How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps

by Ben Shapiro

Greek philosophy suggested that what made man unique was his ability to use reason. Human beings, the Greeks believed, were not innately malleable or changeable. We were crafted by nature to use our minds; it was that capacity that separated us from the animals. Plato asserted that the purpose of the human soul was “managing, ruling, and deliberating.”6 Aristotle suggested that “the work of a human being is an activity of soul in accord with reason.”7 When the key Judeo-Christian premise—the inherent value of mankind—was added to the Greek belief that what made human beings different was their ability to reason, the concept of natural law was born. The philosophies of Jerusalem and Athens became the poles of Western civilization; at some times, Jerusalem reigned victorious, at other times, Athens. For centuries, Jerusalem and Athens actually pulled in the same direction. When Greek thought was revivified in the Christian West at the beginning of the second millennium, it led to an explosion in learning, particularly at universities sponsored by the Catholic Church.