Poli201 Final
What is Tocqueville's view of pride in Democracy in America?
"Moralists are constantly complaining that the pet vice of our age is pride. There is a sense in which that is true: everyone thinks himself better than his neighbor and dislikes obeying a superior. But... the same man ... has so poor an opinion of himself that he thinks he is born for nothing but the enjoyment of vulgar pleasures. Of his own free will he limits himself to paltry desires and dares not face any lofty enterprise; indeed, he can scarcely imagine such a possibility." "Thus, far from thinking that we should counsel humility to our contemporaries, I wish men would try to give them a higher idea of themselves and of humanity: humility is far from healthy for them; what they lack most ... is pride. I would gladly surrender several of our petty virtues for that one vice."
What is Polity?
*Polity is similar to how US government system is -- everyone is represented but only a selected few make the laws
What is distinctive in the LDS view of transcendence or divinity?
-we can become Gods after we die and enter a better world, "eternity made out of our experience", families stay together for eternity, enemies are also allies, necessary good works and faith, next world isn't otherworldly but out of this world, pride isn't good but we should strive for greatness
In what two ways does Aquinas seek to overcome the Augustinian tension between intellectualism and the Incarnation? (Thinking Politically p. 147 (?) )
1)He softens the idea of the fall, fall was not all that bad we can still go back to God 2)He raises the status of politically community to matter, this world does matter and helps us attain best of all things
What are the 11 moral virtues and their corresponding vices?
1. COURAGE: reckless/coward 2. MODERATE: licentious/insensible 3. LIBERAL: prodigal/stingy 4. MAGNIFICENT: vulgar/parsimony 5. GREAT SOUL: vanity/small soul 6. RT AMBITION: ambitious/unambitious 7. GENTLE: irascible/"unirascible" 8. JUSTICE: injustice 9. TRUTHFUL: boastful/ironic 10. WITTY: buffoon/boorish 11. FRIENDLY: obsequious/surly
Does Aristotle justify slavery?
Aristotle justifies slavery by saying that for some men it it better to be ruled by others because they are incapable of governing themselves
Aristotle's practical teaching can be summed up in what two words?
Aristotle's practical teaching can be summed up in two words: moderate pride. We have seen that he beautifully endorses and encourages the justified pride of the man of consummate moral virtue while gently suggesting that this pride is never completely justified. The magnanimous man needs other people more than he can admit: he needs not only their contributions to his material existence, but even their praise—though he must think of it as beneath himself to care about the praise of inferiors.
In what two ways must salvation be universal, according to Augustine?
Augustine's idea of universality operates along two dimensions, which we might again call "vertical" and "horizontal." The horizontal dimension is most obvious: the saving truth must in principle be available to all human beings, not only to a privileged or fortunate class. The vertical dimension addresses not the extent of application but the actual meaning or content of this salvation: Christ's redemption "purifies the whole man, not just the intellectual part," Augustine pleads. "The Savior took upon himself the human being in his entirety."11 The horizontal extension of salvation's application is thus bound up with the vertical extension of the very meaning or content of salvation for the individual. Augustine's Christianity envisions the offering of salvation to all mankind because he understands salvation to apply to the whole human being and not just to some rare intellectual faculty.
Why do we moderns need to study classical political philosophy?
Classical and Political philosophy is a backbone to western politics and it is important to understand our laws, ancient philosophy is an antidote to modern (horizontal) philosophy
What is the argument for the theoretical or contemplative life being the best way of life? (X)
Contemplation is the only pure, intrinsic good. · This life lives on pure theory · The life of the mind is the best life and leads toward self-sufficiency.
What truth of human longing is reflected in the dynamism of Rome?
Freedom from earthly woes and desires, normally they look towards God but Rome is first time they see horizontality, we are all citizens
What are the good regimes? What are the bad ones? Are good regimes at all conditional upon the category of poeple who rule?
Good- Monarchy, Aristocracy, Polity Bad- Tyranny, Oligarchy, Democracy. No. Good regimes independent of number of people with influence.
