Norse/Roman Philosophy?

[The Sum of Awe]

Why do we mostly only hear of eastern or Greek philosophers? What about ancient Roman philosophy? Or ancient Norwegian philosophy? Or even ancient Egyptian philosophy? I don't recall any philosophers of any of those ancient civilizations except for a Marcus guy from Rome who I obviously don't find interesting enough to remember his name.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Marcus Aurelius.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Marcus Aurelius.

That's the one

Any more? I looked it up but haven't found much. For either Egyptians, Norwegians, or more Romans?

 

[Desert Snake]

Pretty sure I have a book with a bunch of Roman philosophers writings.

 

[Desert Snake]

nevermind, not seeing that.
I know there are some however

 

[Quintessence]

Philosophy as we typically classify it in many cases did not exist in many civilizations of antiquity. Or, if it did, there is no evidence of it because traditions were strictly oral.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Philosophy as we typically classify it in many cases did not exist in many civilizations of antiquity. Or, if it did, there is no evidence of it because traditions were strictly oral.

I wouldn't see why the Romans wouldn't though. I can see Norwegians not having much philosophy since they had multiple other things to concentrate on, and Egyptians the same way; being heavy into building up their civilization and such.

 

[Riverwolf]

Probably just a lack of writing keeping those philosophies from reaching the modern world, in the case of Norse philosophy. Regarding Egyptian philosophy, it's probably just Eurocentrism.

The complete eradication of the Druids destroyed their entire philosophy, whatever it might have been, since they were adamant about never writing them down. One of my deep hopes is that someone escaped the slaughter, bit the bullet, and wrote down Druid philosophy in a book or scroll that's just waiting to be found.

By the time the Norse widely adopted writing, Christianity had spread quite far among them.

 

[raw_thought]

Mythology is a form of philosophy. It is philosophy expressed metaphorically/poetically and should not be taken literally. Ancient peoples used stories and parables to explain philosophical positions.
The Power of Myth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Norse mythology should be seen as an expression of an existential Existentialism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
philosophical position. *
Mythology understood philosophically is spirituality. Mythology understood literally is religion.
The Bible is myth literally. Its value is seen when understood philosophically. Adam and Eve is mere myth when seen literally. However ,when understood metaphorically it is philosophy. Leap of faith - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Debates about the literal truth of the Bible are like debates about Christ's sandal size. They miss the point of the text. Similarly, debates about what a Norse myth says literally ( for example, did Odin or Thor do a particular act) ignore the message.
* Taken literaly Norse mythologists cannot be seen as existentialists. The time frame is all wrong. However, the basic message of the Norse religion is existential because of its emphasis on individuality and not worship. Even Odin will die. Purpose( ethics etc.) is not dependent on immortality according to Norse mythology and existentialism.
See http://www.religiousforums.com/foru...-gita-discussion-thoughts-10.html#post3796517

 

[Straw Dog]

Roman philosophy was largely a continuation of Ancient Greek philosophy with the revival of schools such as Platonism, Neo-platonism, Stoicism, Cynicism, etc. This is also reflected in Greco-Roman mythology with many similar deities transitioning between cultures.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

Philosophy is hardly a common preoccupation in any society. Greeks, Indians, Chinese — that's about it.

 

[Runewolf1973]

How about some Genghis Kahn philosophy...

What is the best in life?

"To crush your enemies, to take their horses and goods, and to hear the lamentation of the women."



---

 

[Nooj]

Why do we mostly only hear of eastern or Greek philosophers? What about ancient Roman philosophy? Or ancient Norwegian philosophy? Or even ancient Egyptian philosophy? I don't recall any philosophers of any of those ancient civilizations except for a Marcus guy from Rome who I obviously don't find interesting enough to remember his name.

philosophy is a world wide phenomenon. if you're thinking about philosophy as an academic subject, purely for research purposes, then that's quite recent, possibly around when the universities started to gain in prominence. but if you're thinking about philosophy as thinking about the Big Things in life, then it's everywhere.

i'm surprised you say that you don't hear of ancient roman philosophers because i've always thought that they were quite famous. lucretius was an epicurean, who wrote the work de rerum natura 'on the nature of the universe' and seneca was a stoic who wrote a lot of interesting works. they're really the tip of the ice berg.

ancient egyptian philosophy was most def a thing, but it's less well known unfortunately, because frankly there isn't a lot of people who can read ancient egyptian and who do a lot of research on it. and not much of a market, aside from the academia, who read it.

if you're interested you should definitely research for yourself. i've read two books recently about aztec philosophy and maori philosophy, both super interesting.

