Comparative-Philosophy

Greek has Four words that mean love:

1. Eros; this type of love is based on sexual attraction to the opposite sex.  Aphrodite is a Greek goddess that is know for her love, fertility and beauty. Aphrodite was forced to marry a ugly god named hephaestus who was opposite of her beauty.   Aphrodite had a child name Eros, just like his mother,  was attractive to a beautiful princess named Psyche, who was a mortal.  Psyhe was persuade by Eros to fall in love with a monster who was really him. Eros today is the symbol of love on valentine day which we see him as cupid.

2. Storge; this type of love is of mother, farther, sister, and brother.  This love is much stronger than any other love. Hestia was the most ancient fire deity goddess that took center stage in the live of ancient Greeks. The hearth was vita to Greeks daily needs and served as a religious purpose.  On each hearth ancient Greeks built a small altar for worshiping all the deities which protected their home and families.  The hearth protected and sheltered family life from physical threat and adherence to high morals value.  The protection by the hearth goddess was not limited to the family circle, but also extended to the city life.



3. Philla; this type of love is called brotherly love.  This type of love makes us want to help old ladys and our fellow man.  This type of love also help us see orther as needing our love, sadly this love can be selfish. Some people show this type of love to people in order to get something out of it. Julio-Claudians (Julius Ceasars) love his wife Vipsania Agrippina and his brother Drusus. Beside their love Julio Ceasars love his military.  At the age of 22 he was in command of his own military, after recovery of some roman legions that had been lost it brought him great acclaim. Julius Ceasars conquered different territory and distinguished himself where he became popular and love.




4. Agape; this type of love is the highest.  This love is an unconditional love for others in spite of their flaws and weaknesses. It is hard to love this way because, humans are usually concerned more with ourselves and how the world and the people around us affect us.  Mother Theresa was a noun that look out for other interest above their own.  Mother Theresa taught in India for 17 years when she received her called to devote herself for caring for the sick and poor. Mother Theresa took went into the Calcutta's slum to aid the unwanted, the unloved, and the uncared for.  Over the course of the 1950's and 1960's, she established a leper colony, an orphanage, a nursing home, a family clinic and a string of mobile health clinics.

Philosophy

What is the meaning of life? Has it changed from ancient cultures?

            Does life have a meaning? What does life mean? What is the purpose of life? These are some of the questions that have been asked by thinking man for ages now. What answers have we come up with? Have the answers to these questions been answered? Have some of these answers changed over the ages of thinking man?  

            From the beginning of time the meaning of life really didn’t have a meaning at all, it was mostly about acquiring food, water, sex and just surviving the environment, whether that meant animals trying to kill and eat them or surviving the possibly being beat to death by a rival tribesman.

            As the age of man progressed and became more civilized, we start to see humanity master it’s surrounding and become more settled with the land that they occupy. We start to see more permanent huts; crops and inter-tribal protection system arise. With this added security in their day to day lives we start to see the formation of love, friendships, and sexual monogamy. There might have been some thought of the meaning of life, but no true deep thought of the meaning of life, we see more of a polytheistic reasoning of why things good and bad happen.

            It was not until May 28, 585 B.C. when we see that humanity starts to look for answers of what was actually going on with not only themselves, but their environment. On this specific day there was a great battle between the Medes and Lydians that was interrupted by a darkness, this darkness was viewed by the combatants as a sign from the “God’s” and in fear of this darkness the battle was abandon in fear of repercussion from these “God’s”, except for the first western Greek philosopher Thales that predicted a solar eclipse to happen. Humanity and the way it thought of the meaning of life would change forever after this day.

            From the time of Thales to the present time there has been a great change in what and how we define the meaning of life. In the ancient times of Thales, the Pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato, etc., we see these great philosophers try and explain the world around them, how it worked, the meaning of life, the purpose of life, etc., because of their limited knowledge they explained a lot through their polytheistic beliefs. Even though Thales calculated a solar eclipse on May 25, 585 B.C., it was not until Copernicus and the publishing of his book in 1543 C.E. that explain the heliocentric theory, that was later proven correct by Galileo in 1632, from this point in time you start to see a separation of science from theology. During this time the movement away from theology and to science had a grave consequence that lead to either excommunication or death.

     In present day humanity has created a social contract that has allowed us to respect one another, to have self-esteem, have confidence, strive for achievements in life, and reach self-actualization. This has allowed us to explore the meaning of life in great depth. Not all of us have looked for the meaning life in the same way, some of us have looked to the meaning of life in either monotheism, polytheism; others have felt lost and looked for the meaning of life in drugs; while others have felt a great void in life and have taken their lives by committing suicide.

