Unit 1: Chapter 2: The Early Greek Philosophers

Gorgias

A Sophist, regarded the fact that knowledge is subjective and reletive as proof that "all things are equally false." Furthermore, because the individual can know only his/her private perceptions, there can be no objective basis for determining truth.

final cause

Causation and Teleology: To truly understand anything, we must know four things about it. Final cause is the purpose for which an object exists. Though it is listed last, the final cause (a thing's purpose) actually precedes the other three causes. Aristotle's philosophy exemplified teleology because, for him, everything in nature exists for a purpose.

formal cause

Causation and Teleology: To truly understand anything, we must know four things about it. Formal cause is the particular form, or pattern, of an object. Efficient cause is the force that transforms the matter into a certain form.

Describe Aristotle's (384-322 BC) philosophy in terms of the basic differences he had with Plato. Describe Aristotle's views regarding (a) causation and teleology; (b) the hierarchy of souls; (c) sensation; (d) common sense, passive reason, and active reason; (e) memory and recall; (f) imagination and dreaming; (g) motivation and happiness; and (h) the emotions and selective perception. (pp. 49-57)

Causation and Teleology: To truly understand anything, we must know four things about it. Material cause is the kind of matter of which an object is made. Formal cause is the particular form, or pattern, of an object. Efficient cause is the force that transforms the matter into a certain form. Final cause is the purpose for which an object exists. Though it is listed last, the final cause (a thing's purpose) actually precedes the other three causes. Aristotle's philosophy exemplified teleology because, for him, everything in nature exists for a purpose. The Hierarchy of Souls: Aristotle believed, as most Greek philosophers, that souls give life and all living things possess a soul. He also believed that there are three souls, and a living thing's potential (purpose) is determined by what type of soul it possesses. A vegetative (or nutritive) soul is possessed by plants. It allows only growth, the assimilation of food, and reproduction. A sensitive soul is possessed by animals. In addition to the vegetative functions, organisms that possess a sensitive soul sense and respond to the environment, experience pleasure and pain, and having a memory. A rational soul is possessed only by humans. It provides all functions of the other two souls but also allows thinking or rational thought. Sensation: Aristotle said that information about the environment is provided by the five sense: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. He believed that perception was explained by the motion of objects that stimulate one of the senses. The movement of environmental objects created movements through different media, and each of the five senses was maximally sensitive to movements in a certain medium. Common Sense, Passive Reason, and Active Reason: He believed that individual sensory information alone is not sufficient and that it is the combined information from all the senses that allows for the most effective interactions with the environment. Aristotle postulated a common sense as the mechanism that coordinated the information from all the sense, which was assumed to be located in the heart and its job to synthesize sensory experience. Passive reasoning involved the utilization of synthesized experience for getting along effectively in everyday life, but it did not result in an understanding of essence, or first principles. The abstraction of first principles from one's many experiences could by accomplished by active reasoning, which was considered the highest form of thinking. Memory and Recall: Aristotle explained memory and recall as the results of sense perception. Remembering, for him, was a spontaneous recollection of something that had been previously experienced. Recall involves and actual mental search for a past experience. It was in conjunction with recall that Aristotle postulated what have been called his 'laws of association.' Imagination and Dreaming: According to Aristotle, when sensations occur, they create images that long outlast the stimulation that caused them. The retention of these images is what constitutes memory. Imagination is explained as the lingering effects of sensory experience and is seen to be more susceptible to error. Aristotle also explained dreaming in terms of the images of past experience. During sleep, the images of past experience may be stimulated by events inside or outside the body. The reasons that our residual impressions (images) may seem odd during a dream that (1) during sleep, the images are not organized by reason; and (2) while awake, our images are coordinated with or controlled by ongoing sensory stimulation, which interacts with the images of previous experience, but during sleep this does not occur. Motivation and Happiness: Aristotle believed that happiness was the result of doing what was natural because doing so fulfills one's purpose. For humans, our purpose is to think rationally, and therefore, doing so brings happiness. Biologically, however, these actions to fulfill hunger, sex, etc. are biologically motivated to bring us happiness or pleasure. The Emotions and Selective Perception: Aristotelian philosophy postulates that emotions have the function of amplifying and providing motive for any existing tendency/action (i.e. running faster when scared). However, the emotions may also influence how people perceive things; that is, they may cause 'selective perception.'

