The Religious & The Political
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Sophocles, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, and Andreas Capellanus were individuals believed to have considered the times in which they lived to be regrettable departures from a more secure and desirable past. Each man responded to this perception in their writing, seeking personal consolation in their work while at the same time trying to influence the society in which they lived. Each author lived in a historical context from which they could look to the past with nostalgia while perceiving their present as a struggle against the disintegration of earlier values. However, each man also offers a prescription for the future, and none is so truly disenchanted with the present in which he lives that he rejects its attitudes and conceptions outright. Instead, they adapt and reinforce those aspects of their society that they believe are most valuable. This fact can be seen in their writings and in the circumstances of their time and place, as an examination of their lives and writings will show. These writers also tend to address these issues in two realms, or more properly in the meeting of two realms--the religious and the political. Sophocles holds up the mirror to his society and finds where the religious and the political clash. Plato analyzes the meaning of political action in a society that bases its values on a close and even direct relationship with a pantheon of gods. Marcus Aurelius was writing at a time of religious change when he also considered the political realm
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. . that these are great calamities, I do not think so; I believe that it is far worse to do what he is doing now, trying to put an innocent man to death.
Socrates represents the primary social value of inquiry, of the pursuit of philosophy, of the examination of the meaning of life. He also represents integrity, for when we inquire into the meaning of existence and develop a set of beliefs, we must live up to those beliefs. Socrates believes the unexamined life is not worth living, and if he accepts the right of the court to judge his thoughts, he has lost his integrity. Socrates is a poor man who is rich in intellect and in dedication. His followers carry on his ideas for him, and though they may want to save him, he talks them out of it because to escape would be to go against his principles.
In the Phaedo, Plato addresses a question that has interested man probably since man became aware of death, the question of the immortality of the soul and of the possibility of life after death. Plato sees this idea of the immortality of the soul as one that has to be accepted by reasoning man. In the Phaedo, Socrates, representing Plato's position, believes in the eternal life of the soul and guides the discussion in the dir
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Approximate Word count = 2990
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)
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