Gone Extinct
Skeptics inferred the necessity of total suspension of judgment on things and were proponents that we can attain release from all bondage to theories and achieve an imperturbable state of mind, which is the foundation of true happiness. True happiness comes from living, which requires a lot of theories and the best use of current knowledge for good judgment. A total suspension of judgment and an imperturbable state of mind leads to ignorance and eventual extinction in the long run. It also leaves us bored and stressed in the short term.
Survives
Needs to Adapt
Stoicism and Epicureanism made the search for pure truth subordinate to the attainment of practical virtue and happiness. Skepticism denied that pure truth was even possible to discover. It disputed the possibility of attaining truth by sensory apprehension, reason, or the two combined. In a large and changing universe, pure truths may indeed be impossible to know, however practical virtues and happiness will come from the search for them. Sense and reason are adequate for this search because the universe is natural and rational. We are a product of this universe so we can surely know it.
Gone Extinct
Skeptics inferred the necessity of total suspension of judgment on things and were proponents that we can attain release from all bondage to theories and achieve an imperturbable state of mind, which is the foundation of true happiness. True happiness comes from living, which requires a lot of theories and the best use of current knowledge for good judgment. A total suspension of judgment and an imperturbable state of mind leads to ignorance and eventual extinction in the long run. It also leaves us bored and stressed in the short term.
Jesus of Nazareth (7-2 BCE - 30-36 CE) is the central figure of Christianity and regarded as an important prophet of God in Islam. Most Christian denominations venerate him as God the Son incarnated. Most contemporary scholars of the historical Jesus consider him to have been an independent, charismatic founder of a Jewish restoration movement, anticipating a future apocalypse. Other prominent scholars, however, contend that Jesus' "Kingdom of God" meant radical personal and social transformation instead of a future apocalypse.
Survives
Parable of the Good Samaritan. No matter the nationality, help those who need it.
Parable of the Sower. Environments do need to be considered when teaching.
Parable of the Mustard Seed. Sometimes the tiniest idea can blossom into a large movement.
Parable of the Leaven. A single element can affect the rest of an entire group.
Parable of the Talents. Effort should be rewarded. Slothfulness should be punished.
Needs to Adapt
Parable of the Friend at Night. Asking for help is ok. Free riders must be thrown off.
Parable of the Strong Man. Since justice is a public good, government must own force.
Parable of the Barren Fig Tree. Repetition is necessary. Sometimes for more than four years.
Parables of Counting of the Cost. Planning is good, but trial and error is sometimes necessary.
Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. Forgiveness is good. Be prepared to play tit for tat.
Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Aid to the poor is good. Rooting for hell is fruitless.
Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. Humility over boasting, but speak up sometimes.
Parable of the Wedding Feast. More humility over boasting, but don’t be trampled.
Parable of the Faithful Servant. Great ability requires great effort, but waiting for god is a waste.
Parable of the Ten Virgins. Preparedness for life is a virtue, but not for a visit from a god.
Parable of the Sheep and the Goats. Charity is its own reward, not an avoidance of hell.
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. It is good to focus on our own improvement. Others must be judged in a cooperative society though, and they must be judged according to the standards of what will help life survive in the long term.
Gone Extinct
Christians traditionally believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, performed miracles, founded the Church, died sacrificially to achieve atonement, rose from the dead, and ascended into a heaven from which he will return. These supernatural elements of the myth of Christ were all similarly attributed to various other pagan gods in Egyptian, Roman, Greek, Sumerian, and Persian history. They stem from the need to justify the divine right of kings to rule over their people, but they have never been substantiated. No supernatural elements ever have.
Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer in his Sermon on the Mount: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. There is no god. There is no heaven. Our daily bread must come from effort, not from divine provenance. Blind forgiveness does not equate with the tit for tat strategy - the most successful strategy for creating a cooperative society. And temptation will occur - we must experience it to master it.
