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Greek Philosophy

Discover the essence of Greek philosophy through the lens of key figures like the Cosmologists, Socrates, and Plato. Dive into the origin of philosophical thought and the evolution of ideas in ancient Greece.

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Greek Philosophy

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  1. Greek Philosophy What Is Philosophy? The Cosmologists The Sophists Socrates Plato

  2. 1. What Is Philosophy? • philia + sophia = love of wisdom • Crucial addition: a method for pursuing wisdom. What’s the method? • Logic • Difference with religious revelation and mythopoesis

  3. 2. The Cosmologists • The earliest Greek philosophers were from Ionia, not from the Greek peninsula • Cosmopolitanism

  4. 2. CosmologistsThales (c. 624-548 BCE) • The Four Elements: an idea found throughout the ancient world • Earth • Water • Air • Fire • Thales asked whether one of these elements was primary, existing before the others. His answer? • WATER

  5. 2. CosmologistsAnaximander (c. 611-547 BCE) • His answer to the primary element question posed by Thales? • “The Boundless” Insert picture of “The Boundless” here . . . and good luck with that.

  6. 2. CosmologistsPythagoras (c. 580-507 BCE) The search for universal relationships in nature “There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres.” Pythagorean Theorem: a2 + b2 = c2

  7. 2. CosmologistsDemocritus (c. 460-370 BCE) • His answer to the question of “primary matter” posed by the Cosmologists? • atomos And how could a Greek of the 5th century BC develop the basis of atomic theory? Could it be . . .

  8. 3. The Sophists • Who were they? • Travelling teachers who emphasized . . . • Political arête • What was their curriculum? • Rhetoric • Grammar • Poetry • Gymnastics • Mathematics • Music

  9. 3. The Sophists • C. Positive aspects of their philosophy? • Focus on human psychology • Gives individuals ability to better themselves • Provides educated, healthier citizens . . . • which improves the society • D. Negatives? • Moral Relativism • Critique of sophrosyne • Can produce unrest, social instability • No education for lower classes • Sophistry

  10. 4. Socrates (c. 469 – 399 BC) • A. Background • B. Main Ideas • Ethical arête • The daimon • Socratic Method • Universals

  11. 4. Socrates (c. 469 – 399 BC) • C. Trial and execution The charges? • Denying the gods • Corrupting the youth of Athens The verdict? • Guilty

  12. Greek Philosophy Plato (c. 429-347 BCE) • Deductive Logic • Reasoning from the general to the specific • Plato’s Theory of Ideas: The World of “Forms”

  13. Greek Philosophy Plato (c. 429-347 BCE) • Critique of Democracy • Citizens uneducated (incapable of being educated?) • Therefore, they choose leaders for wrong reasons • Incompetence leads to chaos • Tyrant promises order, and you end up with tyranny

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