Dionysiac-Orphic religion

Most relative to the poor, this religion is based upon Dionysus, the god of wine and frenzy, and his disciple Orpheus. The religion centered around the belief in the transmigration of the soul; in which the divine existence had, at some point, committed a sin and, as punishment, was locked into a physical body/prison. Until it redeemed itself, it continued a "circle of births"

elementism

No matter how complex something is, it can be explained in terms of atoms and their activity.

Sophists

A group of philosophers who concluded that there was not just one truth but many. In fact, they believed that anything is true if you can convince someone that it is true. Nothing, they said, is inherently wrong or right, but believing makes it so. These people were professional teachers of rhetoric and logic who believes that effective communication determined whether an idea was accepted rather than the idea's validity. Truth was considered relative, and therefore no single truth was thought to exist.

temple medicine

Can most closely be related to faith healing because most often the rituals, ceremony, and medicines did not actually heal as modern day medicine does.

Describe Plato's (ca. 427-347 BC) theory of forms, his analogy of the divided line, his allegory of the cave, the reminiscence theory of knowledge, his beliefs regarding the nature of the soul, and the nature of sleep and dreams. Describe the influence of Plato on the development of science. (pp. 45-49) Comment: Plato's reminiscence theory of knowledge is found in the Meno (see Hamilton & Cairns, 1961, as cited in Hergenhahn, 2001). It consists of an easily readable dialogue between Socrates and a boy. The boy is led by Socrates's questions and prompts to "recall" innate knowledge consisting, for example, of geometry and geometrical relationships. From a modern perspective, it seems obvious that Socrates's questions led the boy to learn the knowledge rather than to recall it, but the story nonetheless makes for engaging reading.

According to Platos' theory of forms, everything in the empirical world is a manifestation of a pure form (idea) that exists in the abstract. This means that the physical manifestations (chairs, cats, etc) are inferior manifestations of the 'pure' abstract idea or form. This is true for every object for which we have a name. What we experience through the senses results from the interaction of the pure form with matter; and because matter is constantly changing and is experienced through the senses, the result of the interaction must be less perfect than the pure idea before that idea interacts with matter. For Plato, essence (form) had an existence separate from its individual manifestations. Plato believed that the only true knowledge involves grasping the forms themselves and that this can only be done with rational thought, rather than examining the empirical world through the sensory experience. Imagining is seen as the lowest form of understanding because it is based on images. Portraits and reflections in the water are considers images once removed from the objects reflects. we are slightly better off confronting the objects themselves rather than their images, but the best we can do even when confronting objects directly is to form beliefs or opinions about them. Although, beliefs do not constitute knowledge. Still better is the contemplation of mathematical relationships, but mathematical knowledge is still not the highest type because such knowledge is applied to the solution of practical (empirical) problems, and many of its relationships exist only by definition. That is, mathematical relationships are assumed to be true, but these assumptions could conceivably be false. The highest form of thinking involves embracing the forms themselves, and true intelligence or knowledge results only from an understanding of the abstract forms. The 'good' or the 'form of good' constitutes the highest form of wisdom because it encompasses all other forms and shows their interrelatedness. The form of the good illuminates all other forms and makes them knowable. It is the highest truth. In Platos' story of prisoners who lived their lives in the depths of a cave, the allegory of the cave, represents the journey of learning the 'good' knowledge as evident of Platos' previous concept of the analogy of the divided line. The bound prisoners represents humans who confuse the shadowy world of sense experience with reality. The prisoner who escapes represents the individual whose actions are governed by reason instead of sensory impressions. The escaped prisoner sees the real objects (forms) responsible for the shadows and the objects in the cave (sensory information) and thus embraces true knowledge. After such an enlightening experience, an effort is often made to steer others away from ignorance and toward wisdom. The plight of Socrates is evidence of what can happen to the individual attempting to free others from the chains of ignorance. Platos' 'reminiscence theory of knowledge' answers the questions of how one comes to know the forms if they cannot be known through sensory experience and was highly influenced by Pythagorean notions of the immortality of the soul. Plato believed that before the soul was implanted in the body, it dwelled in pure and complete knowledge; that is, it dwelled among the forms. The only way to arrive at true knowledge is to ignore sensory experience and focus one's thoughts on the contents of the mind. According to Plato's theory, all knowledge is innate and can be attained only through introspection, which is the searching of one's inner experiences (remembering the experience of the souls before entering the body. Plato believed the soul had three main components; a rational that was immortal, a courageous (or emotional/spirited), and the appetive. The courageous and appetive aspects were part of the body and thus mortal. He postulated that humans were in a constant state of conflict, similar to freud, in which bodily appetites must be met (hunger, thirst, sex) and play a major motivational role. He believed that in order to attain true knowledge, the bodily needs must be kept under control by the rational component of the soul. According to Plato, while awake some individuals are better able to rationally control their appetites than are others; during sleep, however, it's another matter. Even with otherwise rational individuals, the baser appetites manifest themselves as they sleep. Although he does not mention 'dreams', he does refer to the endless number of shameless deeds committed withing them. Because science depends on an empirical observation, Plato's philosophy did little to promote science and much to inhibit it. Plato created a dualism that divided the human into a body, which was material and imperfect, and a mind (soul), which contained pure knowledge