The eight beatitudes during the Sermon on the Mount are stated as, Blessed are: the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Consolation for the lower class, but no humans should live in poor spirit. Especially since no afterlife is awaiting them.); they that mourn: for they shall be comforted (Emotions of sadness over loss are natural teachers to avoid loss. Wallowing in mourning is a waste of the life that remains.); the meek: for they shall inherit the earth (More consolation for the exploited class. We must be bold with our lives to be happy at the end of it because there is nothing else.); they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled (Righteousness - adhering to moral principles - would be a worthy goal if the principles were better aimed towards life instead of life after death.); the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy (If everyone is adhering to the tit for tat strategy, this is true, but we must be prepared to punish cheaters or the system will be undermined.); the pure in heart: for they shall see God (No they won’t, for there is no god.); the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God (I thought everyone was a child of god. Regardless, peacemakers do play an important function in society.); they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Use of a falsehood for the creation of martyrs with unshakeable beliefs. As we know, this can be dangerous. Better to advocate logical argument because truth will always win in the end.). The four woes that follow these are stated as, Woe unto you: that are rich! for ye have received your consolation (More consolation for the exploited class. Wealth to a certain level enables freedom and happiness. Beyond that, it is not to be avoided, just used wisely.); that are full now! for ye shall hunger (Consolation for the hungry, when in fact satiety gives us energy required to make long-term decisions.); that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep (Play is required to learn, to reduce stress, to promote cooperation, to reenergize, etc. It should not be stigmatized.); when all men shall speak well of you! for in the same manner did their fathers to the false prophets. (Good lives should be celebrated by all. Who is the real false prophet?) The beatitudes turn out to be rather ugly when their relationship to the survival of the species is closely examined.
Parable of the Growing Seed. Fruit does not just come after no labor. Every day must be filled.
Parable of the Two Debtors. Forgiveness of greater sins is not greater. Follow tit for tat.
Parable of the Rich Fool. We must work and save as if we will live forever. Then we are happy.
Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. Straw men do not make a bad argument stronger.
Parable of the Weeds. Ideas are not like grasses. Bad ones can be rooted out right away.
Parable of the New Wine into Old Wineskins. Knowledge is accumulative. It rarely replaces.
Parable of the Pearl. Life requires adaptability and robustness, not monoculture fragility.
Parable of the Hidden Treasure. Same theme as the pearl. Same problem of fragility.
Parable of Drawing in the Net. There will be no final judgment day. We must not wait for it.
Parable of the Lost Sheep. Marketing ploy to capture the fallen, knowing we all fall sometime.
Parable of the Lost Coin. Same brand strategy as the sheep. Tells us nothing about life.
Parable of the Prodigal Son. Vile version of the commercial. Actively rewards wantonness.
Parable of the Unjust Steward. Awful justification of theft from the rich for personal safety.
Parable of the Master and the Servant. Recruiting the good by making them feel bad.
Parable of the Unjust Judge. There is no one to pray to. Repetition is only more wasteful.
Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. Recruitment ploy creates moral hazard and injustice.
Parable of the Two Sons. Praising sinners for accepting a religion aimed at capturing them.
Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen. A cult leader inciting violence against the ruling class.
Parable of the Great Banquet. Mass invitation, expelling one to make the remainder feel special.
Parable of the Budding Fig Tree. Pointing out that change will happen NOW. 2,000 years ago.
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. No one should be cast out and trodden asunder. Humans are not salt - they can regain their savor for life when they understand what life truly means.
Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel instead of on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house. Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. This is merely requesting advertising for a product that doesn’t exist.
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Sadly, this is not true for the billions who have taken comfort in his easy answers and false promises of later rewards. His teachings prey on the weak spot of mankind and would lead to its death and destruction.
Survives
Parable of the Good Samaritan. No matter the nationality, help those who need it.
Parable of the Sower. Environments do need to be considered when teaching.
Parable of the Mustard Seed. Sometimes the tiniest idea can blossom into a large movement.
Parable of the Leaven. A single element can affect the rest of an entire group.
Parable of the Talents. Effort should be rewarded. Slothfulness should be punished.
Needs to Adapt
Parable of the Friend at Night. Asking for help is ok. Free riders must be thrown off.
Parable of the Strong Man. Since justice is a public good, government must own force.
Parable of the Barren Fig Tree. Repetition is necessary. Sometimes for more than four years.
Parables of Counting of the Cost. Planning is good, but trial and error is sometimes necessary.
Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. Forgiveness is good. Be prepared to play tit for tat.
Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Aid to the poor is good. Rooting for hell is fruitless.
Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. Humility over boasting, but speak up sometimes.
Parable of the Wedding Feast. More humility over boasting, but don’t be trampled.
Parable of the Faithful Servant. Great ability requires great effort, but waiting for god is a waste.
Parable of the Ten Virgins. Preparedness for life is a virtue, but not for a visit from a god.
Parable of the Sheep and the Goats. Charity is its own reward, not an avoidance of hell.
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. It is good to focus on our own improvement. Others must be judged in a cooperative society though, and they must be judged according to the standards of what will help life survive in the long term.
