|
Cynicism (philosophy)
Cynicism ( grc, κυνισμός) is a school of thought in ancient Greek philosophy, originating in the Classical period and extending into the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial periods. According to Cynicism, people are reasoning animals, and the purpose of life and the way to gain happiness is to achieve virtue, in agreement with nature, following one's natural sense of reason by living simply and shamelessly free from social constraints. The Cynics ( grc, Κυνικοί, la, Cynici) rejected all conventional desires for wealth, power, glory, social recognition, conformity, and worldly possessions and even flouted such conventions openly and derisively in public. The first philosopher to outline these themes was Antisthenes, who had been a pupil of Socrates in the late 400s BC. He was followed by Diogenes, who lived in a ceramic jar on the streets of Athens. Diogenes took Cynicism to its logical extremes with his famous public demonstrations of non-conformity, coming to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cynicism (contemporary)
Cynicism is an attitude characterized by a general distrust of the motives of "others". A cynic may have a general lack of faith or hope in people motivated by ambition, desire, greed, gratification, materialism, goals, and opinions that a cynic perceives as vain, unobtainable, or ultimately meaningless and therefore deserving of ridicule or admonishment. The term originally derives from the ancient Greek philosophers, the Cynics, who rejected conventional goals of wealth, power, and honor. They practiced shameless nonconformity with social norms in religion, manners, housing, dress, or decency, instead advocating the pursuit of virtue in accordance with a simple and natural way of life. By the 19th century, emphasis on the ascetic ideals and the critique of current civilization based on how it might fall short of an ideal civilization or negativistic aspects of Cynic philosophy led the modern understanding of cynicism to mean a disposition of disbelief in the sincerity or goo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emotions
Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific consensus on a definition. Emotions are often intertwined with mood, temperament, personality, disposition, or creativity. Research on emotion has increased over the past two decades with many fields contributing including psychology, medicine, history, sociology of emotions, and computer science. The numerous theories that attempt to explain the origin, function and other aspects of emotions have fostered more intense research on this topic. Current areas of research in the concept of emotion include the development of materials that stimulate and elicit emotion. In addition, PET scans and fMRI scans help study the affective picture processes in the brain. From a mechanistic perspective, emotions can be defined as "a positive or negative experience that is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Logos
''Logos'' (, ; grc, wikt:λόγος, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive reasoning. Aristotle first systemised the usage of the word, making it one of the three principles of rhetoric. This specific use identifies the word closely to the structure and content of text itself. This specific usage has then been developed through the history of western philosophy and rhetoric. The word has also been used in different senses along with ''rhema''. Both Plato and Aristotle used the term ''logos'' along with ''rhema'' to refer to sentences and propositions. It is primarily in this sense the term is also found in religion. Background grc, wikt:λόγος, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason is related to grc, wikt:λέγω, λέγω, légō, lit=I say, label=Ancient Greek which is cognate with la, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Physis
Fusis, Phusis or Physis (; grc, φύσις ) is a Greek philosophical, theological, and scientific term, usually translated into English—according to its Latin translation "natura"—as "nature". The term originated in ancient Greek philosophy, and was later used in Christian theology and Western philosophy. In pre-Socratic usage, ''physis'' was contrasted with , , "law, human convention". Another opposition, particularly well-known from the works of Aristotle, is that of ''physis'' and ''techne'' – in this case, what is produced and what is artificial are distinguished from beings that arise spontaneously from their own essence, as do agents such as humans. Further, since Aristotle the ''physical'' (the subject matter of ''physics'', properly "natural things") has been juxtaposed to the ''metaphysical''. Linguistics The Greek word ''physis'' can be considered the equivalent of the Latin ''natura''. The abstract term physis is derived from the verb ''phyesthai/phynai'', w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adiaphora
Adiaphoron (; plural: adiaphora; from the Greek (pl. ), meaning "not different or differentiable") is the negation of ''diaphora'', "difference". In Cynicism, adiaphora represents indifference to the s of life. In Pyrrhonism, it indicates things that cannot be logically differentiated. Unlike in Stoicism, the term has no specific connection to morality. In Stoicism, it indicates actions that morality neither mandates nor forbids. In the context of Stoicism adiaphora is usually translated as "indifference". In Christianity, adiaphora are matters not regarded as essential to faith, but nevertheless as permissible for Christians or allowed in the church. What is specifically considered adiaphora depends on the specific theology in view. Cynicism The Cynics cultivate adiaphora, by which they meant indifference to the vicissitudes of life, through ascetic practices which help one become free from influences – such as wealth, fame, and power – that have no value in nature. Exampl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parrhesia