Describe the basic features of Anaxagoras's (ca. 500-428 BC) philosophy. Explain his assertion that "everything contains everything." What exception was there to this principle? (p. 37)

Anaxagoras believed that things were made up of an infinite number of elements that he referred to as 'seeds'. However, these elements do not exist in isolation. They are all present in everything but within differing proportions that provide the thing with it's characteristics. The exception being the 'mind', which was pure in the sense that it contains no other elements and is not present in other elements.

Describe the characteristics of the philosophy of Anaximander (ca. 610-540 BC), one of Thales's students. Why did he urge us not to eat fish? (p. 32)

Anaximander believed that even water was made from something more basic that had the capability of forming into anything. He called this 'something' the boundless or the indefinite. Similarly, he proposed a theory of evolution in which humans arose growing inside and emerged from a carrier fish, which were created from the mixture of hot water and earth, when humans could survive on their own. This was also the reason why he urged us not to eat fish, because he believed that they are our mothers and fathers.

rational soul

Aristotle believed that there are three souls, and a living thing's potential (purpose) is determined by what type of soul it possesses. A rational soul is possessed only by humans. It provides all functions of the other two souls but also allows thinking or rational thought.

sensitive soul

Aristotle believed that there are three souls, and a living thing's potential (purpose) is determined by what type of soul it possesses. A sensitive soul is possessed by animals. In addition to the vegetative functions, organisms that possess a sensitive soul sense and respond to the environment, experience pleasure and pain, and having a memory.

vegetative soul

Aristotle believed that there are three souls, and a living thing's potential (purpose) is determined by what type of soul it possesses. A vegetative (or nutritive) soul is possessed by plants. It allows only growth, the assimilation of food, and reproduction.

common sense

Aristotle's mechanism that coordinated the information from all the sense, which was assumed to be located in the heart and its job to synthesize sensory experience.

Olympian religion

Consisted of a belief in the Olympian gods, who typically showed little concern for the anxieties and immorality of ordinary humans. It was believed that the "breath-soul" survived after death without any of the current memories or personality traits; encouraging those to live life to the fullest.

Define Aristotle's laws of association: the law of contiguity, the law of frequency, the law of similarity, and the law of contrast. (pp. 54-55) Comment: Aristotle's laws of association have a surprisingly modern tone. They are quite like Thorndike's laws and Guthrie's laws, which were formulated in the early part of the twentieth century.

