|
ne should remember that while
this essay seeks to discuss individual philosophers and their personal ideas,
much of Tiquaitan philosophy naturally develops from the classical schools of
thought. While they grew and changed in name and content over the centuries the
main ideologies brought forward sprang from one of the three archetypes:
"The School of Order" - A philosophical idea that advocates the importance of
rigidness in defining our purposes. A very clean cut dogma, students of Order
were strong proponents of adhering to authority, regardless of the consequences.
A fundamental aspect of Order would appear to be its enforcement onto others.
The School of Order always preached that it was neccesary that things be made to
stay the same way they are, change being a corrupting factor.
"The School of Chaos" - A further idea that acts as the opposite of Order. While
not explicit advocates of violence or anarchy, Chaotic thinkers suppose that
morality should stem from what we want and that we should persue at all costs.
Proponents of chaos are also known for their progressive attitudes, believing in
the fundamental principle that all things have change in their nature.
"The School of Nature" - Something of a bridge between the two schools.
Naturalists draw their ideology from watching things naturally unfold. While
Order seeks to enforce a stillness in morality and Chaos seeks to incite change,
Nature is much more concerned with allowing things to develop by themselves and
govern themselves by the principle that things unfold most effectively when left
alone. Though many Naturalist thinkers were generalised as 'Esilatists' (see
below), the ideology itself has a much greater sphere of influence.
These schools are further discussed by Sasarta in differing texts, and for
greater depth they should be consulted.
THE NATURE OF
THE TIQUAITIAN THOUGHT
(by Monk Sasarta)
Though Tiquaitan philosophy is
probably the broadest in its subject matter, interpretations and opinions in all
of Nybelmar, the four classical greats of the Tiquaitan Republic (or rather
‘Kingdom’, since their writings took place before the uprising against the
monarchy) give a relatively vivid image of the philosophical landscape of this
ancient civilisation.
The Ambitious
Mind: Aroonate Masmalama (3700 b.S.-3580 b.S.)
Aroonate (Ah-Roon-a-tay)
Masmalama was categorised by his ‘asking of grand questions’, the focus of his
work being the investigation into epic concepts such as reality and the validity
of our existence. Aroonate’s work generally concerned itself it with fundamental
matters of truth. Due to a lack of religion amongst the Tiquaitan men, there was
no universally recognised idea on why we are here and what put us here in the
first place. One of his most complex concepts was the idea of ‘Proving Reality’.
Essentially, he argued that since reality is defined by what we perceive, and
everyone perceives differently, the ‘truth’ behind ‘what reality is’ is
ambiguous:
‘How do we define what is real? Truly what I see, what I feel, what I smell,
hear and taste create my reality- constructing my environment through various
recognisable pulses. This poses an issue. Surely, if ‘reality’ is defined by how
I interpret the signals I experience, then the ‘reality’ experienced by someone
else could be completely different (that is to say, a different interpretation).
Ultimately, this means ‘reality’, a cornerstone of what we consider to be
immovable truth, is in fact subject to constant, unregulated change. What at a
first glance appears as adamant as rock is in fact as fluid as water’.
Through further development of this concept, Aroonate proposed many possible
implications. He stated that by (in his eyes) proving ‘truth’ is a concept of
unspoken variability, ‘hallucinations’ which other do not see could simply be
considered ‘realities’ that others did not experience. He even went, as far to
say that our dreams produced temporary parameters of existence wherein the
events were ‘real’, they simple just had no bearing on the general, core
‘reality’. He proposed, using these assumptions as outlines, that it was in fact
possible that no one else actually existed and that you yourself are the only
conscious being (everything else being a figment of your imagination [though
passively]).
After researching the Sartheran Elves of the Northern Bay, Aroonate added to his
thesis. His expansion was entitled 'Ava the Mortal'- wherein he labelled the
Elven deity of Ava nothing more than any us. While She was revered by the elves
as the Dreamer behind everything, Aroonate argued that we all had the capacity
to invent our own realities, just that we are not conciously aware of our doing
so. This sparked outrage amongst the Sartherans and as such Narsira the Green
(the King at the time) ordered all copies be recalled.
