--- title: "Civilization #13: Aristotle and the Greek Legacy transcript" description: "Source-synced transcript archive for Civilization #13: Aristotle and the Greek Legacy." source_title: "Civilization #13: Aristotle and the Greek Legacy" published_at: "2024-11-05" source_class: "episode" public_url: "https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/" markdown_url: "https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript.md" text_url: "https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript.txt" source_url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA" data_url: "https://jianglens.com/data/lens/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa.json" --- # Civilization #13: Aristotle and the Greek Legacy transcript - Source: [Civilization #13: Aristotle and the Greek Legacy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA) - Published: 2024-11-05, day precision - Human transcript page: [/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/) - Episode page: [/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/) - Transcript Markdown: [/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript.md](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript.md) - Transcript text: [/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript.txt](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript.txt) - Episode JSON: [/data/lens/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa.json](https://jianglens.com/data/lens/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa.json) ## Transcript ### 0:00 seg-0001 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0001` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0001](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0001) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=0s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=0s) Okay, so today we will finish the Greeks by discussing Aristotle. And a lot of what I will say today will be controversial, okay? So feel free to challenge me, feel free to ask for clarification. Feel free to ask any questions, okay? So here's my argument. Aristotle is a paradox. He is one of the mysterious figures in world history. He's one of the most famous, but he's one of the most mysterious. He's a paradox for three reasons, okay? The first reason is he is considered to be one of the greatest philosophers in human history. He's next to Plato. He's certainly as influential as Plato. But what is unique about him is we do not have anything originally written by him, okay? We have no text that we believe was personally written by him. And that's unique in human history, okay? We say Shakespeare was a great writer, and we can prove it or show it by reading his text. ### 1:17 seg-0002 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0002` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0002](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0002) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=77s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=77s) We believe Aristotle is a great thinker, a great writer, but we have no evidence, no text to show us this is the case. But we believe so, okay? So this is the first paradox of Aristotle. Second paradox of Aristotle is he was a very prolific writer and thinker. In fact, we believe there's about 200 works attributed to Aristotle. What is unique about his work is the range of his thinking and his research. So he's written a book on politics, right? What is the best political system? He's written a book on... Poetics, theater, basically. What makes for a good tragedy? He's written a book on ethics. What is a good life? What makes a good person? He's written a book on rhetoric. How do you convince the audience that you are correct? He's also written books on physics. He's written books on metaphysics. He's written books on biology, okay? ### 2:31 seg-0003 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0003` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0003](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0003) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=151s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=151s) It's just a range of books. The range is just incredible. We have no analog in human history like him, okay? He's simply unique in the range of his curiosity, okay? Second paradox. The third paradox is most problematic, okay? We know that Aristotle studied under Plato for 20 years. And so we also believe that Aristotle was Plato's... Most famous student. The paradox is Aristotle's understanding of the universe is radically opposed to Plato's understanding of the universe, okay? And that's, again, is unique in human history. You would think the best student would carry on the master's work, or at least build on it, right? But Aristotle, his understanding of the universe, is inconsequential. It's in conflict with Plato's work. In fact, you could also argue that Aristotle is negating Plato's worldview, okay? So let me explain how. So we know Plato. We know that for Plato, there is a god, and it's called the form of the good. And the form of the good is what is eternal, perfect, and immutable, okay? ### 4:06 seg-0004 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0004` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0004](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0004) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=246s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=246s) Now. Plato emanates other perfections. What he calls the form of the ideal, okay? So these are concepts like justice and beauty and reason. And then these concepts manifest themselves in forms like horse, right? Or a woman, okay? And these are like the ideal, perfect, immutable, eternal manifestations, okay? So, what is the ideal? So there's only one horse. It's up in heaven. Everything else is a copy of this horse, or imitation of this horse, okay? So we live in a shadow realm, okay, a shadow realm, where everything is imitation, okay? This is our reality. It's a shadow reality. And that's why art and poetry and theater are so bad, because they are really an imitation of an imitation, okay? So this is Plato's hierarchy. Okay? So, from this hierarchy and this worldview, we can make certain extrapolations, okay? The first extrapolation is, for Plato, what is good is if you approach or return to the form of the good. ### 5:27 seg-0005 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0005` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0005](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0005) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=327s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=327s) What is evil, what is bad, is if you move away from the form of the good, okay? Right? So