In what way was Rome an unstable halfway-house?
Half-way between verticality of Greece and horizontality of Christianity
Does Aristotle justify the rule of men over women?
In Politics, Aristotle states 'as regards the sexes, the male is by nature superior and the female inferior, the male ruler and the female subject'
Why might The Republic be considered "the real Apology (defense) of Socrates"?
In discussion, Prof. Hancock suggested that American political development might be considered from the perspective of Plato's account of the decline of regimes in Book 8 of The Republic. Which of the following best describes Hancock's hypothesis for applying Plato to America in this way?
How is man a "political animal"? (I)
In his Politics, Aristotle believed man was a "political animal" because he is a social creature with the power of speech and moral reasoning: Hence it is evident that the state is a creation of nature, and that man is by nature a political animal
What is the problem of the status of moral virtue as sketched in the very first chapter of the Nichomachean Ethics?
Is moral duty an end in itself or can moral duty be explained by some purpose external to it? (Thinking Politically)
What does the New Testament teach concerning the relationship of Christianity to the religion of the Jews?
Jews are the chosen people but now Christianity believes that happiness and gospel should be extended to all people, Paul to Jews-- Jews should not be too prideful about their status
What tension is still apparent in Aristotle's account of magnanimity?
Magnanimous man doesn't care too much for honors, for none is worthy of his perfect virtue. Like to hear about good they have done, not good they have received
Why is magnanimity the crown of the moral virtues? (IV.3)
Magnanimous man thinks he deserves honors, and he's right Magnanimity is the self-aware trait. Since it allows you to know what you deserve and what is best, it is a gateway trait to other intellectual virtues. TA: Magnanimity = moderate pride, knows that he is great but that he could even be greater, doesn't downplay his greatness
What is Aristotle's teaching regarding slavery?
Master is supposed to rule slave as soul rules body. If slave is different from other men as soul is from body, then it is good for them to be slaves. Aristotle justifies slavery in principle, but not slavery as it exists
Why may the formula "a friend is another self" be reversed? (IX)
Not only is the self-sufficiency of our attending upon the natural goodness of existence questionable, since "it is not easy to be continuously active all by oneself," but in fact "we are better able to observe our neighbors than ourselves, and their actions better than our own." Our very notion of the immediacy and self-sufficiency of natural goodness seems to be contaminated by the mediation of friends. The good is not an immediate possession, but is somehow other than us, somehow always at one remove, more re-presented beyond us than immediately present "within." The largely unthematized background to Aristotle's famous dictum, "a friend is another self" is in fact its reversal: the self is another friend.
How do democrats view justice? Oligarchs? How are both wrong?
Oligarchs understand justice as inequality, as the rightful privileges of those who contribute much larger shares. o For the democrats, justice is equality, which they understand as limited to the equality of free citizens (not women or slaves). o True justice aims finally neither at the property possessed by the few, nor at the defense of freedom, but at virtue
What is the best political regime?
POLITY: solid, moderate middle class that listens to reason, avoids arrogance/envy, free from factions. · It is telling that the most practical good regime is one that cannot really bear its own name or be fully conscious of its own principle of moderation. Its genius is precisely that democrats see it as democratic and oligarchs as oligarchic.
How does The Republic address the concerns of Equality by Default?
Plato's Reason "yoked" to a larger, wondrous, "divine" order.
In what way is Aristotle's approach to truth like Plato's? In what way different?
Plato's truth is timeless truth beyond senses, while Aristotle's approach to truth is truth is embodied in perceptible reality.
What thesis does he state in the preface to the book?
Praise humility which raises men above all other earthly dignities vs. human pride, arrogance, lust of rule. "Convince the proud of excellence of humility"
What are the parts of the human soul? Which part is fulfilled in moral virtue? (NE 1.13)
Rational Soul: pure reason (contemplative wisdom), practical reason (practical wisdom) Non-Rational Soul: obeys reason (MORAL VIRTUE), Nutritive (physical health)
Three stages of rights by benton?
