Confucius, Plato, Aristotle, Copernicus, Newton, Darwin, Bacon, Aquinas, Voltaire, Kant.
Platon (427- 348 BC) was a great philosopher, founder and educator of objective idealism in ancient western countries. The ontology of Plato's philosophy is called "objective idealism". He is the founder of western objective idealism.
Thought and soul used to be in the world of ideas, and later they combined with the body. It has different parts:
(1) rational part, which is the foundation of the soul and comes from the world of ideas;
(2) the will part;
(3) the emotional part.
In Plato's ethics, the three parts of this soul conform to three virtues: reason conforms to wisdom, will conforms to courage and emotion conforms to temperance. The three parts of the soul and their corresponding three virtues conform to the three social groups in Plato's social structure.
However, there are still some positive factors in his educational thought: he was the first to point out the great political significance of education, put forward the thought and content of preschool education, determined the basic components of psychology, defined the wide range of disciplines at that time, pointed out the significance of various disciplines to the development of abstract thinking, and advocated that women should receive education completely equal to men. He cultivates people's ideas? Quot screening system, for future generations.
Plato, a great scholar in ancient Greece, was born in 427 BC. In science, Plato clarified the concept of negative numbers and was regarded as a mathematician. He developed Pythagoras' thought about the harmony of the universe and pointed out that the orbit of celestial bodies is circular. He combined astronomy with geometry and laid the foundation for the later establishment of geocentric theory. He also compared the universe with the human body, and deduced his views on the nature and structure of the universe, as well as on human physiology. His thoughts on the universe of heaven, earth and human body were popular until the end of the Middle Ages, which had a far-reaching impact on the development of biology. He also recorded the legend of Atlantic City for the first time in his works.
The most learned man-Aristotle
The Life of "Academic Spirit"
In 384 BC, Aristotle was born in Starkiel, a Greek colony in Laakia adjacent to Macedonia. His father was a court doctor of King Philip II of Macedonia. Judging from his family situation, he belongs to the middle class among slave owners. In 367 BC, he moved to Athens to study medicine, and studied at Plato College in Athens for many years, becoming an active participant in Plato College.
It is a very important stage for Aristotle to study philosophy with Plato in Athens from 18 to 38-20 years old, and his study and life in this period had a decisive impact on his life. Socrates was Plato's teacher and Aristotle was taught by Plato. These three generations of mentoring are all famous figures in the history of philosophy. In Plato's academy in Athens, Aristotle performed very well, and Plato called him "the spirit of the academy". But Aristotle is not a person who only worships authority. He only studies Nuo Nuo and has no ideas of his own. He is different from the teacher who talks about Hyunri. He worked hard to collect all kinds of books and materials, studied diligently and even set up a library for himself. According to records, Plato once satirized him as a bookworm. During his college years, Aristotle and his teacher had ideological differences. He once metaphorically said that wisdom will not die with Plato. When Plato reached his later years, the differences between his master and his disciples became even greater, and quarrels often occurred.
Plato died in 347 BC and Aristotle stayed in Athens for two years. After that, he began to travel around. In 343 BC, he was hired by King Philip II of Macedonia as the teacher of Prince Alexander. Alexander was thirteen and Aristotle was forty-two. In 338 BC, King Philip II of Macedonia defeated the anti-Macedonian Coalition forces composed of Athens, Thebes and other countries, and has since dominated Greece. The following year, Philip convened an all-Greece conference, agreeing that the Greek states would stop the war and establish a permanent alliance, with Macedonia as the leader. At the meeting, Philip announced that he would command the allied forces of the Greek States and make an expedition to Persia. At this point, Macedonia has actually mastered the military and political power of all Greece, and the Greek States have existed in name only and become vassals of Macedonia.
Philip was stabbed to death in 336 BC. His son Alexander, who was only twenty years old, became king. In 334 BC, Alexander led the Macedonian army and the Greek allied forces to Persia. In less than ten years, he defeated the Persian army, which claimed to be a million, and then destroyed the ancient Persian empire. An unprecedented Alexander Empire was established-its territory starts from Greece in the west, reaches the Indus River in the east, borders Egypt in the south and reaches Central Asia in the north. In 323 BC, Alexander died. This great empire, conquered by force, was divided into several independent kingdoms after melee.
