We think, therefore we are.

Sunday 23 September 2012

The Project.

Four Bible College students desperate to get through our last year of College have teamed up for a group project.

As an assignment for Philosophy class, we will research 8 philosophers and give an overview of each, on this blog. We will try to make it concise. We will try to make it interesting. But really, it is up to you to choose to enjoy this information. Make the right choice. Choose wisely.

Overview:

Socrates

Plato

Saint Augustine of Hippo

Saint Anslem of Canterbury

Thomas Hobbes

Rene Descartes

William James

Karl Popper

Bibliography

References

Easter Eggs

Socrates

Socrates was born in Athens, Greece in 470BC and, by trade, practiced mason work that he learned from his father, Sophroniscus. “He was, by all accounts, short and stout, not given to good grooming, and a lover of wine and conversation” and was not noted to be a handsome man (Boerre, 2009). Rather he had “bulging eyes, thick lips, and blunt nose” (Brickhouse, 1990). According to Plato, Socrates was married to a woman named Xanthippe, and fathered 3 children. Other accounts of his life state that he had 2 wives, and might have married one while still being married to the first. Socrates was able to participate in the Peloponnesian War (431-04 B.C.E) against the Spartans. At this time Athens was growing in power and prosperity, and they ruled 50 years over the Mediterranean area. The aftermath of the war was a broken land filled with poverty and suffering from which Athens was never able to recover. Somehow, Socrates managed to stay alive and went on to create the “Socratic Method.” Ironically, Socrates is not credited with writing any written words, including his philosophies. We know of him only because of the writings of his students, such as Plato, Aristotle, Aristophanes and Xenophon. There have been claims that Socrates himself does not exist but that his students invented him to explain their own theories. Regardless, he is credited with laying the fundamentals of western philosophy. In the end, Socrates was sentenced to death in 399 B.C.E for his views.

“Socrates genius was to transfer the rigorous truth centered methods of scientific inquiry to questions of human nature and ethics” (Pojman, p. 49). Socrates developed a system of argumentation that was meant to fool the opponent. Through a series of questions that lead the opponent to believe the conversation was simple, it would then turn around and blind side them. In the end, men who argued with Socrates soon realized their own ignorance. Plato wrote the “Socratic Dialogues”, which outlines the Socratic Method. “The Socratic Method is so designed as to help examine one's own beliefs and evaluate their worth” (‘Socrates’, n.d.). He believed that care for the soul was important, and that a prerequisite for the good life was self-knowledge. Socrates is quoted as saying that “The unexamined life is not worth living.” This leads one to discern he too examined his own mortality.

Socrates was alive during the time that the prophet Malachi died, 430 BC. “This coincidence and the frequent and startling approximations of his teachings to those of Christianity gave rise to the belief that philosophy had been divinely accredited to fill the gap between the prophetic period and the Advent of the Redeemer. This belief received additional weight from Socrates' own claim to divine impulses and divine guidance (Tapscott, 1935, p.59). However, he grew up in Greece, immersed in a polytheistic society. The Septuagint was made available 150 years after he died, so it is unlikely that he ever heard or read a word of biblical scripture. Unfortunately, Socrates did not contribute to the Christian faith directly, but we use his ideas of logic in our apologetics. In regards to the Christian faith, it is said that in order to reach reality, man must study himself. We continually need to be examining ourselves and our lives. This will lead us to evaluating them based on a higher standard, a godly standard. Socrates appears to be an idealist and his main concern was with how we were to live. He spoke that good was good, and bad was bad and was credited for introducing us to moral logic. These are principles, which we still value and use today. These lessons in logic and argumentation can be beneficial to both deepening our faith and demonstrating it to the world around us.

Plato

Plato was born in 427 B.C in Athens, Greece. He was heavily influenced by names we now know as legends such as Socrates and Pythagoras. He became involved in politics at Syracuse but after failing to make an impact, he left for Athens. There, he established the Academy, a fraternal school devoted to both research and teaching. It was attended by many, the best-known being Aristotle. He is famous for his philosophy, which was often recorded in the form of dialogues (Audi, 1995, p. 620).