poetry is evil. Mathematics is good. Okay? Now, why is mathematics good? Okay. Because mathematics is what allows you to approach the form of the good, all right? So let me give you an example of this, okay? Let's say there's a circle, right? Now what Plato argues is, no matter how hard you try, you could never, ever draw a circle in this world, okay? Because a circle has an edge, so it's like literally impossible for you to create something perfect without an edge, right? You're like, well, I can draw on the computer. But if you go at a microscopic level, you will always find an edge, okay? So how do you create a circle? Well, you create a circle by imagining it in your head, okay? ### 6:28 seg-0006 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0006` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0006](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0006) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=388s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=388s) So what you're really doing is you're imagining the circle because you're accessing the realm of the forms. You're approaching the form of the good, okay? So it's only pure. It is only through a process of pure thought, pure philosophy. Okay? Pure mathematics, that you can actually start to understand this world, all right? That's Plato's understanding of the world. Aristotle has a completely different understanding, okay? So Aristotle starts with this, that God's a prime mover. So the prime mover, just imagine a big bang, right? Something explodes, boom, it moves, and it forces other things to move as well. So what Aristotle is saying is everything is really in motion, okay? Everything is change because it was all caused by the prime mover. And in Aristotle's world, what is good is if the thing that changes moves towards its purpose, okay? Or the word he uses is called telos. Telos. Okay? If you're moving towards your purpose, you are doing good in this world. ### 7:51 seg-0007 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0007` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0007](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0007) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=471s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=471s) Okay? If you're moving away from your purpose, you're doing bad in this world. Okay? So the example is a soldier. The purpose of a soldier is to fight and win wars. So if you go fight and you do your best, you're doing good. But if you run away from a war, you're doing bad. Okay? So this is Aristotle's worldview. And as you can understand, as you can see, these two worldviews cannot harmonize. They are in conflict with each other. You have either one or the other, okay? So let me highlight the three major differences between these two worldviews. Okay? And again, I need to emphasize this. I am not an expert on Aristotle. I'm not an expert on Plato. Okay? So I am committing oversimplifications. Scholars who are experts will hear this and be outraged, okay? But for the purpose of this class, I'm not an expert on Plato. ### 8:53 seg-0008 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0008` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0008](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0008) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=533s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=533s) I feel these oversimplifications provide clarity. Okay? All right? So the first oversimplification is Plato is what we call a rationalist. Aristotle is what we call an empiricist. All right? So these are two big words. But the rationalist is just someone who believes that you can access the truth through pure thought. Okay? Mathematics. An empiricist is someone who believes you can only access the truth through observation and what we call empiricism. Induction. Okay? Inductive logic. All right? So if I see a woman wearing a dress and I see another woman wearing a dress and a third, I'm like, okay, well, from this, I can logically deduce or induce that all women wear dresses and that's what separates women from men. Okay? So for Aristotle to seek the truth, you have to observe and you have to induce. Okay? So that's the first major difference. Second major difference is Plato is what we call a dualist. ### 10:04 seg-0009 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0009` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0009](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0009) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=604s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=604s) And Aristotle is what we call a materialist. A dualist is someone who believes that there's a body and a soul. Okay? And if you believe there's a body and a soul, you also believe the soul is more important because the soul is eternal, whereas the body will decay and die. Aristotle, he's a materialist. Okay? So for him, the focus is on the body and what happens to the body. Okay? There may be a soul. There may not be a soul. He doesn't really care. For him, it doesn't really matter. What matters is what happens to the body. The third major difference is Plato believes in the idea of immutability. Okay? Or what we call eternity. For Aristotle, almost nothing is immutable. Most things are mutable. Okay? The only thing that's really immutable is really God. But everything else is mutable. It will change over time. And so for Aristotle, the concept is infinity. ### 11:08 seg-0010 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0010` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0010](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0010) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=668s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=668s) Things will always change. Things will always move. There's no stopping movement. Okay? But for Plato, things are eternal. There's a grand design, and nothing that changes really matters. It doesn't really affect the grand design. So for him, it's eternity. So these are the three major differences between Plato and Aristotle. Now, what's really interesting for us is this conflict between Plato and Aristotle is what will inform the philosophical debate for all of Western civilization, okay? So there are two major camps in Western philosophy. There is the rationalist camp, all right, so people like Descartes. And then there are the empiricists, okay, so people like David Hume, all right? And for most of Western history, philosophers will go back and forth between these two extremes, okay? Either the Platonic ideal or the Aristotle reality, okay? Does that make sense? All right? Is this clear? Any questions? Sure, go ahead. ### 12:21 seg-0011 