In this turbulent era, Aristotle returned to Athens and lived there for twenty years, that is, from the year before Alexander's expedition to the year of Alexander's death. During this period, although Macedonia controlled Athens militarily and politically, there was still great anti-Macedonian potential there. Aristotle came to Athens, probably shouldering the political mission of persuading the Athenians to obey Macedonia. Aristotle received many preferential treatments in Athens. In addition to his prominent political position, he also received a lot of money, materials and land support from bureaucrats at all levels in Alexandria and Macedonia. Lv Keang College, founded by him, occupies a huge playground and garden area near the temple of Apollo Lv Keang. In the academy, there were first-class libraries and animal and botanical gardens at that time. He started his own school here. The teachers and students of this school are used to discussing problems while walking in the garden, hence the name "Bard". It is said that Alexander provided his teacher with research expenses for 800 golden claws (60 pounds of gold for each claw). Alexander also provided a lot of manpower for his teacher. He ordered his men to collect animal and plant specimens and other materials for Aristotle.
In fact, Aristotle's masterpiece can't be completed by one person. For example, he has outlined and analyzed 158 political systems, and it is impossible to complete a lot of collection and sorting work without the assistance of a group of assistants. When the news of Alexander's death reached Athens, there was an anti-Macedonian frenzy. The Athenians attacked Aristotle and sentenced him to blasphemy. Socrates was sentenced to death for blasphemy. But Aristotle finally escaped from Athens, and the next year, he died at the age of 63.
The most knowledgeable person
Aristotle was first and foremost a great philosopher. Although he was a student of Plato, he gave up the idealistic view held by his teacher. Plato believes that idea is the prototype of physical object, which exists independently of physical object. Aristotle thinks that the real thing itself contains essence. Plato asserted that feeling cannot be the source of real knowledge. Aristotle believed that knowledge originated from feeling. These thoughts already contain some materialistic factors. Aristotle, like Plato, thinks that rational scheme and purpose are the guiding principles of all natural processes. But Aristotle's view of causality is richer than Plato's, because he accepted some views of ancient Greece on this issue. He pointed out that there are four main reasons. The first is the material reason, that is, the main substance that constitutes an object. The second is the form factor, that is, the design pattern and form given to the main substance. The third is the dynamic reason, that is, to realize the mechanism and function provided by this design. The fourth is the purpose, that is, the purpose of designing the object. For example, the Potter's clay provides the material reason for pottery, while the design style of pottery is the form reason, the Potter's wheels and hands are the motivation reason, and the expected use of pottery is the purpose reason. Aristotle himself took a fancy to the formal reason and purpose reason of objects, and he believed that formal reason was included in all natural objects and functions. At first, these formal reasons are potential, but once an object or creature develops, these formal reasons are revealed. Finally, when an object or organism reaches the completion stage, its finished product is used to achieve the original design purpose, that is, to serve the purpose. He also believes that in concrete things, there is no form without matter, and there is no matter without form. The process of combining matter with form is the movement of transforming potential into reality. This theory shows the idea of spontaneous dialectics.
Aristotle divided science into:
(1) theoretical science (mathematics, natural science and the first philosophy later called metaphysics);
(2) Practical science (ethics, politics, economics, strategy and decoration)
(3) The science of creation, namely poetics.
Aristotle thinks that analysis or logic is the tool of all sciences. He is the founder of formal logic. He tried to link the form of thinking with existence, and expounded the category of logic according to the objective reality. Aristotle applied his findings to scientific theory. As an example, he chose mathematics, especially geometry, because geometry has changed from the experimental stage in which Thales wanted to give a reasonable explanation to the empirical law of land survey in the early stage to a relatively complete deductive form in the later stage. However, logical syllogism is really useless to experimental science. Because the goal of experimental science is discovery, not formal proof from recognized premise. Based on the premise that elements can no longer be divided into simpler objects, it is necessary to put forward a correct list of known elements in 1890, but by 1920, if this premise is used again, all radioactive elements will be excluded. Since the premise has changed, the meaning of the word "element" has also changed. However, this fact does not prove that syllogism is useless, nor can it be concluded that modern physics is wrong. Fortunately, modern experimenters no longer worry about logical forms, but under Aristotle's authority, Greek and medieval scientific circles used deductive methods to say that many wrong authorities were absolutely correct and made many wrong inferences with deceptive logical forms.