Contiguity: The most basic law of association, which states that when we think of something, we also tend to think of things that were experienced along with it. Similarity: states that when we think of something, we tend to think of things similar to it. Contrast: states that when we think of something, we also tend to think of things that are its opposite. Frequency: which states that the more often experiences occur together, the stronger will be their association.

Describe the atomic theory of Democritus (ca. 460-370 BC), as well as his theory of perception and his beliefs about life after death. Define elementism and reductionism, and explain how they are represented in Democritus's theory. (pp. 37-38)

Democritus believed that everything was made up of atoms and the differences among things were based on the size, shape, number, location, and arrangement of atoms. Elementism: His view also incorporated elementism because no matter how complex something was, he believed it could be explained in terms of atoms and their activity. Reductionism: His theory also exemplified reductionism because he attempted to explain objects and events n one level (observable phenomena) in terms of events on another level (atoms and their activity).

Identify the basic features of Empedocles's (ca. 495-435 BC) belief system. (pp. 36-37) Comment: Empedocles led a personally tumultuous life that ended when he leapt into the volcano Mt. Etna in an unsuccessful effort to prove he was a god. A poet wrote: Great Empedocles, that ardent soul,; Leapt into Etna, and was roasted whole.

Empedocles believed that the world was made up of four elements; earth, fire, air, and water. He also postulated two causal powers of the universe: love and strife. Love is a force that attracts and mixes the elements, and strife is a force that seperates the elements. Operating together, these two forces create an unending cosmic cycle consisting of four recurring phases. In phase one, love dominatesand there is a perfect mixture of the four elements. In phase two, strife disrupts the perfect mixture by progressively separating them. In phase three, strife has managed to completely separate the elements. In phase four, love again becomes dominant, and the elements are gradually recombined.

Identify and describe Aristotle's four causes, along with the concepts of entelechy, scala naturae, and the unmoved mover. (p. 52)

Entelechy: The built-in purpose of things that exist in nature is called entelechy. Entelechy keeps an object moving or developing in its prescribed direction until its full potential is reached. Scala Naturae: refers to the idea that nature is arranged in a hierarchy ranging from neutral matter to the unmoved mover. The closer to the unmoved mover something is, the more perfect it is. Although Aristotle did not accept evolution, his Scala Naturae does create a phylogenetic scale of sorts, making it impossible to study "lower" animals in order to understand humans. Unmoved Mover: is pure actuality and the cause of everything in nature. For Aristotle, the unmoved mover is what gives all natural objects their purposes.

Galen

He associated the four humors of the body with four temperments. If one of the humors dominates, the person displays the characteristics associated with that humor. Galen's extension of Hippocrates views created a rudimentary theory of personality, as well as a way of diagnosing illness that was to dominate medicine for the next 14 centuries and his ideas continue to be influential within personality theory.

Xenophanes

He attributed human invention to religion and the characteristics of their gods. He is regarded as an early Sophist in that he believed that humans create whatever 'truth' exists. He was not considered an atheist, though, because he postulated a supreme god with characteristics unlike those of the times.

Heraclitus

He believed everything to be in a state of flux. With this in mind, he postulated the question that 'how can something ever be known if it is constantly changing?' It was his belief that everything existed between polar opposites, where one side of the pole defined the other.

Parmenides

He believed that change was an illusion because there is only one reality, which is finite, uniform, motionless, fixed, and can only be understood through reason. Thus his knowledge is attained only through rational thought because sensory experience provides only illusion.

Anaximander

He believed that even water was made from something more basic that had the capability of forming into anything. Similarly, he proposed a rudimentary theory of evolution in which humans arose growing inside and emerged from a carrier fish.

Democritus

He believed that everything was made up of atoms and the differences among things were based on the size, shape, number, location, and arrangement of atoms.

Alcmaeon

He believed that health was a balance of such qualities as warm and cold, moist and dry, and bitter and sweet. He also believed in the use of natural medicine. He was also the first to discover that the senses derived from the brain by dissecting a body.

Empedocles

He believed that the world was made up of four elements; earth, fire, air, and water. He also postulated two causal powers of the universe: love and strife.

