The education of Cyrus - Xenophon, Philosophy, and Education

The education of Cyrus - Xenophon, Philosophy, and Education

Originally, I was never interested in Xenophon's philosophy and his particularly pseudo-historical writing, but having studied his book the Cyropedia, I am now interested in Cyrus, the Persian education system, and basically the story of the rise to power of a wise and great king. 

The problem is that at first glance one would think that this Persian leader that Xenophon portrays is excellent, a real example that virtue and leadership can go together and that a virtuous leader, a philosopher king and stuff like that can and do exist.

I am sad to say this, but it's not true.

When I read Cyrus for the first time I was really impressed by his benevolence and kindness and how he always managed to make his enemies into his friends. 

He was a true hero in every sense of the word, and when he made his speeches about honour and glory, it really motivated me and I was impressed. Mind you, I am sometimes quite cynical or critical (trying to improve!). 

I tried to find many reasons as to why he would be so virtuous, but was unable to, and had to contrive to find anti-theses like Cyrus is doing things for his own profit, he was bluffing, he was lying and other stuff like that. Trust me, it was hard, given Xenophon's portrayal of Cyrus the Great as really, truly, and totally GREAT.

To take two examples, as a young man he managed to convince his grandfather's troops that he was an emperor and they followed him off to fight enemies. That was real leadership.

As for virtuous leadership, this man could invade another country, make the other king surrender with minimal loss of life, and then after that help to make peace with another country, such that his enemies became his friends! That is, he beat the heck out of the Armenians, and then when they complained that now they were weak and going to be bullied by the Chaldeans, he helped them against the Chaldeans and made peace between them. And to cap, he did not take loot, but only took what was owed him. Can you beat that?

A truly virtuous leader, and I really admired him.

And then I learnt in class that there was something fundamentally wrong with his virtue that led to the collapse of his empire at the end. 

Look, if he was truly such a powerful leader, why is it his empire collapsed when he died? If he was truly so good, why were there so many little doubts along the way to his rule? It's simple, really.

Ma'am's (that's my USP philosophy teacher) analysis was that he had linked virtue with rewards, and that was the problem - because now people did not do things for the sake of the things themselves ie. they did not do good because it was right to do so, but because of profits and the benefits that they could get.

The great Cyrus had set the example and the precedent because every good thing that he did led to his benefit, and he had tied virtuous living to earning money - that was precisely how he rallied his men and how he made friends! That is, the reality was that his enemies became his friends not because they were moved by his goodness (partly, I am sure, because he was such an inspirational person) but because he could benefit them. 

And precisely because he was good and virtuous, letting them be in charge of the loot and everything, and they could see that it was to their own advantage to hang about with a truly good man, that's why his empire collapsed once he died. 

Because... ultimately, it seems, there is no link between virtue and benefits. Cyrus, by his forceful personality, had forced the link between them such that virtue led to good ends.

What is worse, when I did my own research I realised that he was not even a pure virtuous leader either - and that Cyrus had winning the empire always in his mind. 

It turns out that Adam Smith was right. 

Cyrus was a really good man because he wanted to become king and emperor, and virtue made him rich and powerful and successful, and all his enemies did not want to fight him but to join him instead. Adam Smith 1, philosophies that deal with ethics and virtue o. I was told that Emmanuel Kant would never countenance lying. Well, Kant, you lose to Smith! 1-0. Cyrus the liar wins, because he had an empire, was rich, was famous and even better still, all his peers thought him virtuous and good! Whereas honest people like me and you, Herr Kant, are considered fools and naive. Kudos! I myself thought that Cyrus was virtuous, and it is very difficult to truly know whether he was or not, but one thing can be said - he was very cunning!

Now I go back to my work. I am writing an essay on virtue and leadership and I have hit, not the famous and dreaded writer's block, but the famous laziness disease. You're been reading my philosophical and personal thoughts on Xenophon the Greek philosopher and soldier, Cyrus the great king and philosophical thoughts on Cyrus' education.

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Comedy interests me - The Thin Blue Line

British Comedy interests me - "The Thin Blue Line", with Rowan Atkinson

I am supposed to be studying now, which I should get round to, since my break has been long extended. But I was watching Rowan Atkinson on "The Thin Blue Line", an outdated and perhaps even ancient comedy, and one particular scene struck me as very interesting and something that I wanted to write about.

