Preview

Pre-Socratic Philosophers

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
514 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Pre-Socratic Philosophers
There were three different groups of Pre-Socratic philosophers, The Milesain monists, other monists, and the Pluralists. The Milesaines were found in Miletus, a Greek trading colonel, which is located in present day Turkey. The other monists could be found in different parts of Greece in the fifth century. Then the Pluralists could also be found in different parts of Greece.
The first Milesain monist was Thales. He was able to predict that there was going to be an eclipse of the sun at an exact hour and day. When that came true the colonel gave Thales all their attention. He was able to us mathematical equations to calculate when the next alignment would be. His theory was that all events have rational causes and we can understand them, helping us anticipate them. This was a crazy way to think of things because before people just thought at anytime the gods would change their world completely. They now believe that things happen in a predicable manner.
All Greeks believed that there was a substance that is common in everything in the world. This substance is called the arche, which means first or beginning. Water seems like a reasonable arche, humans can only go a few days without water and plant need water in order to grow and bloom. It makes sense why Thales thought the arche would be water. Christians even uses water for baptism, immerse a person in it to indicate a transformation from one form to another. As many philosophers do they take on students and the students that Thales took on did go along with Thales ideas about the arche. Anaximander believed the arche was boundless but then Anaximenes believed that it is air.
Anaximander's theory on the matter was that water was to common to be the arche. He claimed that if water was the source of everything then where did dust come from. Maybe the arche had no characteristics of its own and could become many different things like dust. For his theory to work it would have to be something infinite and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Heraclitus believed that fire is the basic element of the universe because of its ever-changing nature and that the reality of all mirrors this idea. According to Moore and Bruder (2008, p. 26,) “There is no reality, save the reality of change: permanence is an illusion.” He viewed change not as a random occurrence, but a determination by the harmonious balance of opposites through a cosmic order called the logos (Moore & Bruder, 2008, p. 26.)…

    • 289 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unit 9 worksheet

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Democritus agreed that everything which is must be internal, but denied that “the void” can be equated with nothing. This makes him the first thinker on record to bicker for the existence of something that people thought didn’t exist. To explain the change around us from basic, unchangeable substance he argued that there are different elements which have existed since the beginning of time but it can be rearranged into different forms. He bickered yet again, this time about how atoms only had several properties particularly size, shape, and mass. All other properties that we attribute to matter, such as color and taste, are but the results of complex contact…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Heraclitus proposed that condensations and rarefactions of air account for the world of appearances, an adaptation of the proposals of Thales and Anaximander.…

    • 335 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hummanities 3991

    • 2100 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Thales of Miletus (c. 624 BC – c. 546 BC) was said to be the first known scientific thinker. Thales was both important and extremely influential. He wanted an explanation without turning to supernatural powers. Thales attempted to explain natural phenomena without reference to mythology. Other philosophers admired his way of thinking and followed him in attempting to explain substance change, and the existence of the world. Thales had two strong beliefs. They were that that “nature must be understood without the supernatural and that humans are capable of discovering nature’s truths through observation and reason” (Adler 33). He was credited to be the first to bring geometry and astronomy to Greece from Egypt. He was best known for his supposed prediction of a solar eclipse that marked the end of the war. “He was able to change the course of a river so an army could cross it” (Adler 31). He claimed that the earth was a flat disk and that an earthquake was caused by a wave in the water. He identified water as the basis of the universe. Thales set a trend for fundamental…

    • 2100 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Int1

    • 1363 Words
    • 6 Pages

    His knowledge of the angle of elevation of the sun at noon. He based the…

    • 1363 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The most intriguing people you will encounter in this life are the people who had insights about you, that you didn't know about yourself” (Alder). This quote can be used to show why the great Greek philosopher, Socrates is deemed as being so intriguing. During his time, Socrates was seen as a great threat because he tended to break free from the normal way of thinking and inevitably, people became afraid of him. Socrates was eventually put to death on account of “corrupting the youth” and being an “atheist,” which were false claims against him to cover up the fact that his accusers simply didn’t like him or his ways. When reading Plato’s Republic, Socrates is shown as being very intriguing because of: his humble ways, his Socratic method,…

