Blog 2

5 Commentsby   |  01.31.13  |  Student Posts

The greek philosophers have greatly influenced our modern way of thinking. Scholars such as Aristotle, the father of virtue ethics, challenged people on a large scale for the first time to think critically and not take anything for granted. A lot of how we think and run things in our modern times are based off  of the ideas pioneered by the greeks. Plato’s allegory of the cave is a great example of the “thinking outside the box” that flourished around this time period. As a human race we are often quick to take things at face value, we will assume that the majority opinion is truth. Things such as standards of attractiveness, religion, social do’s and donts, the things we place value in, etc. all are decided by our environment and the people around us. A true intellectual will search for the truth of things for himself, questioning and extrapolating, instead of accepting what others say is true. I think that this idea is very much reminiscent to the greek philosophers. We can also see this in play in higher education. We are taught to analyze and criticize and question everything. I personally think that it is impossible to truly believe something is true without experiencing it for yourself. I don’t accept  what people around me say on faith, I choose to discover for myself the truth of things with my own senses. This sort of empiricism runs my thought process, and I’m sure that many others who are called to higher education can say the same. The greek tradition runs strong, and we still use their theories and ways of doing things as a basis for a large percentage of our own modern thought processes, at least among us “Scholars”.

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5 Comments

  1. Madison Hudson
    5:01 pm, 02.01.13

    Tyler, I like that you said much of our values are decided based on our environment or the people we are around the most. This is so true and it is easy for our perception to be skewed or swayed one way or another. This is a basic example but growing up my family would all pray before a meal and eat at the table and we couldn’t leave or eat dessert until we had finished our meal. Well when I would visit other friends during dinner I would always get my food and wait until everyone else did the same to pray just assuming that everyone one else was like me, but I began to realize that other families had different values and customs. It’s good to experience other cultures and discover what it really “true” to you and not just what you grew up in as being true or right. I think this is so important especially when dealing with your faith or religion.

  2. Bobby Brown
    6:43 pm, 02.01.13

    Yes, the greeks have influnced us so much. Today we are still being influenced, by them and current people. They were able to go outside of the normal way of thinking of taking life at surface value and finding a way to dig deeper. Their exploration into “meanings” have paved a way that we can never ignore. Today we are still being influenced, but not just by them. We as humans succumb, depend, and want more. We generally want more out of life. Just like the Greek philosophers there are people today that are searching, and are making sure that people know about their findings. We want to know what is out there for us. We dont have to go very far to see what people are telling us there is for us. Whether its books, movies, tv shows, commercials, billboard adds, or anything that costs us money or time, people are selling us ideas of how to get more out of life just like the Greeks. It all boils down to how things can make your life better, how you can find a purpose, how you can define your life and others around you. Isnt that what the greeks did for us? Is an advertising agency looked at as a group of philosophisors? Not by most people. Yet, arent they offering us ideas of what the answer is to the questions we are all trying to get right?

  3. Gavin Lane
    9:25 pm, 02.01.13

    Tyler, I think your point about the “true intellectuals” searching for the truth is very good but sometimes it is hard to find in America today. I feel that many people will just take what life gives them and not work hard to question and search for what is really true. It is only at great educational places like ACU that we continue to search for truth and answers. Maybe society today could take some hints from Greek philosophy.

  4. Kelsey Hilton
    9:39 pm, 02.01.13

    Well Tyler, I completely agree with you. Every word you wrote rings true to me. And that part about first hand experience…bring it on. I believe wholeheartedly in experiential learning. You never know until you try!

  5. Ana Rodriguez
    1:22 am, 02.02.13

    Madison, I completely agree. I think that especially in our culture it is super important to remember that not all of us grow up the same way. We need to realize that other people’s customs need to be appreciated. I think that by knowing where we come from and understanding other’s points of view, we can be better influenced and shaped towards a more open and broad view of all different types of people.

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