The devil is in the details! Great essay on the history of philosophy and the philosophy of history! 😊
Once again, old neurons firing. I recall in an undergraduate humanities/philosophy class the theories of history. I never came to a conclusion on them except, perhaps, there’s all of them to certain degrees. (The divine providence is personal, in my opinion.) I couldn’t remember them all, but Google 🙄😊 presented these:
1.Random
2.Great Man (Thomas Carlyle)
3.Great Forces
4.Divine Providence
(I think one is missing.)
The NYU adjunct was a Marxist-Leninist and was summarily dismissed after asking me to form a communist party on campus.😬 Nevertheless, he dismissed all these theories as ridiculous except for whatever Marx believed. I don’t know which one that was. I do recall the four phases and structures of society he said, though: 1) primitive communalism; 2) slavery; 3) feudalism; 4) and capitalism. 😊🤷🏻♂️
Mike, I never understood why we have to pick one. It seems reasonable to me to say that "great men" (and women, etc.) certainly do have a disproportionate role in specific historical circumstances. Not everyone is born a Caesar or Napoleon, or Churchill, or Mandela.
But obviously socio-economic factors (Marx) also play a role. And so do random events. The only one I'm pretty confident has nothing to do with it is divine providence...
Interesting. I had never thought of Athens' demise in two discrete steps.
Are there two cities called Tarsus? Tarsus (Mersin) is close to Aleppo in Syria - that doesn't feel like western Turkey and is more in the far SE corner of Asia Minor.
Maurits, no, just one Tarsus as far as I know. And yes, it is close to Syria. Which is why I couldn’t make it there during my recent trip to Aegean Turkey.
The devil is in the details! Great essay on the history of philosophy and the philosophy of history! 😊
Once again, old neurons firing. I recall in an undergraduate humanities/philosophy class the theories of history. I never came to a conclusion on them except, perhaps, there’s all of them to certain degrees. (The divine providence is personal, in my opinion.) I couldn’t remember them all, but Google 🙄😊 presented these:
1.Random
2.Great Man (Thomas Carlyle)
3.Great Forces
4.Divine Providence
(I think one is missing.)
The NYU adjunct was a Marxist-Leninist and was summarily dismissed after asking me to form a communist party on campus.😬 Nevertheless, he dismissed all these theories as ridiculous except for whatever Marx believed. I don’t know which one that was. I do recall the four phases and structures of society he said, though: 1) primitive communalism; 2) slavery; 3) feudalism; 4) and capitalism. 😊🤷🏻♂️
Mike, I never understood why we have to pick one. It seems reasonable to me to say that "great men" (and women, etc.) certainly do have a disproportionate role in specific historical circumstances. Not everyone is born a Caesar or Napoleon, or Churchill, or Mandela.
But obviously socio-economic factors (Marx) also play a role. And so do random events. The only one I'm pretty confident has nothing to do with it is divine providence...
Interesting. I had never thought of Athens' demise in two discrete steps.
Are there two cities called Tarsus? Tarsus (Mersin) is close to Aleppo in Syria - that doesn't feel like western Turkey and is more in the far SE corner of Asia Minor.
Maurits, no, just one Tarsus as far as I know. And yes, it is close to Syria. Which is why I couldn’t make it there during my recent trip to Aegean Turkey.