In astronomy, he believes that the running celestial bodies are physical entities, the earth is spherical and the center of the universe; The earth and celestial bodies are made up of different substances. Matter on the earth is composed of four elements: water, air, fire and earth, and celestial bodies are composed of the fifth element "ether". In physics, he opposed atomism and denied the existence of vacuum. He also believes that an object will only move under the impetus of an external force, and when the external force stops, the movement will stop. In biology, he classified more than 500 different plants and animals, studied at least 50 animals, pointed out that whales were viviparous, and investigated the development process of chicken embryos. Alexander the Great often brought back various animal and plant specimens in his explorations. In education, he believes that rational development is the ultimate goal of education and advocates that the state should educate the children of slave owners. Make their bodies, virtues and wisdom develop harmoniously. Aristotle also put forward many mathematical and physical concepts such as limit, infinite number, composition of force and so on.
main work
Aristotle's logic works were later compiled into a book by his annotators, called "On Tools". They inherited Aristotle's view that logic is neither theoretical knowledge nor practical knowledge, but a tool of knowledge. Instrumental Theory mainly discusses deduction, which lays the foundation for formal logic and has a far-reaching impact on the development of this science.
Another work of Aristotle, Physics, discusses natural philosophy, principle of existence, matter and form, movement, time and space. He believes that in order to make an object move endlessly, there needs to be a reason to keep working.
Aristotle began to discuss the matter and the things that can be destroyed in the Theory of Heaven, and then discussed the occurrence and destruction. In this process of occurrence and destruction, the opposing principles of cold and heat and dry and wet interact to produce four elements: fire, fire, soil and water. In addition to these elements on the ground, he added ether. The ether moves in a circle, forming a perfect and immortal celestial body. Meteorology discusses the area between heaven and earth, that is, the zone of planets, comets and meteors; There are also some primitive theories about vision, color vision and rainbow. In the fourth book, some primitive chemical concepts are described. At present, Aristotle's meteorology is far less satisfactory than his biological work, but this work had a great influence in the late Middle Ages.
Aristotle's other important works include Metaphysics, Ethics, Politics and Analysis, the first and second parts. These works had a great influence on the later development of philosophy and science.
Concluding remarks
Aristotle showed a turning point in Greek science. Before him, scientists and philosophers tried to put forward a complete world system to explain natural phenomena. He was the last person to put forward a complete world system. After him, many scientists gave up trying to put forward a complete system and turned to study specific problems. Aristotle devoted himself to the study of ancient knowledge. In the hundreds of years after his death, no one had a systematic investigation and comprehensive grasp of knowledge like him. His book is an ancient encyclopedia. Engels called him "the most learned man".
Mikolaj kopernik (1473- 1543) is a Polish astronomer, the founder of Heliocentrism and the founder of modern astronomy.
After long-term astronomical observation and research, Copernicus founded a more scientific cosmic structure system-Heliocentrism, and since then denied the geocentric theory that ruled the West 1000 years. Heliocentrism was accepted by people after a hard struggle. This is a great revolution in astronomy, which not only caused a major innovation in human world outlook, but also fundamentally shook the theoretical pillar of religious theology in medieval Europe. "Since then, natural science has been liberated from theology" and "the development of science has made great progress since then" (Engels' Dialectics of Nature).
Copernicus wrote Heliocentrism's theory of celestial motion (published in 1543). Due to the limitation of the times, he kept the so-called "perfect" circular orbit in Heliocentrism. Later, Kepler established three laws of planetary motion, Newton discovered the law of universal gravitation, and planetary aberration and parallax were discovered one after another, so Heliocentrism was built on a more solid scientific basis.
Newton, a great British physicist, was born on February 25th, 1642 in Woolsop village, Lincolnshire. When he was 0/2 years old, he showed interest in experiments and mechanical inventions, and made water clocks, windmills and sundials himself. He became an excellent student. At the age of 27, he became a professor of mathematics at Cambridge University .46638.666666666864 1669 was elected as a member of the royal society.
From 1685 to 1687, with the encouragement and sponsorship of astronomer Harley, Newton published the famous mathematical principles of natural philosophy, completed the historical discovery-the laws of motion and gravity, and made great contributions to the development of modern natural science. In 2003, he was elected president of the Royal Society. 36860 . 68686868686
Newton not only made great contributions in mechanics, but also made great contributions in other aspects. In mathematics, he discovered binomial theorem and founded calculus. In optics, the dispersion experiment of solar light was carried out, which proved that white light is composed of monochromatic light, studied the theory of color, and invented the reflecting telescope.
