If Pyrrho really existed... here is what we discussed about him:
Pyrrho was an extremest about having no beliefs. This made him somewhat of a danger to himself. How far can someone go before they realize logic has to play a factor? Pyrrho went as far as to question the danger in dangling over a cliff. Can anybody really be that detached? One can only live life by using some form of logic. Without a sense of jeopardy he would be so unaware of threats and constantly be putting his life at stake.
It can be argued that Pyrrho had SPD, Sensory Processing Disorder. This is a condition that exists when sensory signals don't get organized into appropriate responses. The Alexander Technique is the easiest way to physically understand Pyrrhos practice. It is when one does not trust instinct. You practice the art of doing nothing and you will feel better. This is used to change or correct habbits to change how people feel by relearning how your body operates.
We believe it doesn't matter what we think, but what matters is the meaning. The perception of that will form its own meaning. If college means success to us then that is its meaning. Even if it isn't, even if college in actuality is just a money scheme to postpone our entrance in the workforce so elders have less competition, it doesn't matter. To us college is our step into a successful future.
We also agreed that there has to be some form of belief or awareness to contrast everything in life from right and wrong and better from worse. We need positives in our lives but we also need negatives to stop us from going forward with bad ideas. We all fear death as an event but we didn't worry about it when we weren't here. Heaven can be seen as something created to combat the fear of death, and religion is a safety net from what we fear and cant accept or understand.
By believing that there should be no beliefs, it seems contradictory. Pyrrho lived in a gray area. It is hard to support his skepticism. It goes against human nature.
http://www.spdfoundation.net/about-sensory-processing-disorder.html
ReplyDeleteThis is link that explains Sensory Processing Disorders.
To me, Pyrrho is something we should all strive to be....not an a crazy 'I will gladly walk off a cliff with no fear' way... but by taking his example of someone who lived their life for what they believed. He put his whole body, mind and life into his thoughts and reasons. This type of dedication is rare, and should be something we all look for in ourselves. Not to say we should refuse to open or minds to new ideas or concepts, but that we should know where we stand, and why.
I really liked how our group went against Pyrrho's thoughts that it doesn't have meaning to everyone, it has no meaning. ("It" being something that could have meaning attached to it). Our group refuted this notion and supported it by using the example of college majors: not every student finds the same level of meaning in certain subjects, but that does not mean one subject is more important, or holds more meaning than another one. What does 'meaning' mean to you?
I think a good test question would be What were Pyrrho's three questions?
Answer= 1. What are things really like?
2. What attitude should we adopt to them?
3. What will happen to someone who does adopt that attitude?
(I apologize in advance for the long post.)
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do think that Pyrrho was an extremist of sorts—extreme in his indifference, that is—he did emphasize an important aspect of philosophy: skepticism. It seems as if all the philosophers we have studied thus far embody a facet of the realm of philosophy—each not quite branching off of the last, but contributing something new to a body of knowledge that can only grow in time. Philosophy means so much more than the sum of its individual parts. Whether or not Pyrrho really was as extreme as he was described in the book matters little. In retrospect, we will always define him as the ultimate skeptic.
That being said, I think we should be skeptical about Pyrrho's skepticism. I don't think that total detachment from life should be the goal. In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Foer writes, "You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness." Pyrrho wanted to protect himself from both—from life itself. But even he could not suppress his humanity during times of instinct. He still flinched when a dog threatened him. Perhaps even Pyrrho recognized what he tried so hard to bury under his philosophy: the reality of humanity, which in its essence struggles to gain meaning, to make connections, to stand out.
I know I bring this up a lot—maybe because this book really has changed me—but Pyrrho's philosophy brings to mind Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being. In the book, Tomas essentially has to decide between a life of lightness and a life of weight. Kundera compares weight and lightness:
"The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground. But in the love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man's body. The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life's most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become.
"Conversely, the absolute absence of a burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into the heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant."
Obviously, Pyrrho would have responded as Parmenides, an pre-Socratic philosopher, had: "Lightness is positive, weight negative."