Spoiler alert! 

Well, in "The Thin Blue Line", Inspector Grimms of the CID actually planted evidence so that he could catch a criminal, a famous drug dealer. As a result, this drug dealer was wrongly arrested and brought to jail.

When Rowan Atkinson's character, Inspector Raymond, discovered that the criminal was wrongly accused, he informed the defence lawyer. And because of this information, the criminal was set free.

There was this memorable scene, when Inspector Grimms came to confront Inspector Raymond for actually giving evidence for the defendant (who was a dangerous criminal, but wrongly accused) :

Inspector Grimms: A criminal should be put away for the safety of the public! 

Inspector Raymond (Atkinson): The public can be in no greater danger then when the police consider themselves above the law. Better a criminal goes free, then the police become criminals themselves.

Grimms: A violent, disgusting drug pusher walked free because of you goodie, goodie.... @#))#_(!_(_@!(#_(@_!!!!

then suddenly, Grimms cries!

... I hate myself. There's nothing lower than a bad copper. It's just that I wanted that poor soul so badly. I'm glad you stopped it, Raymond...

This was so moving, that I didn't think it was actually comedy any more.

Sometimes there's so much beauty in comedy that it's really great stuff. 

Did I mention that I am a fan of British comedy? Especially with Rowan Atkinson? :)

Anything that interests me!

Calvin and Hobbes

The Wonderful Calvin and Hobbes

Since I am writing about Anything that Interests Me, I am going to write about Calvin and Hobbes. I was at the library waiting for my friend, when I decided to have a look at the comics section.

I was actually gunning for Batman, especially the Asylum Series, partly because I like deep, dark DC comics, and partly (mainly, actually) because the Asylum Series, which shows the Arkam prisoners and the madness of the doctors administering to the likes of the Joker and the Riddler, is the most interesting product line in the Batman merchandise. (Yes, I frequently read graphic novels and comics.)

Then I came across my old love Calvin and Hobbes and read it, and three of the best cartoons in the whole book are reproduced here for your leisure and enjoyment (and mainly because these are the things that interested me):

Scenario One

Calvin: MOM, DAD! YOU DIDN'T GET HOBBES A PRESENT!

Mom (to Dad): You'd better think of something fast...

Hobbes: No worries, we tigers are naturally gifted.

Calvin: Well, here's a present from me to you. Hope it fits.

And then Calvin hugs his tiger.

Hobbes: The best presents don't come in boxes; I'll treasure this one forever.

Scenario Two

Calvin had been spending a lot of time and effort earning some toy, and so, in conversation with his tiger...

Calvin: I can't believe every time I get my hopes up, it doesn't arrive. And then when it doesn't, the chance of it coming tomorrow increases, and I get my hopes up even higher, only to see them dashed. I have been disappointed so many times, I think I am numb to it.

Hobbes: Well, what happens if they manage to get it sent today, at the last minute, because...

And Calvin runs off.

Hobbes: He isn't numb!

and the best part of it is that when Calvin got his toy, he accidentally broke a part of it. And then he blamed his tiger.

Calvin: It's all your fault! (CRIES)

Hobbes: It's not my fault, and look, I didn't even touch it!

Calvin: I know, I know... But... Considering that my life is in shambles right now, could you please take the blame?

And my all time favourite, which breaks my heart every time:

Scenario One

Calvin catches a butterfly, and puts it in a jar.

Hobbes: If people could put rainbows in zoos, they'd do it.

(Or was it: If people could put rainbows in cages, they'd do it...)

And Calvin thought about it for a moment, and then released the butterfly. 

I found that very touching.

Calvin and Hobbes is a nice, philosophical cartoon.

Alright, that's it for this post.

Anything that interests me!

Manchester United are the Champions!!

Manchester United are the Champions of Europe after a very long and very exciting final in Moscow! I have an exam in 12 hours' time, but this is more important. Ha!

I went to Oxford pub today instead of the usual Varsity in Manchester, because Varsity now has a new rule that a driving licence is needed to go in, or some form of identification that isn't a photocopy. This is a new ruling because every time I went there in the past to watch Manchester United, I didn't need any identification. And I don't actually carry my Singapore passport each and every time I want to watch football here in Manchester. 