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0011` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0011](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0011) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=741s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=741s) Yeah. ### 12:35 seg-0012 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0012` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0012](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0012) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=755s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=755s) Yeah, so that's a great question. And for Plato, okay, what we, like our lives, the reality we live in is not real. It's ephemeral. Whereas the form of the good, that's what's concrete. That's what's eternal, okay? So I mean, like, I understand. That's what's concrete. That's counterintuitive to us. But the reason why it's kind of counterintuitive to us is because we're mainly influenced by Aristotle, right? We live, we are materialists, right? Science is materialistic. But back then, and I would say back then in Plato's time, and for most of human history, it was assumed that our world was transitory or transient or ephemeral, okay? And it was a spirit world, okay, that was real and that was eternal. Does that make sense? Great. Okay. Again, this is oversimplification, okay? Like if you go to a scholar who understands itself, I will probably, he'll probably criticize me, okay? But I'm saying that for the purpose of this class and for our understanding of Western civilization, this will do, okay? ### 13:46 seg-0013 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0013` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0013](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0013) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=826s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=826s) Just understand there's a major conflict between Plato and Aristotle. This will go on for thousands of years, and this will inform the debate in Western civilization, okay? This is the fundamental debate in Western philosophy, all right? So let's go back to, let's summarize where we are. Aristotle is a paradox, right? We have nothing that he wrote originally. The range of his work is just incredible. It's unique in human history. And then lastly, even though we know Aristotle sat under Plato for like 20 years at least, Aristotle came up with a very different conceptualization of the universe. In fact, it is in direct conflict with Plato's understanding, okay? So how is this possible? How are these paradoxes, how can we resolve these paradoxes, okay? So I'm going to make an argument. And I will slowly make this argument, but it is a controversial argument, okay? ### 14:47 seg-0014 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0014` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0014](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0014) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=887s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=887s) My argument is that Aristotle was not a philosopher. He was not a thinker. He was not a writer. What he was ultimately is a philosopher. He is what I refer to as a censor, censor. You can also use words like synthesizer, okay, or editor, or systemizer, okay? But basically, nothing that he thought was original to him, but he decided what would be political convenient for the moment, okay? That's what we mean by censor. And it's my argument that we understand Aristotle as a censor. Then these three paradoxes go away. We can explain away these paradoxes, all right? So let me make my argument. Okay, my first piece of evidence is we need to compare and contrast the life of Phyllis Sackett and Mastodon and Aristotle. When you do that, okay, when you put their lives side by side, interesting parallels emerge, okay? So let's look at their lives. Very simple. Aristotle. ### 16:05 seg-0015 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0015` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0015](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0015) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=965s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=965s) He was born in year 384. Philip II was born in year 383. That's about the same age, right? Now, Philip II, he's a prince of Mastodon. His father's the king, right? Aristotle, his father was the court physician to the king. He was the king's personal doctor, right? So from these two pieces of information, what can we guess about Philip and Aristotle? They grew up together, right? Does that make sense? Aristotle's father was the personal doctor to the king. Philip was the son of the king. It would make sense. They grew up together. It would make sense. They would be educated together, all right? Second thing that's interesting is from 367 to 348, okay, Aristotle went to Athens to study Plato. Now, around the same time, okay, in the year 369 to 365, Philip went to Thebes to study military innovation under the best generals in Greece. Okay? All right? And here I would extrapolate and say the teenagers, they're going to further their education, right? ### 17:23 seg-0016 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0016` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0016](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0016) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1043s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1043s) And learn the best scientific and military innovations in order to bring back to Mastodon. And this happens all the time, right? In the 1980s, China sent its best and brightest to America to study science. Okay? So we can also surmise that even while they were away, they were still in contact with each other. All right? Now, in 359, Philip became regent, or basically king. And from then on, he started this massive military campaign to conquer all of Greece. Now, one thing that was interesting about Philip's conquest of Greece was that the Athenians didn't really oppose him. Okay? And this is one of the great mysteries. One of the great mysteries historians struggle with. Why is it that Philip II, he's going around, he's conquering all these places that are in conflict with Athens. And Athens doesn't really resist. All right? And one possible theory is, well, Philip II just bribed all these Athenian aristocrats. ### 18:35 seg-0017 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0017` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0017](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0017) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1115s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1115s) In fact, the man who most opposed Philip, this Athenian statesman named Demetrius, he actually said this in