This week in exam cram galore

This will be short, as I have way too much to study.

http://youtu.be/nuja52KosN4

Back in philosophy class (I almost typed physiology instead of philosophy), we discussed Socrates' "Euthyphro" and his debate with Euthyphro about piety. The scene is Socrates bumping into Euthyphro in the center of town; Euthyphro is going to report on his father for terribly mistreating a slave, causing the death of a human being. Though noble, Socrates pursues Euthyphro's reasoning for going against his father and whether reporting is truly justified. In the debate, Socrates famously asks the question, and present's Euthyphro with a dilemna - "Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious? Or is it pious because it is loved by the gods (10a)?" In other words, is what is morally good commanded by Divinity because it is morally good, or is it morally good because it is commanded by Divinity? Is there a moral good, which exists a priori to Divinity, or does Divinity dictate what is morally good?

I'm not here to answer this question, as this bit of ancient Greek philosophy is so ahead of its time, it is almost anachronistically so: Immanuel Kant is the next philosopher that truly tackles this concept in the late 18th century, almost two millenia after it was first inquired.

Rather, I'd like to draw attention to some linguistic feature of Euthyphro's dilemna. In Greek, the phrase "the pious" is written as τὸ ὅσιον, or in phonetic Latin, tò hosia. This is interesting, as it shows a great connection between the ancient, Hellenistic culture and our modern culture. The extent of the influence of the Greeks after the reign of Alexander the Great is incredible - so vastly did he spread Greek culture that the New Testament of the bible was written in Greek.

And this is where we have our modern Christian phrase of "Hosanna in the highest". "To hosia" was a biblical phrase (biblical in the sense that it was religious) whose Greek roots were not influenced in any way throughout the history of cultures. The Latin word for piety is pietas, but you don't hear Sunday services exclaiming "Pietas in the highest!"

And in music, we see the Hellenistic influence on sacred works, such as Bach's "Osanna in Excelsis," translated "Hosanna in the highest."

So, when studying the plasmin-bradykinin-coagulation love triangle this week, ask yourself - "Is inflammation occurring in the body because it is inflamed? Or is the body inflamed because the body makes it so?"

Thus far, I have not read any ancient Greek scripts that would indicate, either or - I shall name it the De La Garza dilemna