INTRO PHILOSOPHY

The Historical Background for the Rise Of Christianity

Philosophy After Aristotle- Aristotle was the last great figure in the field of Western Philosophy for the next two thousand years.. Christianity took it’s rise toards the end of the Roman Power, and the next great thinker to emerge was a Christian Priest and one of the greatest thinkers of all times, by the name of St. Augustine.

However, to understand and appreciate the ideas put forward by St Augustine, we need to take a look at four philosphical trends within this era, that did much to shape Augustine’s thought.

CYNICISM- Founded by a disciple of Socrates, by the name of Diogenes, a man, who had

· no use for worldly fortune, luxury and pursuit of artificial pleasures.

· His goal was virtue and moral freedom.

· he felt that indifference to worldly goods could set him free from fear.

SCEPTICISM, subjectivism laced with moral and logical dilemma, - Started by Pyrrho, a general in Alexander’s army, this doctrine

· formally stated the doubts, that had troubled the Greeks about the apparent contradictions of sensory perception, which in it’s turn made them uncertain about the validity of knowledge.

· The sceptic found no rational ground for preferring one course of action over another, since he found no certainty in knowledge.

· It was a lazy man’s consolation, since the sceptic found the ignorant as wise as the learned.

· Constructive trend in Scepticism. By the 1st Cen. B. C. the Sceptic thinking became more constructive.

· They held that, though there could never be any certainty about truth,some things were more probable than others.

· They opposed divination, magic and astrology, which became popular at the time. Gradually their doctrine became somewhat indistinguishable from Stoicism, yet it continued to appeal to intellectuals until 3rd Cen A.D., when Christianity took it’s rise.

EPICUREANISM- Named after it’s founder Epicurus(342-270 B.C),

· It was a materialistic doctrine, that regarded absence of pain, rather than presence of pleasure as the goal of the wise man..

· Epicurus looked upon Philosophy as a practical system designed to secure happy life.

· It required no intellectual discipline like logic or mathematics, but simple common sense to avoid pain.

· The world, including man’s soul was made up of material atoms, according to him; and these atoms dissolve at the time of death.

· Gods existed simply to pursue their own pleasure, without bothering about human affairs.

· Man should then avoid pain by eating little, giving up sex and all kind of cultural pursuit, lest success in those matters bring in jealousy from others and thus bring in trouble..

STOICISM-

· Started by Zeno in the 3rd Cen B.C

· This school found its most eloquent thinker in Marcus Aurelius(2nd Cen. A.D.)

· He wrote Meditations one of the most significant ethical works of the ancient times, urging man to care for virtue, without expecting any return.

· Stoics believed that all events in the universe are determined by a larger cosmic force, which they referred to be fate, destiny or God(Logos).

· Human behavior, according to them was determined by Logos or fate too.

· Logos or God is not separate from the world,

· He is the soul of the world and each of us contain a particle of that Divine Fire

· Free Will therefore was an illusion. The Will of the Divine is cannot be overcome.

· Life is like a banquet, and we have to accept whatever has been placed in front of us.

· Happiness consists in surrender to the Logos or Divine Will- resign to our fate and not fight it.

NEO-PLATONISM – This is the school, that exerted the greatest of influence in shaping the concept of Trinity in early Christian Philosophy

· Founded by the Roman philosopher Plotinus(A.D.204-270), the school heavily borrows from the principles propounded by Plato.

· There are two realms of Reality-

1. The world of changing appearances , which is known through sensation . It generates ignorance and error.

2. And then there is the world of the Spirit or God . It has a Trinity, comprising of The One, and the Spirit and the Soul.

· All is in God

· Yet GOD transcends all.

· . It is limitless, indescribable and can only be known by a coming together with the soul.

· God in this school is more akin to Plato’s Good, than the personal God of Christianity