 

[dust1n]

List of philosophers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Have at it.

 

[edwardgledson]

they are good in philosophy, that's why

 

[DayRaven]

Bump

If you want Norse philosophy then read the Icelandic sagas.

 

[Midnight Rain]

Why do we mostly only hear of eastern or Greek philosophers? What about ancient Roman philosophy? Or ancient Norwegian philosophy? Or even ancient Egyptian philosophy? I don't recall any philosophers of any of those ancient civilizations except for a Marcus guy from Rome who I obviously don't find interesting enough to remember his name.

Because the Greeks wrote the book. The were several pre-Socratic that made a few additions to the philosophical view of the world but it was almost entirely the Socratic that developed the majority of the "Greek Philosophy" that we enjoy today. Socrates himself was a genius that was elevated by Plato who pushed the limits of human knowledge and then finally Aristotle who synthesized all of their work into a comprehensive and accurate way. Aristotle himself really took what was given to him and ran with it. His developments on empiricism and methods for finding truth and even metaphysics were astounding. No philosopher before or since has contributed as much as the three Socratic philosophers.

Roman philosophers were mainly students of the Greek philosophy schools. In fact there was no written accounts of Roman philosophy prior to their invasion of Greece in the 2nd century BC. They did make some significant advances in ethics and law. The Romans were the first to make distinctions between malum in se and malum phrohibitum.

The primary reason why you see philosophy mostly originate in ancient Greece and not in other ancient cultures (except those that were influenced by Greeks) is because they did not have a society structure that allowed for time and resources to be spent on "knowledge for the sake of knowing". Other cultures were very focused on surviving, war and practical innovations. Pericles was the designer of the Greek golden age having designed the style of democracy that they used as well as setting up programs to advance art, knowledge and practical applications (math ect). He was the first person in all of history to set up something like this.

 

[DayRaven]

Many theories are put forward for why philosophy and scientific thinking arose among the Greeks. They certainly were not as advanced as their near eastern neighbours nor remotely as wealthy. It is also true that rational thinking did not develop in a vacuum: the Greeks were building upon observations made by earlier cultures. What is unique is that they were the first to speculate using only observation and reason and not myth.

One interesting theory is that it is the nature of the Greek language that was instrumental in the development of logical thought and scientific understanding. Namely the differentiation of concrete, proper and abstract nouns (and the combination of them) and the use of the definite article.

 

[LegionOnomaMoi]

Why do we mostly only hear of eastern or Greek philosophers? What about ancient Roman philosophy? Or ancient Norwegian philosophy? Or even ancient Egyptian philosophy? I don't recall any philosophers of any of those ancient civilizations except for a Marcus guy from Rome who I obviously don't find interesting enough to remember his name.

There was no Norse philosophy, nothing much in terms of Babylonian, Sumerian, even Egyptian philosophy, and most of Roman philosophy was due to the Roman conquest of Greece. As for "far Eastern" philosophy, despite ancient sources the vast bulk is modern re-interpretations thanks to colonialism. Hence while the Chinese were the dominant force when it comes to Engineering, as far as science was concerned they were behind the Greeks.

 

[LegionOnomaMoi]

Many theories are put forward for why philosophy and scientific thinking arose among the Greeks.

Scientific thought didn't originate or exist in Greek culture. However, you are correct that their construction of philosophy was noteworthy.

They certainly were not as advanced as their near eastern neighbours

They were vastly superior in any every sense relating to philosophy and proto-scholarship and no other culture ever came so close to the sciences until the modern era.

It is also true that rational thinking did not develop in a vacuum: the Greeks were building upon observations made by earlier cultures.

Not insofar as the development of philosophy is concerned.

What is unique is that they were the first to speculate using only observation and reason and not myth.

1) The central component lacking from Greek philosophy (including natural philosophy) that the sciences require is empiricism and a worldview in which empirical inquiry makes sense. This was absent from Greek philosophy.
2) They weren't the first to speculate either of what you assert, mainly because they didn't.

One interesting theory is that it is the nature of the Greek language that was instrumental in the development of logical thought and scientific understanding.

Hence the reference grammars intended solely to understand e.g., Greek mathematics for those who can read Greek: because their language so lent itself to analytic thinking and empirical reasoning. Right.

Namely the differentiation of concrete, proper and abstract nouns (and the combination of them) and the use of the definite article.

Greek had an article, no definite article. As for the rest of your treatment of the Greek language, it's just plain wrong and bordering on ludicrous.