Phil 2070 1st Edition Lecture 4 Outline of Last Lecture I. BlasphemyII. Continuation of Discussion of Tillicha. Phenomenologyb. Apophatic III. What Faith is?a. Ultimate Concern Outline of Current Lecture IV. Leo StraussV. René Descartes VI. Max MullerVII. Self/Other/InfiniteVIII. The Act of ReadingIX. Beginning of Mircea Eliade Discussiona. Rudolph OttoCurrent LectureLeo Strauss – University of Chicago Philosopher, d. 1973- Athens and Jerusalemo The belief in reason vs revelation- One could argue that democracy is nonsense- Philosophy has a faith in reasonWhat if there is no God? Afterlife? What if an author convinces all of us it is all a lie and made up?Sociologists of religion have pointed out that there’s a fundamental of political and religion.- Maybe we should limit our faith in reason- Nietzsche: God is dead sociologicallyo At the root of the enlightenment (Sapere Aude – Dare to be wise, dare to challenge)These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.René Descartes – French philosopher, 1651 book: Meditation on First Philosophy- Universal Doubt – once in life, when age of majority – you should question everything, total doubt. Then piece by piece accept only certain things that are actually known.- offers new approach on how we should live- what is ‘certain’ is science - Sociologists of religion – the ‘point’ of religion is to ‘scare people straight’ - philosophy begs for an argument - faith is, being turned to the infiniteMax Muller – - a mental faculty which enables man to apprehend the infinite under different names & varying disguises- a finite beings live in finite moments, but we long for the infinite- we long for a love of something greaterDo we need an infinity if we find holy/sacred in personal moments?- What about “not my finity”- Condemnation of the infinite is dangerousSelf and Other and Infinite- ID vs. Ego. Vs. Super Ego - How do we define ourselves? - Why can we not have a pluralistic view of infinite that would embrace out finite world? à the infinite surrounds the finite Sine qua non – “not without which”- There’s no reason to limit the experience to the sacred- Non-finite: something more than “self”o Drop the language of the infinite and talk about the beyond?The Act of Reading“I” faithing ____?____- Society, race, gender, nature, cosmos, “God”, “university education”Because I “faithing” society, society is “faithing” me- I am co-implied, co-constitutedo Whatever I am being directed toward, I am being changed byWe are finite beings and we want to be able to define everything- Whenever you try to define something beyond you, it leads to uncertainty.o The infinite doesn’t let you grasp a clear definitionMircea Eliadepost war, from France - for religious man, space is not homogeneous - sacred v. profane - greek word Cosmos = order Rudolph Otto: Created the concept of the awful and the awesome; filled with awe.Cosmos: (Greek) Order of the universe; order; beautiful order.Sacred space is a way of putting order in the world. Thus we are participating in the world.Space & Time =
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