Hippocrates

He was proficient in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of disease; keeping detailed records of mumps, epilepsy, hysteria, arthritis, and tuberculosis. He concluded that all disorders were caused by natural factors such as inherited susceptibility to disease, organic injury, and an imbalance of bodily fluids. He also brought great accomplishments to the development of naturalistic medicine to new heights.

Describe the main points of Heraclitus's (ca. 540-480 BC) philosophy. Explain the underlying significance of his statement, "No man steps into the same river twice" (pp. 32-33). Comment: Some of Heraclitus's writings reveal a rather misanthropic man who valued war and felt that punishment was necessary. ("Every beast is driven to the pasture with blows.") Heraclitus's ideas regarding the nature of change have recently found support in the form of chaos and complexity theory (Waldrop, 1992), which posits that states of equilibrium are rare in nature and that constant change is the norm.

Heraclitus believed everything to be in a state of flux. Things are never in a state of 'is' but rather a state of 'becoming'. This is where his statement comes from, as it indicates that things are constantly changing and so things (the river) is never the same as it was before (stepping into the same river twice). With this in mind, he postulated the question that 'how can something ever be known if it is constantly changing?' It was his belief that everything existed between polar opposites, where one side of the pole defined the other.

Plato

His theory of forms, everything in the empirical world is a manifestation of a pure form (idea) that exists in the abstract. Because science depends on an empirical observation, His philosophy did little to promote science and much to inhibit it. His created a dualism that divided the human into a body, which was material and imperfect, and a mind (soul), which contained pure knowledge

Describe the method Socrates (469-399 BC) used to search for truth. In what sense did Socrates search for the essences of things? What relationship did Socrates see between knowledge and morality? (pp. 44-45)

In Socrates search for truth, he used a method called inductive definition, which started with an examination of instances of such concepts as beauty, love, justice, or truth and then moved on to such questions as "what is it that all beauty have in common?' He sought to discover general concepts by examining isolated examples. Opposite to other Sophists, he believed that truth could be general and communicated. he also believed that the understanding of essences constituted knowledge, and the goal of life was to gain knowledge. When one's conduct is guided by knowledge, it is necessarily moral. For Socrates, knowledge and morality were intimately related; knowledge is virtue, and improper conduct results from ignorance.

Socrates

In his search for truth, he used a method called inductive definition, which started with an examination of instances of such concepts as beauty, love, justice, or truth and then moved on to such questions as "what is it that all beauty have in common?' He sought to discover general concepts by examining isolated examples.

reductionism

It attempts to explain objects and events on one level (observable phenomena) in terms of events on another level (atoms and their activity).

passive reason

It involved the utilization of synthesized experience for getting along effectively in everyday life, but it did not result in an understanding of essence, or first principles.

unmoved mover

It is pure actuality and the cause of everything in nature. For Aristotle, the unmoved mover is what gives all natural objects their purposes.

Name and describe the basic beliefs of the two major early Greek religions. (pp. 30-31)

Olympian Religion: consisted of a belief in the Olympian gods, who typically showed little concern for the anxieties and immorality of ordinary humans. It was believed that the "breath-soul" survived after death without any of the current memories or personality traits; encouraging those to live life to the fullest. Dionysiac-Orphic Religion: Most relative to the poor, this religion is based upon Dionysus, the god of wine and frenzy, and his disciple Orpheus. The religion centered around the belief in the transmigration of the soul; in which the divine existence had, at some point, committed a sin and, as punishment, was locked into a physical body/prison. Until it redeemed itself, it continued a "circle of births"

Identify the major points of Parmenides' (fl. ca. 515 BC) belief system. What is Zeno's paradox? Why does Zeno's paradox have implications for the usefulness of rationalism and empiricism? (pp. 33-34) Comment: Parmenides held that change is an illusion and that we live in a fixed universe. Parmenides' outlook on this perhaps survives in present-day psychology in the notion of homeostasis (e.g., Stagner & Solley, 1970), a process in which any change produces a counter-change that attempts to return a system to its original state. For example, some psychological theories hold that early deprivation and impoverishment in one's life later cause a strong neurotic tendency to accumulate wealth that is out of proportion to other aspects of life. This is also a popular theme in fictional literature.