The "three stages of the rights of man" (Beneton) are: 1. Moderate liberalism - Christianity - elevated man by teaching their equality before God. God gives every man with inherent value and all are equal before Him. Man has eternal destiny. 2. ideological subversion (revolution) - Secular translation of Christian equality - "god vanishes without leaving a legacy" 3. extreme liberalism - Equality represents a radical break from Christian equality. Man is liberated from natural and divine constraints. Man is equal to exercise whatever.
How is the modern project like and unlike Christianity? What is wrong with this project?
The problem: The form of universality overwhelms political content, modern push wants only horizontal because verticality requires work, Christianity has a level of verticality because it requires a "best" a higher good, however, christianity also applies to everyone which is similar to the "modern project"
Incarnation. Secular society makes sense in christianity because God is like us. It gives us purpose in this life and allows for us to work harder in the city.
They are open together to a Word that is none of them. The diversity of languages, and therefore of the cultures that make up Europe, comes from this. For Christianity, the incarnation gave to humanity a dignity that was itself that of God. The emergence of a profane domain in European history, including the possibility of "secular" societies, is made possible by the idea of incarnation
Why does he hold the Platonists above all other pagan philosophers?
They recognized that no material object can be God, that nothing changeable can be the supreme God, that in every mutable being the form which determines its being can only come from him who truly is, because he exists immutably. For him, life is [not] something other than intelligence.
What is Augustine's critique of pagan virtue?
This life overwhelmed by miseries; body weights down soul. Intellectual goods vulnerable to disease, death. Virtue is "unceasing warfare with vices." Pagan: reason and natural virtue sufficient to happiness. • Even the highest intellectual goods vaunted by Plato and Aristotle are vulnerable to disease, mental and physical, and of course death. The very virtues praised by the pagans (such as Aristotle), prudence (or practical wisdom) and justice, are shown to be, on close inspection, emblems of our miserable condition. Philosophers may praise them as intrinsically ennobling and satisfying, but their whole purpose is to address the harsh necessities of our mortal condition; we wouldn't need prudence and justice if mortal life were not a series of emergencies and disasters.
In what way is Roman transcendence "horizontal"?
We are all citizens in the same nation, not just children of a God, all citizens of the same republic
What are the two poles between which human existence - even philosophy - is suspended?
human freedom; the rare aspiration to the serene possession of changeless being
How is relation between religion and philosophy different for Christian philosophers than for Alfarabi and the great philosophers of the Islamic world?
o Christianity: a religion of Faith (internal assent). Reason espouses common hopes. ♣ Modern Rationalism arises against/ as substitute for Christian hopes: Reason as engine of worldly progress. o Islam: a religion of Law (Shariah). Reason holds itself above common hopes. ♣ Arab philosophers: Reason a self-sufficient path to God. ♣ Philosophy never integrated with religion, society.
How was Aquinas's philosophy used to justify papal supremacy?
o Civil government is concerned with man's natural ends, in which he includes both physical preservation and, interestingly, the virtuous life. The church, for its part, is responsible for man's supernatural end, that is, the enjoyment of God. Now Augustine reminds us of an elementary Aristotelian principle: that activity that deals with a higher end is itself higher and more authoritative. So it follows, once Aristotle's science of ends is applied to matters both temporal and spiritual, that spiritual powers rightly govern temporal powers. Princes should obey priests— and, of course, all should heed the priest of priests, the pope himself.