Plato

One of his chief contributions to philosophy was the concept of “forms”. These forms are abstract objects (such as love, justice, piety, roundness) but are eternal, changeless, independent, real, objective, and incorporeal (Blackburn, 1994, p. 289). They exist independently of thought but can only be experienced through thought (Audi, 1995, p. 621). These forms are ideals but do not actually exist in the real world (Blackburn, 1994, p. 144). Concrete objects gain their characteristics, such as roundness or beauty, by ‘participating’ in these forms (Audi, 1995, p. 621). In other words, these concrete objects are similar to or share a relationship with these forms, so we describe them as beautiful or round even if the object is not perfectly round or beautiful (because it does not exist in the real world) (Audi, 1995, p. 621). Simply put, what makes something round is because it resembles the form, roundness (Blackburn, 1994, p. 288). Knowledge of these forms is an ultimate goal for a philosopher (Blackburn, 1994, p. 144). Knowledge of the form justice, for example, gives someone an intelligent base to critique and describe something here on earth that we consider just (Blackburn, 1994, p. 144). If we discover more about these forms, it will inevitably lead to transformation and moral and religious inspiration (Audi, 1995, p. 621).

Although Plato underwent heavy critique for his theory, we as Christians have something very valuable to learn from him. It is true that there is no perfect form that exists here on Earth. There is no perfect beauty, justice, goodness, or virtue. However, God himself is perfect. Knowledge of these forms may lead you to a place where you learn to appreciate the one in whom this perfection exists. He is the definition that we compare other things to. It is only by God’s standard, the creator of forms, that we can judge and critique what is good or bad, just or unjust. These forms allow an ultimate standard to exist, which you will only find in God. It brings up the verse in Philippians where Paul encourages us to dwell on things that are good. He says “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Phil. 4:8, NIV). Why should we not think about the nature of beauty, justice, virtue, piety, goodness, gentleness, peace, or love? It may lead us to the only one in whom such things exist in perfection, wholeness and unity.

Saint Augustine of Hippo

Saint Augustine lived from 354 A.D to 430 A.D in what is today known as Algeria. During this time Algeria was under Roman rule so he grew up speaking Latin. His father remained a pagan until just before his death, but his mother was a rather devout Christian, who was later recognized as Saint Monica by the Catholic Church. He did not become a baptized believer until 387. After his death he was made “The patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, the alleviation of sore eyes, and a number of cities and dioceses” (‘Know your Patron Saint’, n.d.). In his early years he was a Manichean, mostly concerned with the doctrine of conflict between light and dark, or good and evil. It was the belief that “one’s soul is pure light in the physical world of darkness, where the soul can be liberated to join the perfect original light” (Livermore, 2009). In the end however, Manichaeism was wholly unsatisfying to Augustine. Shortly thereafter, he encountered writings on the Platonists, which greatly influenced his thinking and would eventually influence his theology, which still exists today (Mendelson, 2010).

Augustine became a theological philosopher and we have much to credit him in the way of theology, the most significant being the doctrine of the Trinity. However Augustine as a philosopher is well known as a Neo-Platonist. Augustine helped merge Greek philosophical tradition and the Judeo-Christian religious and scriptural traditions. He was always concerned with the problem of evil, and how to make sense of a world that was “fraught with danger, a world in which so much of what matters most to us is so easily lost” (Confessions, 1994). In the Confessions, his autobiography that outlines his journey physically, spiritually and theologically, Augustine tells us about his conversion. Augustine credits Neo-Platonism with allowing him to see faith as intellectually satisfying and credible (Mendelson, 2010). Neo-Platonism states that there is a separation between the physical / sensible and the intelligible / spiritual. However, it is not completely distinct because as you journey up a hierarchy, these two realms come together more and more until they reach perfect unity. Augustine saw this unity of spiritual and material in God. Because of the original sin, we have a tendency to simply see the material world, which is only a small portion of what is real. However, because our souls are rational and intellectual, we can look at the world around us and see it pointing to something greater and more spiritual (Mendelson, 2010). Evil comes when we attach ourselves to something inferior (i.e. something material here on Earth) believing it deserves to be something higher (Mendelson, 2010). Although greatly influenced by Neo-Platonism, he still differed in certain areas as he went deeper in his faith. He stayed on the more biblical side of Neo-Platonism, while others went as far as saying the goal in life was “not just to exist, but to be God” (Cooper, 2002).

