Greek Philosophy: Prudence of the Human Mind

When the Greek Revolution of Independence broke out in 1821, Lord Byron wrote the
touching poem "Mourning for Greece" "I meditated there alone for a quarter of an
hour, dreaming that Greece was still free and happy; for, when I stood on the tomb
of Persia , I can't imagine myself a slave", Byron, who was like a banner fighting
for freedom to the world of literary history, died of typhoid in 1824 in
Missolangi, western Greece.

The battle of Greece is so shocking. There is no doubt that the defense of culture
by every conscientious person comes from instinct, and Greece, as the source of
Western culture, has a narrow role and significance to other countries and regions.
. Ancient Greece is the cradle of Western civilization and a symbol of human
wisdom. She not only created a colorful civilization, but also dominated many
aspects of art and philosophy, and also gave birth to all the embryos of modern
Western civilization.

1. The Eternal Significance of Greek Art to the West

Engels once spoke highly of the brilliant achievements and far-reaching influence
of Greek art, "Without the foundation laid by Greek art culture and the Roman
Empire, there would be no modern Europe." In the middle of the 18th century,
Winkelmann once clearly stated that the only way for us to become great, if
possible, incomparably great, is to imitate the ancients. Winkelmann believes that
although the Greek concept of beauty originated from nature, it is "higher than
nature" and "is completely out of the ideal nature of the soul". This work had a
great impact on the aesthetic and cultural concepts prevailing in Europe at that
time. Winkelmann believes that if Western art wants to be creative and achieve pure
beauty, it should imitate classical Greek art instead of imitating nature. Greek
art is a model of simplicity, perfection and harmony, representing "noble
simplicity, quiet greatness". Later, he also gave a complete explanation of the
development of Greek art with an organic theory: Greek art is like a complete
organism , experienced four stages of origin, development, change and decline. In
Winkelmann's eyes, art history is no longer centered on the detailed description of
individual artists and their works, but based on the grasp of the historical and
social environment in which works of art are produced. , the cultural expression of
a particular region. Winkelmann's treatises eminently expounded that the dialogues
about ideals and freedom, justice and introspection, which originated in the West,
come from Greek art, and the pinnacle of Greek art comes from the prudence of
philosophy in Greek culture. inherited from

2. The core temperament of Greek culture

From the beginning of ancient Greek philosophy, the basic thinking pattern of "from
things to self", which is the epistemological tradition of Westerners, has been
typical. Most of the ancient Greek philosophers were always looking for a unified
order that covers everything from the outside. They believed that the ultimate
existence is the universe and celestial bodies; human nature, morality, ideals,
etc. are just various activities corresponding to the elements of the universe.
This way of knowing "from things to me" extends to the understanding of man
himself. However, when ancient Greek philosophy and primitive science speculate on
the correspondence between man and nature, it still belongs to man. Perhaps it can
be said that, among the ancient Greeks, human life was divided into two, composed
of two possibilities. Of these two possibilities, the supersensible life is
understood as man's real, higher life, distinct from that of animals. The Greeks
knew very well that human beings can surpass animals by virtue of their
rationality, but ordinary people who are born with the earth are divided into the
seven emotions and six desires of the gods of Olympus, and it is very easy for
human beings to be pulled back to the level of animals. Therefore, like Confucius
and Mencius, they also emphasized the difference between humans and beasts, the
"sin" of lust and the temptation of "sin" of "material desire" to people, and
people's cognition and spiritual resistance to "sin".

3. The Transcendence of Greek Philosophy

Socrates once distinguished the duality of human life, that is, inside and outside:
people have an external, superficial, and animal side, and the "happiness" that the
public thinks is on this layer. However, this is only the happiness recognized by
false knowledge. People also have an inner, deep, and human side, which is where
real happiness lies. Only true knowledge can grasp it. This distinction between
inside and outside actually makes happiness The distinction between happiness,
desire, and interest has become a division with world-historical significance in
the history of anthropology. In Plato, "true nobility" is the highest excellence
and nobility that a pure person can achieve as a person himself. In Plato's utopia,
what kind of life one desires is determined by one's virtue.

Here is a related question: what is the basis for the argument that human existence
cannot be reduced to an existence bound by needs, but must live in the world of
meaning? When arguing this question, Socrates established the argument of ancient
Greece when explaining people: only true knowledge can be grasped. Kant also
insisted on excluding teleology in nature. He believed that causality can explain
the entire universe, but it is difficult to explain the life of a caterpillar. This
is true for life, let alone human life for advanced life activities. Therefore, to
live according to virtue as much as possible, to live according to true knowledge
as much as possible, this is a value truth about happiness. The theoretical premise
is that man is a free rational animal, and man is an existence that can give
rational answers to rational questions.

The enlightenment given to us by the exploration of Greek rational anthropology is:

the question of "what is a man" is not to give a "definition" to "man", but to ask
man to understand the meaning of man. This meaning is based on conceptual
knowledge. There will always be problems, but it may be experienced and
comprehended from the thinking, tasting, watching and sighing of direct life. In
Hegel's view, Western culture after the Greeks. It is characterized by "the
separation of the individual from the whole and the universal", a dissonance in
which the "individual" overwhelms the "group". Only the Greeks still maintain the
purity between "self-restraint" and "self-interest". As Hegel said, in fact, it is
difficult for us to use the two modern categories of "individualism" and
"collectivism" to define the Greeks' understanding of the individual and the whole
(city-state). , and non-collectivist, the distinction between the two is only
necessary when the division, confrontation and mutual utilization of individuals
and groups become the norm. The universality of "man" that the Greek philosophers
were looking for does not exist in its concept. "Things of a feather flock
together" is a concept of physical nature, "people are divided into groups" is a
concept of social ethics, and living people are individual "groups", "groups" are
in "individuals", and "individuals" are also in "groups". "Among them. What the
Greeks called "reasonable" and "unreasonable" human beings is actually an
abstraction of the average value of the interests of groups in the world. Through
the dynamic trajectory it presents, it can be seen that the turbulent human beings
are always trying to find a little balance between conflicting value pursuits.
However, conflict is the norm, and balance is only a moment—not only the overall
ethical concept of human beings, but also the relationship between each independent
individual and the group he belongs to.

Schlegel Jr.'s evaluation of Greek poetry in "On the Study of Greek Poetry"
represents to some extent an apt account of Greek philosophy: "Even in the early
stages of development, when still dominated by nature, Greek poetry was already
Contains the completeness of human nature, expresses its most complete and most
joyful state of tranquility", it is this Greek ideal that people of today are
looking for. For us, the Greek prudence of the human heart transcends the cycles of
history. Our understanding of Greece is not only pleasant, useful or necessary, but
only in Greek philosophy and the Greeks can we find our ideal self. If other
histories enrich us with human wisdom and human experience, what we get from Greek
philosophy is something otherworldly—something divine.