Parmenides believed that change was an illusion because there is only one reality, which is finite, uniform, motionless, fixed, and can only be understood through reason. Thus his knowledge is attained only through rational thought because sensory experience provides only illusion. Zeno's paradox refers to the illusion of motion because of the infinite number of point between any two points that prevent it from ever reaching the 'end' (point B). The paradox postulated that either logic, mathematics, and reason were correct or information provided by the senses were, which they concluded it was logic. However this misconception is similar to rationalism and empiricism.

According to Karl Popper, what important tradition that began with Thales proved to be a foundation of the scientific attitude? (pp. 57-58)

Popper believed that the willingness to engage in critical discussion was the beginning of an extremely important tradition because it broke the dogmatic tradition that permitted only one true doctrine by allowing a plurality of doctrines, all attempting to approach the truth via critical discussion. Coupled with this tradition of free, critical discussion is the realization that our inquiries are never final but always tentative and capable of improvement.

Pythagoras

Pythagora's postulated that basic explanation for everything in the universe was found in numbers and in numerical relationships. Pythagoreans assumed a dualistic universe in that there is one part abstract, permenant, and intellectually knowable, and the other empirical, changing, and known through the sense.

Describe the fundamental principles in Pythagoras's (ca. 580-500 BC) philosophy. In what respect did Pythagoras propose a dualistic universe? What beliefs are shared by the Pythagoreans and by followers of the Dionysiac-Orphic religion? (pp. 34-35)

Pythagora's postulated that basic explanation for everything in the universe was found in numbers and in numerical relationships. He believed that, although abstract, numbers and numerical relationships were real and exerted influence on on the empirical world. However, perfection is only found in the abstract mathematical world that lies beyond the sense and therefore can be embraced only by reason. Pythagoreans assumed a dualistic universe in that there is one part abstract, permenant, and intellectually knowable, and the other empirical, changing, and known through the sense. Both viewed the body as a prison from which the soul should escape; accepted the notion of the transmigration of souls, and believed that only purification could stop the 'circle of births'; and the notion of transmigration fostered in the pythagoreans a spirit of kinship with all living things.

scala naturae

Refers to the idea that nature is arranged in a hierarchy ranging from neutral matter to the unmoved mover. The closer to the unmoved mover something is, the more perfect it is. Although Aristotle did not accept evolution, his Scala Naturae does create a phylogenetic scale of sorts, making it impossible to study "lower" animals in order to understand humans.

Who were the Sophists and what beliefs did they have? Describe the beliefs of Protagoras (ca. 485-415 BC), Gorgias (ca. 485-380 BC), and Xenophanes (ca. 560-478 BC). (pp. 41-44 ) Comment: Today, if we say that someone is a sophist or suggest that someone is engaging in sophistry, we are saying that he or she is presenting superficially plausible arguments that at a deeper level are misleading or fallacious. However, during their time the meaning of the word Sophist was more akin to professor, and the Sophists made their living by teaching youths such verbal skills as debating. The Sophists believed that truths are relative rather than absolute, and in this respect they shared something with the later American pragmatist philosophers who in turn shaped much of American psychology in the twentieth century.