So Oxford pub it was.

(Oxford, not the university, is near the University of Manchester and is the quintessential English pub with nearly all British patrons.)

In the first half, Manchester United dominated and Ronaldo scored our opening goal. With a beautiful cross after some great teamwork courtesy of Wes Brown and Scholes, Brown managed to get the ball to Ronaldo who headed it cleanly into the goal, leaving the poor Chelsea goalkeeper stranded.

However, later into the first half, even though Manchester United played well, Chelsea managed to equalise because of a goal mouth mistake by United's defence, sad to say. The ball bounced off Rio Ferdinand, and Lampard opportunistically slotted it into the net, thus leveling the game.

In the second half, truth be told, Manchester United was totally dominated by Chelsea, which nearly won the game, but hit the post a couple of times. Manchester United seemed to have taken the foot of the gas pedal and things were looking bad for us, even though in the pub, the atmosphere was incredible and everyone was believing that we would be champions. A fat man and another thinner chap were singing and chanting madly the whole time along, and they still had their voices after 90 mins of the game, whereas I was sore after shouting for about 80 mins (quite good already, lah).

When extra time came along, it was very exciting because Chelsea came close to winning, but in the dying minutes, Drogba was sent off after a huge scuffle. Manchester United seemed to be down but not out!

When it came to penalties, it was our Argentine player Tevez who scored the first penalty for United. It was honestly a very nerve wracking period and the entire pub were on their toes literally and figuratively. All went well, with both sides scoring the penalties ... till Ronaldo.

He did his usual stop and start run up to the ball, which to me is one of the stupidest ways to take penalties in the world, but if it works for him, that's his problem... and he missed. Scuffed the shot. Everyone swore and it was so tense... the atmosphere was very very depressed. When Chelsea's next player (I think it was Lampard) scored, it almost seemed that Manchester United was done and gone. But it ain't over till the fat lady sings, remember?

And so the fat lady started crooning. She was crooning for Man U.

John Terry fell and slipped, and mis-kicked the ball - and then it was all level once again!! It was extremely exciting and by this time I was totally hoarse. (The fat man and the thinner man were not hoarse yet, strangely - 3 hours into the game)

Manchester United had the chance of being the champions of Europe once again!!

Anelka stepped up and missed - and then Manchester United became the champions of Europe 2008!!! Manchester United are the champions!

The whole place erupted into loud and racuous laughter - it was like some gigantic earthquake. Manchester! Manchester! Manchester United! United! United! everyone was shouting and screaming and hugging, and all the ang mohs came over to shake my hand (as well as June Ang, Da Ge, Christine, Colinho, and Colinho's buddy's hands of course). It was such an exciting moment.

Rio, Rio, Rio! Argentina! Argentina! Argentina!

And when Manchester United lifted up the trophy, it was such a great moment. I was there when we won the match against Wigan, thus winning the EPL, and I was there at the pub barely 30 mins ago when we became champions of Europe. Manchester United are champions of Europe! We are the champions of both the Premier League and the Champions League! It was great. Both times I watched the matches at Oxford pub and it was a great experience.

The cars outside were all honking like crazy and everyone was shouting and screaming (some drunk, I'd say) on the streets and everywhere. It was like the whole of Manchester suddenly came to life. I'm glad I managed to experience all these when I came to Manchester. My Portsmouth game, my Arsenal and Man City match, Manchester United becoming champions of both the EPL and Champions League and beating Chelsea twice was incredible, and here I was, at the heart of all the action. Right here in Manchester.

Right here in Manchester!

Anything that interests me!

- and right now, as of this moment, it's my Economics History exam for tomorrow, but once again... 21st May 2008, Manchester United have won the Champions League!!

Dad's Army - Complete Sixth Series

I just bought Dad's Army, the complete sixth series, a British comedy series (much like Blackadder with Rowan Atkinson) and I laughed my head off. It's definitely worth a watch. 

It's about a dysfunctional army platoon led by Captain Mainwaring (oddly enough, it's apparently pronounced MAN-RING) and his men. 

They get themselves into all sorts of comic situations defending England from Hitler's armies. They're some sort of Home Guard reservist unit, and comprise a bunch of very funny soldiers.