speeches. He said, listen. I'm telling you right now, Philip tried to bribe me. Okay? And I know Philip's bribing all my opponents. But I'm telling you, Athenians, Philip is a menace to democracy. And that's why we must oppose him. All right? So we can surmise that Philip was bribing these Athenians to support him, and that's why there's so little Athenian resistance to Philip. If that's the case, then who's the middleman? Who's the person who's in contact with these Athenian aristocrats? Aristotle. Right? Why? Because remember, Aristotle was at the academy for 20 years. The academy in Athens at that time is like Harvard, Oxford today. Right? It's where all the rich and powerful go to study. So for 20 years, Aristotle was in contact and became friends with the most powerful individuals in Athens. ### 19:43 seg-0018 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0018` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0018](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0018) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1183s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1183s) And that's why when Philip needed to negotiate with Athenians. It would make the most sense to send Aristotle. Okay? Does that make sense? And then we know that Philip united Greece in 338. And then 335, three years later, Aristotle started a new school in Athens in competition with the academy called the Lyceum. Okay? So what is the purpose of the Lyceum? Okay? So that's what I will discuss next. But does that make sense? There are direct parallels between the lives of Aristotle and Philip. And we can guess or extrapolate or deduce that Aristotle and Philip were very close throughout their lives. And they were helping each other. Okay? Does that make sense? Okay. So now the question then is, why was Philip going around conquering all of Greece? Well, Philip had a vision for the world. And it's something we call the Pan -Hellenic Project. Okay? So Pan -Hellenic Project. Okay. ### 20:58 seg-0019 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0019` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0019](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0019) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1258s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1258s) So at this time and throughout most of its history, Greece was divided into city -states all around the world. Okay? Mainly in mainland Greece, but also across the Aegean in Asia Minor, Anatolia. Okay? Across all these different islands and into North Africa and across the Adriatic Sea. Also into Italy as well. Okay? So you have this sprawling Greek world. And there were many who believed that this Greek world should unite together. Because there's a common ancestry. All right? So it was a dream of many philosophers that a great man of history would arise and unite all of Greece by basically defeating Persia. And Philip II said, hey. That's a great idea. And it should be me. Okay? But the problem is the Pan -Hellenic Project assumes a common Greek identity. And it didn't really exist at that time. In fact, Greeks probably had more common with their local cultures than with each other. Right? ### 22:12 seg-0020 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0020` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0020](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0020) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1332s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1332s) So if you were Greek living in Asia Minor, you were probably more Persian than you were Greek. Okay? So in other words, Philip needed someone. A censor, basically, to create a Greek identity. Right? And the way you do that is by taking all this vast universe of knowledge that the Greeks created. Right? And you create an encyclopedia or a series of textbooks that define what it means to be Greek. Right? You standardize and you systemize Greek knowledge. Does that make sense? And so that's probably what Aristotle was doing when he started the Lyceum. He had lots of students. Okay? Yeah. So throughout history, all conquerors did this. Okay? Because by standardizing and systemizing knowledge was the best way for you to co -opt the elite and to showcase your legitimacy. Okay? Otherwise, the intellectual elite would think of you as a barbarian conqueror. All right? And the best way that you co -opt the intellectual elite is by showcasing a new systematic knowledge. ### 23:43 seg-0021 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0021` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0021](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0021) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1423s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1423s) Does that make sense? All right. So the problem is that in 336, Philip was assassinated and his son, Alexander, came to a throne. Came to the throne. And as we discussed last class, Alexander was assassinated. Alexander had a very different vision from his father. His father wanted to unite the Greek world. Alexander wanted to conquer the entire world to show he was superior to his father. Okay? And unbelievably, incredibly, he was able to do so, conquer most of the world in about ten years' time. So now, suddenly, you have this sprawling empire all around the world. Okay? So let's just sketch out how vast this new empire was. Okay? So you have, you know, Greece and Macedon. All right? Okay? So that's the Greek homeland. Thank you. That's the Greek homeland. All right? But, hey, over here, you have Anatolia. This is Mesopotamia. Over here is Afghanistan. Oh, sorry, sorry. ### 25:04 seg-0022 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0022` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0022](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0022) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1504s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1504s) It should be Iran. Sorry. I'm sorry. Iran, Afghanistan. And you also reach as far as Pakistan. Okay? And down here, you have the Levant, and you have Egypt. All right? This was not supposed to happen. Philip and the Panhellenic Project imagined, like, their conquest would extend up around here. Okay? Because you're uniting the Greek world. Alexander went too far, and now you've conquered most of the known world. Okay? Then Alexander died, and then the empire was divided into three major fragments. Over here, you have something called the Antigonid Empire. Okay? The Antigonid Dynasty. Okay? So that's one piece of the empire. Down here, you have Ptolemy. Ptolemy was one of Alexander's generals, and he took over Egypt. And over here, you have something called the Seleucid Empire, founded, of course, by the general Seleucus. Seleucus. Okay? And