Sophists: a group of philosophers who concluded that there was not just one truth but many. In fact, they believed that anything is true if you can convince someone that it is true. Nothing, they said, is inherently wrong or right, but believing makes it so. These people were professional teachers of rhetoric and logic who believes that effective communication determined whether an idea was accepted rather than the idea's validity. Truth was considered relative, and therefore no single truth was thought to exist. Protagoras, the first and best known Sophist, summarized the Sophists' position with his famour statement: "Man is the measure of all things--of things that are, that they are, and of things that are not, that they are not." This has many meanings: First, truth depends on the perceiver rather than on physical reality. Second, because perceptions vary with the previous experiences of the perceiver, they will vary from person to person. Third, what is considered to be true will be, in part, culturally determined because one's culture influences one's experiences. Fourth, to understand why a person believes as he or she does, one must understand the person. Therefore, each of the preceding philosophers was presenting his subjective viewpoint rather than objective truth about physical reality. Gorgias, also a Sophist, regarded the fact that knowledge is subjective and reletive as proof that "all things are equally false." Furthermore, because the individual can know only his/her private perceptions, there can be no objective basis for determining truth. Both Gorgias and Protagoras positions exemplify 'nihilism' because it stated that there can be no objective way of determining knowledge or truth. The Sophist position also exemplifies 'solipsism' because the self can be aware of nothing except its own experiences and mental states. Gorgias concludes that "nothing exists; if it did exist, it could not be comprehended; and if it could be comprehended, it could not be communicated to another person. (1) 'Noting exists" refers to the physical world; (2) if there is a physical world, we experience it through sense impressions, and the relationship between the physical world and sense impressions cannot be known; (3) We do not think in terms of sens impressions but in terms of the words used to describe those impressions; (4) because the meaning of the words that are used to express thoughts are unique to the individual, there is an unabridgable gap between one person's thoughts and another's. Xenophanes attributed human invention to religion and the characteristics of their gods. He is regarded as an early Sophist in that he believed that humans create whatever 'truth' exists. He was not considered an atheist, though, because he postulated a supreme god with characteristics unlike those of the times.

law of contrast

States that when we think of something, we also tend to think of things that are its opposite.

law of similarity

States that when we think of something, we tend to think of things similar to it.

What was temple medicine? Describe the beliefs of Alcmaeon (fl. ca. 500 BC) and Hippocrates (ca. 460-377 BC), as well as their contributions to Greek medicine and physiology. How did Galen (ca. 130-200 AD) extend the Hippocratic concept of the four humors? (pp. 38-41)

Temple Medicine: could most closely be related to faith healing because most often the rituals, ceremony, and medicines did not actually heal as modern day medicine does. Alcmaeon believed that health was a balance of such qualities as warm and cold, moist and dry, and bitter and sweet. If one or more qualities dominates a person's system, sickness results.The physician's job is to help the patient regain a lost equilibrium, thereby regaining health. He also believed in the use of natural medicine. He was also the first to discover that the senses derived from the brain by dissecting a body. Hippocrates was proficient in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of disease; keeping detailed records of mumps, epilepsy, hysteria, arthritis, and tuberculosis. He concluded that all disorders were caused by natural factors such as inherited susceptibility to disease, organic injury, and an imbalance of bodily fluids. He also brought great accomplishments to the development of naturalistic medicine to new heights. Hippocratics agreed with Empedocles that everything is made up of four elements (fire, water, air, earth) and that humans are made up of those elements too. However, they also associated the four elements with four humors in the body (Earth: black bile, Air: yellow bile, Fire: blood, Water: phlegm). Individuals for whom the humors are properly balanced are healthy; an imbalance among the humors results in illness. They believed that the body has the ability to heal itself and that the physician's job is to facilitate the natural healing of the body. Galen associated the four humors of the body with four temperments. If one of the humors dominates, the person displays the characteristics associated with that humor. Galen's extension of Hippocrates views created a rudimentary theory of personality, as well as a way of diagnosing illness that was to dominate medicine for the next 14 centuries and his ideas continue to be influential within personality theory.

Why is Thales (ca. 625-545 BC) considered an important philosopher? Describe his beliefs. What practical accomplishments brought him fame? What important critical tradition did he originate? (pp. 31-32) Comment: Thales is pronounced Thay-leez. Comment: Our knowledge of the early Greek philosophers is considerably obscured by time and the fact that so many of the writings and other records were destroyed, many of these by religious zealots during the Middle Ages eager to erase the heresies of antiquity. Stories of the early Greeks nonetheless survive. In one of these, passed on by Aristotle, Thales is said to have purchased many olive presses cheaply during the off-seasons when they were not needed and then to have leased them at high prices when the olive harvest was ready. Philosophers have a reputation for a lack of interest in material gain, but, as illustrated in this story, reasoning can be used to reap financial benefits as well as to earn a place in history.