“The discovery of the importance of Christ as the only way drove Augustine beyond the Platonic books…While the Neo-Platonist might speak the truth about God’s nature, they lack the means of access to it. Neo-Platonism is incomplete; its underlying weakness is that it is theoretical, without the power to instigate right action” (Rist, 1994). Augustine managed to overcome philosophical ideals and found that the state of his soul was not his alone. Today we can use Augustine as an example of one that was exposed to different philosophies but contributed much to the church. His writings made the gospel very clear to his readers, even those immersed in Greek philosophies. His life outlines several lessons for us as Christians. Augustine demonstrates how worldly knowledge can be used to connect and even lead us to God. Paul stated in his letter to the Corinthians that he had “become all things to all people so that by all possible means [he] might save some” (1 Cor. 9:22, NIV). Augustine’s search through Neo-Platonism pointed him towards God (Mendelson, 2010). However, there also comes a time where we need to move beyond what the world may think. Augustine was influenced by Neo-Platonism but also moved beyond it. A single human idea cannot encompass all of God. We need to be willing to see the Bible for what it is and realize that our ideas may point to truth but are not the ultimate source of truth.

Saint Augustine

Saint Anselm of Canterbury

Saint Anselm of Canterbury was born in the year 1033. He was a Benedict monk and the second Norman archbishop (Zack, pg.61). Not much is known of his childhood or early years, but in the year 1093, Anselm became the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is said that Anselm did not take direction well and because of this, he suffered from a lot of conflict.

In philosophy, Anselm’s greatest contribution would be the creation of the ontological argument. It states that the greatest being that we can imagine must exist before everything else and everything else must come from that. “Anselm goes on to claim that God, is the greatest being that can be imagined, all created beings, which are created by God, owe their own being and well-being to God” (Zack, 2010, p.62). Anselm felt that in order for us to know more of God, we must seek to understand him better. This understanding of God comes from something greater than reality. Anselm believed that God does exist and only through him do we receive the understanding and knowledge we are looking for (Galdamez, 2011, p.4).

Saint Anselm was known for his Christian faith. His argument has helped believers in a positive way by proving and supporting the existence of God. By understanding his argument, you see the importance of studying your belief and searching for an understanding of the Lord’s being. His argument aligns with Genesis when it says that we were created in the image of God because, as Anselm states,

as we were created, we must come from something that created us. Furthermore, his argument makes a profound and bold statement that God compared to everything else is the ultimate being. In our world today we have so many distractions that try and disengage us from our faith, things that point to momentary idols. Through internalizing Anselm’s argument, you see that the only answer to life and why we exist must come from the greatest being, God. His argument reminds us of the verse, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-21, NIV). God brought us into this world for his existence to be seen on Earth. He chooses to use us and our surroundings. If we want to know more, then we must challenge ourselves to seek out the wisdom of the Lord. His wisdom transcends generations and his existence is never hidden. Anselm’s argument challenges us to go deeper into the Lord presence for the answers to life. For those who do not believe, it challenges you to push past your doubt and seek understanding through faith, which will lead to a sound truth.

Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes shares similar characteristics with the Quaker Oats Man.

Thomas Hobbes was born in April of 1588 in Westport, Wiltshire, England. Abandoned by his father at a young age, this future political philosopher was then cared for by his wealthy uncle who provided the necessary funds for Hobbes’ Oxford University education. A linguist, a poet and a translator, Thomas’ reputation grew as he excelled. After Oxford, Hobbes served as a mathematical tutor to Charles II of the Cavendish family, which enabled him to have access to endless literary resources that would help him discover and explore the great scientific and philosophical minds of the time. Hobbes also went on to be a Classic Scholar authoring works such as De Corpore, De homine, De cive and most famously, Leviathon.