over here, you have other smaller kingdoms as well. So you have this vast empire, and this is something that was unplanned and unexpected. ### 26:27 seg-0023 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0023` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0023](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0023) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1587s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1587s) Now that you've conquered these places, your concern or your problem is, how do we govern? Okay? So you need a new culture. And so these different generals adopted different strategies. So, for example, here, the Persian culture is extremely well -established, and the Seleucid king and his hearers decided a process of localization. Okay? Or another word we can use is synchronization. Synchronization. Okay? Meaning two different religions or two different cultures come together and coalesce together. Okay? So throughout the Seleucid Empire, it was really a process of synchronization. The Greeks adapted themselves to local customs and to local culture. Okay? At the same time, the Greeks were conquerors. So they still needed to maintain a coherent identity. Okay? So it made sense for them to adopt a lot of Aristotle's work. Okay? Because remember, Aristotle was creating a pan -Hellenic identity. And so he basically created a lot of textbooks. ### 27:49 seg-0024 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0024` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0024](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0024) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1669s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1669s) He basically created an encyclopedia. So it made sense for them to import Aristotle's works. Also, what's important is, remember, Aristotle was Macedonian. And for the longest time, Greeks did not consider Macedonians to be Greek. Okay? This is why it's called the pan -Hellenic project, not the pan -Greek project. Okay? Also, Greeks were very condescending towards Macedonians because they saw Macedonians as barbarians. So it was in the best interest of these new Macedonian conquerors to exaggerate or to highlight the intellectual contributions of Aristotle. Okay? Does that make sense? All right? Ptolemy's Egypt was very different. Okay? Egyptian culture has been around for thousands of years, and Egyptians are very proud of their culture. And this is a problem because you're very proud of your local culture. You don't like foreign rulers. And this is something that the Persian Empire struggled with throughout the centuries that it dominated Egypt. Okay? The Persians were famous for their openness and tolerance. ### 29:06 seg-0025 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0025` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0025](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0025) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1746s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1746s) Basically, you were allowed to practice your own religion. And they were very supportive of that. Okay? The most famous example are the Jews. Right? Who the Persians supported in rebuilding the Second Temple. We'll get to the Jews later on. But because the Persians were so supportive of local culture in Egypt, the Egyptians rebelled against Persia many, many times. So Ptolemy and his hearers didn't want to make the same mistake. Okay? They wanted to impose a new culture on the Egyptians in order to show that they were superior and therefore more divine than the Egyptians. Okay? So Ptolemy, he did many things that started this process. The first thing that he did was he stole Alexander's body from Babylon, where he died, and brought it back to Egypt. Okay? Because the Egyptians saw Alexander as a god, as the son of a god. Right? So to establish legitimacy in Egypt, Ptolemy went on a military expedition. ### 30:14 seg-0026 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0026` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0026](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0026) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1814s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1814s) And stole the body of Alexander. Which started something called the War of the Diokai. Okay? Basically the successor wars. That's the first thing he did. Second thing that he did was he established a new capital in Alexandria. Called Alexandria. Okay? So this was mainly a Greek city. It was a new Greek city. Founded by Alexander. And this is where they housed Alexander's body. And the third thing that he did was he started to sponsor something called, we call today the museum. Okay? The museum is the root of the English word museum. But the museum was really the world's first research university. So Ptolemy and his heroes brought together the greatest Greek scholars in the world to basically continue. The work of Aristotle. To standardize and systemize Greek culture. So that they can impose it on the local Egyptian culture. Okay? Does that make sense? All right? And the most famous aspect of the museum is the library of Alexandria. ### 31:40 seg-0027 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0027` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0027](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0027) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1900s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1900s) And the Ptolemy spent a lot of money on the library of Alexandria. Mainly by going around and collecting original manuscripts. All right? So a representative went to Athens and said, we at the library of Alexandria would like the original copies, the original manuscripts for the three great playwrights. And the Athenians were like, we can't do that because they're like gods here. Okay? We're not going to give you our original manuscripts. And the Egyptians said, all we're going to do is we're going to take these manuscripts back to the library of Alexandria. Where our scribes will copy them out. Okay? That's all we're going to do. And then we'll give it back to you. And as a guarantee, we're going to give you like 15 talents of silver. That's like a billion dollars back then. The Athenians had never seen so much money. So the Athenians would say, well, okay, well, if it's just to spread Greek culture, we can actually deal with that. ### 32:46 seg-0028 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0028` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0028](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0028) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1966s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=1966s) Okay? So we'll take the deposit, 15 talents, and we'll