Lecture 8: Greek Thought: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle

03 Nov 16

ca4david17

The charge made against Socrates -- disbelief in the state's gods -- implied un-Athenian activities which would corrupt the young and the state if preached publicly. Meletus, the citizen who brought the indictment, sought precedents in the impiety trials of Pericles' friends. Although Socrates was neither a heretic nor an agnostic, there was prejudice against him. He also managed to provoke hostility. For instance, the Delphic oracle is said to have told Chaerephon that no man was wiser than Socrates. During his trial Socrates had the audacity to use this as a justification of his examination of the conduct of all Athenians, claiming that in exposing their falsehoods, he had proved the god right -- he at least knew that he knew nothing. Although this episode smacks of Socrates' well-known irony, he clearly did believe that his mission was divinely inspired.

04 Nov 15

aramirez123

The political and social upheaval caused by the Persian Wars as well as continued strife between Athens and Sparta (see Lecture 7) had at least one unintended consequence . In the 5^th century, a flood of new ideas poured into Athens. In general, these new ideas came as a result of an influx of Ionian thinkers into the Attic peninsula. Athens had become the intellectual and artistic center of the Greek world. Furthermore, by the mid-5^th century, it had become more common for advanced thinkers to reject traditional explanations of the world of nature.
religious beliefs declined. Gods and goddesses
their creative energies were also used to "invent" philosophy, defined as "th
he Greeks used their creative energies to explain experience by recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architectur
love of wisdo
philosophers came from the city of Miletus in the region of Ionia. Miletus was a prominent trading depot and its people had direct contact with the ideas of the Near East.

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camerontamayo

gree greek

thens had become the intellectual and artistic center of the Greek world. Furthermore, by the mid-5^th century, it had become more common for advanced thinkers to reject traditional explanations of the world of nature. As a result of the experience of a century of war, religious beliefs declined. Gods and goddesses were no longer held in the same regard as they had been a century earlier. I suppose we could generalize and say that the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars taught that the actions of men and women determine their own destiny, and not "Moira." Meanwhile, more traditional notions of right and wrong were called into question, and all of this was expressed in Hellenic tragedy and comedy.
The Greeks used their creative energies to explain experience by recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture. But their creative energies were also used to "invent" philosophy, defined as "the love of wisdom." In general, philosophy came into existence when the Greeks discovered their dissatisfaction with supernatural and mythical explanations of reality. Over time, Greek thinkers began to suspect that there was a rational or logical order to the universe.
According to Anaximander, the cold and wet condensed to form the earth while the hot and dry formed the moon, sun and stars.

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alfonsomercado

greek phliosphers

The Pre-Socratic Philosophers
The PRE-SOCRATIC philosophers came from the city of Miletus in the region of Ionia. Miletus was a prominent trading depot and its people had direct contact with the ideas of the Near East. Around 600 B.C., Milesian thinkers "discovered" speculation after asking a simple but profound question: "what exists?" It was the Ionian natura
philosopher, Thales of Miletus (c.624-548 B.C.), who answered that everything in the universe was made of water and resolves itself into water.
Thales and Anaximander were "matter" philosophers -- they believed that everything had its origin in a material substance. Pythagoras of Samos (c.580-507 B.C.) did not find that nature of things in material substances but in mathematical relationships.
The Pythagoreans, who lived in Greek cities in southern Italy, discovered that the intervals in the musical scale could be expressed mathematically and that this principle could be extended to the universe

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cejainykole_

The Pythagoreans,
discovered that the intervals in
the musical scale could be expressed mathematically and that this principle could be extended to the universe.
he universe contained an inherent mathematical order.
Cratylus,
once made the remark that "You cannot step twice into
Fire is the primordial element out of which all else has arisen
he same river
The Sophists were men whose responsibility it was to train and educate the sons of Athenian citizens.
Sophist was a person who could argue eloquently – and could prove a position
whether that position was correct or incorrect.
They wanted the freedom to sweep away old conventions as a way of finding a better understanding of the universe, the gods and man.
he most noble and wisest Athenian to have ever lived.
The true champion if justice, if he intends to survive even for a short time, must necessarily confine himself to private life and leave politics alone.
e was remarkable for living the life he preached.
outh flocked to his side as he walked the paths of the agora.
His most famous student, Plato, tells us, that he was charged "as an evil-doer and curious person, searching into things under the earth and above the heavens; and making the worse appear the better cause, and teaching all this to others."
Socrates has been described as a gadfly -- a first-class pain.

16 more annotations...

anali_ayala

The political and social upheaval caused by the Persian Wars as well as continued strife between Athens and Sparta
Wars taught that the actions of men and women determine their own destiny, and not "Moira."

krisnaone

Greek philosophers

Ionian
Gods and goddesses were no longer held in the same regard as they had been a century earlier.
also used to "invent"
The Greeks used their creative energies to explain experience by recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture.
The PRE-SOCRATIC philosophers came from the city of Miletus in the region of Ionia.
t was the Ionian natural philosopher, Thales of Miletus (c.624-548 B.C.), who answered that everything in the universe was made of water and resolves itself into water.
Around 600 B.C., Milesian thinkers "discovered" speculation after asking a simple but profound question: "what exists?"
Thales and Anaximander were "matter" philosophers -- they believed that everything had its origin in a material substance.
(c.580-507 B.C.) did not find that nature of things in material substances but in mathematical relationships.
Pythagoreans, who lived in Greek cities in southern Italy, discovered that the intervals in the musical scale could be expressed mathematically and that this principle could be extended to the universe. In other words, the universe contained an inherent mathematical order. What we witness in the Pythagoreans is the emphasis on form rather than matter, and here we move from sense perception to the logic of mathematics.
Parmenides of Elea (c.515-450 B.C.), also challenged the fundamental views of the Ionian philosophers that all things emerged from one substance.
We "know" reality not by the senses, which are capable of deception, but through the human mind, not through experience, but through reason. As we shall see, this concept shall become central to the philosophic thought of Plato.
"the weeping philosopher"
pessimistic
most important of all the Pre-Socratic philosophers was Heraclitus of Ephesus (fl. 500 B.C.).
Fire is the primordial element out of which all else has arisen -- change (becoming) is the first principle of the universe. Cratylus, a follower of Heraclitus, once made the remark that "You cannot step twice into the same river." The water will be different water the second time, and if we call the river the same, it is because we see its reality in its form. The logical conclusion of this is the opposite of flux, that is, a belief in an absolute, unchanging reality of which the world of change and movement is only a quasi-existing phantom, phenomenal, not real.
Democritus of Abdera (c.460-370 B.C.) argued that knowledge was derived through sense perception -- the senses illustrate to us that change does occur in nature. However, Democritus also retained Parmenides' confidence in human reason.
they had given to nature a rational and non-mythical foundation.
This new approach allowed a critical analysis of theories, whereas mythical explanations relied on blind faith alone.
Such a spirit even found its way into medicine, where the Greek physician Hippocrates of Cos (c.460-c.377 B.C.) was able to distinguish between magic and medicine.