            As you could see the meaning of life is not easy to define! The meaning of life should be what you make of it! Whether you find the meaning of life in love, technological achievements, or just by living life by the seat of your pants!!! Find a passion in your life and pour everything you have into it and find the joy of life. Then and only then will you find a reason for life. Only through experience will you gain knowledge!

“You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life” David Seaman

Comparative Religion

All across the world people have Religions. We have faith and belief in certain things, and as people, we certainly do not all believe in the same things. What some people consider to be true can be contrary to what another person thinks is true. There are many Religions in this world. They all have differences and similarities. The greatest similarity across all religions we have studied is that all religions believe in a higher being.

            There is and has never been a religion in the world that was or is completely atheist. One way or the other, every religion believes in a higher power and worships that higher power. The five major religions we have studied are: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism. Islam and Christianity are the two most popular religions of them all. There are many differences between these two religions, but there are similarities and the most important one is that they both believe in God and both worship God to the fullest. Islam believes in God; they call him “Allah”. He is the creator of earth and he is almighty. For Christianity God is the creator of heaven and earth who sent his son Jesus Christ for us. He died on the cross, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. The Islam religion recognizes Jesus Christ, but not as the son of God. Both religions have a very deep relationship to God. Islam has been known for their extremist beliefs in what will be given to them by “Allah” in the afterlife. For example: believing that seventy two virgins will be given in the afterlife to those who sacrifice their current life for “Allah”. Although Islam beliefs are a bit extreme in our eyes, it is still a God-based religion.

            Judaism is a religion that is much like Christianity. Jewish teachings are that God exists, he is the only God, and he is eternal. Judaism focuses on the one on one relationship with God. The teachings of Judaism are to be found in the “Torah” (the Jewish Bible) or the more recent “Talmud”. Judaism beliefs are that God will reward the good and punish the wicked. They believe that the messiah will come to earth and the dead will be resurrected. Hinduism teaches that no man will escape his destiny. Hindus believe heavily in Karma. One’s destiny will be determined by the thoughts, words and deeds of that person. Hindus worship God through meditation of the body and soul; a complete surrender to the almighty. Buddhism is the one religion that stray the most away from the other religions. Buddhists have many gods. For example: the god of wisdom, the god of healing, and the god of purification. All of which are prayed to when needed.“Buddha” is more of a teacher about life how one should go about it. Buddhism is seen as advice to consider rather than rules to follow or commandments.

            Though all these religions differ in many areas, the one similarity still remains that they all believe in a higher being.

Comparative Culture

Our modern pop-culture art is definitely, to what I believe, up to date with our society. I think it fits in perfectly with how people are today. You look around at modern art; it is bright, full of life and color, fun, and very interesting to view. Then look around at our society. You see people walking around in outfits you would never think some one would wear. You see billboards filled with artwork, buildings with paintings on them, cars with designs on them, etc. That is just a few examples of how art mirrors life right now in our society. If you look back at ancient art you will notice a huge difference. They had sculptures, paintings, cave drawings, statues and much more. They were all very unique in their own way. The artwork from Egypt, for example, blends in to their society perfectly. Paintings and sculptures of Pharaoh’s and animals showed basically everything Egyptians lived around and dealt with on a day-to-day basis. The animals they worshipped were drawn in the pyramids, and sculptures of Pharaoh’s were made. The thing that gets me the most is, they did not have the technology or tools we have today. Comparing our society to ancient cultures, you can easily see how much times have changed. Our society today has much more to choose from when it comes to pretty much everything. We have better tools now made just for artists. We have many more colors and options to choose from to make any type of masterpiece anyone would want to create. There is much more abstract and odd-looking art in our world today than they are ever was in ancient times. I could never even think of coming up with some of the art, artists come up with today. Ancient cultures did not have much to choose from. Most of their artwork was basic and of natural things such as, animals, people and nature. Sculpting something back then could take them years to perfect, while now in our society we just need a few computers and were good to go. Another thing is we have art stores. They come filled with all types of paints, brushes, canvas’s, any type of supply you need for art and crafts. Ancient Egyptians had nothing anywhere near that! If they wanted paint they would have to make some, and tools would be made of stone, brushes would be hand made. They could not just walk into an art store and pick these things up as easily as we can today.  You can tell just by looking at their art how much we have modernized over the years. I personally have not been to an art museum anytime recently, but I can tell just from looking at the outside of the museum how modern it would be if I walked inside.  I definitely agree with the saying, “Art mirrors life”. I mean what else would an artist base their artwork on if there were no life? Most artists let their feelings out through their artwork, from what I hear.

