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Exploring Human Curiosity: From Otzi the Iceman to Ancient Philosophy

Delve into the timeless questions that have intrigued us for millennia, from Otzi the Iceman's possessions to the origins of Greek philosophy and the fundamentals of knowledge. Uncover the significance of early tools, clothing, and philosophical inquiries, offering insights into human behavior, values, and the nature of existence. Discover the roots of intellectual exploration that shaped our understanding of the world and ourselves. Engage with pre-philosophical questions, Greek thinkers, and the essence of philosophy, guiding you through a journey of profound introspection and intellectual discovery.

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Exploring Human Curiosity: From Otzi the Iceman to Ancient Philosophy

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  1. When and Why Did we Start to Question?

  2. 5000 years ago – what mattered to us? Otzi the Iceman

  3. What did Otzi care about? • Clothing: grass-lined shoes, loincloth, fur jacket, cloak made of woven grass • Tools: wooden framed backpack with two compartments made of tree bark • Skills: backpack contained charcoal embers from a recent fire, insulated by maple leaves, daggers with wooden handle, axe, birch fungus with antibiotic properties • Tattoos on his knees, possibly to charm away the arthritis he suffered from

  4. Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs Self-actualisation Self-Esteem Social Needs Safety needs Physiological needs

  5. Pre-philosophical Questions • What is really being asked? • Why can’t I go out to play? • Why is the sky blue? • Which is better, Daddy or Chips? • Why is a wolf a dog? ..Because it is!!

  6. Why the Greeks? • Herodotus – “Tretis on the Persian Wars” • Sophocles “Antigone” – Beginnings of “Natural Law” Theory • Hippocrates on “The Sacred Disease” • Empedocles – hypothesised that man descended from lower forms of life • Aristarchos suggested that the Earth orbited the sun • Socrates – began to question what it meant “to know”

  7. Upanishads • Entomology –To sit next to the master • Mythological stories concerning axiological (matters of right and wrong) issues • We are given explanations into human behaviour, deriving from Atman, a fundamental fire or force • Greek religious teaching doesn’t give an explanation of human behaviour other than to show our differences with the Gods. • Robinson “From the Upanishads to Homer”

  8. So what is philosophy? • Ontology: Philosophical study addressing questions of the nature of existence, reality and being. • Axiology: concerned with values and judgments about right/wrong or the nature of beauty. • Epistemology: concerned with the nature of knowledge and its limitations. Which part of philosophy do you think ToK is most concerned with?

  9. So where does this leave us? • “The illiterate of the twenty-first century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” Toffler p31 Tomkinson • “The unexamined Life is not worth living” Robinson “Socrates on the Examined Life”

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