In rhetoric, parrhesia is a figure of speech described as "speak ngcandidly or ... ask ngforgiveness for so speaking". This Ancient Greek word has three different forms, as related by Michel Foucault. ''Parrhesia'' is a noun, meaning "free speech". ''Parrhesiazomai'' is a verb, meaning "to use parrhesia". ''Parrhesiastes'' is a noun, meaning one who uses parrhesia, or "one who speaks the truth.". Etymology The term ''parrhesia'' is borrowed from the Greek παρρησία ''parrhēsía'' (πᾶν "all" and ῥῆσις "utterance, speech") meaning literally "to speak everything" and by extension "to speak freely", "to speak boldly", or "boldness". The term first appears in Greek literature, when used by Euripides, and may be found in ancient Greek texts from the end of the fifth century B.C. until the fifth century A.D. It implies not only freedom of speech, but the obligation to speak the truth for the common good, even at personal risk. Usage in ancient Greece Parrhesia was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philanthropy
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material gain; and with government endeavors, which are public initiatives for public good, notably focusing on provision of public services. A person who practices philanthropy is a List of philanthropists, philanthropist. Etymology The word ''philanthropy'' comes , from ''phil''- "love, fond of" and ''anthrōpos'' "humankind, mankind". In the second century AD, Plutarch used the Greek concept of ''philanthrôpía'' to describe superior human beings. During the Middle Ages, ''philanthrôpía'' was superseded in Europe by the Christian theology, Christian cardinal virtue, virtue of ''charity'' (Latin: ''caritas''); selfless love, valued for salvation and escape from purgatory. Thomas Aquinas held that "the habit of charity ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arete (moral Virtue)
''Arete'' (Greek: ) is a concept in ancient Greek thought that, in its most basic sense, refers to 'excellence' of any kind Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. ''A Greek–English Lexicon'', 9th ed. (Oxford, 1940), s.v.br>—especially a person or thing's "full realization of potential or inherent function." The term may also refer to excellence in " moral virtue." The concept was also occasionally personified as a minor goddess, Arete (not to be confused with the mythological Queen Arete), who, together with sister Homonoia, formed the ''Praxidikai'' ('Exacters of Justice'). In its earliest appearance in Greek, this general notion of excellence was ultimately bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function: the act of living up to one's full potential. A person of arete is of the highest effectiveness; they use all of their faculties—strength, bravery, and wit—to achieve real results. In the Homeric world, arete involves all of the abilities and potentialitie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apatheia
Apatheia ( el, ἀπάθεια; from ''a-'' "without" and ''pathos'' "suffering" or "passion"), in Stoicism, refers to a state of mind in which one is not disturbed by the passions. It might better be translated by the word equanimity than the word indifference. The meaning of the word ''apatheia'' is quite different from that of the modern English apathy, which has a distinctly negative connotation. According to the Stoics, ''apatheia'' was the quality that characterized the sage. Whereas Aristotle had claimed that virtue was to be found in the golden mean between an excess and a deficiency of emotion (''metriopatheia''), the Stoics thought that living virtuously provided freedom from the passions, resulting in ''apatheia''. It meant eradicating the tendency to react emotionally or egotistically to external events, the things that cannot be controlled. For Stoics, it was the optimally rational response to the world, for things cannot be controlled if they are caused by the will o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eudaimonia
Eudaimonia (Greek: εὐδαιμονία ; sometimes anglicized as eudaemonia or eudemonia, ) is a Greek word literally translating to the state or condition of 'good spirit', and which is commonly translated as 'happiness' or 'welfare'. In works of Aristotle, ''eudaimonia'' was the term for the highest human good in older Greek tradition. It is the aim of practical philosophy-prudence, including ethics and political philosophy, to consider and experience what this state really is, and how it can be achieved. It is thus a central concept in Aristotelian ethics and subsequent Hellenistic philosophy, along with the terms ''aretē'' (most often translated as 'virtue' or 'excellence') and ''phronesis'' ('practical or ethical wisdom'). Discussion of the links between ''ēthikē aretē'' (virtue of character) and ''eudaimonia'' (happiness) is one of the central concerns of ancient ethics, and a subject of much disagreement. As a result, there are many varieties of eudaimonism. Defi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stobaeus
Joannes Stobaeus (; grc-gre, Ἰωάννης ὁ Στοβαῖος; fl. 5th-century AD), from Stobi in Macedonia, was the compiler of a valuable series of extracts from Greek authors. The work was originally divided into two volumes containing two books each. The two volumes became separated in the manuscript tradition, and the first volume became known as the ''Extracts'' (also ''Eclogues'') and the second volume became known as the ''Anthology'' (also ''Florilegium''). Modern editions now refer to both volumes as the ''Anthology''. The ''Anthology'' contains extracts from hundreds of writers, especially poets, historians, orators, philosophers and physicians. The subjects covered range from natural philosophy, dialectics, and ethics, to politics, economics, and maxims of practical wisdom. The work preserves fragments of many authors and works which otherwise might be unknown today. Life Of his life nothing is known. He derived his surname apparently from being a native of St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
