India and Europe Map

Questions on McNeill's Article

1. What’s McNeill’s argument?
McNeill's argument is that the Indian caste system and the political ideologies of Greece structured two different societies from similar types of nomadic people. 

2. How does McNeill define Caste? Does this match up with the textbook’s definition?

McNeill defines caste as how people associate with each other.  It is mainly based on how people separate each other and look down upon people of lower classes.  His definition refers to people eating with each other and intermarrying rather than the occupational reasons that the textbook brings up.  

3. What three feelings and thoughts helped to maintain the idea of caste:

1. The higher caste's rejection of association with those of the lower castes allowed for the caste system to stay.

2. The feelings and thoughts of superiority and inferiority maintained the idea of the caste.

3. The hopeful thought of being born into a higher caste through reincarnation also allowed for the caste system to remain intact.

4. Are these convincing?

 I would say that those three feelings and thoughts are pretty convincing.  People definitely did not want their reputation to be soiled if they were to have anything to do with someone in a lower caste.  The higher class people definitely wanted to keep their social standing and had a superior air to them while the lower class people believed they were inferior and had little hope to change it.  The final thought is probably the most convincing as a person would be content with their current status if they hoped to have a more favorable conditions in their next life.  Hope is pretty strong and that probably maintained the caste system as no one would argue or defy it if they could look forward to something better. 

5. Why did caste itself not cause strong political organization to form?

People of higher caste did not want to associate with people of lower caste, creating a communication and unification boundary among the groups. 

6. What causes Indian religion to shift from deity pleasing to the act of worship itself?

The shift from deity pleasing to the act of worship itself is caused by the Upanishads.

7. How did the Upanishads change the nature of Indian religion and thus the goals of Indian society?

 The Upanishads basically got rid of the priests and allowed people to strive for a release form the cycle or rebirth through asceticism, meditation, and withdrawal from worldly pleasures. 

8. How does McNeill define “Territorial Sovereignty?”

McNeill defines "territorial sovereignty" as political organization through territorial sovereign or states. In order words, a political structure where states serve as the primary unit.

9. Why did Greeks turn away from religion as an explanatory factor in organizing society?

The Greeks turned away from religion because they wanted to created a political structure using the laws of nature, not "mystical illumination."  There were no agreements on the reason why he world was the way that it was, so they got rid of gods in order to find answer through natural law. 

10. What was the consequence of the Greeks’ rigid adherence to the polis?

The consequence of the Greeks' rigid adherence to the polis was that they could agree on certain things.  The Greeks were unable to remain loyal to the state as they tried obtaining holiness. 

11. Do you buy his argument? Why or why not?
I do not buy his argument because he is discussing two different cultures base don two different things. He is discussing the strange unification of India through the caste system, a social hierarchy, and the political stratification of Greek city-states through the belief of natural law. His argument for India is based on religion and social structures. His argument for Greece is their political arrangement based on their pursuit of natural law.

Bhagavad Gita: Compare and Contrast

The reflections on the caste duties and detachment are a combination of the on the moral and ethical teachings of Zarathrustra and Confucius.  Zarathrustra focused on moderation while Confucius focused on becoming a "junz" or a superior man.  The teachings in the Bhagavad Gita combine the two and state that a soul must have moderation so they do not get distracted and that they must fulfill their duty in the caste system.  

1..2...3...Numbers! Yay!

The "Arabic" numbers that Indians came up with are super important.  The numerals are simple and easy to write, so they make math easier to do.  The book compares math with Roman numerals and the Arabic numerals.  The Arabic numerals make it much easier to read and comprehend.  The number zero was also deemed very important in the book and it obviously is important because it's still there.  The symbol for zero allows for place values to exist.  The place values make it easier to write larger numbers.  Basically, the numerals are important because it's like shorthand notation that makes life easier.