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esmeralda00

greek philosophers

philosophy greek

Miletus was a prominent trading depot and its people had direct contact with the ideas of the Near East.
The PRE-SOCRATIC philosophers came from the city of Miletus in the region of Ionia.
Around 600 B.C., Milesian thinkers "discovered" speculation after asking a simple but profound question: "what exists?" It was the Ionian natural philosopher, Thales of Miletus (c.624-548 B.C.),
Thales and Anaximander were "matter" philosophers -- they believed that everything had its origin in a material substance.
Pythagoras of Samos (c.580-507 B.C.) did not find that nature of things in material substances but in mathematical relationships. The
Parmenides of Elea (c.515-450 B.C.), also challenged the fundamental views of the Ionian philosophers that all things emerged from one substance. What Parmenides did was to apply logic to the arguments of the Pythagoreans, thus setting the groundwork of formal logic
PLATO (c.427-347 B.C.) came from a family of aristoi, served in the Peloponnesian War, and was perhaps Socrates' most famous student. He was twenty-eight years old when Socrates was put to death. At the age of forty, Plato established a school at Athens for the education of Athenian youth

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irobledo

Greek philosophers

philosophy greek

e Gre
its people had direct contact with the ideas of the Near East. Around 600 B.C., Milesian thinkers "discovered" speculation after asking a simple but profound question: "what exists?" It was the Ionian natural
The PRE-SOCRATIC philosophers came from the city of Miletus in the region of Ionia.
philosopher, Thales of Miletus (c.624-548 B.C.),
terial substances but in mathematical relationships. The Pythagoreans, who lived in Greek cities in southern Italy, discovered that the intervals in the musical scale could be expressed mathematically and that this principle could be extended to the universe. In other words, the universe contained an inherent mathematical order. What we witness in the P

3 more annotations...

esperanza_romero

greek philosophers

philosophy greek

The political and social upheaval caused by the Persian Wars as well as continued strife between Athens and Sparta (see Lecture 7) had at least one unintended consequence .
Athens had become the intellectual and artistic center of the Greek world.
I suppose we could generalize and say that the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars taught that the actions of men and women determine their own destiny, and not "Moira."
But their creative energies were also used to "invent" philosophy, defined as "the love of wisdom."
It perhaps goes without saying that the western intellectual tradition, as well as the history of western philosophy, must begin with an investigation of ancient Greek thought.

3 more annotations...

urielakathebeat

Around 600 B.C., Milesian thinkers "discovered" speculation after asking a simple but profound question: "what exists?"
The Pythagoreans, who lived in Greek cities in southern Italy, discovered that the intervals in the musical scale could be expressed mathematically and that this principle could be extended to the universe.
Known as "the weeping philosopher" because of his pessimistic view of human nature and "the dark one" because of the mystical obscurity of his thought, Heraclitus wrote On Nature, fragments of which we still possess.
What the Pre-Socratic thinkers from Thales to Democritus had done was nothing less than amazing -- they had given to nature a rational and non-mythical foundation.
The Sophists were men whose responsibility it was to train and educate the sons of Athenian citizens.

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serenityher

greek philosphy

philosophy

The Greeks used their creative energies to explain experience by recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture.
philosophers came from the city of Miletus in the region of Ionia.
the Ionian natural philosopher, Thales of Miletus (c.624-548 B.C.), who answered that everything in the universe was made of water and resolves itself into water.
It is also necessary to point out that Thales committed none of his views to writing. Anaximander of Miletus (c.611-c.547 B.C.), another Milesian thinker, rejected Thales, and argued instead that an indefinite substance -- the Boundless -- was the source of all things. According to Anaximander, the cold and wet condensed to form the earth while the hot and dry formed the moon, sun and stars. The heat from the fire in the skies dried the earth and shrank the seas. It's a rather fantastic scheme, but at least Anaximander sought natural explanations for the origin of the natural world.
Pythagoras of Samos (c.580-507 B.C.) did not find that nature of things in material substances but in mathematical relationships. The Pythagoreans, who lived in Greek cities in southern Italy, discovered that the intervals in the musical scale could be expressed mathematically and that this principle could be extended to the universe.
Heraclitus of Ephesus (fl. 500 B.C.). Known as "the weeping philosopher
Pythagoreans had emphasized harmony, Heraclitus suggested that life was maintained by a tension of opposites, fighting a continuous battle in which neither side could win a final victory.
Democritus of Abdera (c.460-370 B.C.) argued that knowledge was derived through sense perception -- the senses illustrate to us that change does occur in nature.
nature a rational and non-mythical foundation.
"It is not, in my opinion, any more divine or more scared than other diseases, but has a natural cause, and its supposed divine origin is due to men's inexperience, and to their wonder at its peculiar character."

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adrian_garcia

Greek philosophers

Greek philosophy

mid-5^th century, it had become more common for advanced thinkers to reject traditional explanations of the world of nature.
Thales of Miletus (c.624-548 B.C.), who answered that everything in the universe was made of water and resolves itself into water.
Anaximander sought natural explanations for the origin of the natural world.
Pythagoras of Samos (c.580-507 B.C.) did not find that nature of things in material substances but in mathematical relationships.
Heraclitus suggested that life was maintained by a tension of opposites, fighting a continuous battle in which neither side could win a final victory.
PLATO (c.427-347 B.C.) came from a family of aristoi, served in the Peloponnesian War, and was perhaps Socrates' most famous student.
The Republic discusses a number of topics including the nature of justice, statesmanship, ethics and the nature of politics.
Plato argued that reality is known only through the mind. There is a higher world, independent of the world we may experience through our senses. Because the senses may deceive us, it is necessary that this higher world exist, a world of Ideas or Forms
Aristotle lectured on astronomy, physics, logic, aesthetics, music, drama, tragedy, poetry, zoology, ethics and politics. The one field in which he did not excel was mathematics. Plato, on the other hand, was a master of geometry.

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serenas1

The Greeks used their creative energies to explain experience by recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture
- they believed that everything had its origin in a material substance.
ntervals in
ded to the universe.
he musical scale could be expressed mathematically and that this principle could be exten
life was
es, fighting a contin
inal victory
uous battle in which neither side could win a f
maintained by a tension of opposit
knowledge was derived through sense perception
hey had given to nature a rational and non-mythical foundation.
Thales to Democritus
The Sophists were a m
otley bunch
The Sophists abandoned science, philosophy, mathematics and ethics
He was twenty-eight years old when Socrates was put to
death.
n it was closed by Justinian, th
ce from 387 B.C. to A.D. 529, whe
The Academy, as it was called, remained in existen
Byzantine emperor.
His job was not to teach truth but to show his students how they could "pull" truth out of their own minds (it is for this reason that Socrates often considered himself a midwife in the labor of knowledge).
It is in The Republic that Plato suggests that democracy was little more than a
charming form of government."
he reigns of power
a philosopher-king or guardian should hold t
In The Republic, Plato asks what is knowledge? what is illusion? what is reality? how do we know? what makes a thing, a thing? what can we know? These are epistemological questions – that is, they are questions about knowledge itself.
Plato's most famous student was ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.). His father was the personal physician to Philip of Macedon and Aristotle was, for a time at least, the personal tutor of Alexander the Great
He too was charged with impiety,
but fled rather than face the charges – I suppose that tells you something about Aristotle
cademy of Plato (who was then sixty years of ag

30 more annotations...