give you the manuscripts. The Egyptians took the manuscripts. Placed it in the library of Alexandria and said, hey, Athenians, keep the money. Okay? Because the Egyptians under Ptolemy were focused on turning the library of Alexandria and Alexandria into the intellectual capital of the Greek world. All right? And so what happened was that after Alexander died and his generals took over, the pan -Hellenic project really became what we call the pan -Hellenistic project. Okay? It went from uniting the Greek world into spreading Greek culture all around the world. And that's why we have Greek culture still with us today. Okay? Because of this process. So let's go back to the original paradox. All right? Why? There are three paradoxes, right? The first paradox is why do we have nothing original from Aristotle? ### 33:51 seg-0029 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0029` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0029](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0029) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2031s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2031s) The answer is because Aristotle didn't write anything original. He stole everything from other thinkers. And he had his students copy it out in manuscript form. Okay? Does that make sense? Second is why are his works so diverse? Why is the range so great? And the answer is because he was trying to capture the essence of Greek knowledge. Okay? He was trying to unify Greek knowledge into an encyclopedia for dissemination around the world. Okay? And the third thing is, okay? The most interesting thing is why is Aristotle's philosophy so different from Plato's worldview? Okay? That's a really interesting question. Why are they so different? So let's switch our perspective and ask ourselves. If you were king of Macedon, if you were Philip Alexander, what's your problem with Plato's philosophy? You have a problem. What is it? Any guesses? You're Alexander. You're Philip. You really hate Plato. Why? Why? Well, the problem with Plato is you go to Plato. ### 35:26 seg-0030 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0030` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0030](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0030) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2126s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2126s) You're Alexander. You go to Plato and he says, I want to conquer the world. Right? Plato would say, what's the point? It's all not real, Alexander. You're just wasting your time. You can conquer the world, but all you're doing is conquering a shadow. What's real is the form of the good. Right? Alexander, study mathematics, man. Okay? Do more math. Stop going around and killing people. Do more math. Right? And we know what Alexander would do here. Right? Alexander would probably cut off Plato's head. So Alexander and Philip hate this thing. Right? This thing is idiotic. I want to conquer the world, but this philosophy is telling me it's pointless. What matters is mathematics. What matters is philosophy. All right? Now, let's now compare this with Aristotle's prime mover theory. Right? What Aristotle is saying is everything is motion. And what is good is if you fulfill your purpose. Right? ### 36:36 seg-0031 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0031` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0031](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0031) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2196s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2196s) Now, if you're Alexander or Philip, this makes more sense. I'm Philip. My purpose is to unite the Greek world. And the more I unite, the more good I'm doing for this world. Right? Also, if you're a king, you want your citizens, your soldiers, your workers to work hard. Right? Well, for Plato, working hard is just useless. You're imitating an imitation. Right? When you create art. But here, working hard is what gives you purpose. It's what gives you happiness. Okay? So Aristotle also promoted two major concepts. The first is erite. The second is eudaimonia. Okay? Erite is just excellence. Okay? Alexander has erite because he's an excellent general. When you have erite and you are achieving your purpose, then you achieve eudaimonia. Okay? Which is just flourishing or happiness. And that's the purpose of life. To have erite and to achieve happiness. To achieve eudaimonia. So work hard. Okay? Fight for Alexander. Support him as he conquers the world. Because he's making the world better. ### 38:09 seg-0032 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0032` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0032](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0032) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2289s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2289s) Okay? Does that make sense? Okay. That's a great question. Yeah. Thanks, Doug. Okay. All right. So the question then is, if I'm a soldier and I'm, you know, working hard and winning battles, am I not approaching for my good? And the answer is, for Plato, it's not. The reason why is, what do you do? What do you do in this material world is pointless. Okay? Because this material world, it's not real. So whatever you do is not real. Does that make sense? Okay? So what you need to do is return to the form of the good. But your body can't do that. Your soul can do that. So your use of the body is pointless. You have to use your soul. You have to use your mind. All right? Therefore, you have to be a good person. Therefore, you have to engage in philosophy and mathematics. And that's how you return to the form of the good. ### 39:28 seg-0033 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0033` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0033](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0033) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2368s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2368s) Your use of the body, you're just deluding yourself. Okay? All right? And if you engage in art, then you are deluding others. And that's more evil. If you're Alexander and you're conquering others and forcing them to believe your fake philosophy, then you're committing the most evil in the world. Does that make sense? All right? All right. So yeah. All right. So this is my theory of how to best resolve the three paradoxes of Aristotle. Okay? Does that make sense? He was basically a censor who was working for Philip and Alexander. And he was trying to develop a pan -Hellenistic identity in order to unite the world they conquered. Okay? So that's my argument. Any questions about this overall argument? Does it make sense to you guys? Okay? Go ahead. Yeah. Thank you. All right. Go ahead. That's