Philosophy

PHILOSOPHYWhat is the Meaning of living?

MILESIANS, NOTES FROM MILETUS Thales asked, “What is

Basic Stuff of the Universe?”

What is the “ARCHE?” Three Assumptions

Fundamental explanation must be ONE.

“The One” must be a Thing.

The One must have the ability to move and change.

MILESIANS, NOTES FROM MILETUS Thales declared that

the First Principle is Water;

Everything floats on, depends on it.

Soul is kinetic; it moves.

MILESIANS Anaximander

The idea of aperion – the ONE was unlimited, boundless, infinite or indefinite.

He said the Earth was like a cylinder.

Anaximenes Declared the ONE to

be Air.

SOLITARIES Pythagoras

Pythagorean Theorem in Geometry. . .

a²+b²=c²

He believed the Universe was not stuff but forms that could be converted into numbers and mathematics.

He established a “mono”theistic religious order around ideas.

SOLITARIES Xenophanes

He challenged the idea that you could know the divine.

HeraclitusA dark philosopherThe ONE was Fire“All things flow” or

“change is everything.”

ELEATICS The Eleatics- From

Elea in Italy Parmenides, Zeno,

and Melissus Parmenides

2 ways of inquiry whatever is, is and

cannot be something that arises

from not-being is impossible and unthinkable Question: What application does

Zeno’s logic have today? Research “Thomson’s Lamp” to find out.

ELEATICS Zeno of Elea

Three paradoxes Achilles and the

Tortoise A divided bar The Flecher’s arrow

Melissus The one is a

seamless, unchanging whole.

Change is just in the appearance. Question: What application does

Zeno’s logic have today? Research “Thomson’s Lamp” to find out.

THE PLURALISTS– Empedocles

• Empedocles wanted to show how change was possible.

– Democritus• atomism- The ONE the

“ARCHE” is made particles called atoms,

• uncuttables that could move and reform within the void.

THE PLURALISTS Democritus

Death was a dissipation of atoms of the soul, body became devoid of life.

Nothing was random, no real freedom of choice.

Everything happened by necessity.

Democritus wrote on ethics, beliefs about behavior.

He divided what we can know into two types of knowledge:

one by study, genuine. The other by senses, called the

obscure.

THE SOPHISTS Protagoras

He focused on grammar.

He believed that everything was tied to “excellence”.

Gorgias Lasting knowledge is

impossible. He was an enemy of

Socrates and Plato

THE SOPHISTS Antiphon

Natural law and human law re-encounter each other in Antiphon.

He was the first to get to the problem: can we get from what “is” to what “ought” to be.

The sophists said “yes”, Socrates said, “Prove it!”

SOCRATES Socrates. . .

Influenced every school of thought in Ancient Greece.

Influenced early Christian Scholars like Justin Martyr and St. Augustine.

Was a Hero of the Peloponnesian War.

fought Spartans. received a life-long

pension.

SOCRATES Socrates. . .

Originally a sophist, he soon became greatest teacher in Athens.

Challenged Sophists and publically embarrassed them.

Accused of forsaking the gods, called jury idiots if they believed he was teaching against the gods.

Condemned to death. Drank hemlock, considered

an honorable suicide. Taught of Plato and Aristotle

PLATO recorder of Socrates

trial and death Wrote The Republic

in which most ideas of Republican, representative government arise from

Analogy of the Cave- (video) Plato's Cave

Attacked the Sophists blaming them for Socrates death

ARISTOTLE– Student of Socrates– challenged Plato’s theory of

forms saying each particular has a particular

– Designation study of nature in to categories like genus and species, Started 1st zoo with help of Alexander the Great

– His ideas on universe accepted by Catholic Church till 1700’s

– Wrote Physics which started a new field of science, added metaphysics to explain, unexplainable

– Wrote extensively about ethics

EPICURUS AND STOICS• Epicurus

– Life to be experienced through the senses

• focused on food, cooking schools called Epicureans

• Stoics– Believed emotions and

feelings dangerous– response to Epicureans

who indulged in everything, refused to enjoy anything