Plato's dialog EUTHYPHRO. recall that a contradiction exists when the speaker makes two statements both of which cannot be true at the same time. Socrates asks Euthyphro : What is the meaning of the term "piety"? Euthyphro answers that an act is pious when the gods approve of it and impious when the gods disapprove of it. Socrates then points out to Euthyphro that since there are many gods (in the Greek pantheon) and since some gods will approve of an act and some gods will disapprove of the same act,then the same act will be both approved and disapproved at the same time.Therefore, if we use Euthyphro's definition of piety, the same act will be both pious and impious at the same time. Euthyphro, clearly, has contradicted himself.
WE live today in a small world of many gods, where no harmony exist between those many gods, on the contrary enmity and total disagreement is the rule. So every act is being nowadays, interpreted by any of the gods in a different way making some acts pious and some other impious.
One example lies in the way most Americans view anyone with a notion of socialism, or worse; Marxism. It's hate with all it's derivatives that govern this relationship. but let's look into a model of analogies between Marxism and Christianity, I believe Bertrand Russel was the first to call attention to the parallels in his "history of Western philosophy :
To understand Marx psychologically, one should use the following dictionary:
Yahweh = Dialectical Materialism
The Messiah = Marx
The elect = The Proletariat
The Church = The Communist Party
The second Coming = The revolution
Hell = Punishment of the Capitalist
The Millennium = The Communist Commonwealth
Every god and every creed, has its sacred texts, its saints, its heretics, its elect, its holy city, if Marx was communism's messiah, Lenin was its Saint Paul.
in the previous analogy, the terms on the left give the emotional content of the terms on the right. We are almost in unity of thought and meanings, yet so different when our different gods look at them. Many Muslims nowadays have their own god approving and disapproving so many acts, rendering some acts pious and some impious, some of these pious acts are indeed terribly crazy and barbaric. And some other gods are joining the game lovingly.
Simply too many gods.
Salamat.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
"ASSABIYAH"
This Arabic word means ; tribal solidarity, or social adhesion. Its meaning here is looked at from a perspective of societal dynamics and their rules of evolution.
The power-base of each state depends on its "assabiyah" or group solidarity based on family and small communities ties and lineage which is to be found mostly among new migrating people and emerging nations.
The power of each "assabiyah" extends basically to four generations. The first generation, driven by tribal expansionism or religious mission, would conquer the settled nations and establish a powerful state.
The second generation would consolidate and expand the state and build its institutions and would still enjoy strong attachment to its"assabiyah" due to its close connection with an original migrating tribal ethos.
The third generation would enjoy the prosperity of the state and provide support for arts, sciences, and culture. But would have less attachment to their "assabiyah" as a result of their urban upbringing.
The fourth generation would be the one to waste the achievements of their ancestors. Confined to a life of palace machinations and the pursuit of material gratification.
This generation would be mostly concerned with raising money to spend on their welfare and the preservation of their thrones. Which would lead to an intensification of the tax burden on the populace and the erosion of existing social welfare systems, the resulting injustices would lead to the dissolution of the state and the annihilation of its civilisation, and make it vulnerable to invasions of new ideas and social behavioral patterns from other migrating groups, the cycle then starts anew.
Are we at these times witnessing the completion of a full cycle in many places of our world ?? America, Lebanon, many of the rich golf emirates to name a few.
The core idea comes originally from the philosopher Ibn Khaldoun(1332-1406) who inspired the actual thought and opinion, salamat.
The power-base of each state depends on its "assabiyah" or group solidarity based on family and small communities ties and lineage which is to be found mostly among new migrating people and emerging nations.
The power of each "assabiyah" extends basically to four generations. The first generation, driven by tribal expansionism or religious mission, would conquer the settled nations and establish a powerful state.
The second generation would consolidate and expand the state and build its institutions and would still enjoy strong attachment to its"assabiyah" due to its close connection with an original migrating tribal ethos.
The third generation would enjoy the prosperity of the state and provide support for arts, sciences, and culture. But would have less attachment to their "assabiyah" as a result of their urban upbringing.
The fourth generation would be the one to waste the achievements of their ancestors. Confined to a life of palace machinations and the pursuit of material gratification.
This generation would be mostly concerned with raising money to spend on their welfare and the preservation of their thrones. Which would lead to an intensification of the tax burden on the populace and the erosion of existing social welfare systems, the resulting injustices would lead to the dissolution of the state and the annihilation of its civilisation, and make it vulnerable to invasions of new ideas and social behavioral patterns from other migrating groups, the cycle then starts anew.
Are we at these times witnessing the completion of a full cycle in many places of our world ?? America, Lebanon, many of the rich golf emirates to name a few.
The core idea comes originally from the philosopher Ibn Khaldoun(1332-1406) who inspired the actual thought and opinion, salamat.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)