HIS%20105%20Chapter%202

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HIS 105Chapter 2

• Four Great Revolutions in Thought and Religion

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Changes in Thought and Religion
800-300 B.C.E.

• Some things in common
• Occurred near river valley civilizations
• Born out of crisis
• These major changes dont happen often
• Had great influence on culture and culture helped
  to spread ideas
• These changes have endured over time

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• During 8th century B.C.E., Zhou Dynasty
  disintegrated
• Chaos followed
• Invasions
• Rising merchant class changing old order
• Old etiquette and old rituals changing
• A search for new principles began

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• 5th and 6th centuries B.C.E. gave Chinese society
  new thinkers Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, and
  Laozi
• Their teachings were important then and they are
  still important today

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Confucius

• Also known as Kung Fuzi
• Born in 551 B.C.E.
• Educated in writing, music, and rituals
• Believed to be of lower nobility
• His father died when Confucius was very young and
  his mother fell on hard times
• Worked in accounting and teaching

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• He was opinionated and outspoken
• Traveled from state to state with followers
  looking for a ruler who would put his ideas into
  practice
• Most saw his ideas as impractical
• His ideas or sayings are called his Analects
• He believed in moderation, propriety, optimism,
  good sense, and wisdom

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• He was ethical and saw himself as a transmitter
  of tradition
• He saw a proper order to society, relationships,
  and government
• Confucius felt superior men were made, not born,
  and they should be the ones to govern
• Others should show respect, obedience, and
  support to their superiors
• Loyalty and obedience held society together

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• Felt that if everyone fulfilled his/her duties,
  then harmony would prevail
• The well-being of society depends on the morality
  of its members
• Confucianism was not adopted as the official
  philosophy of China until the second century
  B.C.E. during the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.E. 9
  C.E.)

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Mencius (Meng Ko)
(370 290 B.C.E.)

• Believed that humans are inclined to be good
• The role of education is to uncover and cultivate
  that innate goodness
• Stressed that government needed the consent of
  the people to rule
• Said people had the right to rise up and
  overthrow an oppressor or unjust government

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Xunzi (300 237 B.C.E.)

• Believed heaven was indifferent to whether China
  was ruled by a tyrant or a wise man
• Believed human nature was bad or at least,
  desires and emotions, if unchecked, could lead to
  conflict
• Emphasized education and etiquette as a restraint
  on behavior
• Said strong, authoritarian government was needed
  to control humans

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Laozi (Lao Tsu)

• Had little use for government
• Recommended a retreat from society as a way to
  solve suffering
• Contemplation of nature can help humans find the
  Dao, the way, the mysterious
• Recommended a return to simplicity become a
  babe, an uncarved block
• Learn to be without learning

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• Felt knowledge was bad because it created
  distinctions
• Learn to be without desires beyond the simple
  needs of nature
• The basis of the political philosophy of Daoism
  is not doing
• This means something between doing nothing and
  being but not acting

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• Rule without action
• The way never acts, yet nothing is left undone
• Emphasis on withdrawal from the world, communion
  with nature, and meditation

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• Xia
• Shang
• Zhou
• Qin ( 256-206 B.C.E.) (Shi Huangdi)
• Han ( 206 B.C.E. 220 C.E.)

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Qin

• In 4th and 3rd centuries B.C.E., the Qin Dynasty
  grew more and more powerful, and Shi Huangdi, a
  warlord of the 3rd century B.C.E., united China
  under Qin rule

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Shi Huangdi

• Created a centralized state
• Had grandiose public works projects
• Experimented with bronze and ironworking
• Improved tools and weapons
• Freed peasants from bondage and allowed them to
  own land
• Gained peasants loyalty

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• Peasants then joined the army to fight for Shi
  Huangdi
• Followed the writings of the Legalists

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Legalists

• Founded by Shang Yang, a Qin ruler of the 4th
  century B.C.E.
• Said power of Chinas rulers was absolute
• Wanted to find true peace for China
• That required a unified country and a strong
  state
• Favored conscription and saw war as a way to
  extend a countrys power

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• Believed human nature was selfish and punishments
  should be severe and impartial
• That which weakens the state should be punished
• Laws should contain incentives for loyalty,
  bravery, obedience, diligence, and frugality
• Saw merchants as parasites

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• Liked farmers
• Legalism was the philosophy adopted by the Qin
  which finally destroyed the Zhou in 256 B.C.E.
  and unified China in 221 B.C.E.