Origins

The true origin of humanity is widely debated and a very sensitive subject. There are many different outlooks and opinions on whether human beings evolved from primitive primates millions of years ago or were created by a supernatural being thousands of years ago. Even with today’s great advancements in technology, it does not seem like this question will be answered for some time. More than likely, even if someone could come up with a theory that majority of scientists would agree upon, the strong religious beliefs that billions of people hold would make it almost impossible to change their minds and get them to believe different.

Science tells us that human beings began to evolve over two hundred thousand years ago. Historians say the idea of right and wrong was a major subject as human beings began to gather and form societies. I once saw a study where three groups of children were giving the same tasks to complete and asked to do so in an orderly manner and they would receive a reward at the end. Group one had someone present in the room, group two had no one present in the room, and group three was unattended but the children were told there was a magic princess watching them. Amazingly the group that had the best results was group three. I think this says a lot about mankind, religions, and societies. The one major thing that separates mankind from animals is our ability to make rational decisions. I think the idea of there is always someone looking compels people to do right.

I was raised in a Southern Baptist household and was taught from a very young age that being a Christian and believing in God and Jesus was the only way to reach a peaceful afterlife. As an adolescent I never thought to question that idea. As I have gotten older, traveled the world, and had more life experiences I can honestly say I do not believe there is one correct belief. I have not lost my faith in Christianity or my personal beliefs that there is a God or Jesus, but the belief that Christianity is the sole religion that is correct. I believe that God comes in any form needed for a person to do right, including those who do not believe. I know some atheist who had better values than some dedicated church goers I know.

There has not been one religion that has lasted since humanity has stared. But for thousands of years, almost all societies have feared, praised, and acknowledged some type of higher being. The main similarity in all of the different religions is that there is a belief in a non-present supernatural being or beings. Most modern day religions tell its believers there is a peaceful afterlife. Before these religions became the, Greek and Roman religions portrayed there gods as supernatural beings who toyed with humans lives because it was of very little value to them and there was nothing mankind could do about. I believe this is why it was so easy for current religions to grow. For most life was generally bad and the new religions promised it would get better because there was a being that actually cared. 

Mythology/Iconography

Mythology is the body of stories associated with a culture or institution or person. Mythology was best through the ancient Greek culture. Every Greek culture compared everything such as, rain, crops, sunlight, etc., to the gods reasoning. When cities would go to war with one another, they would pray to Ares, the god of war, for aid to win the war. Zeus, the god of all gods, was the superior, and was always the most feared. Mythology also entailed creatures called demi-gods, were humans that were half human and half god. All of these gods were highly worshiped and glorified throughout the Greek culture. Gods were the reason humans were successful, poor, lucky, alive or even dead. If you were to mock the gods, it was believed that they would show no mercy in showing who is dominant. If you were to owe a favor to Poseidon for example, after he does something for you and you fail to comply, he would send a tidal wave to flood your land to make you suffer. Each culture has their own version of their gods, but none of them is seen better through the Ancient Greek culture. As followed by the famous book, The Odyssey, the main character Odysseus, is challenged and tormented by the god because he went against them. He had to spend years and countless challenges until he returned home. The Gods taught him a lesson to appreciate his life and never take anything for granted.

- Rex Sainz

Iconography - the traditional or conventional images or symbols associated with a subject and especially a religious or legendary subject. Iconography has been dated back since around 3000 B.C. Another meaning of Iconography is the allegorical paintings and arts of icons in the Byzantine and Orthodox Christian traditions.

Most Greek Gods have their own depiction of iconography and symbolism. For example, according to classical Greek iconography the paintings, art, and sculptures of Zeus depict him as not a tyrant, but a fair and even minded God that sits on a throne, holding a sceptre, with the power to heave lightning bolts. Poseidon is always shown with a trident, and usually seen near underwater animals.

Iconography, also known as the language of symbols, was very important in the eras where only a few of the people were literate. These illustrations were intended for the audience to easily recognize and understand the subject immediately. Consistency when using symbols is one of the most important factors in understanding Iconography.

Regions in Africa, China, Rome, and Egypt are among some of the other past civilizations which we know for a fact that have used Iconography.

In Egypt, one of the Gods they worship is a mother goddess named Hathor that is always associated with the cow and usually appeared in relief sculpture and wall paintings as a woman with a cow head. Some of the other Egyptian gods that the Egyptians worship is Ra, the sun god, and Ptah the creator. While Ra takes form of a hawk head, Ptah takes form of a bull.

