Topic 4 - Innate Ideas from Plato to Descartes

[Gaia Cassia Longina]

Salvete omnes!

I am sorry for my recent absence, I have been dealing with some personal issues and am now spending 6 weeks in Greece performing research.
But I have I have prepared a new discussion on innateness using Plato and Descartes.

Enjoy!

[Appius Claudius Tuscus]

[Marcus Minucius Audens]

Master Tuscus;
As all here probably know by now, I am not much of a philosopher, but that does not mean that I have not often wondered where I am placed among the different groups of philosophers, by belief and vision. Some of which I have been exposed to in the past just doesn't seem to fit. However your last about the Stoics seems to me to go along with many of my beliefs and attitudes. I thank you for your views as something to look into further. I cannot say from your brief set of comments that I fit totally into your suit of comments and discussion, but I find it interesting enough to perhaps look deeper into the well of philosophy and search for the water of understanding.

Respectfully;
Marcus Audens

[Gaia Cassia Longina]

[Marcus Minucius Audens]

Lady Longina;
I was very interested in your last in regard to a combination of ideas, views, morals, and suppositions of each individiual. I know that all of this is indeed true and I also know that it can have an effect on the lives of those around the viewer. This, of course, depends upon the influence and attitude of the individual. I was interested in particular about the mention of morals. I recently had occasion to speak with a good friend of mine in Sweden who I had reminded about his promise to me and to others. His response was that, "an oath doesn't mean much any more here in Europe!" I was very surprised to hear that from a friend of mine, because I usually am very careful about who I choose as "friends," since the term means a lot more to me than it does to many, many, others. An oath is important to me, and not to be thrown aside simply for a minor problem or concern. I wonder now from your comments if such a feeling is, in fact, prevelent throughout Europe, as my friend suggests, or if it is just a figment of his individual mind. To me, here in the U.S. in my view, the Oath still has some strength, and although there are some who fail in their oaths in every group of humans, I feel that the Oath still means something here.

Respectfully Submitted;
Marcus Audens

[Gaius Florius Lupus]

Salve Marce Audens!

I have not lived in Europe for the last time, but during the last years I have had frequent contact with Europeans. That "an oath doesn't mean much any more here in Europe!" might very well be the general sentiment over there, not just that of your friend. Today's Europeans are hardly recognizable when compared with my grandfather and the people of his age that I remember from childhood. The word "honor" is never used by modern Europeans and only belittled when mentioned. I hope in the US things are still different. A society cannot work, when there is not a minimum of trust in the word of its members anymore.

Vale!
C. Florius Lupus

[Gaia Cassia Longina]

[Marcus Minucius Audens]

Lady Longina -- Thank you for your lengthy and thorough reply to my question. My twenty years in service to my country convinced me of my duties to my country without question. My fourteen years in fleet submarines taught me the value of truth and clear discussion with all my shipmates, who served as my family extention, for all those years. My service to my family in the years since my retirement, from national service, has taught me the value of Honor and Truth to all with whom I am involved. My years of college have sharpened the views of the Naval 'lower deck' and made clear to me the concerns I had as a younger man and how to deal with them effectively. Such, I am pleased to call my experience level, which continues to grow in my various involvement with several other volunteer organizations. I would tend to agree with Cicero, not simply or necesaarilly because of what he has said, but rather my experiences, which has shown his views to be firmly mine.

Respectfully Submitted;
Marcus Audens

[Marcus Minucius Audens]

Master Lupus;
That is a big question in the U.S. today. Who holds the words Honor, Oath, and Truth in a place of personal substance? Our world seems to operate either with a great lack of these, or with a great lack of intelligence and value. In my view the military, by far the largest bulk of them, believe in the sacred value of those terms, but the younger civilians, not so much. I do not have the answers, but in my view of the world, I see the possibility of a darkness on the horizon, if something is not changed. What that necessarily is, I am sure no-one has the whole answer, but in my view one is badly needed. The same concern plagued ancient Rome, in the same way, So I am concerned as to what will occur in the future.

Respectfully Submitted;
Marcus Audens

Respectfully Submitted;

[Appius Claudius Tuscus]