the first greek philosophers: the presocratics (600-400 BC)

what is Heraclitus' most famous saying and what does it mean?

"you can ever step in the same river twice" which means everything is always in flux

Who was Democritus?

An atomist who believed everything is made of basic particles that could not be further subdivided. each atom is eternal, atoms moved around randomly in a vaccuum called the Void. everything we percieve is made up of different mixtures of atoms

What did Democritus believe about our perceptions?

He thought they were not objective truths. instead, he thought perceptual qualities are only human conentions that develop as we learn to react variously to objects.

who were the earliest known greek philosophers?

Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes

What did Democritus believe about reality?

There are only atoms and the Void; there is no underlying order in nature

What does Heraclitus use the metaphor of fire to describe?

Used it to describe change. He wrote "the ordering is the same for all, no god nor man has made, but it ever was and is and will be: fire ever living, kindled in measures and in measures going out." this quote shows that heraclitus was not a philosopher of creative change but rather believed that change occurs only within an eternal order of fixed measures

what is the "paradoxes of motion"

a paradox suggested by zeno which seemed to show that motion is impossible. achilles is in a race with a tortise, start at same time but toirtose starts at a point further ahead. achilles is faster so he will soonr each the starting point of the toirtose but by that time he will have moved to a point further away. this happens ad infinitum, therefore achilles will never catch the tortoise

Who was Empedocles?

a religious thinker and political leader who also made contributions to pholosophy

What kind of matter did Anaximenes believe was the most basic?

air

what is the most famous saying attributed to pythagoras?

all is number. ie nature is made up of numerical patterns with orderly ratios. For example, geometrical shapes are defined by numerical ratios, such as those given in the pythagorean theorem. They also believed there were geometrical patterns in the movement of stars, so heavens were also ruled by numerical ratios

What is nous?

an organizing force that Anaxagoras believed provided order in nature. Nous is the Greek word for intellect or rational mind.

how did heraclitus see the logos of reality?

as a unity of opposites. opposites define each other

empiricism

epistemology that relies on perception in the search for knowledge

rationalism

epistemology that relies on reason alone and that distrusts the role of perception

What did Empedocles believe?

he believed that reality consists of all four of the traditional elemeents (materialist): air, earth, fire and water which were mixed by forces of attraction and repulsion.

What didn't Anaxagoras explain?

he didnt explain how intellect brought order to the world, nor did he describe that order.

What does Heraclitus' quote "war is the father of all mean?

he used the metaphor of war to describe the oppositional patterns of reality. he meant that the patterns of reality begin with basic distinctions; without distinctions, there is no pattern and no order of reality

what was Empedocles theory about love and strife?

in the beginning, love held all the elements together but then strife came into the world to separate them, so now all things consist of mixtures of elements

what is reality for empedocles?

it is not about matter alone, but also about the patterns into which matter is shaped by the basic forces (relationships) of attraction and repulsion

what was the underlying order that Heraclitus believed in called?

logos, which means rational explanation in Greek philosophy. for greek philosophers like heraclitus, it refers to the orderly patterns of reason that define reality

what did Empedocles call the attractive force?

love

what is Empedocles' ontology?

materialism and formalism

was pythagoras a materialist?

no, because he thought numerical patters NOT matter were the basis of reality

Who is Zeno of Elea?

one of parmenides students who used logical arguments to try and show that change is impossible

what type of philosopher was heraclitus

ontological formalist

according to heraclitus, how are opposites related to each other?

opposition is a relation that forms a pattern of unity between opposites

what are two other famous greek otological formalists?

pythaggoras and plato

What did empedocles call the repulsive forces?

strife

What kind of matter did Anaximander believe was the most basic?

substances called apeirons. he said other elements emerged from basic oppositions with apeiron

What did the Milesians believe?

that matter is the basis of reality

what does heraclitus' quote "nature is always hidden" mean?

the logos of order is always beneath the surface, so it is only on the surface of things that we see constant change

ontological materialism

the theory that reality is made of matter

what did followers of pythagoras believe?

the ultimate basis of reality is not matter, but patterns, specifically the patterns described by numbers and numerical ratios

ontological formalists

the uncommon term for a philosopher who believes patterns are the ultimate basis of reality

what did Heraclitus believe?

the world as we percieve it is always changing, but he also believed that there is an eternal order within changes occur

What was the Pythagorean discovery about music?

there are numerical patterns present in music. musical harmony has orderly numerical ratios within it while disharmony has disorderly ratios

What did Anaxagoras believe?

there is an infinite number of basic elements. every simple kind of thing has its own element and complex things are made of a mixture of these simple elements.

what was the purpose of zeno's paradoxes?

they were meant to show that our beliefs about motion lead to logical contradictions and therefore the very idea of motion (which is change) must be false

what did parmenides believe?

truth never changes, and that reality is perfectly unified. he said reality is a perfect unchanging unity so anything less than this is unreal and false. he thought truth never changes so anything that changes is false. he thought reality is unified so anything that is divided is unreal.

what does apeiron mean?

unlimited/undefined

What kind of matter did Thales believe was the most basic?

water (everything comes from water)

according to the followers of parmenides, what do we observe when we observe change?

we are seeing something false. truth never changes, so when we percieve changes our perception is false