daguilar123

Greek philosphers

Lecture 8

Greek Thought: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
y the mid-5^th century, it had become more common for advanced thinkers to reject traditional explanations of the world of nature. As a result of the experience of a century of war, religious beliefs declined. Gods and goddesses were no longer held in the same regard as they had been a century earlier.
Persian and Peloponnesian Wars taught that the actions of men and women determine their own destiny, and not "Moira."
The Greeks used their creative energies to explain experience by recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture.
philosophy came into existence when the Greeks discovered their dissatisfaction with supernatural and mythical explanations of reality.
Miletus was a prominent trading depot and its people had direct contact with the ideas of the Near East
simple but profound question: "what exists?"
philosopher, Thales of Miletus (c.624-548 B.C.), who answered that everything in the universe was made of water and resolves itself into water.
Anaximander, the cold and wet condensed to form the earth while the hot and dry formed the moon, sun and stars. The heat from the fire in the skies dried the earth and shrank the seas.
Thales and Anaximander were "matter" philosophers -- they believed that everything had its origin in a material substance.
Pythagoras of Samos (c.580-507 B.C.) did not find that nature of things in material substances but in mathematical relationships.
the universe contained an inherent mathematical order.
Parmenides of Elea (c.515-450 B.C.), also challenged the fundamental views of the Ionian philosophers that all things emerged from one substance.
He argued that reality is one, eternal and unchanging. We "know" reality not by the senses, which are capable of deception, but through the human mind, not through experience, but through reason. As we shall see, this concept shall become central to the philosophic thought of Plato.
Pre-Socratic philosophers was Heraclitus of Ephesus (fl. 500 B.C.). Known as "the weeping philosopher" because of his pessimistic view of human nature and "the dark one" because of the mystical obscurity of his thought, Heraclitus wrote On Nature, fragments of which we still possess.
Heraclitus suggested that life was maintained by a tension of opposites,
This law of individual flux within a permanent universal framework was guaranteed by the Logos, an intelligent governing principle materially embodied as fire, and identified with soul or life.
Cratylus, a follower of Heraclitus, once made the remark that "You cannot step twice into the same river." The water will be different water the second time, and if we call the river the same, it is because we see its reality in its form
becoming) is the first principle of the universe.
Fire is the primordial element out of which all else has arisen
The logical conclusion of this is the opposite of flux, that is, a belief in an absolute, unchanging reality of which the world of change and movement is only a quasi-existing phantom, phenomenal, not real.
Democritus of Abdera (c.460-370 B.C.) argued that knowledge was derived through sense perception -- the senses illustrate to us that change does occur in nature.
Democritus saw all matter constructed of atoms which accounted for all change in the natural world.
What the Pre-Socratic thinkers from Thales to Democritus had done was nothing less than amazing -- they had given to nature a rational and non-mythical foundation.
Such a spirit even found its way into medicine, where the Greek physician Hippocrates of Cos (c.460-c.377 B.C.) was able to distinguish between magic and medicine.
Physicians observed ill patients, classified symptoms and then made predictions about the course of a disease.
Into such an atmosphere of change came the traveling teachers, the Sophists. The Sophists were a motley bunch – some hailed from the Athenian polis or other city-states, but the majority came from Ionia, in Asia Minor.
Instead, these were peripatetic schools, meaning that the instructor would walk with students and talk with them – for a fee, of course.
The Sophists were men whose responsibility it was to train and educate the sons of Athenian citizens.
The Sophists taught the skills (sophia) of rhetoric and oratory.
Rhetoric can be described as the art of composition, while oratory was the art of public speaking.
it was the sons of the citizens who would eventually find themselves debating important issues in the Assembly and the Council of Five Hundred.
A Sophist was a person who could argue eloquently – and could prove a position whether that position was correct or incorrect. In other words, what mattered was persuasion and not truth
The Sophists abandoned science, philosophy, mathematics and ethics. What they taught was the subtle art of persuasion.
hey believed that there was no such thing as a universal or absolute truth, valid at all times.
Gorgias of Leontini (c.485-c.380 B.C.), who visited Athens in 427, was a well-paid teacher of rhetoric and famous for his saying that a man could not know anything. And if he could, he could not describe it and if he could describe it, no one would understand him.
lato's treatment of the Sophists in his late dialogue, the Sophist, is hardly flattering.
He does not treat them as real seekers after truth but as men whose only concern was making money and teaching their students success in argument by whatever means.
out anything they deemed was contrary to human reason.
The Sophists have been compared with the philosophes of the 18th century Enlightenment who also used criticism and reason to wipe

38 more annotations...

takarahbritton_

Greek Philosophers

philosophy greek

Athens had become the intellectual and artistic center of the Greek world.
religious beliefs declined.
taught that the actions of men and women determine their own destiny, and not "Moira."
Miletus was a prominent trading depot and its people had direct contact with the ideas of the Near East.
Thales committed none of his views to writing.
sought natural explanations for the origin of the natural world.
universe contained an inherent mathematical order.
emphasis on form rather than matter, and here we move from sense perception to the logic of mathematics.
that all things emerged from one substance.
challenged the fundamental views
reality is one, eternal and unchanging.
hrough the human mind, not through experience, but through reason.
"know" reality not by the senses
was Heraclitus of Ephesus (fl. 500 B.C.).
Perhaps the most important
Movement and the flux of change were unceasing for individuals,
guaranteed by the Logos
identified with soul or life.
first principle of the universe.
change (becoming)
Fire is the primordial element
logical conclusion of this is the opposite of flux
The water will be different water the second time,
senses illustrate to us that change does occur in nature.
universe consisted of empty space and an infinite number of atoms
aw all matter constructed of atoms which accounted for all change in the natural world.
had given to nature a rational and non-mythical foundation.
Hippocrates of Cos (c.460-c.377 B.C.) was able to distinguish between magic and medicine.
traveling teachers, the Sophists.
men whose responsibility it was to train and educate the sons of Athenian citizens.

28 more annotations...

sarinak

Greek Philosophers

Philosophy greek

Lecture 8

Greek Thought: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
In the 5^th century, a flood of new ideas poured into Athens.
ersian and Peloponnesian Wars taught that the actions of men and women determine their own destiny, and not "Moira." Meanwhile, more traditional notions of right and wrong were called into question, and all of this was expressed in Hellenic tragedy and comedy.
Greeks used their creative energies to explain experience by recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture
e PRE-SOCRATIC philosophers came from the city of Miletus in the region of Ionia.
It was the Ionian natural philosopher, Thales of Miletus (c.624-548 B.C.), who answered that everything in the universe was made of water and resolves itself into water.
Anaximander of Miletus (c.611-c.547 B.C.), another Milesian thinker, rejected Thales, and argued instead that an indefinite substance -- the Boundless -- was the source of all things.
heat from the fire in the skies dried the earth and shrank the seas.
he cold and wet condensed to form the earth while the hot and dry formed the moon, sun and stars.
Heraclitus of Ephesus (fl. 500 B.C.).
Heraclitus suggested that life was maintained by a tension of opposites, fighting a continuous battle in which neither side could win a final victory
Democritus of Abdera (c.460-370 B.C.
His universe consisted of empty space and an infinite number of atoms (a-tomos, the "uncuttable"). Eternal and indivisible, these atoms moved in the void of space. An atomic theory to the core, Democritus saw all matter constructed of atoms which accounted for all change in the natural world.
Hippocrates of Cos (c.460-c.377 B.C.)
The Sophists were men whose responsibility it was to train and educate the sons of Athenian citizens.
What they taught was the subtle art of persuasion.
could prove a position whether that position was correct or incorrect.
Sophist
elieved that there was no such thing as a universal or absolute truth, valid at all times.
what mattered was persuasion and not truth
Sophists were also relativists.
Nothing is good or bad since everything depends on the individual.
ristotle said that a Sophist was "one who made money by sham wisdom."
SOCRATES (c.469-399 B.C.), perhaps the most noble and wisest Athenian to have ever lived
He was a good citizen but held political office only once – he was elected to the Council of Five Hundred in 406 B.C. In Plato's Apology, Socrates remarks that:
no fees, Socrates started and dominated an argument wherever the young and intelligent would listen, and people asked his advice on matters of practical conduct and educational problems.
not a Sophist himself, but a philosopher, a
399 B.C., Socrates was charged with impiety by a jury of five hundred of his fellow citizens.
He was convicted to death by a margin of six votes.
e challenged his students to think for themselves – to use their minds to answer questions. He did not reveal answers.
PLATO (c.427-347 B.C.) came from a family of aristoi, served in the Peloponnesian War, and was perhaps Socrates' most famous student.
age of forty, Plato established a school at Athens for the education of Athenian youth.
emained in existence from 387 B.C. to A.D. 529, when it was closed by Justinian, the Byzantine emperor.
enses may deceive us, it is necessary that this higher world exist,
Plato's most famous student was ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.
He too was charged with impiety, but fled rather than face the charges – I suppose that tells you something about Aristotle.
Aristotle also started his own school, the Lyceum in 335 B.C. It too was closed by Justinian in A.D. 529. Aristotle was a "polymath" – he knew a great deal about nearly everything.
students recorded nearly everything he discussed at the Lyceum.
Aristotle did not agree with Plato that there is an essence or Form or Absolute behind every object in the phenomenal world.
man was born with knowledge, Aristotle argued that knowledge comes from experience.