Hobbes was responsible for many contributions to philosophy but if we are to look at how his philosophy challenged and/or contributed to Christian faith it is his philosophy on the laws of nature we should look at. His philosophy of nature analyzed everything in terms of matter and motion. Hobbes thought “in the state of nature every person is and ought to be governed only by their own reason. Reason dictates that they seek peace, which yields the laws of nature, but it also allows them to use any means they believe will best preserve themselves.” (Reese, 1980, p.334) The laws of nature are a concept in the philosophy of science that continues to be contested. Hobbes didn’t hold God as the foundation of morality in his religious views but instead applied this philosophy to those outside the faith. For example, somebody outside the Christian faith can draw from their own reasoning the necessary foundation for morality. In Hobbes’ literary work, Leviathon, one of his motives was to support his views by saying that it lined up with scripture. Hobbes thought his philosophy offered people reason in the midst of confusion. It was Hugo Grotius’ outlook on natural law that Hobbes agreed with. Believing that the law was to set the limits in the midst of individuals pursuing their own goals. Hobbes’ views continued to be explained and taught well into the seventeenth century by both Protestant and Roman Catholic writers.

While Thomas’ view on the laws of nature remained central to the teachings in the Roman Catholic Church, it did not permeate into any other places. This belief that morality is congruent to following what the law says has made an enormous contribution to the Roman Catholic Christian faith. However, for the main stream Christian, this philosophy has challenged scripture such as Galatians 2:6. “…know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.” (NIV). It also points to the fact that human law or natural law can sometimes be defined by human standards rather than godly values. We need to be careful as postmodernism pervades our culture and begins to dictate that there is no absolute morality or truth.

Rene Descartes

Rene Descartes was born in Tours, France in 1596 and is known as the founder of the modern age of philosophy because he challenged the traditional systems of thought, based on Aristotle (Audi, 1995, p. 193). After years of formal education, Descartes left France to travel Europe so that he could gain wisdom through the world and within himself (Audi, 1995, p. 193). In his travels, he met the Dutchman Isaac Beeckman who reawakened his interest in mathematics (Audi, 1995, p. 193). It was this passion that would consume the majority of his life and influence his theories on philosophy (Audi, 1995, p. 193). After experiencing a vivid dream, Descartes resolved to create a new scientific and philosophical system. He emigrated to Holland in 1628 where he spent most of the time until his death in 1650 (Audi, 1995, p. 193).

Descartes wrote some of his work down in a series of Meditations, which focus on his central work of metaphysics. Descartes believed that there was a unity of knowledge as simple as a set of numbers that linked together all scientific disciplines (Audi, 1995, p. 194). Metaphysics composed the roots of that system, whereas the branches would be the practical sciences such as medicine. Descartes adhered to the principle of foundationalism, or nothing can be established until one goes back to the first principle (Audi, 1994, p. 194). In a journey to build a foundation, Descartes had to go back beyond what he had learned and been told in school and in life. Further thinking led him to realize that he could not even trust his senses because they were deceiving (Audi, 1995, p. 194). By the end of his first meditation, he was left in extreme doubt. However, he reasoned that because of the existence of his thoughts, he must indeed exist, from which came his famous phrase, “Cogito ergo sum”, or “I think therefore I am” (Audi, 1995, p. 195). Descartes also concluded that there must be a supreme being because such an idea is so great that it could not have originated from within himself (Audi, 1995, p. 195). From there, he continued to build upon the foundation and concluded that things can be known because God has given us the gift of pure and distinct intellect, even if our senses deceive us. Truth can be discovered through intellect as we judge the information gathered from our senses.

This journey should inspire every Christian to ask the question, what is the foundation of our knowledge and faith? Although Descartes’ theories have been debated, he was instrumental in a new way of thinking, which has impacted our thinking today. What is the foundation of your knowledge of God, trust in the Bible, source of faith? Sometimes our foundation is well thought out and valid. Other times, our foundation is flimsy and based on the wrong things. This leads us to examine ourselves on a deeper level, which can bring us to a stronger and more mature faith. Descartes discovered God through his meditations even after going through a journey of extreme doubt. Doubt is not bad but you have to be ready to struggle through the journey and reach the other side. You may never examine the question of your existence but it is important to go deeper in your thinking. Strive for a solid foundation that is based upon reality rather than trends, stereotypes or what people have told you.