Darwin
Charles robert darwin (1809 ~ 1882) is a British naturalist and the founder of scientific evolution. Born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, he died in Dunn Village, Kent. 1825 ~ 1827 studied medicine at Edinburgh University, 1827 ~ 183 1 studied theology at Cambridge University. 183 1 year, under the recommendation of Professor J.S.Henslow, participated in the global expedition of H.M.S.Beagle, which lasted for 5 years and observed and collected a large number of animals, plants and geological data. After returning to China, the concept of biological evolution was gradually formed through experiments, summary and long-term thinking. The book Origin of Species published in 1859 not only demonstrated the evolution of organisms with abundant facts, but also put forward the theory of natural selection, gave a reasonable explanation to the diversity and adaptability of organisms, and severely criticized all kinds of idealistic creationism, teleology and species invariance, which had a great impact on society. Since then, he has published works such as Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestic Conditions (1868) and Human Origin and Sexual Selection (187 1), which further enriched and developed the theory of evolution. His theory of evolution was praised by Engels as one of the three great discoveries of natural science in19th century. Darwin loved nature and science, persisted in practice, carefully observed the facts, and worked hard to study and explore the laws of nature. He published more than 80 papers and more than 20 books in his life, leaving a rich scientific legacy for mankind. He is a great scientist who constantly pursues the truth and makes epoch-making contributions.
Bacon 156 1 ~ 1626
Francis Bacon (1561-1626), a famous British materialist philosopher and scientist. He is regarded as an epoch-making figure in the history of philosophy and science among Renaissance giants. Marx called him "the true ancestor of British materialism and the whole modern experimental science." The first person who put forward "knowledge is power".
First, Bacon's life
Bacon was born in 156 1 1 22, a bureaucratic family in London. Father Nicholas Bacon is Queen Elizabeth's minister in charge of the seal. He is studying law at Cambridge University. His thoughts tend to be progressive, he believes in the British capital and opposes the Pope's interference in British internal affairs. Anne's mother is a famous talented woman. She is proficient in Greek and Latin and a believer in Calvinism. Good family education made Bacon mature earlier and showed extraordinary intelligence in all aspects. /kloc-At the age of 0/2, Bacon was sent to Trinity College, Cambridge University for further study. During his study at school, he became suspicious of traditional ideas and beliefs and began to think about the true meaning of society and life alone.
After studying at Cambridge University for three years, Bacon came to France as an attache of the British ambassador to France, Sir Emus Polly. During his two and a half years in Paris, he traveled almost all over France, met many new things and learned many new ideas. What's the matter with you? In 579, Bacon's father died suddenly, and his plan to prepare for Bacon's future support was shattered, and Bacon's life began to fall into poverty. After returning to China to attend his father's funeral, Bacon lived in Gray Law School, where he studied law and looked for jobs everywhere. 1582 finally qualified as a lawyer, 1584 was elected as a member of parliament, and 1589 became a court secretary after the vacancy. However, this position has not been vacant for 20 years. He ran around, but never got any position. Bacon was more mature in thought at this time. He is determined to reform all knowledge divorced from reality and nature, and introduce empirical observation, factual basis and practical effects into epistemology. This great ambition is the main goal of his "great rejuvenation of science" and the ambition he has been fighting for all his life.
1602, Elizabeth died and James I succeeded to the throne. Bacon was very appreciated by James because he advocated the merger of Scotland and England. Bacon climbed to the top and soared. 1602 was knighted, 1604 was appointed as James' adviser, 1607 as deputy attorney general, 16 13 as chief prosecutor,16 as privy Council adviser, and 650. 16 18 was promoted to be an official of the mainland of England and was awarded the title of Baron Verulan. 162 1 year, was awarded the title of Viscount Albens. However, Bacon's talent and interest lie not in state affairs, but in his existence and pursuit of scientific truth. During this period, he made great achievements in academic research. Many books have been published.
162 1 year, Bacon was accused of corruption and bribery by Congress, fined 40,000 pounds by the High Court, imprisoned in the Tower of London, and expelled from the court for life, and was not allowed to serve as a member of parliament or official position. Although he was later exempted from fines and imprisonment, Bacon was destroyed. From then on, Bacon ignored politics and began to concentrate on theoretical writing.
