Natural Philosophy
Protagoras
due to his claims, 1) all his books were burned 2) he was arrested for impiety/heresy 3) he had to flee Athens
Anaximenes
earth is a disc; like a lid on top of a pot of boiling water; the steam holds up a concave earth
immutable
existence is ? when it does not change; Parmenides' beliefs
transitory
existence is ? when it is constantly changing; Heraclitus believed in this
Parmenides
existence is immutable; something cannot come from nothing; cosmos has always existed, no beginning or end, free will does not exist
chaos
flux, change, disorder; opposite of cosmos
descriptive
describing something afterwards; opposite of prescriptive
reason
for Xenophanes, the human purpose was to ?
Protagoras
foreshadowed Socrates
Pythagoras
found number pi; it was irrational, and he didn't want the secret getting out, so he drowned the person who found it
Gorgias
had the famous argument that nothing exists; founder; had a positive attitude: in a world where nothing is certain, isn't it best to know how to better yourself and define things for yourself?
prescriptive
has, does, and always will exist; based on order and reason; opposite of descriptive
Thales
"1st philosopher;" all is made of water, and different items look different because they're made up of different phases of water; Anaximander and Anaximenes came after him
Empedocles
"commits suicide by jumping into the volcano of Mt. Etna" probably a myth
sophists
"wise men"/"one who professes to make people wise"
rhetoric
speaking skills; making your point sound stronger; method sophists employed
aesthetics
study of beauty
moral philosophy
study of morality
political philosophy
study of political theories
Parmenides
takes from Pythagoras that cosmos exists; asks what came before it and why?
sophists
taught/tutored upper class/future politicians; knowledge they didn't know; used rhetoric and taught antilogic; the skill to argue all sides and make your argument sound stronger
epistemology
the study of knowledge
Heraclitus
the weeping philosopher; humans impose themselves on reality and take it for granted; very pessimistic
Democritus
thought about government; maybe it should be representative and made up of little parts
Anaximander
thought the world was a cylinder
Protagoras
top sophist; not Gorgias
Xenophanes
use reason to understand why experience changes, and expand your sphere of knowledge
Heraclitus
who said: "you can't put your foot in the same river twice;" believed in ultimate chaos
human condition
Animal + Rational = Awareness of Mortality
sophists
represented the transition to Athens/Socrates; money to be made
Parmenides
said "All is one;" very eastern philosophy
Gorgias
1) nothing exists 2) if it did, you couldn't know it 3) if you could know it, you couldn't communicate it 4) if you could communicate it, no one would understand it proved that nothing exists
what are things made of
1st primary ?
why do things change
2nd primary question
Axial Age
800 BCE-500 CE; when, throughout the world, civilizations started asking new questions; not always relying upon the gods
fire
Heraclitus's primary element; Thales was somewhat right with water, but it needs a transformative element
unity of opposites
Heraclitus; collision of opposites happens; humans are added to the mix, and we impose our judgment and add another layer of subjectivity
conflict
Heraclitus; reality is a product of ?
change
Parmenides believes that there is no ?
sophists
skeptics; had reasonable doubt for almost everything; practical
math
Pythagoras believed that people could develop their reason through learning ? (logos/logic)
Reason
Pythagoras believes that our purpose/telos is to develop, apply, and know ?; bridging the gap between isolated helplessness; you eventually know the divine
Xenophanes
Pythagoras takes the A + R = Human condition and increasing rationality from ?
suffering
all life is ? in an attempt to keep relationships stable; Heraclitus
sophistry
arguing just to argue; enjoying the debate because you feel there is no truth
subjective
based on experience; opposite of objective; experience precedes knowledge
objective
based on reason; reason precedes knowledge; opposite of subjective
antilogic
being able to argue all sides of a topic; skill sophists taught
Xenophanes
believed that Heraclitus was right in the idea that the world is in constant flux, but thought that humans weren't helpless
Xenophanes
believed that you become more human if you increased and emphasized your rationality and decreased the animal
metaphysics
beyond-physics
Empedocles
came up with 4 elements; everything is made up of a different ratio of earth, air, water, and fire
Gorgias
came up with the idea that two opposing sides (thesis and antithesis) come together to create a compromise (synthesis)
Pythagoras
if order exists, then disorder is an illusion; we need a language to decipher disorder; in his case, MATH
Democritus
invented the word "atom"
Gorgias
inventor of "prose"=argumentation
Pythagoras
invents the word philosophy; love of knowledge
Heraclitus
life is a result of conflict; means constant flux and change
Protagoras
made 3 claims 1) Man is the measure of all things (everything's subjective) 2) I can make the weaker argument appear to be the stronger one 3) You can't prove that god exists
poesis
making/creating; we must make a life
purpose
meaning of Greek word telos
atom
means indivisible; word invented by Democritus
math
objective language to understand disorder; means cosmos, logic, order exists; chaos is an illusion
cosmos
opposite of chaos; order
dualism
opposite of dialectic; fighting or struggling against another
dialectic
opposite of dualism; working together
5
philosophy has how many branches?
empiricism
physical science; based on observation/experience; natural philosophy
Parmenides
polar opposite of Heraclitus; ? believes world is immutable
Heraclitus
polar opposite of Parmenides; believes world is in constant flux
Xenophanes
rationality makes people human
Heraclitus
reality is a product of conflict; collision of two forces