I've asked twice in the quotes section already , but no one knows . I believe it goes like this : Is man the dreams of gods or are the gods the dreams of man ? I'll move the question to the religious section if I get no responses , though I think I'll just get bible quotes instead of answers .
2006-11-08 05:56:56 · 4 answers · asked by jsjmlj 5 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Instead of Bible quotes, why not go Eastern?
Buddhism (more specifically Taoism) has asked a question similar to yours for about 2000 years.
"Once I, Chuang Tzu, dreamed I was a butterfly and was happy as a butterfly. I was conscious that I was quite pleased with myself, but I did not know that I was Tzu. Suddenly I awoke, and there was I, visibly Tzu. I do not know whether it was Tzu dreaming that he was a butterfly or the butterfly dreaming that he was Tzu. "
Is man the dream of gods or are the gods the dreams of man? Is the butterfly the dream of Tzu, or is Tzu the dream of the butterfly? Are not the questions the same? True, in scale, they are vastly different, but the concept they are the same.
I won't go into the implications of such a thought, as it boggles the mind, but you can look for yourself at some of the websites below.
As a side note, there is also a Japanese haiku that touches upon this theme as well. Maybe Basho? I don't know.
2006-11-08 06:35:46 · answer #1 · answered by newinfiniteabyss 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have notebooks full of quotes, but they're not in any special order, so I'm not going to look up the exact quote or writer. I know it was one of the great Greek philosophers from around 600 BC. Here it is as I remember it. - - - If animals could talk, or draw pictures with their hoofs or claws, horses would draw a picture of their idea of God as a big beautiful horse, and a chicken would draw his God as a chicken.
Does this answer your question ? He's saying that people make their God to look like a person as well.
2006-11-08 14:21:16 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I haven't been able to find the quote but it seems to go hand in hand with..."If there was no God, man would have the need to create one." Sorry I couldn't help.
2006-11-08 14:05:23 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ludwig Feuerbach, a German philosopher said that God is created by man and it represents our weaknesses. He made quite an impact on Marx who latter established that God did not create man, but man created God.
2006-11-08 14:17:58 · answer #4 · answered by sofista 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