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The Origins of Western Philosophy - the Pre-Socratics and Socrates

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The Origins of Western Philosophy - the Pre-Socratics and Socrates Humanities 1A Lindahl The Origins of Western Philosophy - the Pre-Socratics and Socrates On the very notion of the “beginning” of Western Philosophy - Myth and "wisdom" Philosophy: philein (love) + sophia (wisdom) Cosmology, Metaphysics Naturalistic philosophy - demythologizing cosmology Mythos & Logos – Wisdom sought through Reason Trend to reduce mythological and anthropomorphic explanations - Aletheia - "the naked truth" Factors: Leisure, Wealth, Trade, Democratic debate / Rhetoric, Writing Dialectic vs. Dogma The Pre-Socratics The "Ionian Revolution" – the idea of a basic stuff or “substance” (Metaphysics) Ionia, The Milesians - the beginning of philosophy (585 BCE) Thales (of Miletus) (640-546 BCE), metis, physis (in this case, water) Anaximander (of Miletus)(610-545 BCE), "On the Nature of Things," physis = Apeiron, Anaximines (of Miletus) (d.528 BCE), physis = air, naturalistic explanations Issues concerning Knowledge (Epistemology) and the problem of cultural relativism Xenophanes (of Colophon) (570-480 BCE), epistemology, relativism Heraclitus (of Ephesus) (535-470 BCE), fire, flux and logos, Rational cosmic order Pythagoras (of Croton) (571-497 BCE), Music of the spheres, “theorein,” a2+b2=c2 (of right triangles) The separation of “what Is” from “what Appears to be” The Eleatics Parmenides (of Elea) (515-450 BCE), truth and “Being” Zeno (of Elea) (490-430 BCE), Reductio ad absurdum, Zeno's paradoxes, Achilles and the Tortoise The Pluralists and Atomists Empedocles (of Acragas) (490-445 BCE), love and strife – earth, air, fire, water Anaxagoras (of Clazomenae) (500-428 BCE), Nous Democritus (of Abdera) (460-370 BCE), “Atoms,” Materialism Main issues so far – Substance, Being, Knowledge (Metaphysics and Epistemology) The emerging question – “How should I live?” (Ethics) The Sophists (“teachers of wisdom” [sort of] or Aretê) “Rhetoric” and what it might mean to “live well” Protagoras (490-420 BCE) - “Man is the measure of all things” A curious court case involving one of Protagoras’ students Gorgias (485-380 BCE) – Epideixeis (model orations) A defense of Helen and the argument that “nothing exists” Antiphon (late 5th c. BCE) Nomos (custom) vs. Physis (nature) Civil law is by convention and Natural law is according to necessity The big question: Is Ethics Nomos or Physis? Ethics, Ethos, and a renewed look at Aretê (excellence or virtue) Plato’s early dialogues – the real Socrates? Plato (428-348 BCE) – the Dialogue form Socrates (of Athens) (470-399 BCE) Socrates vs. the Sophists Dialectic method / Socratic method – Elenchus Big issue in epistemology – Objectivism vs. Relativism, What it means for ethics The Trial of Socrates ("The Apology") The end of the Peloponnesian War and the rule of the 30 tyrants (404-400 BCE) The Athenian court system – the “pinakion” (the juror’s badge) The charges against Socrates and Socrates’ defense The “Gadfly of Athens” The Socratic maxim: "know thyself" - Apology 38a "the unexamined life is not worth living" Crito and Phaedo, Socrates’ death, Socrates the martyr Areas of study in Philosophy: Metaphysics (What is), Epistemology (How we “know” what we know), and Ethics (Value Theory, what is good or right), Logic (The rules of good reasoning) What does it mean to Plato? What does it mean to us? .
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