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carlosc_209

Greek Philosophers

philosophy greek

The political and social upheaval caused by the Persian Wars as well as continued strife between Athens and Sparta (see Lecture 7) had at least one unintended consequence .
Athens had become the intellectual and artistic center of the Greek world.
religious beliefs declined. Gods and goddesses were no longer held in the same regard as they had been a century earlier.
Persian and Peloponnesian Wars taught that the actions of men and women determine their own destiny
generalize
say that
philosophy came into existence when the Greeks discovered their dissatisfaction with supernatural and mythical explanations of reality.

5 more annotations...

raymondk1

Athens had become the intellectual and artistic center of the Greek world
Gods and goddesses were no longer held in the same regard as they had been a century earlier.
The Greeks used their creative energies to explain experience by recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture.
Miletus
direct contact
ts people
The PRE-SOCRATIC philosophers came from the city of Miletus in the region of Ionia.
prominent trading depot
ideas of the Near East.
Around 600 B.C., Milesian thinkers "discovered" speculation after asking a simple but profound question: "what exists?"
Ionian natura
who answered that everything in the universe was made of water and resolves itself into water.
philosopher, Thales of Miletus (c.624-548 B.C.),
Anaximander of Miletus (c.611-c.547 B.C.)
Pythagoras of Samos (c.580-507 B.C.)
Parmenides of Elea (c.515-450 B.C.)
"the weeping philosopher"
Heraclitus of Ephesus (fl. 500 B.C.).
Fire is the primordial element out of which all else has arisen
Democritus of Abdera (c.460-370 B.C.)
Greek physician Hippocrates of Cos (c.460-c.377 B.C.)
Sophists abandoned science, philosophy, mathematics and ethics.
Protagoras (c.485-c.411 B.C.),
Gorgias of Leontini (c.485-c.380 B.C.)
Sophists came SOCRATES (c.469-399 B.C.)
Aristides the Just (c.550-468 B.C.)
ought as a hoplite at Potidaea (432-429),
Delium (424) and Amphipolis (422) during the Peloponnesian Wars.
elected to the Council of Five Hundred in 406 B.C. In Plato's Apology, Socrates remarks that:
The true champion if justice, if he intends to survive even for a short time, must necessarily confine himself to private life and leave politics alone.
Socrates was not an attractive man -- he was snub-nosed, prematurely bald, and overweight. But, he was strong in body and the intellectual master of every one with whom he came into contact. The Athenian youth flocked to his side as he walked the paths of the agora. They clung to his every word and gesture. He was not a Sophist himself, but a philosopher, a lover of wisdom.
n 399 B.C., Socrates was charged with impiety by a jury of five hundred of his fellow citizens.
charge made against Socrates -- disbelief in the state's gods -- implied un-Athenian activities which would corrupt the young and the state if preached publicly.
Socrates has been described as a gadfly -- a first-class pain.
Xenophon (c.430-c.354 B.C.)
PLATO (c.427-347 B.C.)
Plato established a school at Athens for the education of Athenian youth. The Academy, as it was called, remained in existence from 387 B.C. to A.D. 529, when it was closed by Justinian, the Byzantine emperor.
A Socratic dialogue takes the form of question-answer, question-answer, question-answer. It is a dialectical style as well. Socrates would argue both sides of a question in order to arrive at a conclusion. Then that conclusion is argued against another assumption and so on. Perhaps it is not that difficult to understand why Socrates was considered a gadfly
ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.)
age of eighteen, Aristotle became the student at the Academy of Plato (who was then sixty years of age). Aristotle also started his own school, the Lyceum in 335 B.C.
Justinian in A.D. 529. Aristotle was a "polymath"
Aristotle lectured on astronomy, physics, logic, aesthetics, music, drama, tragedy, poetry, zoology, ethics and politics. The one field in which he did not excel was mathematics. Plato, on the other hand, was a master of geometry.
Plato's greatest students ought to have also been his greatest critics. Like Democritus, Aristotle had confidence in sense perception.
ndeed, many have argued with W. H. Auden that "had Greek civilization never existed we would never have become fully conscious, which is to say that we would never have become, for better or worse, fully human."

42 more annotations...

dayday99

The Greeks used their creative energies to explain experience by recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture.
people had direct contact with the ideas of the Near East.
The PRE-SOCRATIC philosophers came from the city of Miletus in the region of Ionia.
Ionian natural
philosopher, Thales of Miletus (c.624-548 B.C.),
nder of Miletus (c.611-c.547 B.C.),
Pythagoras of Samos (c.580-507 B.C.)
Parmenides of Elea (c.515-450 B.C.), also challenged the fundamental views of the Ionian philosophers that all things emerged from one substance

6 more annotations...

berry35

The Greeks used their creative energies to explain experience by recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture
philosophy came into existence when the Greeks discovered their dissatisfaction with supernatural and mythical explanations
The PRE-SOCRATIC philosophers came from the city of Miletus in the region of Ionia.
Miletus was a prominent trading depot
they believed that everything had its origin in a material substance
Known as "the weeping philosopher" because of his pessimistic view of human nature and "the dark one" because of the mystical obscurity of his thought, Heraclitus wrote On Nature, fragments of which we still possess.
Fire is the primordial element out of which all else has arisen
they had given to nature a rational and non-mythical foundation.
some hailed from the Athenian polis or other city-states, but the majority came from Ionia, in Asia Minor.
A Sophist was a person who could argue eloquently – and could prove a position whether that position was correct or incorrect.
perhaps the most noble and wisest Athenian to have ever lived
He rejected it. He also rejected the pleas of Plato and other students who had a boat waiting for him at Piraeus that would take him to freedom
What we know of him comes from the writings of two of his closest friends,
that mankind is born with knowledge.
paideia. Nearly impossible to translate into modern idiom, paideia refers to the process whereby the physical, mental and spiritual development of the individual is of paramount importance.
nature of justice, statesmanship, ethics and the nature of politics
Plato suggests that democracy was little more than a "charming form of government."
Plato's most famous student was ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.).
He too was charged with impiety, but fled rather than face the charges – I suppose that tells you something about Aristotle.
At the age of eighteen, Aristotle became the student at the Academy of Plato (who was then sixty years of age).