But in the end, is weightlessness really to be desired? Lightness means the inability to lose meaning; lightness means having no meaning at all. And this is what Pyrrho had suggested: the absence of what we know so as to justify the presence of what we don't know.
So how can you be sure that all that you experience is real? Well, you can't. But isn't it enough to believe that they are real because they exist for you, and you for them?
(Spoiler: In the end, Tomas chooses weight, hence the title. Lightness was, indeed, unbearable. I think it is for many of us, too.)
Discussion Question: Does it really matter if/in what way our perceptions exist?
Factual Question: What was Epicurus' school of philosophy called?
Answer: The Garden
While Pyrrho thought his beliefs were correct, his detachment from everyday life leads me to believe that he might have suffered from something (possibly Sensory Processing Disorders). Even if i followed along with his beliefs (which I don't) I do not think I could completely detach myself from reflexes, responses and inner desires. Just as his followers did not live out his beliefs fully, i would not be able to.
ReplyDeleteDiscussion Question: Would you be able to completely follow Pyrrho's lead?
It is interesting that you bring those disorders up on the table. I never even thought about him having anything like that! You all had a great group discussion!
ReplyDeleteOne thing though... What if Pyrrho did not have a disorder? Maybe he liked to be open to everything until it was proven wrong or dangerous. I also agree with the statement, "Pyrrho lived in a gray area." He really did seem to live like that because he was very indifferent through any situation, especially when he was calm throughout the storm on the ship (Which I do not think any of us could do today). Great post and discussion!!!!
Evan Lester
Section H1
Yes pyrrho was the greatest sceptic that we have known of i have thought of him as someone who tried to keep a continous state of mind of calmness. He questioned his senses the most and my take on it was he was some one who had lucid dreams often or nightly. if you have never had a lucid dream that you remember then its a place where you are connectted to the astral plan and the only way to stay there is to be in a calm controlled state of mind not just in the sense of whats here in the physical but once in a lucid dream it is a challenge to stay there for some. if you have never had on then i suggest you get physically exhausted and mentally alert and lay-down keep a continious traill of thought on anything that keeps you conscious once you notice your body is sasleep it is important not to think of your senses because that can alert them and wake u up or pull you out of that plane. i believe pyrrho was trying to keep the same vibe or frequency in this world and the astral plane so he was trying to ignore his senses and transend to the astral plane from reality. the astal plane is something that can be argeud i know but for some they know its a real place that only the most intouch with there inner thoughts could get to it and you must be able to control not only your emotions but your senses too.
ReplyDeletePyrrho was a good subject for group one it was really our first deep discussion as a group. At first listening to Pyrrho's thoughts on philosophy was a little to much for me. The first time I read the chapter I thought he was a bit of an extremist for me. Especially, when he said things like he couldn't trust his own senses (which was acceptable), but then he threw me way off when he said he was standing on the edge of a cliff and he did not want to trust his sense of he was about to fall or how he thought he didn't know he was going to die. But then I realized through group discussion that this guy was willing to pass the boundaries of what he was taught and was willing to put them to the test. So really what I got from this was you can put this into real life situations, By saying even though you have reached a certain point in life you can always go pass what you think is the end by what you have been taught. I hope this makes sense.
ReplyDeletePyrrho seemed to spark a lot of discussion for our group! For me the whole time I read the chapter I thought a lot about how he relates to the study of Alexander Technique( I will post a link to explain what that is later but I'm typing this from my phone and I am not sure how to do that). In AT we learn a lot about how our natural instincts are often wrong and that sometimes it is best to do noting and ignore them, Pyrrho's lack of trust i his instincts brings me to wonder if his teachings could have been an inspiration for F.M Alexander's method, or if he would have become a student of it if he lived in our time.
ReplyDeleteSo, I can't figure out how to edit my previous post.
ReplyDeleteHere's a really good AT website if anyone is interested: http://www.cophilosophy.blogspot.com/