• Compare the relation between the citizen and the philosopher in the classical, Stoic, and Epicurean views.
o Classical: philosopher and the citizen are friends—not equal friends, but friends all the same. The philosopher, as we have seen, more or less willingly befriends the citizen and helps to inform and moderate his practical virtues. The philosopher is clearly held to be superior to the citizen, but there is enough kinship in their souls for the philosopher's excellence to be relevant to practical life and to appear as its highest fulfillment. o Stoic: distance between philosophy and the moral-political realm to collapse: the philosopher becomes more and more identified with the upstanding citizen, or the "gentleman." o Epicurean: the philosopher becomes a stranger to the citizen
• How is Stoicism both less and more "political" than classical political philosophy?
o It is less political because it situates virtue within a somewhat vaguely imagined cosmopolis, or brotherhood of gentleman-philosophers, and so is not grounded in a reflection on the concrete political circumstances of philosophy, or in the philosopher's necessary accommodation to humanity's political condition. It is more political because its understanding of virtue is not ultimately anchored in a supreme good of the soul but rather in more accessible ideas of honor and duty.
• Compare Lucretius and Plato on sex and Eros.
o Lucretius: all physical, and has nothing to do with Plato's soaring Eros; "Sex is better than love"; "Love" is an illusion; Satisfy the simple physical urge if you must, he says, but don't wrap it up in any ideals of love. o Plato (Symposium): upward ascent, from passionate desire (or Eros), to ordinary and unsatisfying pleasures, to what is extraordinary and truly good. "This is what it is to go... into the mystery of Love: one goes always upwards for the sake of this Beauty, starting out from beautiful things and using them like rising stairs... so that in the end he comes to know just what it is to be beautiful."
• What is his view of the good life? Is he a hedonist?
o Lucretius: all physical, and has nothing to do with Plato's soaring Eros; "Sex is better than love"; "Love" is an illusion; Satisfy the simple physical urge if you must, he says, but don't wrap it up in any ideals of love. o Plato (Symposium): upward ascent, from passionate desire (or Eros), to ordinary and unsatisfying pleasures, to what is extraordinary and truly good. "This is what it is to go... into the mystery of Love: one goes always upwards for the sake of this Beauty, starting out from beautiful things and using them like rising stairs... so that in the end he comes to know just what it is to be beautiful."
How did Marsilius argue against papal supremacy? Did he return to Aristotle?
o Marsilius calls Christianity's bluff, as it were. He says, in effect, "You say that Christ's kingdom is not of this world. Well then, leave this world to us." In this way, Aristotle's natural concern for virtue is dismissed along with the papacy's extreme claims of spiritual power's place in the political realm. o For Marsilius, the purpose of politics has nothing to do with virtue or the good of the soul, only with civil peace
• What is Lucretius's view of nature? Why is this good news?
o TA Response: Good news = nothing to fear from supernatural powers? Everything is under your control L. is the founder of Epicureanism (sp?) and there is no such thing as supernatural powers outside of your control. You got the power → pleasure is the most important thing in life (Epicurenism). They all about avoiding pain so not necessarily following pleasure but trying to be free of pain (eating a pound of chocolate cake is painful so pleasure in moderation)
• In what decisive way is Stoicism continuous with classical thought? How is this reflected in his comparing friends with leaves on a tree?
o There is one decisive respect, however, in which Stoicism (and indeed, Epicureanism) maintains a decisive continuity with the classical tradition. While Stoicism gestures towards the ideal of a universal human community, it neither looks to God (as in Christianity) to realize such a community in a heavenly city, nor does it propose (as in modern political philosophy) to master the human condition by human means. The underlying mood of Stoicism is thus one of resignation
• How is Stoicism related to Socrates' teaching on virtue?
o This Stoic tendency to abstract from mankind's actual material and political condition accords with its rather extreme claims on behalf of the self-sufficiency of virtue, its insistence on taking Socrates absolutely at his word concerning the invulnerability of the virtuous soul. To make good on Socrates's passing claim that "no harm can come to a good man," the Stoics had to leave behind the realism and some of the subtlety of political philosophy.
