Week 2: CheckPoint - Classical Greek Philosophy
The classical Greek philosophy of Stoicism had a
very large impact throughout subsequent cultures. The key element
of Stoicism that trickled down was Natural Law. This had a
tremendous impact on the legal system of Rome, and later cultures, as
it addressed how a rational person would behave. Stoic thought had a
impact on Augustine of Hippo and his writings as he used it as a tool
to point towards the need for the divine. Furthermore, Stoic
thought has definite underpinnings in the Reasonable Person development
within common law. (Natural Law, para. 1 & 3)
Plato's philosophy, in particular that of
metaphysical dualism, has had a major effect on modern culture.
In particular the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud were
significantly influenced by metaphysical dualism; in particular with
the ego functioning as the charioteer. This has hence impacted
all future psychological thought as they deal with Freud's
theories. There is also a significant aspect of this dualism with
the many psychological theories of conscious and subconscious
thought. Even more significantly the dual metaphysical thought
has heavily permeated modern spiritual belief. This is seem in
the beliefs by the extreme dichotomy between the physical world and the
spiritual world. Usually this is seen manifested by denying the
physical world and reaching out to the spiritual. Furthermore,
this spiritual dichotomy carries with it that the physical world is
bad, or evil, and the spiritual world is good; hence the need to reach
out to the spiritual.
© Erik Smith 2005
Licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License