Presocratic Philosophy
PRESOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY
Introduction As early Greek civilization grew more complex (c. 500 b.c.e.), mythology and religion began to develop into philosophy (and later into science). As part of this development, a new kind of thinker emerged known as a sophos, from the Greek word for “wise.” These “wise men,” and they were almost exclusively men, asked increasingly sophisticated questions about all sorts of things, especially natural processes and the origins and essence of life. Although mythology and religion continued to play important roles in the lives of people for centuries to come, these first philosophers were noted for their attempts to use reason and observation to figure out how the world works. Instead of living a “normal life,” the sophos devoted himself to asking questions that so-called normal people thought had already been answered (by religion and mythology) or were unanswerable (and thus a waste of time). In respect to public perceptions, it didn’t help that the sophos lived and spoke in ways that were interpreted as showing disregard and possibly disrespect for conventional values, and that set him or (infrequently) her apart from “regular folks” living “normal” lives. It is hardly surprising, then, that one of the earliest popular images of philosophers is the stereotype of an odd, “absent-minded,” starry-eyed dreamer and asker of silly questions. The very first Western thinkers identified as philosophers were initially concerned with questions about the nature of nature (physis) and of the “world order” (kosmos).
Presocratic Rational Discourse The earliest Western philosophers are referred to as the Presocratics because they appeared prior to Socrates, the first major figure in the Western philosophical tradition. Some of the Presocratic philosophers are described as proto-scientists because they initiated the transformation of mythology into rational inquiry about nature and the cosmos. A very general characterization of the
Introduction As early Greek civilization grew more complex (c. 500 b.c.e.), mythology and religion began to develop into philosophy (and later into science). As part of this development, a new kind of thinker emerged known as a sophos, from the Greek word for “wise.” These “wise men,” and they were almost exclusively men, asked increasingly sophisticated questions about all sorts of things, especially natural processes and the origins and essence of life. Although mythology and religion continued to play important roles in the lives of people for centuries to come, these first philosophers were noted for their attempts to use reason and observation to figure out how the world works. Instead of living a “normal life,” the sophos devoted himself to asking questions that so-called normal people thought had already been answered (by religion and mythology) or were unanswerable (and thus a waste of time). In respect to public perceptions, it didn’t help that the sophos lived and spoke in ways that were interpreted as showing disregard and possibly disrespect for conventional values, and that set him or (infrequently) her apart from “regular folks” living “normal” lives. It is hardly surprising, then, that one of the earliest popular images of philosophers is the stereotype of an odd, “absent-minded,” starry-eyed dreamer and asker of silly questions. The very first Western thinkers identified as philosophers were initially concerned with questions about the nature of nature (physis) and of the “world order” (kosmos).
Presocratic Rational Discourse The earliest Western philosophers are referred to as the Presocratics because they appeared prior to Socrates, the first major figure in the Western philosophical tradition. Some of the Presocratic philosophers are described as proto-scientists because they initiated the transformation of mythology into rational inquiry about nature and the cosmos. A very general characterization of the
References: The Columbia History of Western Philosophy. Richard H. Popkin. Columbia University Press. 1999. Archetypes of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy. 7th ed. Douglas J. Soccio. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. 2010.