It was so funny, comic, and humorous, and yet one of the lines in one of the episodes struck me as so true.

This episode was about the Americans coming to joint the war against Hitler.

When Captain Mainwaring and his men accidentally got into a big and funny fight with their American Allies because of cultural differences, he was ordered to apologise to the Americans.

Scene:

GHQ to Manwaring: You have to apologise - that's for Anglo-American relations.

Cap: But we haven't done anything wrong...

GHQ: Well, Mainwaring...

That's the penalty you pay to have pips on your shoulders.

Sometimes you have to take the can out, when it's not your fault.

I thought that was very meaningful and a good leadership philosophy. 

I do suppose that's why I sometimes prefer British comedy. Black comedy, sarcasm, irony... and sometimes, slapstick. While I enjoy a good American comedy every now and then, British comedy is really much deeper and has more of a plot.  

(Another funny scene, that ranks among one of my favourites in the series:

Officer conducting a test, to Captain Mainwaring: You have to choose one of your men to throw out of the hot air balloon. Which of your men will you throw out?

Captain Mainwaring: I will call for a volunteer or I will throw myself out.

Officer: You cannot do that.

Captain: Then, I'd probably throw Private Godfrey out of the balloon.

Officer (smirking, to the men): What do you say to your commander's decision?

Men (in chorus): BLOODY COMMON SENSE!

Haha!)

Anything that interests me

Consciousness, Rationality, the Mind, and Life

Consciousness, Rationality, the Mind, and Life

I just came back a visit to Oxford, where I bought a book from Blackwells called "The Private Life of the Brain" by Susan Greenfield. I do hope I am not the only pedantic sort of person apart from kind Mr Sayers (my old history teacher in Victoria Junior College) who goes on holidays and winds up in the local bookstore. The main thrust of the book was that consciousness is a continuum and that our emotions are tied to our rationality, and when we "let ourselves hang loose" and "let ourselves go", we are returning to an earlier, primitive, infantile state and our rationality, experiences and knowledge are all put aside.

Well, this is interesting. 

The magician Derren Brown springs to my mind, faster than a rabbit, as well as the famous fellow who spends his whole life trying to rebut people like Uri Geller. I agree with Derren in that I know that some things like music, love, beauty, and art are essentially non-rational, and that perhaps some things are best left to the subconscious, irrational, human part of us. 

Yet, at the same time I would love to live in a world that is real, and live in a world in which I understand, can control certain variables, and know that it works in a particular way. I wouldn't want to worship something that I know or suspect to be false. Hence, rationality is indeed important... but I have come to a slightly different understanding now. 

If the mind works as it is supposed to, meaning that it is both at once emotional and rational, then human beings are doing the best they can, given their non-propitious circumstances. It is comforting to know that we are not just chemicals or simply a brain, for that would be a really disconcerting proposition. It is good to know that experiences and knowledge do play a part in keeping us rational, and making us, essentially, emotional rational people.

Sometimes, I find it rather disorienting and uncomfortable that I have come to find the answers, to many questions I had, here in England, when I had all the time to think in Singapore and never found any answers. Maybe it's because relaxing here in such a nice environment, and "punting" down the river near Trinity college really provokes such thoughts... or could it be that I did all the thinking when I was younger, and it's only now that I am on holiday in Oxford that the parts all start clicking together and coming together to form the whole? Part by part, the massive jigsaw puzzle is slowly and surely assembled....?

The beauty of it all was that I had thought of a very elegant, refined, and beautifully non-technical way of writing down all these important thoughts while I was on the bus. Now that I sit here at my computer, they are all coming apart. So, this is the article that you get to read instead. 

PS To the guy who always wants to debunk Uri Geller - we have all been there. I sometimes have the same urges too, to tell some people that they are wrong, and to correct them and disabuse them of their odd, wrong, and misguided beliefs. Yet, at the same time, they're entitled to their opinions and ideas. Yes, I know some Americans believe that psychics are real. They may be the same people who believe in tooth fairies. The rest of us know that Uri Geller is a trickster. What's more important is:

Don't spoil the magic. Don't tell them how it's done, please. No one loves a spoilsport.

And aha... I also wanted to write about death. Seeing that I have put the title down as Life, I shall leave Death for a future post.

Anything that interests me