William James

William James is remembered as one of America’s strongest philosophers. He was born on January. 11^th, 1842 in New York City and his father played a major role in his philosophical views. Williams’s father, Henry James Sr. believed in high education and because of this, sent William and his other siblings to Europe for their schooling (‘William James Biography’, n.d.). After high school William pursued his degree at Harvard University in Medicine and eventually would graduate with his M.D. In the end however, he would never practice medicine. With his degree he would eventually teach at Harvard, first in psychology and then philosophy.

William James

William James brought many different noted ideas into philosophy. His major contribution however, would be what he added to Charles Peirce’s pragmatism. “Classical pragmatism is committed to the thought that philosophy must be relevant to ordinary life” (Aikin and Talisse, 2011, p.1). James’ interest in pragmatism arose because he felt that it could help him answer in-depth questions on free will, the nature of truth and the existence of God. Through his search, James came to believe that in order for us to believe in what we profess to believe in, or to see good or bad in life, we must put the outcome into action by our very own thoughts and actions. Through studying more on pragmatism, James has left us with three challenges. The first is that whatever we want to see in life happens by our own desires. Secondly, we must focus on what is good for everyone, for through that, we will see the largest amount of good. The last challenge is that even if someone else’s desires or beliefs do not agree with our own, we must respect them because then, we will see the good for everyone (Aikin and Talisse, p.7-9). In conclusion, William James believed that our inner objectives truly shape our individual lives and the lives of those around us.

In the Christian world, this is a major challenge both negatively and positively. When it comes to William and his pragmatic view, it is said that he was always in a place of seeking out the existence of God. “The facts in such matters are inconclusive, and neutral intellectual positions does not address the importance to us of whether God exists, or if we have free will, or whether there are objective values” (Zack, 2010, p.314). He believed it was by free will that we have the choice to act upon and live out what we believe in. With this thought, it makes it difficult for a Christian to defend their faith because it is easy for someone to argue that our faith is solely made up in our mind. Another negative role it may play towards Christianity is that it gives us all the control.

One major part of Christianity is living a life of surrender to the Lord’s will. James’ theories do agree with the idea of the Lord giving us free will. However, to be found by the Lord and used by Him is, in the end, the Lord’s choice. He is the one who makes himself and his will known to us. Ultimately, James teaches us as Christians to be intentional in our study of the word, the Lord and the world around us, so that we can have good arguments prepared to defend the faith we believe in. Even though James’ argument may not be the most supportive towards Christian belief, it does challenge you as a Christian to go further in your faith. It also reminds us all of the fact that how you live your daily life reflects your inner thoughts.

NewYork City, the home of William James

Karl Popper

Karl Popper was a major figure in a group of philosophers known as logical positivists. Born in 1902, this contemporary Austrian philosopher was born and educated in Vienna and went on to later teach in both New Zealand and at the London School of Economics. He had a broad range of interests but it was his inquiring mind that led him to investigate various ideologies that would eventually ignite his commitment to political moderation, tolerance and liberalism. However, it is in the philosophy of science that Popper has made his major contributions.

Popper authored several books with his first being The Logic of Scientific Discovery and the most notable being The Open Society and Its Enemies. In The Logic of Scientific Discovery, Karl Popper "defined scientific statements as ones which deny that something logically conceivable is actually realized" (Urmson & Rée, 1995, p. 252). The Open Society and Its Enemies is mostly criticism of social philosophers while still reflecting on the logic of science. This is important to note because while Popper was considered part of this group of logical positivists, he actually distanced himself from the others, rejecting the positivist label preferring logical empiricists instead. Karl Popper rejected the philosophy of inductive empiricism. With his rejection of this inductive method of the empirical sciences came the principle of falsifiability criterion in which Popper says the absence of contradictory evidence solidified the theory. This also means that even though something can be proven through scientific evaluation, there are still things that can take place that could change the result. By poking holes in inductivism to support his own theory, he never really proved much of anything except that not everything could be explained and certainty was not attainable.

When we look at the human mind and apply this philosophy to how one would view God and the Bible it is easy to see how Karl Popper`s philosophy contributes to the Christian faith. Scriptures such as Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (NIV), would indeed agree with Popper’s philosophy if we consider “the things we do not see” as the works of God to those of the Christian faith or that “the things we do not see” as the contradictory evidence that can change a scientific result. 2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we live by faith, not by sight” (NIV), is another example the bible gives us whereby Christian faith believes that it is always the evidence we cannot see or determine that gives us the result.

