Political Thought Final

What does hellenic mean?

Greek

What does hellenistic mean?

Greek like

Who are some famous figures that lived in the Hellenic period?

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle

Almost everything we know that comes from the Hellenic period was written in what?

Greek

What is the period between the death of Alexander in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire in the first century B.C.?

Hellenic period

What is lingua franca?

the most commonly adopted language

Why was the timer period referred to as the Hellenistic period?

because of the prominence of Greek as the lingua franca

What is the modern day lingua franca?

English

What did Alexander do during his reign?

conquered massive amounts of territory

Why was Greek the lingua franca?

because of the amount of territory Alexander conquered during his reign

What was the region of land that Alexander conquered in his reign?

Greece to India

Did Alexander create the idea of an Empire?

No, but he introduced the idea to Greece

What was at the top of the list in terms of importance to the lives of people living in city states?

citizenship

How did city-states shift under Alexander?

shifted in purpose toward being administrative units rather than sovereign entities

What does it mean that Alexander shifted to being administrative instead of sovereign entities?

to standardize legal structure of the entire empire

What 3 groups emerged that provided philosophies of life during the intermediary period of the classical world?

Cynics, Stoics, Epicureans

What did the 3 groups that emerge each try to do?

provide the individual security against a hostile world

What were the most common reasons for death in the Hellenistic period?

death from war and childhood death

What kind of rejection did the cynics have and what did it mean?

ostentatious rejection; reject modern culture

What does it mean to be cynnical?

to assume the worst

What is stoicism?

being more reserved/act of not being externally emotional

What do the stoics believe about emotions?

they are destructive; feeling emotions is bad

What are the Epicureans referred to as and what do they emphasize?

ancient hippies; live here and now, do not worry about later

What was the nickname for the cynics?

barking dogs

Why were the cynics referred to as the barking dogs?

they claimed to have been followed by dogs and did not stop preaching their message

What are the two main symbols of the cynics?

dogs and a lantern

Were cynics considered to be philosophers in a normal sense?

no

Who was Diogenes?

a famous cynic who traveled and constantly preached his beliefs; rejecting norms

What did the cynics believe about material goods?

they had no materials goods and a single outfit

How would a cynic answer the question, “Where are you from?”?

planet Earth

What did cynics devote their entire lives to?

virtue and they identify with nature

What was considered natural in the eyes of the cynics?

anything not associated with society

Did cynics accept nomos?

no; they rejected nomos in the pursuit of virtue

What did cynics believe was all that was required for happiness?

virtue

Who was the founder of stoicism?

Zeno

What came before Zeno?

Diogenes>Crates

What emerged from the tradition of the stoics?

longstanding school of thought

What evolves over time creating an early, middle, and late period?

stoicism

Who promoted Stoicism?

Marcus Aurelius; the current emperor of Rome

What did it mean that the Stoics had a strong belief in a divine governor?

they had no religion; but they did believe in a higher power

Were stoics rationale?

yes, they believed everything that happens does so for a reason

What do the stoics believe we should do with anything that comes our way?

accept it and do not worry about it

What do the stoics believe happiness comes from?

accepting whatever comes our way

What do the stoics believe tranquility comes from?

only those things you have control over

What is natural law according to the stoics?

laws everywhere that are determined by a higher/divine force

What is the main difference between natural law and positive law according to the stoics?

positive law is variable and natural law is not

What are the 3 general principles of natural law according to the stoics?

it is objective and unchanging, it must be knowable, it should be in legalistic form

What is the source of natural law according to the stoics?

some type of divine force

Where does natural law apply to the stoics?

everywhere

What is the opposing force to moral relativism?

natural law

How should people be able to acquire natural law according to the stoics?

reason

What do the stoics believe when a conventional law contradicts a natural law?

it cannot be enforceable

The Epicureans of…

Samos

Do the Epicureans have an explicit political philosophy?

no, more of a philosophy

What is the main idea of the Epicureans?

Live Unnoticed

What does it mean that the epicureans want to live unnoticed?

they do not want to be bothered

The Epicureans believe there are natural explanations for…

natural phenomena

Do the epicureans believe in a higher power?

they did not think one was necessary

What did the Epicureans NOT want people to be motivated by?

fear of the gods

What were the 3 things that epicureans believed offered insight into happiness?

friendship, collectivism, and intellectual pursuit

What is collectivism for epicureans?

working together and dependent on one another; people will be better to each other

What did Epicurus believe humans were free from?

the Gods

What did it mean that humans were free from the Gods?

they had total free will

Epicureans believed that nature was random, so rules were made by…

convention

What did Epicureans believe about the soul?

there is no distinction between the soul and the body, so when one dies, the other dies and that it the end

What do Epicureans view pleasure as?

the absence of pain

Epicureans believed that physical pleasure was not thought to be a real release…

but intellectual pleasure was

What is hedonism?

the pursuit of pleasure

What were the 3 philosophical eras discussed and what were the time periods?

Classical Antiquity (5th century BC-4th Century AD)

Medieval (5th century-15th century)

Modern (16th century-present)

When was the Protestant Reformation?

during the modern era

Where was the bridging of Christianity?

between the classical antiquity era and the medieval era

What was the medieval period largely marked by?

Christendom

What did Chritianity’’s omnipresence throughout Europe dominate?

politics

What was early Christianity defined by?

New Testament philosophy

Was early Christianity explicitly political?

no, in some ways it was explicitly apolitical

How many books are in the NT?

27

When were Paul’s epistles written?

50-60 AD

Did Paul know Jesus?

no, and he didn’t have gospels

When were the gospels written?

70-120 AD

What does it mean that early Christianity was very eschatological?

relating to death and judgement

Was the Roman empire polytheistic to begin?

yes

When did the Crucifixion of Jesus happen?

33 AD

When was Christianity illegal until?

the Edict of Milan in 313

Who was Constantine?

the emperor of Rome in 313 who receives a revelation where he looks to the sky during battle and sees an outline of a cross

When was Constantine’s religious conversion?

Battle of Milvian Bridge in 313

What is eschatology?

the basic belief that the end times are near

What was the goal of Christians?

going to the Kingdom of Heaven

Was eschatology a guess?

no, people were certain the end time were near

Christians believe you are to be in the world, NOT…

of the world

Is martyrdom ore a renouncement of faith more honorable?

martyrdom

When is martyrdom more rationale?

When you believe the end of the world is coming

What did the Greeks obtain moral fulfillment from?

political action

Did the cynics and stoics follow social norms?

no, they had a rejection of the world and did the opposite of mainstream society

What was the main focus on in early Christianity?

prospect of a future life

Did Christians care about being involved in politics?

no

What does it mean that Christians adopted the principle of universalism?

religious belief structure where everyone can receive the same rewards which sets them apart from other religions

What does it means that Christianity was universal?

the teachings of Jesus were freely accessible to everyone

The New Testament passages seem quite intended for…

the poor and dispossessed

Do the teachings of Jesus make societal distinctions in terms of their ability?

no

What religion did Christianity stand in contrast to?

Judaism, which was organized around legal adherence