a great question. Yeah. Okay. All right. So how do we know he didn't write any of his works? ### 40:45 seg-0034 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0034` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0034](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0034) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2445s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2445s) Okay. The answer is this. When you write something, you're actually manifesting your thought. Right? But your thought comes from your personality. Okay? So if you look at any work of genius, it's original and unique. Okay? Does that make sense? In other words, if you read Shakespeare, guess what? There's no other Shakespeare in the world. If you try to imitate Shakespeare, you look like an idiot. Okay? Homer is unique. Plato is unique. There's no point in trying to imitate them. You can't do it because you are not them. Okay? Now, when you look at Aristotle, there's something unique about Aristotle. So, you know, when you read Plato, the Republic, there are certain ideas that stand out. Like, how to go to the cave. Okay? There's certain phrases that capture your imagination. That doesn't exist with Aristotle's text. Okay? They're really like textbooks. So the argument for the longest time was Aristotle did write his own books, but they were lost to us. ### 41:53 seg-0035 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0035` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0035](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0035) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2513s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2513s) And his students had to reassemble his thinking. And they had to reassemble his thinking from their own memory. Okay? So, yeah, that's how we know. But this is generally agreed upon. We have nothing that Aristotle wrote originally. Okay? That's right. Yep. Okay. So thank you, Doug. Okay. Yeah. So there are many different possibilities of how Aristotle can become so influential. Okay? The first possibility is, as I argue, he was actually a partner of Philip's. That they were friends. That they were both trying to promote the panhellenic project. Okay? That's the first possibility. But the other possibility is, as Doug says, he was just a philosopher. He was a student of Plato's. He was very smart. And he was a very good teacher. And after Alexander and his generals conquered the world, they needed, like, a symbol of Macedonian cultural superiority. And they just decided upon Aristotle because it was most convenient. ### 43:24 seg-0036 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0036` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0036](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0036) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2604s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2604s) Right? So that's another possibility. Okay? ### 43:40 seg-0037 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0037` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0037](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0037) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2620s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2620s) That's right. Right. Yep. Yep. ### 44:23 seg-0038 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0038` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0038](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0038) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2663s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2663s) Exactly. So, yeah. So it is entirely possible that Aristotle was a materialist because that was just his personality. Right? The influence from his father who was a physician. Okay? But that creates another problem. Which is. If you are so opposed to Plato's understanding of the world. Right? Because you're a materialist. And he's a dualist. Why were you studying under Plato for 20 years? Does that make sense? So that creates another problem. All right. So the other thing I want to point out is. Okay. How we have Aristotle's works today. There are three different possibilities. Okay? The first possibility is that Aristotle in his lifetime. He organized his students and created this encyclopedia. Okay? And it's no different from professors at universities today. Right? Professors who are scientists. They actually do very little of the original research. They have their students do it. They're the ones who supervise the entire process. Okay? So it's possible. That's the first possibility. ### 45:27 seg-0039 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0039` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0039](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0039) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2727s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2727s) Aristotle was supervising the work of creating a Greek identity. The second possibility is after Aristotle died. His students started. They started to remember, recall his lectures. And that's why so much of his work is fragmentary. Okay? We don't have complete manuscripts. And the third possibility. Okay? And it's entirely possible is Aristotle is a fiction created by scholars at the Library of Alexandria. Okay? So it's really the scholars at the Library of Alexandria who created Aristotle. And they did so by synthesizing all this work. And then they gave it to. They accredited it to. Attributed it to Aristotle in order to create the legend of this philosopher. Okay? Does that make sense? Okay. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. the original writer or the original thinker, but what is not debatable is the tremendous influence he had on the entire world, okay? ### 46:55 seg-0040 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0040` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0040](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0040) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2815s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2815s) So there are three aspects of the Greek legacy I want to discuss. The first aspect is the Greeks created a new way of being human, all right? So let's look at the major thinkers. You have Homer, you have the playwrights, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euboides, and you have the philosophers, Plato and Aristotle. All right, so the Greeks created a new way of being human. What do I mean by that? Homer was an oral bard, okay? He would get up in front of audiences and he would, for hours, recite this beautiful poetry about the Trojan War, the Iliad, okay? And in the process, listening to Homer created empathy and imagination, right? Because the point of listening to Homer was to enter Homer's