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Socratic Dialouge

    • 1449 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Identify and analyse the key components of collaboration and Socratic Dialogue and contrast with previous practise.…

    • 1449 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Plato, Machiavelli

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Machiavelli says the prince only has to seem good, not be good. Plato insists that seeming is bad, being is good.…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Socrates

    • 839 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Question 2) In Book I of Republic, Thrasymachos’s states that unjust people are stronger and more powerful than just people. Thrasymachos believes that being just is not virtuous nor wise but that men act just only because they afraid of having injustices happening to them so they obey. Those who have power and control are those people who act unjust-they make laws and rules that benefit themselves, not the rest of the people. Socrates proves Thrasymachos otherwise by arguing that being just is virtuous, wise and profitable and being unjust does not make people stronger nor more powerful. Those in power or rulers make laws that are just for themselves but Thrasymachos agrees that sometimes rulers make mistakes and make laws that are unjust to them, therefore, making them just or advantageous for the people they rule. Therefore, unjust people would not be more powerful in this case. Additionally, Socrates goes on to reason with Thrasymachos that the individual in power commands advantages for his or her subject rather than their own personal advantage. Socrates makes a comparison to a doctor and a patient as well as a pilot and a sailor, where the doctor and pilot are commanding advantages for their subjects, the patient and sailor respectively. Thrasymachos argues that a just man will pay taxes on his estate and an unjust man will pay less taxes on the same size property, etc. Therefore, being unjust serves a greater purpose than being just. Socrates goes on to argue that no one chooses willingly to rule but they do so in exchange for wages because the ruler does not expect to make other gains in simply doing what is advantageous for the people being ruled. Work performed by people in power and in control is considered an art form that without being rewarded with wages solely serves that subject, or weaker person, receiving the benefit of the art. For example, a doctor practices the art of making others healthy. There are no advantages the doctor gains in…

    • 839 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    socrates

    • 348 Words
    • 2 Pages

    himself, yet in reality he was not. So I then tried to show him that he thought…

    • 348 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Socrates

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Euthyphro dialogue is essentially a conversation between Socrates and Euthyphro each of who attempt to argue their point of justification about why they are in court or should not be there, which in turn a question develops about the gods and holiness.…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What is the arche?

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Anaximenes was Anaximander’s pupil. He believed that the arche was elemental as well however he didn’t believe it was water. He believed air was the principle of all things and describes it to have divine attributes. Anaximenes believed in theory of change and had observations that supported his theory. He believed air was infinite and could be anything. When made finer air becomes fire, when made thicker it becomes wind then eventually becomes water then earth and so on. He also believed that motion was eternal and brought forth change. Air is invisible and only becomes visible by the hot and the cold and movement. It is always moving. Anything that changes does not change without motion. Air is changed through condensation so the most influential components of generation are hot and cold, opposites.…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Phys1160

    • 1453 Words
    • 8 Pages

    • The philosophers of ancient Greece developed ideas about the structure of the universe that were to be influential for two millenia. • As early as…

    • 1453 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    socrates

    • 965 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Wisdom means being wise, intellectual, or all-knowing. It is associated with a certain calmness, and a willingness to look at all the facts and make a well-informed decision. In Oedipus the King by Sophocles and Apology by Socrates we see how wisdom isn’t in all entirety a positive thing to have. ‘’alas how terrible is wisdom when it brings no profit to the man that’s wise ‘’ – Oedipus, in this quote we see how Oedipus feels as if he has this wonderful wisdom but doesn’t know how to use it , he feels as if he is the wisest of them all but doesn’t know exactly what that means. Oedipus uses his supposed wisdom and reason to calculate his decisions such as whom to question or who to accuse. However, his calculations are not always correct. Oedipus seems to deviate from his reason at times.…

    • 965 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    E=Mc2 Essay Summary

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages

    More than 100 yrs. before Einstein existence Antoine Lavoisier was obsessed with obtaining an answer to the connection between all matter on earth. Though not a scientist by trade but head of tax enforcement in Paris, Lavoisier came up with the idea that no matter is ever lost and no matter is ever gained. This was proven through an experiment which involved turning water into gas and measuring its mass, the final gas sample measured the same mass as the initial sample of water. His ideas helped in the development of m into the equation.…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays