03 what helped philosophy develop

7/29/2019 03 What Helped Philosophy Develop

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3.1 Does the questi on make sense? 3-1

3 WHAT HELPED PHILOSOPHY DEVELOP IN ANCIENT GREECE?

Thanks, Think Tank. For the guys who dont yet know me, Im Claire, but they all call me MensClara. In a couple of minutes, Ill gab away on the question that Master Sapiens asked me to ex-pound to you (see what bombastic words you learn in this place!). Ill try to say something aboutwhat helped Philosophy develop in Ancient Greece.

3.1 Does the question make sense?

Think Tank mentioned other (non-western) Philosophical systems that developed elsewhere,hence it would seem that Ancient Greece is one place among many where Philosophy developed.This is, in part, true. So are we asking something like Why do the Maltese live in Malta? orWhydoes Navy blue look bluish? is this a silly question about the relationship between x and y whenwe know that y is part of x BY DEFINITION?

Not really. A contemporary Philosophical text (dealing with issues in Western Philosophy) cannotbe said to called a piece of Western Thought because it started in Ancient Greece. It is called sobecause Western Thought has a unity of its own and the contemporary text fits into that body ofthought, that uninterrupted tradition that happens to stretch from Ancient Greece to the present. Sothe question becomes: why did that tradition (with its particular characteristics) start in that particu-lar place? What influenced it to develop in that way, and at that rate?

Why are we asking this question about Western Thought only? Because other systems of thought,developed elsewhere, seem marginal with respect to this tradition. Thus, Greek Philosophy is notjust a particular system of thought, developed in a place called Greece, equal in importance to anyother philosophical tradition. It is something that kept on flourishing and developing all over theworld for several hundreds of years, and we are interested to know what was the fertile ground that

germinated it so that we can also understand what soil would best nourish it today.

Thus, it makes sense to ask the question: Why did it all start in Greece1? This is a hard one to an-swer, (as is the question Why did the fast-food culture develop in the United States?) and we canonly put forth plausible theories rather than clear-cut answers. Something develops here ratherthan there because a certain set of conditions obtain here and not there. That set of conditions isconsidered somehow necessary and sufficient to allow the thing in question to develop. In the caseof mainstream Philosophy, most experts agree that the political system and the religion in An-cient Greece not only allowed but also promoted its development.

3.2 Philosophy and Politics

3.2.1 DEMOCRACY AND WEALTH INATHENS PROMOTES THE DEVELOPMENT OFPHILOSOPHY

Athens was one of many independent city-states (poleis) in Ancient Greece. The development andgrowth of a merchant class in Athens, though a series of fortuitous historical events, lead to theintroduction of DEMOCRACY and to a level of WELL-BEING that allowed wealthy citizens to seeklearning and to send their children to learned masters for schooling. Such masters were called Phi-losophers, even though they taught their disciples a lot of knowledge that would not entirely beconsidered Philosophy nowadays.

DEMOCRACY entails freedom of speech and of association, hence the proliferation of political par-ties, philosophical schools, religious sects some of which have radically new ideas on offer.

WEALTH allowed some people to leave their farms and houses in the hands of trusted peasantsand slaves to produce goods without their supervision, and these rich landowners started spending

1It does not refer to Philosophy as such, but to the main core of Philosophy.


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3.2 Philosophy and Politics 3-2

most of their lives participating in politics and holding public offices (without remuneration). In orderto excel in life and be admired in public, such landowners and merchants sought to attain a goodeducation for themselves and their children. In democratic Athens, you were persuasive and influ-ential in the ASSEMBLY (a sort of parliament), and you were chosen for public posts (prestigious of-fices in the service of the state) not much on account of your noble rank (as was the case in non-democratic city-states such as Sparta), but on account of your learning and culture. We note that ina society of equal persons (democracy), in order to stand out ( excel) you have to impress andto do so you need a good education. Conversely, in a non-democratic society where some areconsidered the betters (the aristoi, the aristocracy) and some the inferiors, you can stand outsimply on account of your noble blood, or of your skill in battle: here you do not need any formaleducation to excel in public.

