SOPHIEWHITFIELD [THE BODY AND PERCEPTION]
THE ROLE OF THE BODY IN ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY AND COSMOLOGY.
The Importance of the Body in Ancient Greek Philosophy.
Throughout ancient history, the human body has been considered as the central subject of the transcendal experience of life, within the structure of the unknown world around us - not simply the physical 'reality' in which we exist, therefore the essence of 'reality' which lies beyond our own perception.
It was the initial Greek philosophers that started this new way of thinking and altered how we perceive ourselves in the greater scheme of the Universe. The Greeks attempted to question just what our significance was within understanding the world, through the use of our body, our mind and our celestial being. It was an initial philosopher and mathematician; Plato, (427-347 BCE) 3rd-4th Century BC who perceived the notion of the body, as an understanding of that of a ‘cosmological process’.
'The body for Plato is not a given or something that can be isolated or defined as an entity; rather, it is part of a process of ordering within the domain of necessity. This process is never complete and is always open to further improvement through the continuous reciprocity of necessity and reason. As a result, the body appears as a relatively stable structure ordered in the context of reality as a whole (cosmos). The openness of the ordering process speaks not only about the contingency of the world but also about the contingent nature of the body.’ (VESELY, D.2005:29/30).
Fig.1: Statue of Plato by Pisano; Siena, Duomo, (1280).
Dalibor Vesely describes Plato’s’ understanding of the body as not just a single entity of physical form, but of that of a soul; a deeper relationship between the body and reason with reality and the surrounding world (microcosm).
Ocularcentrism also played a predominant role in Greek philosophy from classical antiquity; they believed that vision was a privilege, the superior sense that made reality and brought form to existence. Empedocles (4th century BC) was the principal pre-Socratic philosopher who made a connection between light and vision. Empedocles did not just see the world around him as such singularities but he, as many pre-Socratic philosophers, derived a relationship between the spirit of entities and the mathematical writings of the universe. Again, the contingent ideas conveyed, set the theoretical principle of vision, beginning a process of continuous consideration of rationale by later Greek philosophers and mathematicians based on light, optics and perception.
Fig.2: Masolino’s ‘St. Peter Healing a Cripple and the Raising of Tabitha’ (1425).
‘Knowledge has become analogous with clear vision and light is regarded as the metaphor for truth’ [PALLASMAA.J, 2005:15].
A Brief History; Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
Plato was a follower of Socrates; (470-399 BCE). A poor man who revelled in befriending members of the higher society. 'He was an inveterate questioner, who would always set someone up. His victims/subjects were invited to provide a definition of love or justice or beauty, and then Socrates would cross-examine them, exposing the shortcomings in their arguments.' [O'DONNELL, K. 2003:34]. In reality, Socrates was a radical thinker who challenged conventional ideals and put trust in conscience and reason.
Socrates lived at a time where Greek culture, as with many other cultures, started to question their own traditions. This, therefore, created a new mode of cultural relativism which led to sophism. As quoted in 'A History of Ideas' written by Kevin O'Donnell, the contemporary sophist- Protagoras explains that 'man is the measure of all things' and disputed 'that any true, objective knowledge was ever possible. All was relative, culturally conditioned and the partial construction of human thought and language' [2003:32].
It was Plato himself that derived the essence of the soul and the idea of eternalism in existence. Plato believed in a pre-existence and immortality, proposing that all humans have a knowledge of reality and perception which has spanned from their experiences within various past lives.
'Learning is thus a form of remembrance of what we once knew, a type of memory or anamnesis.' [O'DONNELL, K. 2003:36]
Aristotle (384-322 BCE), also a significant figure in Greek Philosophy, trained under Plato in his academy. Aristotle argues that happiness is the greatest goal in life - spanning from vast intellectual activity where by performance is heightened, through reason, devotion and passion. As stated in Jonathon Barnes' book, Aristotle - a very short introduction, Aristotle explains a life is 'the activity of the mind' [2000:3], a being must know its own mind to fully understand life.
Similarly to Plato, Aristotle followed the development of scientific and mathematic theory from Pythagoras and the ideals of Geometry. Plato praised the idea of an axio deductive system. This is a system where initial principles or axioms are stated as primary truths of a certain subject, from these principles/axioms/truths, logical deductions are made and we are left with all the other truths. Plato proposed that all known knowledge was based on this singular system. However, Aristotle argued that disciplines of science are both independent yet sub-sequential of themselves. He states:
'The causes and principles of different things are different - in one way; but in another way, if you speak universally and by analogy, they are all the same.' - Aristotle. [BARNES, J. 2000:40]
Aristotle separated all known knowledge into three areas; practical, productive and theoretical. 'Practical sciences are concerned with action, or more precisely how we ought to act in certain situations...The productive science is concerned with the making of things...Knowledge is theoretical when its goal is neither production nor action but simply truth.' [BARNES, J. 2000:40].
