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Philosophy, Dynamic

Throughout the history of Western thought there have been key thinkers who have approached the world through a process view. The idea is that the world is constantly changing, both on its own and as people interact within it. These changing interactions and our understanding of reality and knowledge can collectively be called dynamic philosophy. Philosophy covers a range of subjects from metaphysics (the study of what exists) to epistemology (the study of knowledge) to ethics (the study of what is right). The reach extends to nearly every academic discipline, with specialized fields like psychology, natural science, and even comparative literature being rooted in philosophy. The dynamic aspect emphasizes the way the world evolves: how people affect and are affected by the world, how societies develop, how nature itself never stands still but is a continuing series of births and deaths—as Darwin identified, evolution. Anthropology has been influenced profoundly by this dynamic, or process, approach.

Ancient

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus (6th century B.C.) is known for the saying, “You can't step into the same river twice.” Change, he felt, was the one constant in life, the one guarantee. As a moment in time passes, a river is no longer the same, the water moving as it does in a flowing current from one place to another. People change as well, aging imperceptively from one moment to the next. Stepping into a river may not seem to be a life-altering event but the person is different nonetheless, because his experience has been enriched from the first step. Other pre-Socratic philosophers (the ancient Greeks prior to the time of Socrates, 469–399 B.C.) believed that such elements as water (Thales of Miletus, 620–546 B.C.) and air(Anaximenes, 585–524 B.C.) were the underlying forces behind all life. Heraclitus lauded change, however, with the understanding of an underlying logos, or steadfast principle of reality that directs all things. The world in this view is in constant motion, but it is not chaotic; there is an order to the universe, even in strife, struggle, and what appear to be opposing forces or tensions.

The Roman poet Lucretius (99–55 B.C.) was a follower of Greek philosopher Epicurus (340–270 B.C.). The two men believed that change was essential to existence and that reality consists of an eternal collection of tiny atoms that move and change form to create the worlds, beings, and objects we recognize. Gods are not necessary and if they exist, they have little to do with the goings-on of humanity. When people die their atoms dissipate and return to the earth in a different form. Lucretius expressed these and other views in his epic Latin poem, On the Nature of Things. Unsurprisingly, he was influenced by tumultuous political times. He saw humans as being ruled by passions and hungers, but felt that they could control these urges through knowledge and cooperation. People could determine how to live their lives in a changing, adaptable way, rather than being locked into whatever was dictated by divine command.

Early Modern

Such theories fell out of fashion for several centuries during the Middle Ages and the spread of Christianity across Europe. Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646–1716) was a German mathematician and philosopher who posed a different view of God than the anthropomorphized, omniscient, omnipotent God envisioned by the Roman Catholic Church. Like the atomists, Leibniz proposed that all existence was contained in individually moving, microscopic beings, or monads, and he saw God as the harmony that exists between their movements. This idea is different from that of his contemporary,Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677), who claimed that one underlying substance presented itself in individual beings by accident. For Leibniz the arrangement was no accident, but rather the harmonious effort of the independent monads, each empowered with its own intelligence.

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