The Moral
Standard: Susashale Esiliate (3681 b.S.-3560 b.S.)
Often regarded as Aroonate’s
primary opponent, Susashale (Soo-sa-shay-el) dedicated her philosophical musings
to matters of morality. She was a zealous student of Naturalist ideas but later
went on to combine her thoughts with the School of Order. Eventually, she came
to the conclusion that morality itself springs from the preservation of nature,
an idea eventually taken to extremes.
Her most audacious act was her rejection of Aroonate’s central focus- famously
quoted to have said ‘It is inalienable that we, ourselves, do exist and as such
challenging the fabric of something so obvious is a horrid waste of everyone’s
time’. Susashale was much more interested in investigating how to define ‘right’
and ‘wrong’ in the broad scope of Tiquaitan society. Due to the Tiquaitan
Kingdom’s lack of divine belief, there was little in terms of ‘organised
conduct’ as can be seen in the Tarshiinites today. As a result, Susashale’s
teachings caused great debate amongst her contemporaries, but with a lack of
social convention to support their arguments, much of what she said could only
be challenged on a personal level, in one’s own mind.
Susashale’s most controversial writing was titled ‘The Modern Age and our abuse
of Death’- wherein she challenged the usage of highly advanced medicine to
prolong life. Though this may seem a relatively minor claim, the importance laid
by the Tiquaitan on medicine and ‘pursuing immortality’ was enormous, and by
challenging this Susashale had knowingly attacked the fabric of the day’s
society. As perhaps a display of her own influence, for long after her death
‘Esilatists’, as they were called, rejected all forms of medicine after being
moved by Susashale’s writings- well aware of the fact that this would limit
their lifespan considerably (in comparison to the other Tiquaitan of course).
In her most comprehensive writing, ‘A Basis for Self-government’, Susashale
discussed ideas of morality that spread throughout most aspects of Tiquaitan
life. The areas addressed varied extensively between cruelty to animals,
attitudes to gluttony, the importance of appearance, the allure of vice and the
danger of jealousy (amongst various other topics of discussion). As a result of
her extensively developed thoughts about the intrinsic links between Nature and
Order, she tied all of her moral advice into the sustaining of nature somehow.
Though the broad teachings of this woman in this particular context were
received remarkably well, modern critics highlight a strong arrogance in her
work, Susashale writing as though above these moral pitfall’s herself-
condescending elevating her to a position above the rest of society.
Nature's Thinker: Raretogaya Wahricora (3643 b.S.- 3543
b.S.)
Presumed to be a student of
Arooante at some point, Raretogaya (Rah-ray-too-gai-yah) was known as ‘Nature’s
Thinker’ amongst the philosophers of the time. Raretogaya chose to investigate
what he called ‘Patterns of Nature’, a focus which modern critics consider as a
digression of Aroonate’s fundamental questioning of reality. Much of what
Raretogaya discussed revolved around the idea that there was innate symbolism in
the nature, which, should we find a way to decipher it, would provide us with an
infinite knowledge and understanding.
In his sole publishing, ‘The Obvious Truth’, Raretogaya drew many parallels
between the opposing arguments of Aroonate and Susashale. He sympathised heavily
with Susashale’s ideas about ‘natural respect’ as well as using Aroonate’s
somewhat vague musings about ‘the nature of truth’ to substantiate his own
ideas. Raretogaya claimed that in every construct we could not control- from the
shape of a tree’s branches to the alignment of the stars- was expressive of a
'Natural Course', a very abstract concept detailing one unifying force between
all things we could perceive. (though he is explicit to state it is not a ‘God’
in anyway).
