Ancient Philosophy.
3 Sept 2002
Office Phone: 581-8468
Pre-Socratics – dated according to greatest accomplishment; Greeks believed that the peak of intellectual superiority was at age 40, and everything was dated accordingly
-None of the pre-Socratics explicitly accept that anything can be real without being physical – anything that is real must have a physical aspect – if the soul is real, then the soul must be composed of some sort of physical “stuff”
Thales – the most important philosopher because he answered the question “What are you going to do with philosophy?”
-The first philosopher – tried to answer questions – looked around him, gathered information, and then tried to make deductions based on the world around him – also the first scientist
-All of his writings have been lost – the only knowledge we have of his thinking is through the writings of later philosophers
-Claimed to believe the following: -Reality came from water (Greeks believed there were four fundamental elements: Air, earth, fire, and water) – Earth is supported by water – Water is fundamental to life -Everything is full of gods / Everything is full of demons / Everything is full of souls – When things change or move, there must be something that causes them to change or move – This cause is an inner spiritual force
-Does not attempt to fit his explanation of reality into the traditional Greek religious framework
Anaxamander – perhaps a student of Thales
-Fundamental substance – the indefinite – it could not be any of the four fundamental elements because its opposite could not exist – Reality is composed of opposite powers – Reality cannot be fundamentally any of the things we see around us
-Definite things separated out of the indefinite – the indefinite is an enormous cosmic mixture of everything
-There exists a process that turns the indefinite into definite stuff
-Eternal motion of the indefinite – the indefinite is in constant motion, and as a result, it spits things
Office Phone: 581-8468
Pre-Socratics – dated according to greatest accomplishment; Greeks believed that the peak of intellectual superiority was at age 40, and everything was dated accordingly
-None of the pre-Socratics explicitly accept that anything can be real without being physical – anything that is real must have a physical aspect – if the soul is real, then the soul must be composed of some sort of physical “stuff”
Thales – the most important philosopher because he answered the question “What are you going to do with philosophy?”
-The first philosopher – tried to answer questions – looked around him, gathered information, and then tried to make deductions based on the world around him – also the first scientist
-All of his writings have been lost – the only knowledge we have of his thinking is through the writings of later philosophers
-Claimed to believe the following: -Reality came from water (Greeks believed there were four fundamental elements: Air, earth, fire, and water) – Earth is supported by water – Water is fundamental to life -Everything is full of gods / Everything is full of demons / Everything is full of souls – When things change or move, there must be something that causes them to change or move – This cause is an inner spiritual force
-Does not attempt to fit his explanation of reality into the traditional Greek religious framework
Anaxamander – perhaps a student of Thales
-Fundamental substance – the indefinite – it could not be any of the four fundamental elements because its opposite could not exist – Reality is composed of opposite powers – Reality cannot be fundamentally any of the things we see around us
-Definite things separated out of the indefinite – the indefinite is an enormous cosmic mixture of everything
-There exists a process that turns the indefinite into definite stuff
-Eternal motion of the indefinite – the indefinite is in constant motion, and as a result, it spits things