Gone Extinct
Christians traditionally believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, performed miracles, founded the Church, died sacrificially to achieve atonement, rose from the dead, and ascended into a heaven from which he will return. These supernatural elements of the myth of Christ were all similarly attributed to various other pagan gods in Egyptian, Roman, Greek, Sumerian, and Persian history. They stem from the need to justify the divine right of kings to rule over their people, but they have never been substantiated. No supernatural elements ever have.
Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer in his Sermon on the Mount: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. There is no god. There is no heaven. Our daily bread must come from effort, not from divine provenance. Blind forgiveness does not equate with the tit for tat strategy - the most successful strategy for creating a cooperative society. And temptation will occur - we must experience it to master it.
The eight beatitudes during the Sermon on the Mount are stated as, Blessed are: the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Consolation for the lower class, but no humans should live in poor spirit. Especially since no afterlife is awaiting them.); they that mourn: for they shall be comforted (Emotions of sadness over loss are natural teachers to avoid loss. Wallowing in mourning is a waste of the life that remains.); the meek: for they shall inherit the earth (More consolation for the exploited class. We must be bold with our lives to be happy at the end of it because there is nothing else.); they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled (Righteousness - adhering to moral principles - would be a worthy goal if the principles were better aimed towards life instead of life after death.); the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy (If everyone is adhering to the tit for tat strategy, this is true, but we must be prepared to punish cheaters or the system will be undermined.); the pure in heart: for they shall see God (No they won’t, for there is no god.); the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God (I thought everyone was a child of god. Regardless, peacemakers do play an important function in society.); they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Use of a falsehood for the creation of martyrs with unshakeable beliefs. As we know, this can be dangerous. Better to advocate logical argument because truth will always win in the end.). The four woes that follow these are stated as, Woe unto you: that are rich! for ye have received your consolation (More consolation for the exploited class. Wealth to a certain level enables freedom and happiness. Beyond that, it is not to be avoided, just used wisely.); that are full now! for ye shall hunger (Consolation for the hungry, when in fact satiety gives us energy required to make long-term decisions.); that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep (Play is required to learn, to reduce stress, to promote cooperation, to reenergize, etc. It should not be stigmatized.); when all men shall speak well of you! for in the same manner did their fathers to the false prophets. (Good lives should be celebrated by all. Who is the real false prophet?) The beatitudes turn out to be rather ugly when their relationship to the survival of the species is closely examined.
Parable of the Growing Seed. Fruit does not just come after no labor. Every day must be filled.
Parable of the Two Debtors. Forgiveness of greater sins is not greater. Follow tit for tat.
Parable of the Rich Fool. We must work and save as if we will live forever. Then we are happy.
Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. Straw men do not make a bad argument stronger.
Parable of the Weeds. Ideas are not like grasses. Bad ones can be rooted out right away.
Parable of the New Wine into Old Wineskins. Knowledge is accumulative. It rarely replaces.
Parable of the Pearl. Life requires adaptability and robustness, not monoculture fragility.
Parable of the Hidden Treasure. Same theme as the pearl. Same problem of fragility.
Parable of Drawing in the Net. There will be no final judgment day. We must not wait for it.
Parable of the Lost Sheep. Marketing ploy to capture the fallen, knowing we all fall sometime.
Parable of the Lost Coin. Same brand strategy as the sheep. Tells us nothing about life.
Parable of the Prodigal Son. Vile version of the commercial. Actively rewards wantonness.
Parable of the Unjust Steward. Awful justification of theft from the rich for personal safety.
Parable of the Master and the Servant. Recruiting the good by making them feel bad.
Parable of the Unjust Judge. There is no one to pray to. Repetition is only more wasteful.
Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. Recruitment ploy creates moral hazard and injustice.
Parable of the Two Sons. Praising sinners for accepting a religion aimed at capturing them.
Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen. A cult leader inciting violence against the ruling class.
Parable of the Great Banquet. Mass invitation, expelling one to make the remainder feel special.
Parable of the Budding Fig Tree. Pointing out that change will happen NOW. 2,000 years ago.
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. No one should be cast out and trodden asunder. Humans are not salt - they can regain their savor for life when they understand what life truly means.
Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel instead of on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house. Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. This is merely requesting advertising for a product that doesn’t exist.
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Sadly, this is not true for the billions who have taken comfort in his easy answers and false promises of later rewards. His teachings prey on the weak spot of mankind and would lead to its death and destruction.
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© 2012 Ed Gibney