Aristotle divided this idea of theoretical knowledge into three sub areas; natural science, mathematics and theology. At that time questions of metaphysics that lay beyond human knowledge and human perception were regarded as theology - 'sciences of the divine' [BARNES, J., 2000:40] - the unknown and the lack of rationale, reason and logic into what we now call the greater Cosmos.
Conclusion.
On the whole, Greek philosophy considered the idea of the body as a central, conceptual being of the universe and saw pure vision as the ultimate sense. As a result, ‘during the Renaissance, the five senses were understood to form a hierarchical system from the highest sense of vision down to touch. The Renaissance system of the senses was related with the image of the cosmic body; vision was correlated to fire and light, hearing to air, smell to vapour, taste to water and touch to earth’ [PALLASMAA.J, 2005:16].
Greek Philosophy was initially greatly dependant on the Scientific and Mathematical progress and the present developments of the knowledge and understanding of the origin of the world around us. J. B Burnet, in his book Greek Philosophy, describes the Greek appreciation of merging two vast opportunistic subjects, into one interdependent relationship creating such discoveries - stating:
'Reflection on common-sense beliefs and the available scientific knowledge, and the adaptation of these beliefs to the search for total knowledge or its first principles leads, on the one hand, to the emergence of different philosophical movements and traditions, and, on the other, to the emergence of new special sciences and scientific traditions.' [1943:02].
Cosmology; Understanding the Origin, Evolution and Fate of our Universe.
Cosmology is concerned with questioning the origin of the Universe, how both beings and our planet have evolved from the beginning of time and finally to what fate or destiny is the world to expect. These are central topics of our existence that a philosopher, a mathematician and a scientist alike would endeavour to seek reason and further enhance all understanding. As stated these topics roam independently in the realms of their knowledge and principles, however, when looking as one analogy they are combined to form the basis of; as Aristotle classed – theology (metaphysics).
Mathematics has always played an integral role in trying to understand the world around us in relation to the body, the physical reality and the celestial plane. It was Pythagoras, a Greek mathematician who was born in 580 BCE, renowned for his belief that ‘numbers revealed the foundations of reality…He saw these as the fundamental arche of the Universe. Everything could be reduced to mathematical order and harmony’ [O’DONNELL, K. 2003:28, 29]. Mathematical concepts that we know today regarding simple shapes such as the triangle; with equal angles and dimensions and algebraic theory have all derived from the logic of Pythagoras and his understanding of this mathematical language which could explain the structure of the cosmos.
Pythagoras promoted mysticism and believed that whilst for himself numbers could explain the ‘reality’ of the world around us; he questioned a deeper more complex notion that numbers themselves came from calculations or ‘immaterial stuff…to which numbers give limit and order’ [O’DONNELL, K. 2003:29].
Fig.3: Measuring of Angles with the Jacobs Staff, Woodcut, c.1530.
'Numbers and equations are constant; earthly forms are ephemeral. The beauty of numbers lasts forever, but the beauty of the individual snowflake is fleeting.' [O'DONNELL, K., 2003:36]
Galileo a 17th Century Italian physicist, astronomer, mathematician and philosopher, made the observation that 'the planets were imperfect'. Galileo broke the spiritual connection of the divine or the higher being by understanding that the physical reality was not what was taught; he used the refracted telescope in order to 'observe the stars, rather than to speculate about them...he confirmed earlier theories about the sun being in the centre of our solar system... he had studied the phases of the moon' [O'DONNELL, K. 2003:103]. At the same time, Rene Descartes, a French philosopher, was also a visionary mathematician concerned with light and optics. Descartes made theories into the refraction of light, through the study of lenses and contributed to the revision of algebra in regards to the structure of the matter of the Universe.
