Posts

What is the nature of Being?

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Aristotle's philosophy, his metaphysics at least, is underpinned by his notion of being (óntōs), and the study of that which constitutes said being, being qua being as it is typically referred to in the Western philosophical tradition. It…

numbers and philosophy in antiquity (cont)

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While it’s tempting to look at the sequences of the bāguà, again the “eight trigrams” or “eight gua”, which as far as the tradition goes represent the earliest form of the Yĭ Jing from which the system of the 64 hexagrams was…

An Ontological Retrospective: Another Look at Aristotle and Pirsig’s Metaphysics of Quality

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Throughout this work we have emphasized the influence of Aristotle, perhaps more so than any other (Western) philosopher – even relative to his teacher Plato.  His importance and relevance as it relates to the development and evolution of…

Indo-European Philosophy: On the Soul

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There are many parallels that can be drawn between early Hellenic and Upanishadic philosophy.  In particular, we find many similarities between the philosophy presented by Plato in his Middle Period as he developed and fine-tuned his theory…
Laozi (Lao-tzu)

The Lǎozǐ and Zhuangzi: Daoism and the Way of Virtue

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As the Confucian school was referred to as Rújiā, the Daoist school was referred to as Daojiā, each called out as one of the six main philosophical schools during the Warring States Period to the Early/Former Han.  While a Daoist “canon”…

Plato and the Allegory of the Cave: Ideas, Being and Becoming

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The first systematic treatment of philosophy, and arguably the most influential, in the West can be found in works of Plato, in particular in his works the Phaedo, the Republic and the Timaeus which are by most accounts the most influential…
Death of Socrates

The Legacy of Socrates: Skepticism, Knowledge and Reason

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One of the best indications of the influence of Socrates on the development of Western philosophy, what the Hellenes, or Greeks, termed philosophia, his ideas being primarily represented by the writings of his best known pupil Plato, is the…

From Language to Writing: The Dawn of History

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The development of alphabet based language systems in general, a development that occurs in the Mediterranean at around the end of the second millennium BCE or so, represents a major evolution in the history of mankind.  It’s invention, if…

Plato’s Metaphysics: Being and Becoming

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Perhaps Plato’s greatest contribution to Western philosophy is the idealism embedded in his Theory of Forms, which in essence breaks down existence itself as not only a physical world of inanimate and animate objects, but a theory of knowledge…

Aristotle’s Metaphysics and Theology: On Being, the First Mover and Love (Eros)

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One of the most preeminent philosophical principles that underpins Western thought, one of the foundational presumptions of modern Science in fact, is the notion of causality, or what we refer to more specifically within the context of 20th…