18 more annotations...

alfonso_

greek philosophers

philosophy greek

n the 5^th century, a flood of
new ideas poured into Athens
The Greeks used their creative energies to explain experience by recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture.
Over time, Greek thinkers began to suspect that there was a rational or logical order to the universe.
Around 600 B.C., Milesian thinkers "discovered" speculation after asking a simple but profound question: "what exists?" It was the Ionian natural philosopher, Thales of Miletus (c.624-548 B.C.),
who answered that everything in the universe was made of water and resolves itself into water
It is also necessary to point out that Thales committed none of his views to writing. Anaximander of Miletus (c.611-c.547 B.C.), another Milesian thinker, rejected Thales, and argued instead that an indefinite substance -- the Boundless -- was the source of all things. According to Anaximander, the cold and wet condensed to form the earth while the hot and dry formed the moon, sun and stars.
The Pythagoreans, who lived in Greek cities in southern Italy, discovered that the intervals in the musical scale could be expressed mathematically and that this principle could be extended to the universe.
We "know" reality not by the senses, which are capable of deception, but through the human mind, not through experience, but through reason. As we shall see, this concept shall become central to the philosophic thought of Plato.
Perhaps the most important of all the Pre-Socratic philosophers was Heraclitus of Ephesus (fl. 500 B.C.). Known as "the weeping philosopher" because of his pessimistic view of human nature and "the dark one" because of the mystical obscurity of his thought, Heraclitus wrote On Nature, fragments of which we still possess.
Fire is the primordial element out of which all else has arisen -- change (becoming) is the first principle of the universe. Cratylus, a follower of Heraclitus, once made the remark that "You cannot step twice into the same river.
Democritus of Abdera (c.460-370 B.C.) argued that knowledge was derived through sense perception -- the senses illustrate to us that change does occur in nature. However, Democritus also retained Parmenides' confidence in human reason.
atoms (a-tomos, the "uncuttable"). Eternal and indivisible, these atoms moved in the void of space. An atomic theory to the core, Democritus saw all matter constructed of atoms which accounted for all change in the natural world.
Hippocrates of Cos (c.460-c.377 B.C.) was able to distinguish between magic and medicine. Physicians observed ill patients, classified symptoms and then made predictions about the course of a disease.
Into such an atmosphere of change came the traveling teachers, the Sophists. The Sophists were a motley bunch – some hailed from the Athenian polis or other city-states, but the majority came from Ionia, in Asia Minor.
The Sophists abandoned science, philosophy, mathematics and ethics. What they taught was the subtle art of persuasion. A Sophist was a person who could argue eloquently – and could prove a position whether that position was correct or incorrect. In other words, what mattered was persuasion and not truth.
According to Protagoras (c.485-c.411 B.C.), "Man is the measure of all things." Everything is relative and there are no values because man, individual man, is the measure of all things. Nothing is good or bad since everything depends on the individual.
Gorgias of Leontini (c.485-c.380 B.C.), who visited Athens in 427, was a well-paid teacher of rhetoric and famous for his saying that a man could not know anything. And if he could, he could not describe it and if he could describe it, no one would understand him.
The Sophistic movement of the fifth century B.C. has been the subject of much discussion and there is no single view about their significance. Plato's treatment of the Sophists in his late dialogue, the Sophist, is hardly flattering. He does not treat them as real seekers after truth but as men whose only concern was making money and teaching their students success in argument by whatever means. Aristotle said that a Sophist was "one who made money by sham wisdom."

17 more annotations...

dasanis1

Greek Philosophers

philosophy greek

The Greeks used their creative energies to explain experience by recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture.
they believed that everything had its origin in a material substance.
ntervals in the musical scale could be expressed mathematically and that this principle could be extended to the universe.
life was maintained by a tension of opposites, fighting a continuous battle in which neither side could win a final victory.
knowledge was derived through sense perception
Thales to Democritus
they had given to nature a rational and non-mythical foundation.
The Sophists were a motley bunch
The Sophists abandoned science, philosophy, mathematics and ethics.
He was twenty-eight years old when Socrates was put to death.
The Academy, as it was called, remained in existence from 387 B.C. to A.D. 529, when it was closed by Justinian, the Byzantine emperor.
His job was not to teach truth but to show his students how they could "pull" truth out of their own minds (it is for this reason that Socrates often considered himself a midwife in the labor of knowledge).
It is in The Republic that Plato suggests that democracy was little more than a "charming form of government."
Instead, a philosopher-king or guardian should hold the reigns of power.
In The Republic, Plato asks what is knowledge? what is illusion? what is reality? how do we know? what makes a thing, a thing? what can we know? These are epistemological questions – that is, they are questions about knowledge itself.
Plato's most famous student was ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.). His father was the personal physician to Philip of Macedon and Aristotle was, for a time at least, the personal tutor of Alexander the Great.
He too was charged with impiety, but fled rather than face the charges – I suppose that tells you something about Aristotle.
Academy of Plato (who was then sixty years of age)

16 more annotations...

lesliemendez_

Greek Philosophers

philosophy greek

political and social upheaval caused by the Persian Wars as well as continued strife between Athens and Sparta (see Lecture 7) had at least one unintended consequence
Athens had become the intellectual and artistic center of the Greek world.
religious beliefs declined. Gods and goddesses were no longer held in the same regard as they had been a century earlier.
Thales committed none of his views to writing.
Thales and Anaximander
believed that everything had its origin in a material substance.
The Pythagoreans,
discovered that the intervals in the musical scale could be expressed mathematically and that this principle could be extended to the universe.
universe contained an inherent mathematical order.
Fire is the primordial element out of which all else has arisen
Democritus of Abdera (c.460-370 B.C.) argued that knowledge was derived through sense perception
change does occur in nature.
Democritus saw all matter constructed of atoms which accounted for all change in the natural world.
The Sophists were men whose responsibility it was to train and educate the sons of Athenian citizens.
Sophist was a person who could argue eloquently – and could prove a position whether that position was correct or incorrect.
They wanted the freedom to sweep away old conventions as a way of finding a better understanding of the universe, the gods and man.
most noble and wisest Athenian to have ever lived
The true champion if justice, if he intends to survive even for a short time, must necessarily confine himself to private life and leave politics alone.
he was remarkable for living the life he preached.
The Athenian youth flocked to his side as he walked the paths of the agora.
His most famous student, Plato, tells us, that he was charged "as an evil-doer and curious person, searching into things under the earth and above the heavens; and making the worse appear the better cause, and teaching all this to others."
He spent his last days with his friends before he drank the fatal dose of hemlock.
Plato established a school at Athens for the education of Athenian youth.
mankind is born with knowledge
reality is always changing – knowledge of reality is individual,
Plato argued that reality is known only through the mind.
Our senses deceive us. But because we trust our senses, we are like prisoners in a cave – we mistake shadows on a wall for reality.

25 more annotations...

mmorales89

Greek Philosophers

philosophy greek

The Greeks used their creative energies to explain experience by recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture.
were also used to "invent" philosophy, defined as "the love of wisdom
But their creative e
nergies
Miletus was a prominent trading depot and its people had direct contact with the ideas of the Near East. Around 600 B.C., Milesian thinkers "discovered" speculation after asking a simple but profound question: "what exists?" It was the Ionian natural philosopher, Thales of Miletus (c.624-548 B.C.), who answered that everything in the universe was made of water and resolves itself into water.
The PRE-SOCRATIC philosophers came from the city of Miletus in the region of Ionia.