Thales was considered an important philosopher for three main reasons. He postulated through his cosmology that things in the universe consist of natural substances and are governed by natural principles; they do not reflect the whims of the gods. The universe is therefore knowable and within the realm of human understanding. He also searched for that one substance or element from which everything is derived. The Greeks called such a primary element or substance a 'physis', and those who sought it were 'physicists'. Thales concluded that the physis was water, which is, in a way, still true today. Thales also predicted eclipses, developed methods of navigation based on the stars an planets, and applied geometric principles to the measurement of such things as the heights of buildings. This helped him corner the market on olive oil by predicting the weather patterns. Such practical accomplishments brought great fame to Thales and respectability to philosophy. The most important thing about Thales was the fact that he offered his ideas as speculations and welcomed criticism; inviting others to critisize and improve his teachings.

Thales

Thales was considered an important, and often the first, philosopher for three main reasons. He postulated through his cosmology that things in the universe consist of natural substances and are governed by natural principles; they do not reflect the whims of the gods. The universe is therefore knowable and within the realm of human understanding. The most important thing about Thales was the fact that he offered his ideas as speculations and welcomed criticism; inviting others to critisize and improve his teachings.

active reason

The abstraction of first principles from one's many experiences could by accomplished by active reasoning, which was considered the highest form of thinking.

associationism

The belief that one or more laws of association can be used to explain the origins of ideas, the phenomena of memory, or how complex ideas are formed from simple ones.

entelechy

The built-in purpose of things that exist in nature is called entelechy. Entelechy keeps an object moving or developing in its prescribed direction until its full potential is reached.

Protagoras

The first and best known Sophist, summarized the Sophists' position with his famous statement: "Man is the measure of all things--of things that are, that they are, and of things that are not, that they are not." This has many meanings.

law of contiguity

The most basic law of association, which states that when we think of something, we also tend to think of things that were experienced along with it.

Describe the world of precivilized humans 15,000 years ago, including the practices of animism and anthropomorphism, as well as appeals to the concept of spirit and the use of magic. (pp. 29-30)

The practices of precivilaized humans relied on very unscientific terms by which to explain observations. Both Animism and Anthropomorphism were used to make sense of natural occurrences. Animism: is looking at all of nature as though it were alive (the sky is angry). Anthropomorphism: the projection of human attributes onto nature.. Similarly, the attachment of 'spirits' were used to explain events because the logic behind it was the mind could conjure up anything and was assumed to be real; providing an array of demons, gods, etc. behind all natural events. Elaborate methods of 'magic' were used to influence said spirits when they provided much or little of the event; giving the belief that humans had some control over their fate.

anthropomorphism

The practices of precivilaized humans relied on very unscientific terms by which to explain observations. Both Animism and ____ were used to make sense of natural occurrences. The projection of human attributes onto nature..

animism

The practices of precivilaized humans relied on very unscientific terms by which to explain observations. Both ___ and Anthropomorphism were used to make sense of natural occurrences. Is looking at all of nature as though it were alive (the sky is angry).

dreaming

The reasons that our residual impressions (images) may seem odd during a dream that (1) during sleep, the images are not organized by reason; and (2) while awake, our images are coordinated with or controlled by ongoing sensory stimulation, which interacts with the images of previous experience, but during sleep this does not occur.

What do animism, anthropomorphism, magic, religion, philosophy, and science have in common? (p. 30)

They all tend to have a measure of belief and subjectivity behind its driving motive to explain, understand, and control the natural events we observe.

material cause

To truly understand anything, we must know four things about it. Material cause is the kind of matter of which an object is made.

law of frequency

Which states that the more often experiences occur together, the stronger will be their association.

Zeno's paradox

Zeno's paradox refers to the illusion of motion because of the infinite number of point between any two points that prevent it from ever reaching the 'end' (point B). The paradox postulated that either logic, mathematics, and reason were correct or information provided by the senses were, which they concluded it was logic. However this misconception is similar to rationalism and empiricism.