Pursuing
Wisdom
An introductory course in philosophy
Professor Standen
Saint Michael’s College
Philosophy: The Love of Wisdom
 A good starting point to
thinking about what
philosophy is, is to look at
and try to understand that
the word philosophy
means in its original
language. It’s from the
ancient Greek words,
φιλο, for “love of” and,
σοφία, meaning “wisdom”,
thus, philosophy becomes
the love of wisdom and
since ancient Greece,
searchers for wisdom were
called philosophers…
The First Philosopher?
 It is commonly believed
that the person to coin the
word “philosopher” was
the great mathematician,
mystic, musician and
founder of a religion,
Pythagoras (Πυθαγόρας)
of Samos (570-495 BCE).
The term encompassed all
that he did as geometer,
astronomer, musician,
theologian, medicine and
science. Think how even
today, when you get a
terminal degree in any one
of those fields, you get a
Ph.D. a doctorate in
PHILOSOPHY.
Hinduism
 In the Vedic—the earliest
Hindu tradition—sages
(seers), sought to grasp
truth in all its manifold
possibility. In the Katha
Upanishad, a young
student, Natchiketa, is
taught by the god of
death, Yama. Natchiketa
asks death if one
survives past bodily
death.
Yama’s Response
 Once one is no longer
distracted and tempted
by desires, pleasures,
power and wealth, Yama
reveals to Natchiketa the
difficult nature of truth
that few understand and
that is that the interior
self, ATMAN, is NOT
distinct from the
absolute self, Brahma.
Once one knows this one
understands TRUTH.
But…
“as narrow as a razor’s edge”
 "Rise, awaken, seek the
wise and realize. The
path is difficult to cross
like the sharpened edge
of the razor (knife), so
say the wise.“
 ~Christopher Isherwood
 18. The self is not born,
it dies not; it sprang
from nothing, nothing
sprang from it. The
ancient is unborn,
eternal, everlasting; he
is not killed, though the
body is killed.
Wisdom
 The Sacred symbol, OM!
ॐ, is the key to wisdom ,
and synonymous
w/BRAHMAN;
 Wisdom is to understand
that the interior, private
self, ATMAN, is
indistinguishable from the
absolute self, BRAHMAN;
 Failure to grasp this claim
and live by it, means you
are doomed to repeat the
cycle of birth and re-birth,
Samara;
 Knowing this frees one,
like Nachiketa, from
reincarnation.
Some key concepts:

Brahman: Absolute ground of
being

Shakti: Divine mother

Shiva: God of destruction and
salvation

Vishnu: Supreme god

Krishna: 8th avatar of Vishnu

Moksha: Release

Samsara: Cycle of rebirth

Jiva: Interior self

Atman: Individual

Karma: Action

Dharma: Purpose

Yoga: Knowledge or practice
Ralph Waldo Emerson on the
Katha Upanishad:

Yama, the lord of Death, promised Nachiketas, the son of Gautama, to grant him three boons at his own choice. Nachiketas,
knowing that his father Gautama was offended with him, said, “O Death! let Gautama be appeased in mind, and forget his
anger against me: this I choose for the first boom.” Yama said, “Through my favor, Gautama will remember thee with love as
before.” For the second boon, Nachiketas asks that the fire by which heaven is gained be made known to him; which also Yama
allows, and says, “Choose the third boon, O Nachiketas!” Nachiketas said, there is this inquiry. Some say the soul exists after
the death of man; others say it does not exist. This I should like to know, instructed by thee. Such is the third of the boons.
Yama said, “For this question, it was inquired of old, even by the gods; for it is not easy to understand it. Subtle is its nature.
Choose another boon, O Nachiketas! Do not compel me to this.” Nachiketas said, “Even by the gods was it inquired. And as to
what thou sayest, O Death, that it is not easy to understand it, there is no other speaker to be found like thee. There is no
other boon like this.” Yama said, “Choose sons and grandsons who may live a hundred years; choose herds of cattle; choose
elephants and gold and horses; choose the wide expanded earth, and live thyself as many years as thou listeth. Or, if thou
knowest a boon like this, choose it, together with wealth and far-extending life. Be a king, O Nachiketas! On the wide earth I
will make thee the enjoyer of all desires. All those desires that are difficult to gain in the world of mortals, all those ask thou at
thy pleasure;—those fair nymphs of heaven with their chariots, with their musical instruments; for the like of them are not to
be gained by men. I will give them to thee, but do not ask the question of the state of the soul after death.” Nachiketas said,
“All those enjoyments are of yesterday. With thee remain thy horses and elephants, with thee the dance and song. If we should
obtain wealth, we live only as long as thou pleasest. The boon which I choose I have said.” Yama said, “One thing is good,
another is pleasant. Blessed is he who takes the good, but he who chooses the pleasant loses the object of man. But thou,
considering the objects of desire, hast abandoned them. These two, ignorance (whose object is what is pleasant) and
knowledge (whose object is what is good), are known to be far asunder, and to lead to different goals. Believing this world
exists, and not the other, the careless youth is subject to my sway. That knowledge for which thou hast asked is not to be
obtained by argument. I know worldly happiness is transient, for that firm one is not to be obtained by what is not firm. The
wise, by means of the union of the intellect with the soul, thinking him whom it is hard to behold, leaves both grief and joy.
Thee, O Nachiketas! I believe a house whose door is open to Brahma. Brahma the supreme, whoever knows him obtains
whatever he wishes. The soul is not born; it does not die; it was not produced from any one. Nor was any produced from it.
Unborn, eternal, it is not slain, though the body is slain; subtler than what is subtle, greater than what is great, sitting it goes
far, sleeping it goes everywhere. Thinking the soul as unbodily among bodies, firm among fleeting things, the wise man casts
off all grief. The soul cannot be gained by knowledge, not by understanding, not by manifold science. It can be obtained by the
soul by which it is desired. It reveals its own truths.”
Confucianism
Confucius 孔子