• How does Prof. Hancock employ the terms "vertical" and "horizontal" transcendence?
o Vertical transcendence is about the kind of person one is - it is transcendence based on a high quality of moral and philosophical character. The closest one can get to pure vertical transcendence is the "Platonic philosophic self-sufficiency" o Horizontal transcendence is more about one's humanity - it is abstract transcendence based on the human capacity for elevation. The closest one can get to pure horizontal transcendence is "modern totalitarian revolution." o Professor Hancock pointed out that he personally does not advocate for one over the other and that in fact there are no cases of one in isolation without the other. In both cases, both kinds of transcendence reflect the positive value of shared human experience and a belief in a form of divinity. The distinction between these kinds of transcendence is vital to understanding the political philosophical foundation of Rome and analyzing its relationship to its predecessors the Greeks.
• Who would rule in the best regime? How would philosophers be relevant? (VII)
o an aristocracy of the virtuous; aims at internal goods, that is, goods of the soul o the ruling aristocrats or gentlemen look up to and defer to contemplative men or philosophers o any ruling class would be made more reasonable and moderate by being aware that they are not the masters of the universe and that there is a way of life higher than that of ruling. Political passions are thus moderated by a sense that there are more important things than politics. o TA Response: Best regime in Aristotle would be Aristocracy (most virtuous should rule). Defer to philosophers for guidance. Aka philosophers are consultants. Money in the bank.
What decisive step was later taken by Machiavelli?
o asserting not only the independence of the secular from the spiritual, but in fact the ultimate authority of this world over any other world or "imaginary republics." o TA Response: "Your kingdom is not of this world so step out of the politics of this world." and then Machiavelli takes it to a different place "Not only is it not of this world, you still live in the world so the law is higher than the spiritual power. No higher power exists outside of politics.
• What marvelous equilibrium was lost when the classical world gave way to the Hellenistic?
o between the idea of individual excellence and that of the good of a larger whole, the political community o Goes from polis to cosmopolis
What significant step toward modernity to Marsilius take?
o reduced the purpose of politics to material concerns wholly within the scope of human power
• What three competing notions of complete goodness does Aristotle leave us with?
o the good of the soul, properly enacted, is held to constitute a whole and complete goodness o the common good of the city, which is held to be higher than any private interest. o the ultimate and most comprehensive good, the self-sufficiency of "god and the entire universe"—let us say the good of a cosmos of unchanging order, the inherent and absolutely self-sufficient good of eternal being itself The problem is that each of these supposedly self-sufficient goods is impossible to conceive without reference to the others.
• How does Seneca express the typical Stoic view regarding fortune?
o the virtuous human soul is impervious to Fortune: "The mind is fully master of itself," that "Nature . . . has gifted us with an aspiring and lofty spirit [mind] . . . that most resembles the soul of the universe." The human mind is thus "superior to all, monarch of all it surveys."
Why does Aristotle not expect too much precision in the study of ethics?
· Ethics/moral science is not exact science. It is not like natural sciences and cannot be looked at with precision. · Moral science depends on moral virtue-you have to have experience with it before you can learn or think about it. It is biased in the sense that it is dependant on perspective and experience which is not exactly objective.
What are the four main topics covered by the ten books of Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics?
· Moral virtue · Intellectual Virtue · Friendship · Contemplation (highest of all virtues)
According to R. Hancock's reading of Aristotle's Politics, what is the most comprehensive and serious choice that can be made? (III)
· The most comprehensive and serious choice that can be made is that of a regime or a moral-political constitution, an authoritative form of life in common for a body large enough to be self-sufficient and small enough to be truly self-governing.
Why, later in his life, did Aquinas stop writing?
• "I can write no more. I have seen things which make all my writings like straw." • Mystical experiences - vision of Christ, ecstasy during mass
What three LDS "myths" regarding the Great Apostasy does Noel Reynolds reject?
• 1- Caused by outside persecution • 2- Caused by incorporation of Greek Philosophy o But philosophy in fact saved Christianity from utter collapse. o Gospel understood as completed by philosophy • 3- Great & Abominable as Roman Catholic Church o But "plain & precious" things removed before establishment of Roman Catholic Church o Only 2 churches o Many true, humble followers of Christ.
How does Aristotle defend the possibility of freedom or "choice"?