'It is surely harmful to souls to make it a heresy to believe what is proved.' - Galileo Galilei [Baker, J. 2010:11]
From these ancient principles, a new mode of thinking emerged from the expansion of knowledge through both science and mathematics. From Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution, to Isaac Newton and his three rules of motion and Albert Einstein with his theory of relativity; it was these great thinkers who added substance and expanded our understanding to what we believed to be the mathematical reality of our Universe, therefore becoming the leading principles or truths of the sciences that we know today; physics, chemistry and biology. As the knowledge of the world grew, so did its mechanical means, we were able to create mere machines and devices which enabled us to observe and study the properties which until now, had been a mere mysticism of the unknown in the essence of logic and reasoning. These technical innovations have enabled us to study such vast yet delicate topics in astrophysics, cosmology, and the leading sciences. They have enabled us to calibrate relationships between the very fabrics of the universe and the way its properties can react to the surrounding microcosm.
Modern Theory of the Universe; Inflation.
Today, through this scientific advancement and mechanical means - we have drawn up some of the most complex models of the universe regarding the study of string theory, particle physics, quantum mechanics and the development of the Higgs Boson- otherwise referred to as the 'God Particle' - The stimulation of the atoms in the Large Hadron Collider based in Switzerland is concerned with colliding speeding protons together to re-create (in a particle sense) what happened at that ultimate moment at the beginning of the creation of space, time and the dimension of our universe.
'It took less than an hour to make the atoms, a few hundred million years to make the stars and planets but five billion years to make man' - George Gamow [BAKER, J. 2010:191]
Since the beginning of all creation, it is thought that our universe is in a constant state of expansion through what scientists call today dark energy. They believe that this dark energy is what is pulling galaxies and stars away from each other within this state of time and dimension.
'Nothing Exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.' - Democritus [BAKER, J. 2010:103]
Fig.4: Cosmic Inflation.
Fig.5: Formation of our Solar System.
Modern Theory of the Universe; Multi-verse.
'Supernovas are the brightest cosmic fireworks in the universe. When they explode...they shine with a brightness of 10 billion stars. Fortunately for us, stars don't explode too often, but fortunately for us they explode...You would not be here if they did not explode, because all of the important elements that make up your body are created in stars. In the big bang the only things that were created were hydrogen, helium and a little bit of lithium, but the important stuff - carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and iron; all of those things are created in the nucleus in furnaces inside of stars. And the only way that they could get into your body is if the stars were kind enough to explode....So you are literally stardust. You are star children. You are intimately connected with the cosmos in ways you may never have imagined.' - Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Harvard University. [A Universe from Nothing, 40:50]
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss from Harvard University talks about this idea of the multi-verse and the whole mysticism regarding our origin; he seeks to address the issues regarding the fundamental question 'why is there something, rather than nothing'.
Professor Krauss is an astrophysicist who initially became involved in cosmology as he wanted to be the person who found out how the universe would end. The theory of the multi-verse is the idea that we are not the only singular universe that has been created and that in actual fact there are parallel universes that exist beyond our own. In essence there are parallel realities; the idea of infinity plays a vital role in this idea, as ultimately if a universe is infinite then surely the number of galaxies and planets (just like our own) created is infinite also, making the point that somewhere along the line, as stars explode creating atmospheres for forms of life; there is the possibility that there may be a planet just like our own out there.
Fig. 6: Lecture given from Professor Lawrence M. Krauss of Harvard University; A Universe from Nothing.
If you have the time, view this video from the start of his lecture - it is simply fascinating. This lecture pin-points the most existential questions and mystery that surrounds our beliefs and our understanding of everything that we know today. It is a vital piece of information for this research as it explains how our relationship with the world has been enhanced through the theoretical equations of the universe. It describes how as each piece of the puzzle is understood, the more magnificent it is that we are here in this exact moment in space and time where life can thrive. Professor Krauss explains of our insignificance within the greater scheme of things and that our existence will make no difference in the eternal forest of stars. A survey that will be conducted as part of this research will question whether mathematics can truly explain the universe or whether the experience of the individual plays a vital role in our perception of significance..
For the start of the lecture by Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, please go to: 12:50. For the poetic description regarding the relationship between our body and the Cosmos please go to 40:50.
The idea of the beauty of time and the mortality of our fragile body in existence has been dispersed into our modern lives through the use of media and film. Today, major feature length films such as Troy; where emperors looked to the mystical signs and symbols of the gods and the writings of the stars for answers to their lives. The film is based in ancient Grecian times as a poetic tragedy of love and battle at the time of the fall of troy, it states:
“The gods envy us. They envy us because we’re mortal, because any moment may be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we’re doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again.” - Brad Pitt. 2004. Troy [film].