Hence, FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND ASSOCIATION allows new ideas to be expressed and discussed insmall groups, while the NEED TO PROVIDE AN EDUCATION TO THE RICH stimulates even further thedevelopment of such ideas and their transmission to society in general. This is the major link be-tween democratic politics and the development of philosophy.

Democracy came about through a series of historical episodes and coincidences. When readingPhilosophy, you may meet certain names and political structures you may not be familiar with. Letus therefore take the occasion to trace the development of democracy and at the same time pro-vide a brief political history of Ancient Greece.

3.2.2 A BRIEF POLITICAL HISTORY OFANCIENTGREECE

1. 1400-1200 BCE: Mycenaean Civilization {Civilta Micenea} evolved Bronze civili-zation in the Peloponnesian area. (This shares several traits with the Minoan civili-zation {Civilta Minoika} in Crete.) The Mycenaean LORD (wanax) possesses abso-lute power over an ARISTOCRACY of military commanders. Land in the agrarianeconomy is largely owned by the lord and military aristocracy, and cultivated bylandless workers.

2. 1120 BCE circa: DORIC INVASION following a decline in the Mycenaean Civilization.The invasion is not very destructive, though it marks the end of the supremacy ex-erted by the lord. The Doric tribal chieftains detain power. Among them, a king(basileus) rules as a sort offirst among equals; he needs the support of the aristoc-racy to rule (unlike the Mycenaean lord).

3. XIth IXth century BCE: Hellenic Dark Ages: FRAGMENTATION OF THE POLITICALSTRUCTURE conflict is rife. Loss of writing; the language is conserved through theoral tradition. Development of new agricultural techniques due to advances in ironworking. Concentration of property in the hands of a few families (the new aristoc-racy of landowners).

4. Beginning of the VIIIth century BCE: the Greek territory gradually comes to be or-ganized into POLEIS (sing.polis). A polis (city) was initially a group of villages gov-

erned by a single political structure. Uprisings of impoverished farmers and conflictsfuelled by the developing merchant class (in the coastal poleis) mark the develop-ment of the polis.

5. Mid-VIIIth to end-VIIth century BCE: migration (due to food shortage). The Greeksdevelop colonies all over the Mediterranean and especially in Italy and Sicily. Thecolonies soon become independent poleis. Migration is only a partial solution to theconflict in the poleis. Other partial solutions are provided by the development ofLEG-ISLATION (the writing out of laws (nomoi)) that on the long term often entailed greatpolitical reforms (e.g. the development of the oligarchic Constitution in Sparta; thereformation of the Athenian constitution by Solon {Solun}), and the appearance ofthe TYRANNICAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT. Tyrants took power from the hands of the ar-istocracy, and sought support from the military, peasants, craftsmen and merchantsin order to maintain power. This often entailed subscribing to policies that spurredsubstantial economic development (e.g. Pisistratus {Pisistratu} (560-527 BCE) inAthens expands the Athenian fleet and helps trade by innovative fiscal policies).


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6. 500 BCE (circa): Cleisthenes {Klistene} develops a democratic constitution in Ath-ens whereby power (kratos) is handed over to the demos, (i.e. small regional unitsinto which the land area of the polis is divided). In effect, the representation of suchterritorial regions (rather than of the traditional aristocratic families) in the assembly(boule) means putting power in the hands of the people at large, at the expense ofthe aristocracy. The aristocracy dislikes democracy and repeatedly seeks help fromSparta to end it.

