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Parrhesia AI simulator
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Parrhesia AI simulator
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Parrhesia
In rhetoric, parrhesia (Greek: παρρησία) is candid speech, speaking freely. It implies not only freedom of speech, but the obligation to speak the truth for the common good, even at personal risk.
The earliest recorded use of the term parrhesia is by Euripides in the fifth century B.C. Parrhesia means literally "to speak everything" and by extension "to speak freely", "to speak boldly", or "boldness".
In the Classical period, parrhesia was a fundamental component of the Athenian democracy. In the courts or the Ecclesia, the assembly of citizens, Athenians were free to say almost anything. In the Dionysia, playwrights such as Aristophanes made full use of their right to ridicule whomever they chose.
Outside of the theatre or government however, there were limits to what might be said; freedom to discuss politics, morals, religion, or to criticize people would depend upon the context: by whom it was said, and when, and how, and where. If one was seen as immoral, or held views that went contrary to popular opinion, then there were great risks involved in making use of such an unrestricted freedom of speech, such as being charged with impiety (asebeia). This was the pretext under which Socrates was executed in 399 BCE, for dishonoring the gods and corrupting the young. Though perhaps Socrates was punished for his close association with many of the participants in the Athenian coup of 411 BC, because it was believed that Socrates' philosophical teachings had served as an intellectual justification for their seizure of power.[better source needed]
In later Hellenistic philosophy, parrhesia was a defining characteristic of the Cynic philosophers, as epitomized in the shamelessness of Diogenes of Sinope. According to Philodemus, parrhesia is also used by the Epicureans in the form of frank criticism of each other that is intended to help the target of criticism achieve the cessation of pain and reach a state of ataraxia.
In the Greek New Testament, parrhesia is the ability of Jesus or his followers to hold their own in discourse before political and religious authorities such as the Pharisees.
Parrhesia appears in Midrashic literature as a condition for the transmission of Torah. Connoting open and public communication, parrhesia appears in combination with the term δῆμος (dimus, short for dimosia), translated coram publica, in the public eye, i.e. open to the public. As a mode of communication it is repeatedly described in terms analogous to a commons. Parrhesia is closely associated with an ownerless wilderness of primary mytho-geographic import, the Midbar Sinai in which the Torah was initially received. The dissemination of Torah thus depends on its teachers cultivating a nature that is as open, ownerless, and sharing as that wilderness. The term is important to advocates of Open Source Judaism. Here is the text from the Mekhilta where the term dimus parrhesia appears (see bolded text).
Explanation: Why was the Torah not given in the land of Israel? In order that the peoples of the world should not have the excuse for saying: "Because it was given in Israel's land, therefore we have not accepted it."
Parrhesia
In rhetoric, parrhesia (Greek: παρρησία) is candid speech, speaking freely. It implies not only freedom of speech, but the obligation to speak the truth for the common good, even at personal risk.
The earliest recorded use of the term parrhesia is by Euripides in the fifth century B.C. Parrhesia means literally "to speak everything" and by extension "to speak freely", "to speak boldly", or "boldness".
In the Classical period, parrhesia was a fundamental component of the Athenian democracy. In the courts or the Ecclesia, the assembly of citizens, Athenians were free to say almost anything. In the Dionysia, playwrights such as Aristophanes made full use of their right to ridicule whomever they chose.
Outside of the theatre or government however, there were limits to what might be said; freedom to discuss politics, morals, religion, or to criticize people would depend upon the context: by whom it was said, and when, and how, and where. If one was seen as immoral, or held views that went contrary to popular opinion, then there were great risks involved in making use of such an unrestricted freedom of speech, such as being charged with impiety (asebeia). This was the pretext under which Socrates was executed in 399 BCE, for dishonoring the gods and corrupting the young. Though perhaps Socrates was punished for his close association with many of the participants in the Athenian coup of 411 BC, because it was believed that Socrates' philosophical teachings had served as an intellectual justification for their seizure of power.[better source needed]
In later Hellenistic philosophy, parrhesia was a defining characteristic of the Cynic philosophers, as epitomized in the shamelessness of Diogenes of Sinope. According to Philodemus, parrhesia is also used by the Epicureans in the form of frank criticism of each other that is intended to help the target of criticism achieve the cessation of pain and reach a state of ataraxia.
In the Greek New Testament, parrhesia is the ability of Jesus or his followers to hold their own in discourse before political and religious authorities such as the Pharisees.
Parrhesia appears in Midrashic literature as a condition for the transmission of Torah. Connoting open and public communication, parrhesia appears in combination with the term δῆμος (dimus, short for dimosia), translated coram publica, in the public eye, i.e. open to the public. As a mode of communication it is repeatedly described in terms analogous to a commons. Parrhesia is closely associated with an ownerless wilderness of primary mytho-geographic import, the Midbar Sinai in which the Torah was initially received. The dissemination of Torah thus depends on its teachers cultivating a nature that is as open, ownerless, and sharing as that wilderness. The term is important to advocates of Open Source Judaism. Here is the text from the Mekhilta where the term dimus parrhesia appears (see bolded text).
Explanation: Why was the Torah not given in the land of Israel? In order that the peoples of the world should not have the excuse for saying: "Because it was given in Israel's land, therefore we have not accepted it."