One of the oldest philosophical traditions it originated in the
so-called spring and autumn period of classical Chinese
civilization. Kung-fu-tzu (Confucius) (551-479) and his
“golden rule” offered a version of a deontological (i.e. rulebased) ethic found in every major world religion today…
Confucians often use the “Golden Rule” to define Jen:
"do to others as you would wish done to yourself."[
Key concepts:
.
 Jen or Ren 仁 : Virtuous behaviour. When his student Yan
Hui asked him to define Jen, Confucius said: "One
should see nothing improper, hear nothing improper, say
nothing improper, do nothing improper."
 Li 禮: Propriety; Etiquette, Proper roles.
 Filial Piety 孝: Respect.
Jen
 Jen (wren): human heartedness; goodness;
benevolence, person-to-person-ness; what makes man
distinctively human (that which gives human beings
their humanity). Jen is a moral quality that sets us apart
from other species.
LI
 There are several ways to grasp the concept LI, but
essentially it is the proper way to treat oneself and
others in:
 Using the right words ( truth: fitting the right word)
 Doctrine of the mean: avoiding extremes
 Respect in the 5 cardinal relationships *:
 Father-child
 Husband-wife
 Sibling-sibling
 Friend-friend
 Ruler-ruled
 * Reciprocity
Taoism
The Old Man 老子
 Lao-Tzu (6 th C BCE).
Lived during the decline
of the Zhou dynasty and
criticized the confucian
philosophy. Worked as a
librarian.
Key concepts:
 Following the Tao is to emphasize Wu-Eei (action
through non-action), naturalness, simplicity, spontaneity,
and practice the Three Treasures: compassion,
moderation, and humility.
 Tao 道 : Path, way, channel, ontological ground of being.
 Te 德 : Power, virtue, comes from mastery of the Tao.
 Wu-Wei 無爲: Non-action, spontaneity, effortlessness.
 Tzu-Jan 自然 : Naturalness, primordial state of all things
and beings.
 P’u 樸 : Uncut wood
Tao Te Ching
 Reportedly written by
Lao Tzu, scholars believe
it is a later compliation of
81 chapters. The
famously difficult first
lines:
 道可道非常道 (dào kĕ dào
fēi cháng dào)
"The Tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao"
名可名非常名 ( míng kĕ
míng fēi cháng míng)
"The name that can be
named is not the eternal
name."
Buddhism
Key concepts:
 Dharma धर्म : The Buddha’s teachings
 Sangha: The community of buddhists ( Bhikkus)
 Atmana: Self ( Thus, anatman: no self)
 Buddha: The awakened
 Nirvana (Moksha): Extinguishment; Enlighenment
 Samsara: Reincarnation
Siddhartha

Siddharthra Guatama was born in present
day Nepal in 563 BCE to the Shakya Tribe

547 marries cousin and has boy, Rapula

Ventures outside Palace and sees Indra
masquerading as the Four Sights:

