On 31st
May 2020, I have published the first article of Conatus Classics, which is a
section with the intention to discuss the History of Thought. The articles in
this section have spanned the broadest of scope I have ever written about the
other topics from cinema and science. For the past year, I have many
opportunities to explore diverse themes from philosophy, history, science,
poetry, drama, politics and social science in Conatus Classics. When I write
articles for Film Analysis, I often take a more liberal approach and express
many personal opinions, as cinema is something that has fascinated me for many
years and it is also a topic I am well-acquainted with. For Conatus Classics, I
take a more objective and impartial approach, and have carried out more
background research, which includes reading the original text. An improvement
is probably more careful close-reading of the original sources, so that the
readers can more easily appreciate the different interpretations that arise
from the ideas of these curious thinkers.
The first
year of Conatus Classics has placed an intense focus on Natural Philosophy of
Ancient Greece. Almost all the Pre-Socratic philosophers have expressed
opinions, or have gone as far as developing coherent philosophical systems, to
account for the world in a rational way. The information acquired from the myth
of the epic poets would no longer be useful for the understanding of humanity,
that has given way to the use of rational speculations. These thinkers
attempted to understand, amidst the ‘many’ in the universe, what was the ‘one’
that everything was originated from? In short, what is the ‘physis’ (Greek for
‘nature’) of things? The philosophical ideas from these ancient thinkers may be
dated by today’s standard, yet one cannot deny the imaginative aspect of the many
ideas that have survived the passage of time. Some of the ideas have even
provided the foundation of different schools of thought that are still relevant
today: materialism, rationalism, ontology, theology, behaviourism, you name
it. The wise men from the Pre-Socratic
era – from Homer, Solon, Thales, to Pythagoras, Parmenides and Democritus –
have all left lasting impressions for future people, and their impacts were no
less significant than the Holy Trinity of philosophers from Classical Greece.
Creative
juxtapositions have also been committed in a series of articles. The tragedians
from the Classical Greece - Aeschylus,
Sophocles and Euripides – have been compared with three brilliant filmmakers of
the 20th century – Griffith, Kurosawa and Peckinpah. The more we
attempt comparisons on the 2 distinct art forms, the more surprises we can
discover. What have struck me are the similarities in the emphasis on the
universal human issues, stressed by the artists from two millennia apart. That
represent the legacy of artistic innovation offered by the members of our
species.
Looking
forward to the 2nd year of Conatus Classics, the concentration will be on the
thinkers from Classical Greece onwards. The focus will be shifted from the
heavenly bodies back to our Earth. The humanism of Classical Athens and the
associated ideas would shape the Hellenistic philosophy. The diverse schools of
this later era had the common theme on proposing systems for the individual to
interact with the world which he was situated in. The philosophical
deliberations led to implications in diverse ethical outlooks and possible ways
towards ‘eudaimonia’ (commonly translated as ‘happiness’).
The other face of Classical Studies is focused on the Latin world. The ancient Roman Empire is renowned for its contribution to legal studies. The Roman Law serves as the locus classicus for the development of jurisprudence in the Western world. The ancient empire was also famed for its contribution in literature, rhetoric and philosophy. The studies of ancient Rome are just as interesting and inspiring as ancient Greek studies. These are the topics I will explore in the 2nd year of Conatus Classics!
by Ed Law
Conatus Classics
