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The Partially Examined Life

Ep. 379: Egyptian Philosophy with Chike Jeffers (Part One)

43 min episode · 2 min read
·
Chike Jeffers

Episode

43 min

Read time

2 min

Topics

Software Development, Philosophy & Wisdom, History

AI-Generated Summary

Key Takeaways

  • Egyptian Philosophy Origins: Ancient Egypt represents philosophy's birthplace twice over - first as the origin of human philosophical thinking tens of thousands of years ago, and second as one of two birthplaces of recorded philosophy alongside Mesopotamia through literary texts beyond practical record-keeping.
  • Ma'at Concept: The Egyptian principle of ma'at fuses truth and justice into one concept, appearing in texts where translation must choose between speaking truth or doing justice, suggesting ancient Egyptians saw these as unified rather than artificially separated as modern philosophy does.
  • Akhenaten's Monotheism: King Akhenaten's hymn to Aten around 1400 BCE introduced radical monotheism emphasizing visible nature and solar benevolence, describing diverse peoples with different skin colors and languages as equally created by one god without claims of Egyptian superiority - a cosmopolitan outlook unusual for the era.
  • Instructional Text Genre: Egyptian instruction texts evolved from Old Kingdom tomb inscriptions listing virtues into philosophical reflections on living well, using father-to-son succession frameworks to explore fundamental questions about good character rather than specific job training for officials or kings.

What It Covers

The Partially Examined Life explores ancient Egyptian philosophical texts from 2400-1400 BCE, examining instructional writings, dialogues about justice and suicide, and Akhenaten's monotheistic hymn to Aten with guest philosopher Chike Jeffers.

Key Questions Answered

  • Egyptian Philosophy Origins: Ancient Egypt represents philosophy's birthplace twice over - first as the origin of human philosophical thinking tens of thousands of years ago, and second as one of two birthplaces of recorded philosophy alongside Mesopotamia through literary texts beyond practical record-keeping.
  • Ma'at Concept: The Egyptian principle of ma'at fuses truth and justice into one concept, appearing in texts where translation must choose between speaking truth or doing justice, suggesting ancient Egyptians saw these as unified rather than artificially separated as modern philosophy does.
  • Akhenaten's Monotheism: King Akhenaten's hymn to Aten around 1400 BCE introduced radical monotheism emphasizing visible nature and solar benevolence, describing diverse peoples with different skin colors and languages as equally created by one god without claims of Egyptian superiority - a cosmopolitan outlook unusual for the era.
  • Instructional Text Genre: Egyptian instruction texts evolved from Old Kingdom tomb inscriptions listing virtues into philosophical reflections on living well, using father-to-son succession frameworks to explore fundamental questions about good character rather than specific job training for officials or kings.

Notable Moment

The discussion reveals how Ptahhotep's instruction paradoxically begins by emphasizing teaching excellent discourse, then immediately advises restraint in speaking, suggesting good speech appears unexpectedly among common workers at grindstones rather than trained court rhetoricians, challenging assumptions about wisdom and class.

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Episode Transcript

This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. Last year, I went through many different life changes. I needed to take a pause and examine how I was feeling in the inside to better show up for the ones who need me to be my best version of myself. When you're navigating life's changes, Talkspace can help. Talkspace is the number one rated online therapy, bringing you professional support from licensed therapists and psychiatry providers that you can access anytime, anywhere. Living a busy life, navigating a long distance relationship, becoming a first step father, Talkspace made all of those journeys possible. I could speak with my therapist in the office. I could speak with my therapist in the comfort of my home. I was never alone. Talkspace works with most major insurers, and most insured members have a $0 co pay. No insurance. No problem. Now get $80 off your first month with promo code space 80 when you go to talkspace.com. Matched with a licensed therapist today at talkspace.com. Save $80 with code space 80 at talkspace.com. Picture this. You're on a date, and then bad breath happens. Confidence, gone. Here's the truth. Most gums and mints are just bad breath band aids, but not Zellman's minty mouth. The functional breath freshener you swallow, tiny dual action capsules with mint on the outside, parsley seed oil inside, clinically tested to fight the toughest offenders, even garlic and onions. It's only available online. Go to zellman's.com, zelmins, zelmans.com, code fresh for 15% off. You're listening to the partial exam of life, a podcast by some guys who are at one point set on doing philosophy for a living with them thought better of it. Our questions for episode 379 might include how does tradition fit in with ethics or how should we react to injustice? And we read several selections from ancient Egypt ranging from probably February to fourteen hundred BCE including two dialogues, dispute between a man and his ba and the eloquent peasant, plus two works where a king gives instructions on how to be a good king or just a good person, plus a hymn to the sun god. We were guided in these selections by treading the ground of the history of Africana philosophy podcast and read a few chapters from their latest book and bringing together the essays that are read on that show, few chapters from their latest book and bringing together the essays that I read on that show, Africana Philosophy from Ancient Egypt to the Nineteenth Century, written by our past guest, Peter Adamson, and today's guest, GK Jeffers. For more information about the text and the podcast, please see partiallyexaminedlife.com. This is Mark Linsenmeyer feeling cool bellied in Madison, Wisconsin. This is Seth Paston, anxious to recede into the West in Austin, Texas. This is Wes Allyn sustained by my car in Cambridge, Massachusetts. And this is TK Jeffers ready to talk about some of the earliest recorded philosophy there is in …

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