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Hinduism

• Arose from Aryan society
• Aryans had a social hierarchy that would evolve
  into the rigid Indian caste system
• Brahmans, who educated princes and were advisors
  at court, also compiled and interpreted the Vedic
  texts
• These Vedic texts provided the religion which
  shaped the lives of everyday people

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• In this new religion, Brahmans were at the top
• There was a caste system with warriors, priests,
  and commoners
• Later merchants, artisans, and peasants were
  added
• The classes were called Varnas

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• Each varna was subdivided into occupational
  groups or caste
• Holy men who did not labor were at the top
• Those who worked hard and cleaned up the filth of
  society were at the bottom
• Boundaries between castes were rigid
• In each caste life was laid out

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• Ones caste and its accompanying duties became
  known as ones Dharma
• The idea of reincarnation determined ones caste
• A persons life was full of merits and demerits,
  and these became known as ones Karma

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• The idea of reincarnation kept people under
  control
• Caste system stressed the importance of ones
  obligations and loyalties

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Buddhism

• Founded by Siddhartha Gautama (566-486 B.C.E.)
• Became known as the Buddha or the enlightened
  one
• Stressed meditation
• By meditating, he saw his past lives and learned
  how to stop the suffering of life

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• He then pledged to help others release themselves
  from it
• The Buddha then spent the rest of his life
  teaching others the middle path between
  indulgence and asceticism

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• 4 Noble Truths
• All life is full of suffering
• The source of suffering is desire
• If you get rid of desire, you will no longer
  suffer
• The path to this is eightfold right
  understanding, thought, speech, action,
  livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and
  concentration
• You will then achieve Nirvana

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• He emphasized compassion for all beings
• He gained a large following
• His followers became monks and spread his message
• Buddhism provided an alternative to the religion
  of the Brahmans
• Buddha retained the ideas of karma and
  reincarnation but rejected the Vedas

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Mahavira and the Jain Tradition

• Jains were an Indian religious community who
  sought to extricate themselves from the material
  world and the endless cycle of birth, death, and
  rebirth
• They sought to eliminate evil thoughts and
  actions
• They tried to have compassion for all sentient
  beings, hence vegetarianism

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Hebrews

• Had belief in one God Monotheism
• Their monotheistic faith later influenced
  Christianity and Islam
• It is thought that Moses led the Hebrews to
  Palestine looking for a homeland as promised by
  Yahweh between 1900 and 1600 B.C.E.

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• They were encouraged to give up the worship of
  other gods and follow Yahweh and his laws
• If they did, they would be protected
• These Jews felt they were then Gods Chosen
  People

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• Beliefs
• One God
• An overall divine plan
• A divinely organized morality as spelled out in
  the Torah (the Christian Old Testament)
• Through this written book, Jews were able to hold
  onto their identity through all subsequent
  takeovers and dispersals

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Greek Philosophy

• Greeks asked questions about their lives and the
  universe without invoking God
• This began an intellectual revolution using
  rational thinking to answer their questions
• Their way of looking at humans and their world
  was encapsulated in their philosophies

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• Many rationally questioned their world
• Thales believed water was our primary substance
• Anaximander believed humans originated in water
  and evolved into their present state
• Heraclitus said all is in motion nothing ever
  really exists
• Parmenides Zeno said reality is fixed change
  is an illusion of the senses

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Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle

• Three great Greek philosophers who were concerned
  with ethical, political, and religious issues
• Socrates (470-399 B.C.E.)
• Committed to searching for truth
• Wanted moral self-enlightenment
• Know thyself
• Through discussion and questioning got others to
  defend their views

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• Had many followers and many detractors who didnt
  like to have their views questioned
• He was condemned to death in 399 B.C.E. for
  corrupting the morals of youth because he was
  skeptical of religion
• Felt we should use self-examination to get to the
  truth
• Had a chance to go into exile but chose death
  because it was Athenian law and drank hemlock

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• Plato (429-347 B.C.E.)
• Student of Socrates
• Like Socrates, believed in the polis and its laws
• Prolific writer
• Founded the Academy in 386 B.C.E. in Athens
• Taught others through dialogue and discussion
• Grew up during Peloponnesian War
• Experienced democracy and imperialism

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• Felt humans were a pale image of what they could
  be
• Felt justice consists of each person doing what
  he/she is best suited for
• Taught Aristotle

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• Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.)
• pupil of Plato
• Founded Lyceum where students gathered, ordered,
  and analyzed all human knowledge
• Stressed the importance of moderation in human
  behavior and promoted virtue
• Said every object has some purpose in the
  universe
• Was the tutor of Alexander the Great

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• Even though philosophers looked for truths of the
  universe, the rest of Greek citizens looked to
  their gods, who were styled after humans, for
  enlightenment polytheism