Personhood – Philosophy

Sign up for our online course studying Ancient Greek Religion

What is this online course about?

History shows that Greek religion was more a series of rituals than a code or moral behaviour as ritual and sacrifice were at its heart. Across the Greek empire, there was a strong belief among its people in fate. The Greeks tended to believe that there are no accidents: that the Gods were behind everything that happened in their lives. And like the Egyptians, the Greeks believed that consciousness resided in the heart, a view that would prevailed through the Middle Ages.

The Greeks had no word for religion. There was no distinction between the sacred and secular: What we now call religion was intertwined with daily life and the state. Greek religion often placed the ideals of beauty and heroics on a higher level than those for morality. The Gods were more often than not are seen as being that could enjoy and indulge themselves in things beyond the means of mortals rather than beings that guided humans and rewarded and punished them on the basis of their righteousness or sins.

This course is taken from a previous A Level Philosophy syllabus and looks at the free will versus determinism debate. Is your behaviour the result of forces over which you have no control or are you able to decide for yourself whether to act or behave in a certain way? This course is for anyone with an interest in Philosophy or it can also be studied alongside the current A Level Philosophy course.