Western Civ I Questions: Week 17

     As I prepare to write a post concerning ancient Western civilization, I stop to ask myself a few questions, find your personal answers if you wish, this will likely come up in my next or last post and might interest you further.

Augustine

• Why would one find the need to question faith? People find faith in deities for many reasons, a need for answers, a need for hope, to fulfil one's own curiosity. But some, like in the case of Augustine, that is not enough. Why is it important to question faith, and how is it that the psychology of people causes one to act this way in the first place?

• Why is selflessness such a virtue? Augustine preached those who are religious because of their love of God are righteous people who belong in the city of God. Whereas those who are religious for one's own self are not welcome in the city of God. This proves that many believe selflessness to be a virtue, although it is easier to be selfish. Why do people tend to be so selfish? Why do people find it better to be selfless even though that can be naivety?

The Barbarians in Rome

• Why did people create a mystical story for what happened when Leo confronted Atila the Hun? Leo the Great was known for moral wins against dangerous threats to Rome. People created stories of past figures of Christian faith coming down upon the Huns with swords, why would the human mind choose to do such a thing? Why do we still do this today?

• Why did Barbarian culture normalize a ruler dividing land between his predecessors? In what ways could this be better and worse in terms of governing? What can we learn from this Barbarian culture?