Of course there is also logical reasoning and historical facts that determine that what the bible says is truth and that the foundations of Christian faith are solid but it is never that which is questioned or doubted. Popper’s philosophy allows the believer to grasp the concept of faith in a scientific way.

Bibliography

Aikin, S. F., & Talisse, R. B. (2011). Three Challenges to Jamesian Ethics. William James Studies, 6, 3-9.

Audi, R. (1995). The Cambridge dictionary of philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Blackburn, S. (1994). The Oxford dictionary of philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Boeree, C. G. (2009). Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. My Webspace files. Retrieved September 23, 2012, from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/athenians.html

Brickhouse, T. C., & Smith, N. D. (1989). Socrates on trial. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

Cooper, S. A. (2002). Augustine for armchair theologians. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press.

Chadwick, H. (1991). Confessions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Galdamez, E. (2011). The Ontological Arguement of the Existence of God. The Ontological Arguement of the Existence of God, 1. Retrieved September 21, 2012, from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:SZguganHzu4J:home.earthlink.net/~losgaldamez/Ontological%2520argument.pdf+Galdamez,+The+theological+argument+for+the+existence+of+god&hl=en&gl=ca&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShEB1DhlcIfPfkNm6zPV9MmV0mujUWk4J_KEBa1mZhkqJv-L

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M.C Escher

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References

M.C. Escher

Aikin, S. F., & Talisse, R. B. (2011). Three Challenges to Jamesian Ethics. William James Studies, 6, 3-9.

Audi, R. (1995). The Cambridge dictionary of philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Blackburn, S. (1994). The Oxford dictionary of philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Boeree, C. G. (2009). Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. My Webspace files. Retrieved September 23, 2012, from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/athenians.html

Brickhouse, T.C., & Smith, N.D. (1989). Socrates on Trial, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

Cooper, S. A. (2002). Augustine for armchair theologians. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press.

Chadwick, H. (1991). Confessions. Oxford University Press.

The Holy Bible: new international version: containing the Old Testament and the New Testament. (1984). Colorado Springs, Colo.: International Bible Society.

Karl Popper. (2008, April 4). New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved September 19, 2012, from

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Karl_Popper

Know your Patron Saint. (n.d.). Catholic Aplogetics Information . Retrieved September 23, 2012, from http://www.catholicapologetics.info/library/saints/index.htm

Lloyd, S. A., & Sreedhar, S. (2008, August 23). Hobbes's Moral and Political Philosophy . Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved September 18, 2012, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hobbes-moral/

McGreal, I. P. (1992). Great thinkers of the Western world: the major ideas and classic works of more than 100 outstanding Western philosophers, physical and social scientists, psychologists, religious writers, and theologians. New York, NY: HarperCollinsPublishers.

Mendelson, M. (2010, November 12). Saint Augustine. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved September 23, 2012, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/augustine/

Moore, E. (2005, April 2). Neoplatonism. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved September 23, 2012, from http://www.iep.utm.edu/neoplato/

Persian, Peloponnesian, Spartan, Greek Wars. (n.d.). Ancient Greece. Retrieved September 23, 2012, from http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/PeloponnesianWar/

Pojman, L. P. (2006). Philosophy: the pursuit of wisdom. Boston, MA: Wadsworth. (Original work published 1993)

Reese, W. L. (1980). Dictionary of philosophy and religion: eastern and western thought. Atlantic Highlands. N.J. [etc.: Humanities Press [etc.] ;.

Rist, J. M. (1994). Augustine: ancient thought baptized. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Socrates. (n.d.). Ancient Greece. Retrieved September 23, 2012, from http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/People/Socrates/

Tapscott, F. T. (1935). Socratic anticipations of Christianity. Bibliotheca Sacra, 92(365), 58-76.

Urmson, J. O., & ReÌe, J. (1991). The concise encyclopedia of western philosophy and philosophers (New ed.). London: Routledge.

William James Biography. (n.d.). William James Biography. Retrieved September 23, 2012, from psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/ p/jamesbio.htm.

Zack, N. (2010). The handy philosophy answer book. Detroit [Mich.: Visible Ink Press.