《欧洲文化入门》串讲资料

Greco-Roman tradition

Politics, democracy, citizen-assembly,

Citizenship of Athens, male adults

Democracy”in ancient Greece

(How do you understand “Democracy”in ancient Greece? What is the difference between “Democracy”in ancient Greece and modern democracy?)

exercise of power by the whole people”; but in Greece by “the whole people”the Greeks meant only the adult male citizens.

Women, children, foreigners and slaves were excluded from Democracy.

How did the Ancient Greek philosophy develop?

1. Three founders

1) Pythagoras

a. All things were numbers.

b. Scientific mathematics.

c. Theory of proportion.

2) Heracliteus

a. Fire is the primary elements of the universe.

b. The theory of the mingling of opposites produced harmony.

3) Democritus

a. the atomic theory.

b. materialism.

2.Three thinkers: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle

Aristotle

1) The Lyceum is the second school in the world, it was established by Aristotle.

2) Aristotle is a humanist.

3. Five contending schools

1). The Sophists

a. Under the leadership of Protagoras.

b. The representative of work is On the God.

c. His doctrine is “man is the measure of all things”.

2). The Cynics

a. Under the leadership of Diogenes.

b. The word “cynic”means “dog”in English.

c. He proclaimed his brotherhoo

d. And he had no patience with the rich and powerful.

3) The Sceptics

a. Under the leadership of Pyrrhon.

b. His thought is not all knowledge was attainable, and doubting the truth of what others accepted as true.

4) The Epicureans

a. Under the leadership of Epicurus.

b. Pleasure to be the highest good in life but not sensual enjoyment.

c. Pleasure could be attained by the practice of virtue.

d. Epicurus was a materialist. He believed that the world consisted of atoms.

5) The Stoics

a. Under the leadership of Zeno.

b. His thought is duty is the most important thing in life.

c. One should endure hardship and misfortune with courage.

Developed into Stoics’duty.

He was also a materialist.

The Contending Schools of Thought

1.The Sophists

Protagoras: “M an is the measure of all things.” humanism, the focus of renaissance, 2.The Cynics, Diogenes, rejecting all conventions and advocating self-sufficiency and extreme simplicity.

3.The Sceptics, represented by Pyrrhon, who held that not all knowledge was attainable.

4.The Epicureans. They were disciples of Epicurus, who believed pleasure to be the highest good in life, but by pleasure he meant, not sensual enjoyment, but freedom from pain and emotional upheaval, which he thought could be attained by the practice of virtue.

5.The Stoics, with Zeno as the chief. To the Stoics, the most important thing in life was not “pleasure”, but “duty”. According to them, virtue is the sole good in the life of an individual man.

What philosophy system did Plato establish?

(Why do we say Plato’s philosophy system was idealistic? Do you think Plato built up a comprehensive system of philosophy? )

1. It dealt with, among other things, the problem of how, in the complex, ever—changing world, men were to attain knowledge.

2. The first case and physical world should take the secondary case.