Disease

Old Age

Death

Monk
Joins ascetics
 In 534, abandons family
to seek enlightenment
and spends years as
ascetic.
 Renounces ascetisim and
seeks “middle way”.
Buddhahood
 Meditates under the
Bodhi tree (ficus
religiosa) for 49 days
and achieves
boddhimandala or
enlightenment and thus
avoiding the cycle of
suffering.
Four Noble Truths:
 1. All existence (dukkha)
is suffering
 2. Suffering coems from
desire
 3. Desire may be
stopped
 4. To stop desire become
mindful and practice the
8-fold path
Eightfold Path
1. Right view
2. Right intention
3. Right speech
Ethical conduct ( śīla) 4. Right action
5. Right livelihood
6. Right effort
Concentration (samādhi) 7. Right mindfulness
8. Right concentration
Wisdom (prajñā)
Santideva’s Perfections
 Generosity
 Propriety
 Patience
 Effort
 Meditation
 Wisdom
 These are the qualities
that you would perfect as
you fulfill the 8–fold path.
The come from
Santideva’s (8th c Indian
philosopher)
Bodhisattvacharyāvatāra
Ancient Greek Wisdom:
Philosophy vs. Mythopoetics
The Birth of philosophy
 “Philosophy,” Bertrand Russell
once said, "is the no-man’s
land between science and
theology, exposed to attacks
from both sides". In his
magisterial, “ A History of
Western Philosophy,” he
writes, “All definite knowledge
— so I should contend —
belongs to science; all dogma
as to what surpasses definite
knowledge belongs to
theology. But between
theology and science there is
a No Man’s Land, exposed to
attack by both sides; this No
Man’s Land is philosophy.”
Thales of Miletus: The
Grandfather of Philosophy ( circa
624-546 BCE)
 Thales is considered to
be the founder of
philosophy for his
attempts to use unaided
human reason to explain
the nature of natural
phenomena. AS such, we
can say that philosophy
began on May 28, 585
when he successfully
predicted an eclipse. He
also believed that water
was the fundamental
constituent of all things…
Pythagoras
 Pythagoras, it was believed,
coined the word philosophy...
 Russell, writes, “Pythagoras
was intellectually one of the
most important men that ever
lived... Mathematics, in the
sense of demonstrative
deductive argument, begins
with him, and in him is
intimately connected with a
peculiar form of mysticism.
The influence of mathematics
on philosophy, partly owing to
him, has, ever since his time,
been both profound and
unfortunate.”
It all adds up…
 Have you ever been
intrigued by math,
numbers? How can
mathematical models
predict nature? Why are
there such things as
Fibonacci Numbers?
Pythagoras reasoned
that the whole world was
number. Why lucky 7? Or
why do buildings not
have a 13th floor?
Heraclitus of Ephesus (535-475
BCE): “Things Fall Apart: The
Centre Cannot Hold”

Heraclitus argued that his
predecessors failed to account for
the unity in the universe. Rather
he posits an underlying principle
(Logos) according to which all
things are unified as one.
Opposites exist and are necessary
for life, but they are unified in a
system of balances. Logos is a
kind of continual flux or change
symbolized best by fire. Thus the
world is not to be identified with
any particular substance, but
rather with an ongoing process
governed by a law of ever-present
change, chaos. The underlying law
of nature also manifests itself as a
moral law for human beings.
Heraclitus is the first philosopher
to go beyond physical theory in
search for metaphysical
foundations.

“You cannot step twice in the
same river.”
Parmenides (circa 515 BCE): The
Same old, same old.
 In contradistinction to
Heraclitus, Parmenides argued
that change is illusory; rather,
everything stays the same. In
his only surviving work, On
Nature, Parmenides describes
two views of reality. In "the
way of truth" (Alethea-ἀ–
λήθεια) he explains how
reality—the what-is-- is one,
timeless, uniform, necessary,
and unchanging. In "the way
of opinion (Doxa)," he
explains the world of
appearances, in which one's
senses lead one to
conceptions which are false
and deceitful. These ideas
strongly influenced the whole
of Western philosophy, and
most notably Plato.
Zeno of Elea (ca. 490–430 BC)
Zeno developed a powerful form of
argument—the argumentum ad absurdum-to
defend Parmenides’ claim against the atomists
In a foot race between feet-footed
Achilles and a hapless tortoise,
you’d place your bet on Achilles,
right?
The Atomists
 In the 5th Century, a
number of like-minded
philosophers developed a
position known as
Atomism. Therse thinkers
such as Democritus,
Leucippus, Empedocles,
and Anaxagoras all
believed that the Universe
could be subdivided into
smaller, constituent
particles that they called
ATOMS (from Gk., ἄτομον,
meaning un-cuttable).
That’s 2,200 years before
Boyle and Newton!
The Sophists
 Sophists (from Greek
σόφισμα, meaning wise)
were iteneratnt eachers
who traveld from polis to
plis teaching the skills
needed to be successful in
court life—rhetoric, and
argumentation. They
became unfairly identified
with ethical relativism and
specious reasoning.
Among the Sophists,
Protagoras, Gorgias,
Prodicus, Hippias,
Thrasymachus, Callicles,
Lycophron, Antiphon, and
Cratylus are the most
well-known.
Plato (427- 347 BC)
 “All of philosophy is
Plato, Plato all of
philosophy.” –R.W.
Emerson
 “The safest
Generalizationof Western
philosophy is that it is a
series of footnotes to
Plato.” –A.N. Whitehead
Aristotle ( 384-322)
 Aristotle was born in
Stagira, Macedonia and
would spent 17 years as
first a student and thena
teacher at Plato’s
Academy. After he elft
Athens, he became the
tutor to Alexander (the
Great) and returned to
Athens to start the
Lyceum.
Hellenistic Philosophy (323-31
BCE)

After the death of Alexander and
until he rise of Roman culture,
the ancient world was in the
throes of violent change and
philosophers responded by
developing varied responses to
how to achieve the good life.

Epicureanism

Cyrenaicism

Cynicism

Skepticism

Stoicism

Neo-Platonism

Eclecticism