Liam

western civilization 1, week 5: Why was Aristotle a significant figure? What was Spartan society like?

Why was Aristotle a significant figure? Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and is known as the first scientist. Aristotle was born in 384 BC and died in 322 BC. For twenty years he was a student at Plato’s academy. In 343 he tutored Alexander the Great. In 335 BC he founded the Lyceum (a school …

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western literature 1, week 4: some of the reasons offered in the Psalms for long-term optimism

According to Wikipedia optimism is “an attitude reflecting a belief or hope that the outcome of some specific endeavor, or outcomes in general, will be positive, favorable, and desirable”. Most of the psalms were written by David. David was a shepherd boy in the city of Bethlehem. David played music on his harp for King Saul. …

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western civilization 1, week 4: What was Plato’s point in his allegory of the cave? What qualities does Plato’s ideal monarch — the “philosopher-king” — possess?

According to Wikipedia the allegory of the cave is “an allegory presented by the Greek philosopher Plato in his work Republic to compare “the effect of education and the lack of it on our nature”. According to Philosophyzer “Plato claimed that knowledge gained through the senses is no more than opinion and that, in order to have real knowledge, we must gain it …

western civilization 1, week 4: What was Plato’s point in his allegory of the cave? What qualities does Plato’s ideal monarch — the “philosopher-king” — possess? Read More »

western literature, week 3: How important is the concept of historical sanctions in the Psalms?

A sanction is kind of like an inheritance, it can be good or bad, what you get depends on how you act. There are positive and negative sanctions, positive sanctions are good and negative sanctions are bad. In Psalms 16 we learn that evil-doers receive negative sanctions. In verses 3 and 4 the leading officials …

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western civilization 1, week 3: would you describe the cyclopes in book 9 of the odyssey as having a civilization? why or why not? What happens between the Cyclops and Odysseus and his men? How does the story end?

Would you describe the cyclopes in the odyssey book 9 as having a civilization? According to the Meriam Webster Dictionary a civilization is “a relatively high level of cultural and technological development”. I think that the cyclopes in book 9 of the odyssey did not have a civilization. Why or why not? The cyclopes lived …

western civilization 1, week 3: would you describe the cyclopes in book 9 of the odyssey as having a civilization? why or why not? What happens between the Cyclops and Odysseus and his men? How does the story end? Read More »