Lucretius argues that nature and her laws solve the unknowns to which humans seek answers, not religion. He seeks out signs that the world has to offer, proving his point and attacking the fallacies Religion bestows upon man. He uses this analogy to make his point: "This terror and darkness of the mind, not by the suns rays nor the bright shaft of day, must be dispersed, as is most necessary, but the face of nature and her laws." One finds answers, by looking at the world carefully, rather than from heaven. With this one can discover the origins and ends of life and not have to live in fear.
Lucretius believed that religion is a fraud and cannot explain the unknown. One finds that Humans are fearful of the unknown which leads them to search for answers. When one cannot find answers, they will turn elsewhere-- like from religion. Religion offers explanations for the unknown and priests use this to claim power. Lucretius had an amazing scientific passion. He wanted to find answers to the unanswerable. Clyde makes Lucretius stand out, "for the union of high speculative power, deep moral earnestness, and imagination that rises to the loftiest reaches of awe and grandeur" (2). Lucretius fought for the idea that anything cannot become nothing and vice versa. In the book On the Nature of The Universe, Lucretius further solidifies his stance against religion saying, "so great the power religion had for evil" (1.101). Lucretius believes that religion was used as a social control to
Religion is the belief in a god or gods but what did this mean in Ancient Israel and Rome. This has heavily affected what we believe in today. "So I say to you, Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find knock, and the door will be opened for you.". Jesus Christ said this and in this quote he means that once you find a belief you believe in more opportunities will be there for you. This ties into Roman religion because they believed in Jesus and they thought he was also one of their saviors.Almost every country in the world has a religion, but most of them started in ancient civilizations. Religion in Israel and Rome affected their daily lives in several ways. There were many differences and similarities in their beliefs, which led to many differences in their daily lives. Israel was heavily focused on Judaism and monotheistic beliefs. Rome, on the other hand,was a polytheistic, and they practiced polytheistic Christianity. The religions share similarities and differences.
Roman religion is not as easy to identify or describe as one might immediately suppose. Much of the difficulty in defining the religion of the Roman Republic is due to its flexibility and variability, as well as the lack of any clear division between religion, politics, and civil society during this period. It can often be difficult to tell, for example, where Roman religion ends and political ideology begins. Despite these difficulties, it is possible to make certain generalized statements. Religion in the Roman republic was extremely integrated into everyday life, it is variable and individualized, and it played a key role in upholding Roman civil and military power structures. It is also important to remember that Roman religion is not static and underwent a constant process of change over several centuries, often due to political and social concerns.
‘Something rather than nothing refers to’ the cosmological argument for the existence of God claiming that all things in nature; ‘something’ are dependent on something else for their existence. As Lucretius puts it in his first book De Rerum Natura, “by observing nature and her laws…her first principle: that nothing’s brought forth by any supernatural power out of naught” hence we arrive at nihil fit ex nihilo ‘nothing comes from nothing’
Scientific reasoning has brought humanity to incredibly high levels of sophistication in all realms of knowledge. For Saint Thomas Aquinas, his passion involved the scientific reasoning of God. The existence, simplicity and will of God are simply a few topics which Aquinas explores in the Summa Theologica. Through arguments entailing these particular topics, Aquinas forms an argument that God has the ability of knowing and willing this particular world of contingent beings. The contrasting nature of necessary beings and contingent beings is at the heart of this debate.
Nature is truth at its purest form of life: cruel, ruthless and impartial. Dubious about the utopian society we live in, Mccandless vies to find the world’s underlying truth in his Odyssey. Some of us want to be as courageous as Mccandless and leave behind everything for the sole purpose of finding the truth, but can not bring ourselves to do so because of our attachment to material things. Mccandless wants to understand human nature and nature itself, to do that, he rids himself of all attachments and travels to the places where he knows nature would be at its peak. In the book Walden mentioned throughout the story, Thoreau reveals: “Nature was here something savage and awful, though beautiful. I looked with awe at the ground I trod on, to see what the Powers had made there… Night” (Thoreau 172).