7. 546-479 BCE (circa): Persians try to subject the Greek poleis to their dominion oneby one. Finally, the poleis revolt and with the help of Athens and Sparta defeat thePersian Empire. The decisive role of Athens in the war guarantees military andcommercial supremacy for this polis after the war. Subsequently, Pericles (died 429BCE) advances democracy in Athens by granting full political equality to all Athe-nian citizens (Isonomy), initiates great infrastructural works, promotes the politicalhegemony of Athens over all of Greece (the Athenian Empire), gathers around himintellectuals and artists hence starting a period of thriving civilization known as theClassical Age of Greece. Note that in Periclean democracy, slaves, women andnon-Athenians are excluded from power.

8. 431-404 BCE: Peloponnesian war. Sparta and its allies seek to end Athenian he-gemony in Greece. Athens eventually loses the war mainly due to internal conflicts(and betrayals from its allies); the Spartans set up an oligarchy in Athens that isquickly overthrown. Sparta, at first, then Thebes, seeks to ensure hegemony forthemselves in Greece, but their archaic political constitutions and underdevelopedeconomies do not allow them to exert power effectively over other poleis. Persiafrom the East and Macedon {Macedonja} from the North take advantage of thesituation.

9. 338 BCE: Battle of Cheronea. Philip of Macedon defeats the Greek league (i.e. thegroup of poleis resisting his expansionist policies). This paves the way for the Ma-cedonian empire of Alexander the Great and the event of a cosmopolitan politicalorder that sweeps away the system of distribution of power constituted by the po-

leis.

3.3 Philosophy and Religion

Religion too had a part to play in the development of Philosophy. The LACK OF RELIGIOUS FUNDA-MENTALISM AND THE LIBERALATTITUDE TO RELIGION allowed the proliferation of secret SECTS withreligious ideas that were somewhat different than those professed publicly by most Greeks. Phi-losophy was influenced by such ideas, and in turn, influenced such ideas the sects were idealplaces for philosophical ideas to blossom. Some details:

1. Alongside language, religion is a major factor that unites the Greek peoples. Therewas no centralisation of religion, nor a clear, unified body of religious dogmas. Par-

ticular communities revered particular divinities more than others: certain cities thuspromoted the cult of certain gods. Furthermore, there were religious centres thatwere revered by all Greeks shrines such as the oracle of Apollo in Delphi and thesanctuary of Zeus in Olympia.

2. In the Greek grouping of the gods (Pantheon), divinities were either Olympic orUranic. The Olympic gods (e.g. Zeus, Apollo, Athena) were revered publicly in theurban areas; the Uranic gods (e.g. Dionysus, Demeter) were revered privately,mainly in rural areas, through cults practiced in secret. The Orgiastic cults of Diony-sus involved the use of alcohol and drugs so that the participants lost control overtheir bodies: this was considered the gateway to another reality, a supernaturalstate that is otherwise inaccessible to mortals.

3. The mystical cults become more elaborate with the event of Orphism, a secret reli-gious practice of Eastern origin. The main question here is whether there is more toa human being than his/her mortal body, whether a person can survive physicaldeath. Orphism promotes spiritual exercises through which a person takes control


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over his/her body (conceived as a cage wherein in an immortal spirit/soul is impris-oned). Its aim is that of liberating the soul from the body so that it will not return tobe imprisoned in a new body after death. Hence, contrary to the traditional Greekbelief that reincarnation (metempsychosis) is inescapable (and that every humanhas been reincarnated since time immemorial and will be reincarnated eternally),Orphism teaches that redemption from the cycle of metempsychosis is possible. Itsmethod of liberation involves living a life of purity: seeking truth and doing what isright, fighting and acting against the cravings of the body. Clearly, the practice ofOrphism is very different from that of the Orgiastic cults, especially in its conceptionof the role of the body in religious matters. Its conception of the human being and ofthe universe influenced Philosophy deeply, and communities of believers often en-gaged in philosophical reflection and discussion, initially conceived of as religiousexercise in the search of truth and of what is good, exercises that the soul under-takes as means of progressive liberation from the body.

03 what helped philosophy develop

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