THE PHILOSOPHER ATHIOST |
Thinker and philosopher of Carmalad from the Age of Changes (living at the time of 200 after Santhros). In the center of his thinking lies the sensual view on things.
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The philosopher Athiost in his thirties as drawn by Faugar. |
His main work "The Circle" was written approx.
in 190. It is said to have had a
major
impact on the development of Artimidor Federkiels contemporary
philosophy culminating in a new foundation of morality on aesthetics. The concept of
Artimidor stating that all forms of morality should be deduced to the individual
perception of aesthetical experience can also be found in Athiost's early works. However,
it is handed down that Athiost rejected this kind of deduction of morality in his later
years, nevertheless his work lives on in modern interpretations of the ideas of his youth.
About Athiost's life many contradictory things are reported from his followers,
but they all have in common that the personality of Athiost is said to have been
a very strong one: Athiost in general was a very happy kind of person and
appreciated by his followers for his very special way of teaching philosophy. He
only taught in the open, was known for constantly moving when lecturing and was
famous for his vivid speeches and evident comparisons to express abstract
matters. But when in direct contact with others, he was very restrictive to
himself, never content with his life and sad, even depressed by nature. The few
existing portraits of Athiost represent the latter in an unmistakeable way. At
the age of fifty Athiost left Carmalad and withdrew to Doovens, south of the
Troll Mountains (which was a small village at his time) where he founded the "School
of the Sensuals". In his later years Athiost forbade his followers to write down his
teachings and even burned his own earlier works. Fortunately a few of the books he wrote
in his youth escaped this escapade. It is supposed that Athiost died alone while wandering
the Alsiscaey at the age of sixty, although his
body was never found. However, the
"School of the Sensuals" in the midst of the plain of Salazar, still is an
important meeting place for many Santharian scholars.
One of his most often quoted sayings concerns the reception of philosophy: "If you
try to catch a hen and it gets away, just try to catch another. Behold: Try to catch it
faster this time! But if a thought is slipping away, just give it time. Should it return
somehow, give it more time. If it is directly in front of you, then seize it!"
("The Circle", p. 5)
Information provided by
Artimidor
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