Natural Philosophy The Seven Sages:
Thales of Miletus (624-547 BC.) Solon of Athens (c.624-560) Pittacus of Mitylene (650-570) Bias of Priene (flourit ca. 570) Chilon of Sparta (Ephor in 556) Cleobulus of Lindus (6th. cent.) Myson of Chen (6th. cent.) Or: Periander of Corinth (late 7th. Cent) Myson Pittacus
Solon Bias
Thales Chilon
Cleobulus The Presocratics:
Kosmos (order) Chaos (disorder) Nature (physis) Sought the origin (arche) of all things Milesians: Thales Anaximander Anaximenes
Essence, Arché Thales
Of Miletus A descendant of Cadmus 624 - 547 Learned Geometry in Egypt Five Theorems of Elementary Geometry Foretold of the eclipse of 28 May, 585 Water is the arche. Anaximander The earth floats free in space Celestial bodies circle the earth. Anaximenes
Student of Anaximander B. ca. 526 BC
Air is the ‘arche’ "Being made finer it [air] becomes fire, being made thicker it become wind, then cloud, then (when thicker still more) water, then earth, then stones; and the rest come into being through these" (Phys. 24. 26). Air is arche, ergo eternal, ergo divine Natural Philosophy Pythagoras of Samos 569 – 476 Captive in Babylon
Philo (love) sophia (wisdom) Lovers of wisdom – but no man can be wise Harmonic ratios 2:1, 3:2 and 4:3 used in music. "Golden Mean" 1:1:2:3:5:8:13:21:34:55:89 Ration of 1 to 1.618 Earth rotates around the sun Transmigration of the soul
b = 89
a = 55
a Chilon
Ephor of Sparta 556 Engraved the three maxims at Delphi Know thyself Nothing overmuch A pledge, and ruin is nigh. Relativism:
Xenophanes of Colophon ca. 550 BC “Mortals made their gods, and furnished them with their own body, voice and garments. Our gods have flat noses and black skin, say the Ethiopians. The Thracians say, our gods have red hair and hazel eyes” Protagoras of Abdera
481 – 411 BC Ethical Relativism “Man is the measure of all things”
“Whatever each city judges to be just and fine, these thing in fact are just and fine for it, so long as it holds these opinions.” (Plato Theaetetus 167c. 4-5) The Sophists
Materialist presupposition Rejection of nomos Sought physis through examination Truth is a function of the dialectic Logos Argument, story – without examination cannot be true Dissoi Logoi Conflicting arguments Truth is a result of the agona – the competition A well educated man must be able to argue Gorgias of Leontini
Visited Athens in 427 Taught the dissoi logoi for a fee
Plato, Gorgias Criticism: Aristophanes and Plato: “…to make the weaker argument the stronger” Original: “… make the weaker argument stronger” Hippocrates
460 – ca. 375 BC Author (?) of the Hippocratic Corpus Likely a single epithet for a collection of authors More than 60 books Hippocratic Oath