1626 At the end of March, Bacon drove through the northern suburbs of London. He was studying the theory of cold and heat and its practical application. Passing through a piece of snow, he suddenly wanted to do an experiment. He slaughtered a chicken, filled it with snow, and observed the effect of freezing on antisepsis. However, due to his weak body, he couldn't stand the attack of a cold, and his bronchitis recurred and his condition deteriorated. He died in the early morning of April 9th. 1626.
After Bacon's death, people built a monument to commemorate him, and Sir Henry Walden wrote an epitaph for him:
Viscount St. Albans
If you use a more mysterious name, you should
Call it "the light of science" and "the tongue of law"
……
Two. Bacon's Philosophical Thought
Bacon's philosophical thought is inseparable from his social thought. He is a representative of the emerging bourgeoisie, advocating the development of production, eager to explore nature and demanding the development of science. He believes that scholasticism hinders the development of contemporary science. Therefore, he strongly criticized the authority of scholasticism and theology. He further exposed the root of the fallacy of human cognition and put forward the famous "four pseudo-phase theory" He said that this is a pathological state that generally occurs in people's minds, rather than confusion and problems arising under specific circumstances. The first is the "illusion of race", which is a cognitive error caused by human nature; The second is that "fairyland" is a one-sided mistake in personal understanding caused by personality, hobbies, education and environment; The third is the "illusion of the market", that is, people's thinking confusion caused by the uncertainty of language concepts when communicating. The fourth is "theater illusion", which refers to the misunderstanding caused by blind superstition of authority and tradition. Bacon pointed out that scholasticism obliterated the truth and created fallacies with four illusions, which dealt a heavy blow to scholasticism. However, Bacon's "illusion theory" permeates the empiricism of Bacon's philosophy and fails to strictly distinguish the essence of rationality from the illusion of idealism.
Bacon believed that the academic tradition at that time was poor because of the loss of contact between academics and experience. He advocates that scientific theory and science and technology complement each other. He advocated breaking "idols" and eradicating all kinds of prejudices and fantasies. He put forward that "truth is the daughter of time, not authority", which strongly attacked scholasticism.
Bacon's view of scientific method is mainly experimental qualitative and inductive. He inherited and developed the ancient thought that matter is the source of all things, and thought that the world is made of matter, which has the characteristics of movement and movement is the attribute of matter. From the standpoint of materialism, Bacon pointed out that the task of science lies in understanding nature and its laws. However, due to the limitations of the times, his world outlook also has the characteristics of simple materialism and metaphysics.
Three. Bacon's works
1597, bacon published his first work, essays. In his book, he condensed his understanding of society and life into many philosophical aphorisms, which were welcomed by readers.
From 65438 to 0605, Bacon completed two volumes of On Academic Progress in English. This is a book with knowledge as the research object, which is part of Bacon's grand ideal and plan to transform knowledge in an all-round way. In his book, Bacon lashed out at obscurantism in the Middle Ages, demonstrated the great role of knowledge, and put forward the unsatisfactory knowledge status and remedial measures. In this book, Bacon put forward a systematic scientific encyclopedia outline, which played an important role in the compilation of encyclopedias by the French Encyclopedia School headed by Diderot in the18th century.
1609, Bacon published his third book "On the Wisdom of the Ancient People" when he was the Deputy Attorney General. He believes that in ancient times, there was the oldest wisdom of mankind, and the oldest lost wisdom can be found by studying ancient fables.
Bacon originally intended to write a six-volume encyclopedia "Great Rejuvenation", which is his masterpiece of reviving science and reshaping human knowledge. However, he failed to complete the expected plan and only published the first two parts. The new tool released by 1620 is the second part of this book. New Tools is Bacon's most important philosophical work, which puts forward the principles and methods of empirical cognition initiated by Bacon in modern times. This book is the antithesis of Aristotle's tools.
After finishing his political career, Bacon completed the book Biography of henry vii in only a few months, which was highly praised by later historians and was hailed as "a milestone in modern history".
Around 1623, Bacon wrote The New Island, an unfinished utopian work, which was first published by Luo Lai in the second year after his death. In the book, the author describes his new pursuit and yearning for the blueprint of an ideal society, and designs a country called "Natural Pillar", in which science dominates everything, which is a concentrated expression of the thought and belief of "great rejuvenation" of science advocated by Bacon after graduation.