- By Ricky Young

Art and Culture

The Cultural Philosophy of the Japanese samurai

By

Jeremiah Putney & Nate Cooper



The Samurai of Japan where basically warriors who were also noble men the best thing to relate them to would be the medieval knights of Europe. But these men where more devout to there masters even the translations of the word samurai means those who serve in close attendance to the nobility. The thing I want to talk about in this blog thou is there code of honor there philosophy of life or what we would call there code of honor. The reason I chose to talk about this topic is that every since I saw the movie the last samurai I have had a fascination with the samurai of Japan and want to learn more about them



Its name is Bushido what means the way of the Warrior-Knight. It originates from the samurai moral code that stresses frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and even honor unto death the virtues of bushido in total there are seven virtues of Bushido and they are Rectitude, Courage, Benevolence, Respect, Honesty, Honor and Loyalty. But what to each of these values mean to them well rectitude means to be Righteous and for them courage meant to be brave in battle but to also have courage in making the hard choices in life. Benevolence was give charity to those who were in need .Respect they needed to respect those above them those that where there master Honesty was to never lie. Honor is adherence to what is right and the last is Loyalty which is meaning they stay loyal to there family friends and finally to there lord. Samurai were the honored warrior they were men and even woman who spent there whole life training with a sword and practicing these core values to fight for there master or lord.



But what would happen if a samurai failed to uphold one of these codes you ask well if a samurai failed to uphold his honor by breaking one of the tenets he could only regain his honor by performing seppuku which means a ritual suicide where they took a short blade, traditionally a tantō, and plunge it into there abdomen and then moving the blade from left to right in a slicing motion, then there kaishakunin or also know as the second would perform a kaishaku with there Katana a cut in which the warrior was decapitated with part of the skin would still be attached so the head would not go flying to the officials who were presiding over the execution



Today in Japan you will still find a lot of influence left behind by the samurai a lot of people still use bushido as a way of living there life in modern day Japan its funny to think that what most people would call outdated here in the west is still used today kind of shows you that even thou its old beliefs there still something that we can live by today. Well here it is hope you enjoyed this blog post we put together and that maybe you even learned something from reading it.

Comparative-Civilization

     One of the more recent claims or ideals that has become increasingly more prevalent in today's society is the comparative nature of the ancient Roman empire with that of modern day America; and the U.S. to be more exact. While this can appear to be true at first glance, the truth is that ancient Rome and modern day America are quite different from each other in terms of an empire.

     Obviously, the U.S. is still considered the current Hegemon, however, in a world where democracy is becoming ever-more prevalent, the power and relevance of this Hegemonic status begins to dwindle. At this point you could argue that Rome underwent a similar decline after their prime but you would in fact be describing every major human civilization from past to present. For example, the Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, British, French and even the Germans all had a similar type of empire that both rose and eventually fell. The primary difference between The U.S. and Rome is that Rome did not share power. They simply conquered those who stood in their way while the U.S. has never really taken an imperialistic stance. This is vastly different from modern day where building alliances is now the most effective strategy in the global theater.
     Another common comparison that is made between Rome and the U.S. is that of a similar social stratification between the two. To this I would say that unless you live in a communist country, you will always experience some sort of social stratification. By now we are all familiar with the 1% and 99% or the wealthy and 'poor' respectively within the U.S. Historians have discovered that ancient Rome had a far more complex social structure involving as many as seven or eight different social classes. Also, to expand upon this, the only requirements to vote in the U.S. is that you must be a citizen over the age of eighteen. In ancient Rome however, only a roman-born male was able to vote and regardless of age.

     Personally, I can only find and agree with two similarities between the U.S. and ancient Rome; the first being within the arts and sciences. Undoubtedly, both these civilizations have made profound discoveries and innovations within these realms. Aside from the extraordinary advances on the military front, both civilizations have paved the way for others and quite literally with the Romans. The U.S. equivalent of the Romans paved roads would be the space exploration program. Yet again though, this type of logic is flawed because other countries have also made similar advancements; in this case it would be Russia.
     The second area in which these two civilizations share a similarity would be in their dynamic populations. Both ancient Rome and America are comprised of individuals from various parts across the globe. Where Romes population consisted of the Roman-born and the conquered, America's current population is the result of European imperialism. Either way, both civilizations experienced an extremely diverse set of cultures, religions and ideals.
     Overall, is the U.S. considered the new Rome? Largely no, with a few exceptions. The simple truth is, any Hegemony inherently shares similarities with other previous Hegemonies.


For further reading, please visit: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/political-bookworm/2010/04/america_as_a_new_rome.html

http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/socialculture/tp/Roman-Society.htm


   
   

Science and Reason