Morals of Pleasure in Ancient Greek Era

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The Greek mind believed in nature, and formed statements, concepts, and cognitive impressions about it that were included within its vision of itself, its surroundings, and its relationships. For the Greeks,

mankind is an individual, self-being, with priority in himself, so they moved towards that self and recommended the necessity of preoccupation with it. They emphasized that he could not be himself without living his abstract nature as it is, even in the subject of his pleasures, desires, and instincts.

In general, Greek philosophy’s understanding of nature was reflected even in its awareness of morality, which gave it a natural, sensual dimension, away from any superhuman obligations and restrictions. This is why we noticed how sensual pleasures in the Greek era (Aphrodisias: the pleasures of the body without the pleasures of the soul) were extended and wide-ranging in thought and action, so that many interpretations were given for them and for all the sensual instinctive tendencies, covered with ethics and moral visions from their origins.

With the advent of Christianity, the situation was completely reversed. All moral thinking focused on calling on the believer to dominate his pleasures and desires as a sign of his faith and spiritual victory, with an emphasis on purity as a path to total salvation. So, morals in the modern Western philosophical mind ended up as a sensual positivism, which made dealing with mankind - and everything related to him – a subject of possible scientific knowledge, far from any relationship with the human moral standard itself and far from any spiritual meanings. This is what affected Western political thought, which witnessed and continues to witness a complete absence of morality as a standard and condition for practicing politics.

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Thursday 30 May 2024
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