Ancient & Medieval Philosophy: First Exam

Mbiti Reading on the Board: “Religion is an ontological phenomenon”

• Religion premates every aspect of being

• Names have religion significance

• Rocks, boulders are important things

Mbiti Reading on the Board: What is phenomenon Calendar, what does this say about the African concept of time?

• Time has to be experience in order to make sense or become real

• No distant future

• Time is not linear

No-time

• Future events are no time because they don’t exist.

• Things that haven’t happened

Potential time

• Inevitable event or events that will occur because they’re part of nature’s cycle

• Examples: “Winter is coming”, “Changing tide”, “Sunrise/Sunset” “Crop Season”

Actual time

• Present, immediate past, immediate future but no more than 6 months- 2 years

Sasa (“not in my sasa”)

• The here and now

• Immediate future for the present and community relevant parts of immediate past

• Your focus should be your Sasa

• Moat important

• Everyone’s Sasa is a different length

• Africans make time instead of slaving timel ike Westerners do

Zamani

• Past and distant past

Western History (compared to African History)

• Chronology

• Accuracy

• Exact dates

• Based on historical/empirical evidence

African History (compared to Western History)

• No dates

• Oral traditions

• Mythology vs History

• Mythology is not necessarliy true

African Tradition Death

• Part of the living dead

• Dead but spirit lives on

• Still part of the community

• Currently in Sasa

• “For long as someone is alive remembers your name or last seen you alive.

• When the person last seen you dies the spirit is dead-dead and is now part of Zamani

• Historical figures doesn’t apply.

Western View

I think, therefore I am

• My thinking is what confirms my existence

• Descartes made this

African View

“I am because we are”

• You only exist because of your community

• Your community comes before “I”/self/individual

Human being vs person (African view)

• “All persons are human being, but not all humans are persons”

• Baby is a human being, not yet a person

Personhood (African View)

Acquiring personhood is a process

• Not guaranteed

Basic Requirements of Personhood (African View)

• Puberty rites

• Marriage

• Procreation

• You also have to be a good member of the community

Selective Reincarnation

a 2 year old soul gets reincarnated into the next baby in that family

Partial reincarnation (not really reincarnation)

Genetics!

Saying if you have the same smile as your late family member

Western Community

• All about me

• not one combined intergrated group, rather it’s a random collection of individuals

• Individual legal rights

• Not friends!

Traditional African Community

• Very close-knitted

• Community pulls through

• Community be individual

• Yes, I know you and your name

Tell me about the discussion you had with your group in class.

Even though I didn’t mainly talk in my group, I wanted to share my own experience. I believe that history should be taught to be educated and not because it is good history. America as our own country has been brought up with lies and people are finding out many years later or is becoming ignorant/blind to the truth. For example, Christopher Colombus didn’t just tell the Natives that he wants their land to make it his own, he forcefully took it from them and caused a mass genocide.

Mengzi-Mencious (Good)

• All humans are born with 4 seeds in their hearts

• Seeds = potential for goodness

• Cultivate seeds throughout life and then you’ll be a good person

Benevolent impulse

• Everyone is born with it

• Impulse/ instinct/ knee-jerk reaction

• to save someone immediate danger

Higher level benevolent

• Systematic goodness

• requires thought

• not automatic

• you won’t kill people even if you can’t see them

Explain what metaphysics is, and explain Confucious positions on metaphysics. What does Confucious think we should focus on?

Metaphysics questions that science can’t answer. Confucious wants us to focus the human condition. (Men and society)

Explain the Decree of Heaven. What is the relationship between Heaven and the Emperor

The Decree of Heaven is a moral governance. Heaven is above the emperor, Heacen only supported the emperor only if done well for the people

Explain the Confucian concept of destiny. How should we handle Destiny?

Destiny: inevitable no control wealth, things that determined by destiny social

Do humans have free will according to Confucious

Yes and no, no free will when it comes to destiny and yes for when you are in harmony

Explain (“People are attached to profit”) of the 5 reasons for the current human condition, what is a way to overcome?

Problem: attached to profit, Solution: “Do for nothing” Do moral things even if it doesn’t benefit you

Explain Filial Piety for the current human condition what is the way to overcome?

Filial Piety: Child should be obdient to parents, Problem: Filial Piety is absent

Solution: Teach Filial Piety

Explain word and action for the current human. What is the way to overcome this?

Problem: People don’t do what they say they are going to do, breeds mistrust in society.

Solution: Do what you say, what you are going to do.

Explain the Confucian concept of “the way”, explain the way of the sages for the current human condition, and what is the way to overcome

Solution: Ignorance of the past, Study history Study the past and the way of sages, Supremely wise and moral men of the past the way of the sages

Explain benevolence for the current human condition, what is the way to overcome

Benevolence = virtue, kindness towards other benevolence is missing.

Solution: follow the golden rule, rites, traditions