[lit-ideas] Re: SOS - Colin Morris and Taylor
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 12:00:29 -0700
The reference Colin Morris used to ousia had to do with seeking of a term to
apply to the Trinity, three persons in one, and all they had available was
ousia, substance. They couldnât use idiot because of the negative
connotation and unsuitable definition.
From Wikipedia: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiot>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiot
ââIdiotâ uses the word person, but not in the modern sense: Idiot is a
word derived from the <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language> Greek
ÎÎÎÏÏÎÏ, idiÅtÄs ("layman," "person lacking professional skill," "a
private citizen," "individual"), from ÎÎÎÎÏ, idios ("private," "one's
own"). In <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_language> Latin the word idiota
("ordinary person, layman") preceded the
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Latin> Late Latin meaning "uneducated or
ignorant person." Its modern meaning and form dates back to
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English> Middle English around the year
1300, from the <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_French> Old French idiote
("uneducated or ignorant person"). The related word idiocy dates to 1487 and
may have been analagously modeled on the words
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophet> prophet and
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophecy> prophecy.
It was originally used in <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece>
ancient Greek <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City-state> city-states to refer
to people who were overly concerned with their own self-interest and ignored
the needs of the community. Declining to take part in public life, such as
(semi-)democratic government of the <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polis> polis
(city state, e.g. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy> Athenian
democracy) was considered dishonorable. "Idiots" were seen as having bad
judgment in public and political matters. Over time, the term "idiot" shifted
away from its original connotation of selfishness and came to refer to
individuals with overall bad judgmentâindividuals who are "
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stupid> stupid."
Lawrence
-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Peter D. Junger
Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2006 11:35 AM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: SOS - Colin Morris and Taylor
"Lawrence Helm" writes:
:
: Morris follows the last quote with, "This relative weakness of the sense of
: individuality is not confined to those societies which we normally call
: primitive. The student of the Greek Fathers or of Hellenistic philosophy is
: likely to be made painfully aware of the difference between their
: starting-point and ours. Our difficulty in understanding them is largely
: due to the fact that they had no equivalent to our concept 'person,' while
: their vocabulary was rich in words which express community of being, such as
: ousia, which in our usage can be translated only by the almost meaningless
: word 'substance.'
Wasn't the classic Greek word for our concept of a person an "idiot"?
--
Peter D. Junger--Case Western Reserve University Law School--Cleveland, OH
EMAIL: junger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx URL: http://samsara.law.cwru.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
