Aristotle on politics and religion

Comments (13)

1. What is this? Bait to get a link from PZed? You know if he linked, you’d only have to find another way to mis-spell his name.

   1. P-Zombies don’t frighten me. I don’t believe they exist.

      1. I use something similar with language to a 6th century British form of word play known as Hisperic Latin. It helps me to remeber things in a tightly packed form as I am rather bad at note taking. A private form of language that helps me to remeber as don’t think in words. I don’t compound words as Hisperic does, just use an image I can layer densely. I should realy add a question mark to the title to make Lord M. jump out more. It’s rather busy as it is.

         I think the scribes may have been using it in a similar way. Not sure. But it’s not a language experment. If thats what you are refering to bob.

      2. I had a whimsical idea a while back, that one way to get PZ’s attention on a blog might be to run a poll along the following lines.

         “In light of PZ Myers’ upcoming visit to Australia, we should all be: (a) Scared. (b) Really scared. (c) Scared out of our wits. (d) Actually, there’s nothing scary about PZ Myers.”

         I’m not going to actually do it, but it’s a fun thought experiment.

2. Seems to me that “displaying a foolish religiosity” is no barrier to political success in the US, at least (eg. George Bush, Sarah Palin, several of the Republican presidential hopefuls, and any number of federal and state legislators).

   1. As always, Aristotle is a more subtle figure than it at first seems. He is discussing under what conditions tyrants might succeed. He has already, prior to this passage, shown how tyranny can arise from simple democracy (what we might call demagoguery, or the tyranny of the majority). In Aristotle’s day, nobody had suggested a constitutional democracy. A foolish religiosity is something that succeeds in democracies, according to him.

3. uuugh. Thats extremly nice. Something else to add to the long list of books to read.

   “One must obey god and the king” as late 17th century good manners dictated.

4. p.s One of those chance events. Ive got an old unchecked early versions of an old book (to mean to pick up a finished copy)

   But Lord Monboddo who had a particularly difficult life loosing first his wife then son and finaly his daughter. Is alleged to have said after the funeral of one and on returning to his library.

   “let us turn instead to Aristotle” and shut the door.

   All roads lead eventualy to philosophy I suspect for answers or more sure and solid questions.

5. I just dug out a copy of “Celtic Cheifdom, Celtic State The Evolution of Complex Social Systems in Pre-Historic Europe.” B. Arnold and D.B. Gibson ed.
   1995

   Cambridge university press! Always nice.

   Its where cultural evolution has been best applied in my subject with regard to the political system at the time of the first Latin Ethnology written during the conquests, and the political system which emerges in the 6th cen. The chiefdom, similarities in both the culture and the archeology are rather well described from an evolutionary prespective rather than straight line repetition of culture from the Iron age to the 6th century.

   Cultural evolution has been used in the subject for years. Its been most effective and it’s not unpopular.

   Should not be too difficult to apply Aristotle in the same manner and see how effective his perspective is.

   Books an intresting read not with out some of the normal issues that occur within the subject.
   But intresting none the less.

   An important first step for me with regards the methods of enquiry we both use. Set me on the road. As youre work on species took me that bit further.

6. The P-Zombie concept makes my teeth hurt. People get paid for writing/thinking about that?

   1. Even worse – I get paid for teaching it to young impressionable minds…

7. I banged into this paper last night. Associate Professor at Queensland I think. He has an interest in mnemonics, language contact and camouflage. I found some of it intresting. As he looks at the relationship of Muslim, Hebrew and Christian language exchange and camouflage.

   I think to research and demonstrate findings is enough with regard to language. He examines what he terms p.s.m’s

   He defines them as attacks of one religion or national group on another. I think I would use a diffrent definition of ethnicity from the one he uses and would not define in the same terms.

   http://www.zuckermann.org/pdf/ENGINEERING.pdf

   I wonder if it could in anyway be related to the relationship noted between farting and prayer.
   “a pious effusion”

   http://www.jstor.org/pss/30007803?cookieSet=1

   The braigetori a person who earns a living as a profesional flatulist is well attested in Irish legal texts from the 6th cen. and in some particularly nice 16th century illustrations concerning the table manners of the wild Irish.

   Aristotles concept of the link with democracy and foolishness relates to the specific social organisation of the polis I think.

   The relationship between rural and urban is diffrent. So the context I am looking at has a diffrent development. Aristotles still makes some rather nice observations that certainly don’t look out of step for the polis and it’s specific form of social organisation.

8. Don’t have to read it but contians a woodcut of the
   braigetori at work.

   http://jebmc.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/to-pray-or-to-fart-a-comedy-of-manners/

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