Much of Raretogaya’s work, however, would seem to be confounded by his personal
beliefs. Raretogaya’s teachings were in no way objective and, unlike most
philosophers, did not seek to explain one vital facet of life. Raretogaya was a
zealous believer and advocate of Starspotting, Rootreading and Tiletelling[1],
and many of his contemporaries and practically the entirety of modern critics
regarded/regard his philosophies as arguments to substantiate his superstitious
beliefs as opposed to personal realisations of great truth. His importance as
one of the 'Greats' could then be challenged. Many modern critics seek of the
'Great Three', neglecting Raretogaya, but many still see him as a pertinent
reminder for philosophy. He is shown to be a man who's own beliefs caused his
questions to be distorted. He is shown, by the sympathetic at least, as a
reminder that philosopher stretches beyond perception but there must still
remain an endearing quality to it.
The Critic:
Korania Neemabil (3648 b.S.-3498 b.S.)
Though Korania himself published
two individual writings (concerning primarily the relevance of Kunijen [The
Faith of the Tsohamin Barbarians] in a modern society and an analysis of how
social factors skew the validity of religious faith), Korania is famed primarily
for his skills as a critic. Being an eloquent and cynical young man, Korania
took it upon himself to find at least one flaw in the work of his colleagues,
and in many cases explode it to such a level that others would interpret
perfectly valid arguments as nonsense. Korania is often revered as being the
‘quality control’ of Tiquaitan philosophy, since for something to be accepted
into the mainstream, it needed to survive Korania’s meticulous examination.
As perhaps a testament to his talent, Korania was able to expand upon Aroonate's
work after his death without any opposition. He investigated the idea of
'self-invented' reality, the idea that something passively creates everything
around us. To quote his speech from the Greenbirth Terrace - 'If we are merely
figments of the mind, illusions, dreams, than it is through ourselves we are
able to unlock why we came to be. All of us dream, both of the fanciful and of
the terrifying, and if we could understand why it is we are given these images
of delight and fear we may understand thus why these things are 'dreamt' into
the world around us'. His propositions, about the nature of dreaming, drew much
interest from the Nybelmarian elven communities, much more so than Aroonate's
vauge references to them in the past had done.
Due to his somewhat supercilious role in the philosophical world, Korania made
himself many enemies, though his annoyingly fine-tuned ability to make insulting
critique, which, despite offensive quality, was completely valid, was
uncontested. He was held in such a high esteem that in the height of his career
many aspiring young philosophers would seek out Korania to ‘proof-read’ their
ideas before having them published.
Korania, tragically, was disgraced and discredited after the publishing of his
most famous work, ‘The Pointlessness of Our Philosophy’, wherein he referenced
practically every respected philosophical concept and argued it was useless and
had no bearing on anything in reality, essentially arguing that pursuing
philosophical truth was an ineffectual waste of time. Though many of Korania’s
statements were perfectly valid, the outrage caused by challenging the
professions of so many dedicated individuals was more than enough for him to
become a social pariah. It would seem to be the case that rather than
acknowledge their life choices could have been fundamentally flawed, the
philosophers of the time were much happier to scorn anyone who suggested it.
Overall
Importance
It is important to understand the
context of these writings. Even before the three kingdoms united[2]
the citizens that would make up the Tiquaitan had made the decision to reject
the organised religion that was held as so fundamental to us ³ for such a long
time. Without any such concrete teachings to use as foundations for morality or
truth, philosophers with enough respect were capable of ascending to positions
of influence beyond that of any politician (or religious counterpart). Each of
these four great thinkers had a vital hand in defining how, at the peak of their
civilisation, the Tiquaitan lived, not only having a huge bearing on one of the
most remarkable civilisations in our continent’s history, but also on ourselves[3]
and how we choose to govern.
_____________
Footnotes.
[1] Starspotting, Rootreading and Tiletelling were esoteric
forms of divination that many Tiquaitan (included the old Monarchy) used to
predict the future and make decisions. [Back]
[2] The three warring kingdoms of Tsu, Chima and Jirai would
eventually be united to form the Tiquaitan (or ‘Union of the Tiqua’).
[Back]
[3] Us/Ourselves refers to the Tarshiinite men of Nybelmar’s
Western Bay. [Back]
|
