Nasir Khan: Dr Taimur Rahman is continuing his lectures in Urdu on the history of Western philosophy. Here he discusses the life and ideas of the Greek philosopher, Xenophanes. His lectures are easy to follow and useful to those who understand Urdu. I recommend his admirable work and the genuine spirit in which he has undertaken his academic task. Diogenes Laeritus (3rd Century C.E.) in his masterpiece Lives of the Philosophers summarises the philosophical views of Xenophanes thus (pp. 45-6): "[T]he worlds are unlimited in number but do not overlap in time. Clouds are formed when vapour from the sun is carried upward and lifts the clouds in the surrounding air. The sustance of God is spherical in form, resembling man in no way. He is all eye and all ear but does not breathe. . . Xenophanes was the first to hold that everthing that comes into existence is doomed to perish, and that the soul is breath." When Empedocles said that it was impossible to find a wise man, Xenophanes replied: "Naturally, because it takes a wise man to recognise a wise man."
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 08:45:44 +0000
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