In addition, Bacon left many works after his death, which were later compiled and published by many experts and scholars, including On the Essence of Things, Clues in the Maze, Criticism of Various Philosophies, Events in Nature, and On Human Knowledge.
Four. Bacon's position in the history of science
Francis Bacon is the first philosopher who put forward the principle of empiricism in the history of modern philosophy. He attached importance to the role of sensory experience and inductive logic in the process of cognition, initiated a new era of empirical philosophy of perceptual nature with experience, played a positive role in promoting the establishment of modern science, and made great historical contributions in the history of human philosophy and science. To this end, Russell revered Bacon as "a pioneer in logically organizing scientific research procedures".
Introduction of Thomas Aquinas
/kloc-In the middle of the 0/3rd century, in the famous Paris University, there was a young professor of theology who was nicknamed "dumb cow" because of his silence and meekness. However, he was brilliant and made his mark at a young age. Some prestigious scholars admire the young man very much. Albert once asserted that the voice of "dumb cow" will be famous all over the world. Sure enough, Dumb Bull later became the most famous theologian and scholastic philosopher in the Middle Ages. He is the Italian Thomas Aquinas (1225 ~ 1274).
When he was a child, Thomas received nine years of primary education in Montecassino Monastery. As the father of an earl, he always wanted him to be the abbot. /kloc-entered the university of Naples at the age of 0/4 and was exposed to a large number of scientific and philosophical works. Five years later, he joined the Catholic organization "Domingo", which became an important turning point in his life.
1245, Thomas went to Paris and studied under Aristotle. Since 1257, he has been teaching theology at the University of Paris and devoted himself to teaching and writing activities. 10, he was hired as a theological consultant and lecturer by the Holy See. Three years after his death, theologians in Paris condemned 2 19 propositions, of which 12 was Thomas' view. This is the most severe condemnation in the Middle Ages. When Thomas taught at the University of Paris, Aristotle's theory had flooded in and aroused strong repercussions among Christians. Deeply aware of the danger of its works, the church tried several times to stop this naturalistic and rationalistic philosophy which was incompatible with Catholic orthodoxy, and banned transcription, reading and preservation. But Thomas is not afraid of this theory. He studied Aristotle's works with his teacher Albert. He castrated materialism and dialectics in Aristotle's philosophy, gave full play to idealism and metaphysics, and brought them into the Christian theological system, making them the basis of official Catholic philosophy.
He successfully integrated Christian theology with Aristotle's philosophy and established a huge scholasticism system. A 18 magnum opus, including encyclopedia of theology, encyclopedia of philosophy, on existence and essence, on orthodox belief and truth, encyclopedia of pagan speech, etc.
All Thomas' theories serve the Catholic creed. He clearly pointed out that philosophy must serve theology, and then demonstrated the highest theological creed of God's existence in philosophy. It is believed that the existence of God should be understood through the creation of God, and the existence of God, the creator of all things, should be inferred by using the idealism of teleology in Aristotle's philosophy.
Thomas distorted and used Aristotle's theory of form and matter, claiming that the world was created by God from nothingness, and asserted that the creation of the world began with time. At the same time, God created a hierarchical cosmic system; The bottom layer is soil and all substances composed of water, soil, fire and fire. Above it are plants, animals, people, then celestial bodies, and above it is the highest goal pursued by the whole world-the Trinity God. It also discusses the relationship between the individual and the general, and holds that the general existing in the individual thing is not inherent in the individual thing itself, but a special entity living in or hidden in the individual thing. The different characteristics between objects are determined by the "stability and secrecy" of the submerged objects. Copper is copper because it contains a special entity' copper', and copper can be calendered because it contains a secret quality' calenderability'. Therefore, just as objects have many characteristics, they also have many "stable and secret properties", so it is not necessary to study the internal structure and relationship of things in depth. Obviously, this theory has seriously hindered the development of science.
Thomas also believed that the power of the Anglican Church was supreme. Think that the church is higher than the secular state, just as God is higher than man and soul is higher than body. The Pope is the agent of Christ, the regime should be in his hands, the country must obey the church, and the king must obey the Pope. He also tried his best to safeguard the ruling power of feudal monarchs, believing that monarchy was the best political form, and said that without rulers to control and guide the people, society would perish.