4 more annotations...

christianf1

Greek Philosophers

philosophy greek

The Sophists were men whose responsibility it was to train and educate the sons of Athenian citizens.
SOCRATES (c.469-399 B.C.), perhaps the most noble and wisest Athenian to have ever lived.
The charge made against Socrates -- disbelief in the state's gods -- implied un-Athenian activities which would corrupt the young and the state if preached publicly.
There is a reason why Socrates employed this style, as well as why Plato recorded his experience with Socrates in the form of a dialogue. Socrates taught Plato a great many things, but one of the things Plato more or less discovered on his own was that mankind is born with knowledge. That is, knowledge is present in the human mind at birth.
It is an education of a strange sort – he called it paideia.
Aristotle lectured on astronomy, physics, logic, aesthetics, music, drama, tragedy, poetry, zoology, ethics and politics.
It is almost fitting that one of Plato's greatest students ought to have also been his greatest critics

5 more annotations...

jamarim23

mid-5^th century, it had become more common for advanced thinkers to reject traditional explanations of the world of nature.
Miletus was a prominent trading depot and its people had direct contact with the ideas of the Near East.
It was the Ionian natural philosopher, Thales of Miletus (c.624-548 B.C.), who answered that everything in the universe was made of water and resolves itself into water.
Pythagoras of Samos (c.580-507 B.C.) did not find that nature of things in material substances but in mathematical relationships. Th
Parmenides of Elea (c.515-450 B.C.), also challenged the fundamental views of the Ionian philosophers that all things emerged from one substance
Perhaps the most important of all the Pre-Socratic philosophers was Heraclitus of Ephesus (fl. 500 B.C.). Known as "the weeping philosopher" because of his pessimistic view of human nature and "the dark one"
Democritus of Abdera (c.460-370 B.C.) argued that knowledge was derived through sense perception -- the senses illustrate to us that change does occur in nature

5 more annotations...

vpatzan

Greek Philosophers

philosophy greek

invent" philosophy, defined as "the love of wisdom."
The Greeks used their creative energies to explain experience by recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture.
Movement and the flux of change were unceasing for individuals, but the structure of the cosmos constant.
The Sophists abandoned science, philosophy, mathematics and ethics.
What they taught was the subtle art of persuasion.

3 more annotations...

avanavalencia

greek philosophers

philosophy greek

5^th century, a flood of new ideas poured into Athen
n the
reject traditional explanations of the world of nature
to explain experience by recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture.
id not find that nature of things in material substances but in mathematical relationships.
they believed that everything had its origin in a material substance.
Known as "the weeping philosopher" because of his pessimistic view of human nature and "the dark one" because of the mystical obscurity of his thought, Heraclitus wrote On Nature, fragments of which we still possess.
Fire is the primordial element out of which all else has arisen
ou cannot step twice into the same river.
hey had given to nature a rational and non-mythical foundation.
some hailed from the Athenian polis or other city-states, but the majority came from Ionia, in Asia Minor.
A Sophist was a person who could argue eloquently – and could prove a position whether that position was correct or incorrect.
perhaps the most noble and wisest Athenian to have ever lived.
He rejected it. He also rejected the pleas of Plato and other students who had a boat waiting for him at Piraeus that would take him to freedom.
What we know of him comes from the writings of two of his closest friends,
that mankind is born with knowledge.
paideia refers to the process whereby the physical, mental and spiritual development of the individual is of paramount importance.
nature of justice, statesmanship, ethics and the nature of politics.
Plato suggests that democracy was little more than a "charming form of government."
nowledge of reality is individual, it is particular, it is knowledge only to the individual knower, it is not universal.
lato argued that reality is known only through the mind.
lthough there may be something from the phenomenal world which we consider beautiful or good or just, Plato postulates that there is a higher unchanging reality of the beautiful, goodness or justice.
s at the mercy of sense impressions and unfortunately
. For Aristotle did not agree with Plato that there is an essence or Form or Absolute behind every object in the phenomenal world.
Aristotle argued that that there were Forms and Absolutes, but that they resided in the thing itself.
must begin with an investigation of ancient Greek thought.

24 more annotations...

mhewlett

Greek philosophers

philosophy greek

Around 600 B.C., Milesian thinkers "discovered" speculation after asking a simple but profound question: "what exists?" It was the Ionian natural philosopher, Thales of Miletus (c.624-548 B.C.), who answered that everything in the universe was made of water and resolves itself into water.
they believed that everything had its origin in a material substance.
"You cannot step twice into the same river." The water will be different water the second time, and if we call the river the same, it is because we see its reality in its form
change (becoming) is the first principle of the universe.
The Sophists were a motley bunch – some hailed from the Athenian polis or other city-states, but the majority came from Ionia, in Asia Minor. The Sophists were men whose responsibility it was to train and educate the sons of Athenian citizens. There were no formal school as we know them today. Instead, these were peripatetic schools, meaning that the instructor would walk with students and talk with them – for a fee, of course. The Sophists taught the skills (sophia) of rhetoric and oratory. Both of these arts were essential for the education of the Athenian citizenry. After all, it was the sons of the citizens who would eventually find themselves debating important issues in the Assembly and the Council of Five Hundred. Rhetoric can be described as the art of composition, while oratory was the art of public speaking.
In his youth he fought as a hoplite at Potidaea (432-429), Delium (424) and Amphipolis (422) during the Peloponnesian Wars. To be sure, his later absorption in philosophy made him neglect his private affairs and he eventually fell to a level of comparative poverty. He was perhaps more in love with the study of philosophy than with his family -- that his wife Xanthippe was shrew is a later tale.
I do not accept this opinion. Instead, I would like to suggest that The Republic is not a blueprint for a future society, but rather, is a dialogue which discusses the education necessary to produce such a society.
At the age of eighteen, Aristotle became the student at the Academy of Plato (who was then sixty years of age). Aristotle also started his own school, the Lyceum in 335 B.C. It too was closed by Justinian in A.D. 529. Aristotle was a "polymath" – he knew a great deal about nearly everything.
It perhaps goes without saying that the western intellectual tradition, as well as the history of western philosophy, must begin with an investigation of ancient Greek thought. From Thales and the matter philosophers to the empiricism of Aristotle, the Greeks passed on to the west a spirit of rational inquiry that is very much our own intellectual property. A

7 more annotations...