• According to Aristotle we must praise/blame human actions. (this shows we believe responsible choice is possible) • Human agency participates in the goodness of the good without any theoretical knowledge of the final good. • We do not need true knowledge of a Platonic final good to make good choices according to Aristotle, according to Socrates we do.
How is Augustine's struggle with Platonism apparent in his speculations on the nature of heavenly felicity?
• Augustine must link the Good to some heavenly experience but Platonism argues felicity found on earth, Plato and Aristotle see the Good as an unknowing good, Christians believe God died for you specifically and is knowable, struggle is linking the perfect good to humanity • Good is mysterious, like God. Heavenly felicity: It's impossible to know the happiness in heaven but realizes that it isn't going to help people to say "it's gunna be great". Needs human touch → God is our father. Something to make it feel good in a human sense. Linking God to humanity.
What is Augustine's main complaint against the Platonists?
• Augustine strongly disagrees with Plato's philosophical elitism--people get to be saved too, not just philosophers. Everyone needs to be saved, otherwise what's the point?
How is his use of the term "peace" ambiguous? (see Thinking Politically, p. 140(?) )
• Augustine, in fact, elevates the notion of peace to the status of the highest good, both in eternity and in this mortal life. But this common term masks a significant underlying equivocation. Eternal peace, for Augustine, denotes a right ordering of the cosmos and of the human soul under God • he is able to shift subtly from peace as cosmic order to peace as the mere absence of war that allows for minimal political order and bodily security
According to Augustine, is blessed mortality possible?
• Basically the idea is that if you are immortal then you're blessed and if you're immortal you are unhappy, do blessed mortals exist? "I'm not gonna say no but probably not" God needs to reveal himself to you and that is the only way to be fully happy but maybe it is possible for a philosopher to know God on his own because God is reason
What tension is apparent in Aristotle's account of courage? (III.9)
• Courage is, in a way, beautiful and pleasant in itself as a fulfillment of human nature. However, courage is also instrumental to social, political and material goods. So is Aristotle right in believing that virtue is good in itself?
How does pure classical logic (e.g. Pangle) debunk the glory of Abraham's sacrifice (the Akeda)?
• Either Abraham knew that God would somehow avert or reverse Abraham's sacrifice, and so it was not really a sacrifice, or else Abraham was ready to sacrifice all his hopes to God, whose command therefore becomes wholly unintelligible. For Pangle, it seems that biblical obedience must either be purely calculating and thus not at all ennobling, or else it is simply mad and humanly meaningless
What is Thomas's central insight?
• the unity of truth: not only are human beings fundamentally oriented toward truth, but both reason and revelation direct us towards one and the same truth. • He tried to justify christianity before the bar of reason. Should be able to use reason to understand God.
Name and define the four kinds of law.
• Eternal: highest and most comprehensive; it is defined simply as God's government of the perfect whole, of "the whole community of the universe" • Natural: imperfect, human knowledge of God's Eternal Law; "Do good, avoid evil." • Human: the application of natural law to particular circumstances. This includes situations in which there is no single right answer—not only, for example, something like choosing which side of the road will be the "right" side to drive on, but specifying the punishments appropriate to specific crimes. • Divine: supplies various defects of natural and human law: it directs human beings to their supernatural end; it remedies the uncertainty of human judgment; it applies to "interior movements" of the soul, as opposed to visible actions; and moreover, it punishes evils not covered by human law
According to Philippe Beneton, what happens to "freedom" when it is divorced from all higher meaning?
• Freedom cannot be separated from divine goodness; purely "secular" freedom must hate The Good, essentially equality by default, your only freedom is your ability to be free, stops being freedom when it is no longer tied to anything
What decisive step beyond classical philosophy does Augustine take?
• He goes beyond what the philosophers say about only philosophical minds achieving good, he brings Aristotelian ideas to everyone, all secular thought has to recon with the idea of salvation for everyone, universality
What question is the "two swords" doctrine supposed to address?