Along with individualism, reason was a driving proponent of thinking throughout the entirety of the Enlightenment. Philosophers and scientists alike used reason. Reason allowed these men and women to outline their conclusions in detail in a step by step method that aided in increasing credibility. Arbitrary logic, such as the claim to a throne based on a divine right, began to fade with the rise of appealing to reason. No other writer embodies the appeal to reason more than René Descartes. In Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes uses reason as a tool to explore his own perceptions. One of the more intriguing examples of his process of reasoning occurs in his second meditation, “Of the Nature of the Human mind; and that it’s more easily known than the body”. Throughout the chapter, Descartes arrives at the conclusion that all we really have to rely on are our own thoughts. He arrives at this notion by first reasoning as to why we cannot rely on sense and then concluding at the simple explanation that we are only “A thing which thinks.”. It is our thought that “doubts, understands, [conceives], affirms, denies, wills, refuses, which also imagines and feels”. (Page 10, Meditation II) Descartes’ claim that individual reasoning and
The Romans view on religions continued to change over the years of the empire. Roman views on religion were constantly changing throughout the history of the empire. At the beginning, Christianity was thought of as something that should not be allowed. Christians were persecuted and punished by the Romans for their contradicting beliefs. Later, in the fourth century, Christianity started to become acceptable and more people were converting from other religions. Christianity can be seen as something that helped the empire come together and stop the “war” of religions.
Religion was a major factor in a number of Shakespeare’s plays. Religion motivated action and reasoning. In Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,” religion was more than a belief in a higher being; it reflected moral standards and ways of living. In the “Merchant of Venice,” “a Christian ethic of generosity, love, and risk-taking friendship is set in pointed contrast with a non-Christian ethic that is seen, from a Christian point of view, as grudging, resentful, and self-calculating.” (Bevington, pg. 74) Although Shakespeare writes this drama from a Christian point of view he illustrates religion by conflicts of the Old Testament and the New Testament in Venetian society and its court of law. These Testaments are tested through the
Religion experienced a lot of progress and transformation throughout the Middle Ages. Christianity held consistent popularity and other religions such as Islam were on the rise in participation. After the fall of Rome, there was no unified state or government in Europe and the Catholic Church used that opportunity to become a large powerhouse. The Roman Empire had effectively split into three different worlds: Muslim, Byzantine, and western European. Various Kings, Queens, and other leaders looked to the Catholic church for power and protection in exchange for alliances. Meanwhile, the Islamic religion was growing in wealth, power, and people. With the prophet Muhammad’s death in 632, Muslim groups took under large parts of land and united them under a single caliph. The Byzantines were still operating from Constantinople, just under a smaller rule and rural life assumed greater importance in the backbone of their society. Religion was largely involved in the Middle Ages’ art and architecture. Massive Cathedrals were built and even books were a work of art before the invention of the printing press. In addition, their economy was directly affected by religious activity such as missions and conquests. Overall, the general trends marking the progress religion in the Middle Ages are inclusion of everyone, a building of a community, and the opportunity of becoming equals with other practitioners.
– “The years as they come bring many agreeable things with them; as they go, they take many away” – Horace (65BC – 8BC)
"When the question is asked, what we are to believe in regard to religion, it is not necessary to probe into the nature of things, as was done by the Greek scientists. We need not be alarmed should the Christian not know the number of elements; the motion of the heavenly bodies; the shape of the cosmos; the species of animals and plants; the nature of stones, rivers, and mountains; about time and distance; the signs of coming storms; or about a thousand other things which these scientists have either found out, or think they have found out.
Rene Descartes was a philosopher of the 17th century. He had this keen interest in the search for certainty. For he was unimpressed with the way philosophy is during their time. He mused that nothing certain was coming forth from all the philosophical ideologies. He had considered that the case which philosophy was in was due to the fact that it was not grounded to something certain. He was primarily concerned with intellectual certainty, meaning that something that is certain through the intellect. Thus he was named a rationalist due to this the line of thought that he pursued. But in his work in the meditation, his method of finding this certainty was skeptical in nature; this is ‘the methodic doubt’.
Since the dawn of mankind religion has been one of the most significant elements of a society’s social and cultural beliefs and actions. However, this trend has declined due to the general increase in knowledge regarding our the natural sciences. Where we had previously attributed something that we didn’t understand to the working of a higher power, is now replaced by a simple explanation offered by natural sciences. While advocates of Religion may question Natural Sciences by stating that they are based on assumptions, it is important to note the Natural Sciences are based on theories and principles which can be proven using mathematical equations and formulas. Faith however contrasts from the easily visible feasibility of data
Descartes and Augustine, in their respective examinations of the mind and God, come to the conclusion that the true understanding of all things derives from the withdrawal of the self from foreign influence and the necessity to look inward. Although each thinker’s journey or course of understanding was different, and at times rather contrasting, their ultimate realizations about knowledge are very coherent.
This quote describes the deeper, spiritual approach to nature. This deeper approach allows us to be more open and sensitive to ourselves and nonhuman life.