that_boy_daniel

Greek philosophers

philosophy greek

Persian Wars as well as continued strife between Athens and Sparta
Athens had become the intellectual and artistic center of the Greek world.
Persian and Peloponnesian Wars taught that the actions of men and women determine their own destiny
ecourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture.
Over time, Greek thinkers began to suspect that there was a rational or logical order to the universe.
The PRE-SOCRATIC philosophers came from the city of Miletus in the region of Ionia.
Miletus was a prominent trading depot and its people had direct contact with the ideas of the Near East. Around 600 B.C., Milesian thi
Thales of Miletus (c.624-548 B.C.), who answered that everything in the universe was made of water and resolves itself into water.
Anaximander of Miletus (c.611-c.547 B.C.),
the Boundless -- was the source of all things.
Pythagoras of Samos (c.580-507 B.C.) did not find that nature of things in material substances but in mathematical relationships.
Thales and Anaximander were "matter" philosophers -
niverse contained an inherent mathematical order.
Parmenides of Elea
ll things emerged from one substance
Heraclitus of Ephesus (fl. 500 B.C.). Known as "the weeping philosopher"
You cannot step twice into the same river."
illustrate to us that change does occur in nature.
Democritus of Abdera (c.460-370 B.C.) argued that knowledge was derived through sense perception -
Hippocrates of Cos (c.460-c.377 B.C.) was able to distinguish between magic and medicine.
ians observed ill patients, classified symptoms and then made predictions about the course of a disease. For instance, of e
pilepsy, he wrote: "It is not, in my opinion, any more divine or more scared than other diseases, but has a natural cause, and its supposed divine origin is due to men's inexperience, and to their wonder at its peculiar character."
Athenian polis or other city-states, but the majority came from Ionia,
traveling teachers, the Sophists.
esponsibility it was to train and educate the sons of Athenian citizens.
Asia Minor.
The Sophists abandoned science, philosophy, mathematics and ethics. What they taught was the subtle art of persuasion. A Sophist was a person who could argue eloquently – and could prove a position whether that position was correct or incorrect.
Protagoras (c.485-c.411 B.C.), "Man is the measure of all things."
SOCRATES (c.469-399 B.C.), perhaps the most noble and wisest Athenian to have ever lived
is father was Sophroniscus, a stone cutter, and his mother, Phaenarete, was a midwife.
phy made him neglect his private affairs and he eventually fell to a level of comparative poverty. He was perhaps more in love with the study of philosophy than with his fam
Plato
wo of his closest friends, Xenophon and Plato.
mankind is born with knowledge.
The Republic.
led himself a biologist – he is said to have spent his honeymoon collecting specimens at the seashore. He too was charged with impiety, but fled rather than face the charges – I su

34 more annotations...

selenacordova00

greek philosophy

philosophy greek

mjsmith85

a flood of new ideas poured into Athens. In general, these new ideas came as a result of an influx of Ionian thinkers into the Attic peninsula. Athens had become the intellectual and artistic center of the Greek world. Furthermore, by the mid-5^th century, it had become more common for advanced thinkers to reject traditional explanations of the world of nature. As a result of the experience of a century of war, religious be
Gods and goddesses were no longer held in the same regard as they had been a century earlier.
Thales and Anaximander were "matter" philosophers -- they believed that everything had its origin in a material substance. Pythagoras of Samos (c.580-507 B.C.) did not find that nature of things in material substances but in mathematical relationships.

1 more annotation...

02 Oct 14

clemenciatello

Plato argued that reality is known only through the mind. There is a higher world, independent of the world we may experience through our senses. Because the senses may deceive us, it is necessary that this higher world exist, a world of Ideas or Forms -- of what is unchanging, absolute and universal. In other words, although there may be something from the phenomenal world which we consider beautiful or good or just, Plato postulates that there is a higher unchanging reality of the beautiful, goodness or justice. To live in accordance with these universal standards is the good life -- to grasp the Forms is to grasp ultimate truth.
In other words, whereas Plato suggested that man was born with knowledge, Aristotle argued that knowledge comes from experience. And there, in the space of just a few decades, we have the essence of those two philosophical traditions which have occupied the western intellectual tradition for the past 2500 years. Rationalism – knowledge is a priori (comes before experience) and Empiricism – knowledge is a posteriori (comes after experience).
Aristotle argued that there were universal principles but that they are derived from experience.
He could not accept, as had Plato, that there was a world of Forms beyond space and time. Aristotle argued that that there were Forms and Absolutes, but that they resided in the thing itself. From our experience with horses, for instance, we can deduce the essence of "horseness." This universal, as it had been for Plato, was the true object of human knowledge.

2 more annotations...

25 Oct 11

ty frederickson

philosophy plato socrates

11 Oct 11

gibsodun15

17 Sep 11

Alex Peterson

socrates

03 Sep 11

Eamonn Walls

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle information

29 Aug 11

Michael Granger

The thought process in the Ancient Roman was always interesting in my eyes. Plus, I could write about the philosophers and how their critical thinking changed the ways of many aspects.

eng102gerch

02 May 11

pt chia

recourse to history, tragedy, comedy, art and architecture
"invent" philosoph
s a rational or logical order to the universe.
dissatisfaction with supernatural and mythical explanations of reality.
verything in the universe was made of water
indefinite substance -- the Boundless -- was the source of all thing
origin in a material substan
t in mathematica
Ionian philosophers that all things emerged from one substance.
apply logic to the argument
He argued that reality is one,
e "know" reality
but through the human min
eternal and unchanging
xperience, but
through reason. A
that life was maintained by a tension
of opposites
fighting a continuous battl
s law of individual flux within a permanent universal framework
Fire is the primordial element out of which all else has arisen -- change (becoming) is the first principle of the univers
knowledge was derived through sense perception
nature a rational and non-mythical foundation. This new approach allowed
a critical analysis of theorie
mythical explanations relied on blind faith alon
Sophists taught the skills (sophia) of rhetoric and oratory
e art of composition, while oratory was the art of public speaking
Sophists abandoned science, philosophy, mathematics and ethics.
"Man is the measure of all things."
e Sophists challenged the accepted values of the fifth century.
most noble and wisest Athenian t
e was remarkable for living the life he preached. Taking no f
argument wherever the young and intelligent would listen, an
., Socrates was charged with impiety by
s an evil-doer and curious person, searching into things un
making the worse appear the better cause, and teaching all this to others."
es -- disbelief in the state's gods -- implied un-Athenian activities which would corrupt the youn
there was prejudice against him. He also managed to provoke hostilit
n exposing their falsehoods, he had proved the god right
described as a gadfly -- a first-class pain.
writings of two of his closest friends, Xenophon and Plat
Socrates wrote nothing himself.
A Socratic dialogue takes the form of question-answer, question-answer, question-answer. It is a dialectical style as well. Socrates would argue both sides of a question in order to arrive at a conclusion.
It is not so much that we "learn" things in our daily experience, but that we "recollect" them. In other words, this knowledge is already there. This may explain why Socrates did not give his students answers, but only questions. His job was not to teach truth but to show his students how they could "pull" truth out of their own minds (it is for this reason that Socrates often considered himself a midwife in the labor of knowledge). And this is the point of the dialogues. For only in conversation, only in dialogue, can truth and wisdom come to the surface.
that mankind is born with knowledge. That is, knowledge is present in the human mind at birth.
Plato's greatest and most enduring work was his lengthy dialogue, The Republic. This dialogue has often been regarded as Plato's blueprint for a future society of perfection.
clearest expressions of his theory of knowledge.
nature of justice, statesmanship, ethics and the nature of politics
The Republic discusses a number of topics
what is knowledge? what is illusion? what is reality? how do we know?
unphilosophical man – that is, all of us – is at the mercy of sense impressions and unfortunately, our sense impressions oftentimes fail us. Our senses deceive us.
we mistake shadows on a wall for reality. This is the central argument of Plato's ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE which appears in Book VII
There is a higher world, independent of the world we may experience
only through the mind.
e wisdom of Socrates and Parmenides, Plato argued that reality is known
senses may deceive us
is necessary that this higher world exist, a world of Ideas or Forms -- of what is unchanging, absolute and universal.
through our senses
The purpose of The Republic
without respect for law, leadership and a sound education for the young, their city would continue to decay
unchanging reality of the beautiful, goodness or justice.
to grasp the Forms is to grasp ultimate truth.
to give control over to the Philosopher-Kings
Athenian direct democracy, had failed to realize its lofty ideals.
personal tutor of Alexander the Great. Aristotle styled himself a biologist
age of eighteen, Aristotle became the student at the Academy of Plato
Very little of Aristotle's writings remain extant. But his students recorded nearly everything
Aristotle's epistemology is perhaps closer to our own.
Aristotle did not agree with Plato that there is an essence or Form
s Plato suggested that man was born with knowledge, Aristotle argued that knowledge comes from experience.
e of Plato's greatest students ought to have also been his greatest critics
he had little patience with Plato's higher world of the Forms
e universal principles but that they are derived from experienc
uld not accept, as had Plato, that there was a world of Forms beyond space and tim
e history of western philosophy, must begin with an investigation of ancient Greek thought

73 more annotations...