• Just what does it mean in political practice, then, to grant the political realm distinct and legitimate authority in dealing with mortal necessities while still acknowledging the eternal superiority of the church as custodian of men's souls?
Why does revelation teach some things that are available to reason?
• Many truths available (in principle) to reason are also taught by revelation. This is because only a few have the natural capacity and the means to fully exercise their reason, and even those who are so blessed need the guidance of revelation in their youth, when their passions are strong and their reason is not yet fully developed. In any case, even the wisest human beings are vulnerable to error and need revelation to keep them on a straight course towards truth.
What is moral virtue? (NE II)
• Moral virtue is the intrinsic good of the body. It is about training pleasure and pain in the right way. • A mean between extremes, fulfills purpose of nature, a habit/ character trait or disposition. • Concerns feelings and actions: emotions.
What can reason know, and what can it not find out for itself, about God?
• Natural reason is inherently good and oriented towards eternal truth, but also that it is limited by its dependence on sense perception. Natural reason can attain some very significant knowledge of God, namely, that he exists and that he is one. The rational study of traces of God in his creation is good for the soul because the soul is naturally oriented towards truth. But the highest truths transcend reason; though reason can find out the existence and unity of God, it cannot penetrate the mystery of the Trinity. We have access to this higher truth by faith, and faith both humbles and elevates reason
How does Leon Kass respond (in effect) to this classical logic?
• Pangle's logic—or, more precisely, his rational teleology—cannot account for the intrinsically relational character of biblical transcendence. In a word, he cannot account for love as a good that enriches the lover only when he releases his rational hold on it, his claim of secure possession. Biblical sacrifice does not leave behind "the mundane activities and relations of everyday life,"13 but redeems and sanctifies them
When asked whether the noble lie in the city might apply to the soul, Prof. Hancock suggested:
• Straight outta TA's book: "Plato may nobly exaggerate the satisfactions of pure philosophy for personal beings"
What is Augustine's critique of the cyclic theory of the soul?
• TA: According to plato, everything that goes up must come down, nothing that is perfect can change. However, Augustine says there has to be a way to break out and become more perfect--we can't just go up and down.
In what opposite ways do the Bible and Plato's Republic resolve the tension between the family and the city?
• The Bible teaches an "intense but severely limited eroticism," limited by the requirements of familial order, but the Greeks teach us to question the family for sake of eros, "which in turn metamorphoses into the passion for free self-discovery." • The Greeks demote the family and use the city as a stepping-stone to an intellectual divinity. The Bible ignores the city and takes the family as a stepping-stone to divinity, with God as a devoted but also commanding father
How does Aristotle respond to Socrates' argument that the only sin is ignorance?
• The intrinsic goodness of moral virtue (an apparent means to further ends) is good enough to ground moral responsibility. • Aristotle does not want to dissolve the moral realm and make right conduct purely dependent on true knowledge of some external good.
Why did Augustine write The City of God?
• The occasion for writing The City of God was the sacking of the city of Rome by barbarian invaders in the year AD 410. Although Rome's decline was of course not a single and sudden event, the fall of the empire's capital was a massive psychological shock to all Roman citizens. In the aftermath of this event, defenders of the Roman tradition often singled out the Christian religion as a cause of the empire's weakness. Augustine took up the pen to defend Christianity against this charge of undermining the virtue of Rome, and in doing so he undertook a comprehensive articulation of the truth of Christianity against the errors and evils of the world and its false gods.
Can harm come to a good man? (NE 1:10,11)
• Yes, because a happy life requires external goods, so missing some of these external goods can cause harm to a good man. • "Bad fortune may crush the happiness of even a virtuous man, but it is some consolation that "nobility shines through," so such a man can never become absolutely miserable." (Thinking Politically)
What fundamental agreement sets Augustine and Aquinas apart from all pre-Christian philosophy?
• the highest good is found in God. It is in this highest good that the good of the soul and the good of the city perfectly converge.