(December 5, 2011 at 1:43 pm)dtango Wrote:(December 5, 2011 at 8:55 am)Epimethean Wrote: There is actually a great debate over those beans. Here is one of my favorite overviews. I had a fantastic cosmology professor from Harvard who made a case for the bean having "psyche" as well. Lots of thoughts on these little buggers.
http://www.philosophicalmisadventures.com/?p=15
Very interesting site!
The commentators, however, seem to think highly of Pythagoras.
For Pythagoras there is the “σωματικόν» (of the body) part and the “ψυχικόν» (of the soul) part. What he allegedly said, therefore, is that intestinal gas has not to do only with the bodily part but the spiritual one as well, which is plain nonsense.
Why did god create philosophers?
I don't think so, or not necessarily. The idea of the transmigration of the soul might have been perceived to be just what happened as the gas continued to erupt from the mouth and ass. We are talking 6th C. B.C.E. here, and even the Pre-Socratics didn't really get too into biological processes beyond attempting to establish some loose elemental/atomic theories. Really, given Democritus' notion on the soul (the energetic fire atom), the idea of gas continually escaping from the body might call the inanimate nature of the bean into question.
God created philosophers because philosophers created god (in order to to maintain job security).
Trying to update my sig ...