26 Feb 11

Patrick OKeefe

MAE 502 Case Study

What we do know is that his father was Sophroniscus, a stone cutter, and his mother, Phaenarete, was a midwife
In his youth he fought as a hoplite at Potidaea (432-429), Delium (424) and Amphipolis (422) during the Peloponnesian Wars.
his later absorption in philosophy made him neglect his private affairs and he eventually fell to a level of comparative poverty.
Taking no fees, Socrates started and dominated an argument wherever the young and intelligent would listen, and people asked his advice on matters of practical conduct and educational problems.
Socrates was that he was remarkable for living the life he preached.
In 399 B.C., Socrates was charged with impiety by a jury of five hundred of his fellow citizens.
He was convicted to death by a margin of six votes. Oddly enough, the jury offered Socrates the chance to pay a small fine for his impiety. He rejected it.
Socrates refused to break the law. What kind of citizen would he be if he refused to accept the judgment of the jury?
He spent his last days with his friends before he drank the fatal dose of hemlock.
disbelief in the state's gods -- implied un-Athenian activities which would corrupt the young and the state if preached publicly.
The reason why this charge is somewhat justified is that he challenged his students to think for themselves – to use their minds to answer questions.
He did not reveal answers. He did not reveal truth
as that most people could not answer these fundamental questions to his satisfaction, yet all of them claimed to be courageous, virtuous and dutiful.
Socrates knew, was that he knew nothing, upon this sole fact lay the source of his wisdom.
Socrates wrote nothing himself. What we know of him comes from the writings of two of his closest friends, Xenophon and Plato.
PLATO (c.427-347 B.C.) came from a family of aristoi, served in the Peloponnesian War, and was perhaps Socrates' most famous student.
At the age of forty, Plato established a school at Athens for the education of Athenian youth. The Academy, as it was called, remained in existence from 387 B.C. to A.D. 529, when it was closed by Justinian, the Byzantine emperor.
Plato's dialogue is important – it is the Socratic style that he employs throughout. A Socratic dialogue takes the form of question-answer, question-answer, question-answer.
one of the things Plato more or less discovered on his own was that mankind is born with knowledge.
It is not so much that we "learn" things in our daily experience, but that we "recollect" them. In other words, this knowledge is already there.
Plato's greatest and most enduring work was his lengthy dialogue, The Republic.
Nearly impossible to translate into modern idiom, paideia refers to the process whereby the physical, mental and spiritual development of the individual is of paramount importance. It is the education of the total individual.
For Plato, the citizens are the least desirable participants in government. Instead, a philosopher-king or guardian should hold the reigns of power. An aristocracy if you will – an aristocracy of the very best – the best of the aristoi.
Plato asks what is knowledge? what is illusion? what is reality? how do we know? what makes a thing, a thing? what can we know? These are epistemological questions – that is, they are questions about knowledge itself.
knowledge of reality is individual, it is particular, it is knowledge only to the individual knower, it is not universal.
Plato argued that reality is known only through the mind
The unphilosophical man – that is, all of us – is at the mercy of sense impressions and unfortunately, our sense impressions oftentimes fail us.
Plato's most famous student was ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.).
Aristotle was, for a time at least, the personal tutor of Alexander the Great.
He too was charged with impiety, but fled rather than face the charges
Aristotle was a "polymath" – he knew a great deal about nearly everything.
In fact, the books to which Aristotle's name is attributed are really little more than student notebooks.
Plato, on the other hand, was a master of geometry.
Plato suggested that man was born with knowledge, Aristotle argued that knowledge comes from experience.
Rationalism – knowledge is a priori (comes before experience) and Empiricism – knowledge is a posteriori (comes after experience).
Aristotle argued that there were universal principles but that they are derived from experience.

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17 Aug 10

Rob Lockey

philosophy greek socrates plato aristotle thinkers sophists reason causes justice

they had given to nature a rational and non-mythical foundation
a critical analysis of theories
mythical explanations relied on blind faith alone
Physicians observed ill patients, classified symptoms and then made predictions about the course of a disease.
Rhetoric can be described as the art of composition, while oratory was the art of public speaking.
the subtle art of persuasion
The Sophists abandoned science, philosophy, mathematics and ethics.
what mattered was persuasion and not truth
no such thing as a universal or absolute truth
relativists
"Man is the measure of all things."
Nothing is good or bad since everything depends on the individual.
Plato's treatment of the Sophists in his late dialogue, the Sophist, is hardly flattering.
He does not treat them as real seekers after truth but as men whose only concern was making money and teaching their students success in argument by whatever means.
Socrates
his later absorption in philosophy made him neglect his private affairs and he eventually fell to a level of comparative poverty.
Taking no fees, Socrates started and dominated an argument wherever the young and intelligent would listen, and people asked his advice on matters of practical conduct and educational problems
He was not a Sophist himself, but a philosopher, a lover of wisdom.
But Socrates refused to break the law. What kind of citizen would he be if he refused to accept the judgment of the jury? No citizen at all.
During his trial Socrates had the audacity to use this as a justification of his examination of the conduct of all Athenians, claiming that in exposing their falsehoods, he had proved the god right -- he at least knew that he knew nothing.
Although this episode smacks of Socrates' well-known irony, he clearly did believe that his mission was divinely inspired.
Socrates was not necessarily an intelligent man – but he was a wise man.
The style of the Plato's dialogue is important – it is the Socratic style that he employs throughout. A Socratic dialogue takes the form of question-answer, question-answer, question-answer.
It is a dialectical style as well. Socrates would argue both sides of a question in order to arrive at a conclusion.
His job was not to teach truth but to show his students how they could "pull" truth out of their own minds (it is for this reason that Socrates often considered himself a midwife in the labor of knowledge). And this is the point of the dialogues. For only in conversation, only in dialogue, can truth and wisdom come to the surface.
It is in The Republic that Plato suggests that democracy was little more than a "charming form of government."
For Plato, the citizens are the least desirable participants in government.
An aristocracy if you will – an aristocracy of the very best – the best of the aristoi.
Because the senses may deceive us, it is necessary that this higher world exist, a world of Ideas or Forms -- of what is unchanging, absolute and universal. In other words, although there may be something from the phenomenal world which we consider beautiful or good or just, Plato postulates that there is a higher unchanging reality of the beautiful, goodness or justice.
In other words, whereas Plato suggested that man was born with knowledge, Aristotle argued that knowledge comes from experience.

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04 Jul 10

A B

Democritus of Abdera (c.460-370 B.C.)
His universe consisted of empty space and an infinite number of atoms (a-tomos, the "uncuttable"). Eternal and indivisible, these atoms moved in the void of space.