world and become Achilles or Odysseus. And through this process, you became a different person, and therefore, you learned empathy, but you also expanded your imagination, okay? ### 48:08 seg-0041 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0041` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0041](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0041) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2888s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2888s) So that's what Homer did for the Greeks. Then you have Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euboides, and what they did that was different is, rather than sing directly at the audience, they had the characters face each other in a dialogue, in a debate, okay? And by doing this, what happens is you create the capacity for perspective and inner debate, right? Because before, you were part of the story. Now you have to step back and judge the story, okay? There's a debate going on. You have to switch perspectives in order to understand the characters, and this creates the capacity for an inner monologue, okay? And inner debate in you. And then you have Plato and Aristotle. What Plato did that was unique was, he took all the dialogue in the play and he transported onto the page. But now, you're reading it by yourself, and you have the benefit of time, okay? ### 49:26 seg-0042 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0042` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0042](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0042) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2966s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=2966s) And so, this creates a capacity for reason and reflection, okay? You can sort of reason out if the words make sense to you. You are no longer influenced by the crowd or the emotions of the actor. You can just look at the words themselves and judge them on their own merit. You also have the capacity now to reflect, meaning you can go back to the words over and over the course of your lifetime, to concentrate. You can constantly reflect on their meaning and logic, okay? You understand? So, when you add these three things together, Homer created the capacity for empathy and imagination. The playwright created the capacity for inner debate and perspective. The philosophers created the capacity for reason and reflection. You now have a new human mind, okay? And when you study all of them, this is what we call, ultimately, a liberal arts education. This is what we call, ultimately, a liberal arts education. ### 50:30 seg-0043 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0043` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0043](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0043) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=3030s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=3030s) All right? And guess what? Our greatest thinkers came to us through the liberal arts. Our greatest thinkers came to us through the liberal arts. All right, so in the future, we'll study people like Kant, Hume, Hegel, okay? we'll study people like Kant, Hume, Hegel, okay? Just the greatest thinkers of the past 20 years. They all, what was common about them is, they all read the Greeks. And that was just their education, all right? So this is the first legacy of the Greeks, a new way of thinking. Being and seeing. Okay, does that make sense? Second thing is, now that you have this Greek world, okay? The Greeks need to establish a cohesive cultural identity. And they did that by promoting a Greek education, okay? But not only that, but they had to bring in local people into this education. So one major function of the Library of Alexandria was to standardize the Greek culture. ### 51:39 seg-0044 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0044` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0044](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0044) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=3099s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=3099s) And how did they do that? and systemize Greek knowledge, and they did this by standardizing the texts, okay? So there's different texts of Homer. The text of Homer that we have today was developed by the people at the Library of Alexandria, okay? Standardization. They also did something called commentaries. So commentaries are basically like teacher handbooks, okay? They teach you how to teach this stuff. And they create like footnotes, and chapters, and page numbers, codices different ways, okay, indexes. So the point was to make Greek education available and accessible to anyone. And what this means is, we in China now can actually read Homer, Aeschylus, and Plato for ourselves, even though we are not culturally Greek. And that's the benefit of the pan -Hellenistic project. And the third major benefit is Greek knowledge meant a global revolution in innovation. And what I mean by that is, remember, Greek knowledge is being spread around the world and then they're interacting with powerful local cultures. ### 53:01 seg-0045 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0045` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0045](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0045) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=3181s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=3181s) And through the process of synchronization, new forms of knowledge are being created. So the Greeks spread the knowledge to India, and now it's interacting with local Indian philosophy and religion, including new ideas, right? So the most famous synchronization is in the Levant, Greek knowledge was being spread to the Jews. And so when you put the Greeks and the Jews together, you have a new idea that would forever revolutionize human history and it's called Christianity, right? So Christianity would not have been possible it were not for the work of Aristotle, okay? All right, so those are three major legacies of the Greeks. And so it is, I think it's perfectly fair to say, the Greeks were the most influential and consequential civilization of all time. They were certainly the most creative. No other civilization even comes close, flows to their creativity, right? Okay, so that's it. Any questions? ### 54:20 seg-0046 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa@transcript:v1#seg-0046` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0046](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-wotoxe4dtfa/transcript/#seg-0046) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=3260s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoTOxE4DTFA&t=3260s) Okay, so, okay, so we are finished with the Greeks. Next class, we start a new unit on Rome, Roman history. All right, so, great.