The Question of Reality- Unit 2 Reality & Metaphysics

The Question of Reality What is reality? What is ultimate? What is really real? Read pp (Introduction)

Chapter 3– The First Metaphysicians The Problem of the One and the Many –What is the ultimate reality (the One)? –How is everything else (the Many) related to it?

Presocratics World’s first official philosophers Sometimes called monists because they sought to isolate one thing (usually one of the elements) as the basic stuff to which all reality could be reduced Their ancient efforts paved the way for the Scientific Method Their ideas were literally written in stone Pronounciation  p. 60

Thales BCE Water is the ultimate reality Necessary for all living things Is present in most things Seems to be everywhere (especially for a Greek) There is a lot of it! Can exist in different forms Thought of as the 1 st philosopher

Anaximander BCE “All elements are comprised of ‘apeiron’ or ‘the boundless’” All things are made of apeiron & return to apeiron wiki/Apeiron_(cosmolo gy) wiki/Apeiron_(cosmolo gy)

Anaximenes BCE “Air is the root of all things” “The soul is composed of air” The breath is linked to the soul (e.g. “Bless You”  air leaving the body = soul leaving the body)

Pythagoras BCE Life is a numbers game It can be explained through mathematical theorems (e.g. movement of planets, music, physics) One of the first cult leaders  killed followers who revealed his numerical secrets

Heraclitus BCE Everything is composed of fire Also means everything is in flux  “You can’t step into the same river twice.” “All things flow” “The sun is new everyday” “We are and we are not” “All we are is dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wiiiiii- iiiiiiiind….. Ahhhhhh ah ahhhhhh!!!”

Parmenides 540 or BCE Opposite of Heraclitus  everything is stagnant “It is” The more things change, the more they stay the same

The Sophists Sophists are the ancient version of self- help gurus or motivational speakers. They were teachers & philosophers who charged money for their “wisdom”

Protagoras “The First Sophist” “Man is the measure of all things” Had an apathetic view of God Followed the “anything goes” principle

Gorgias “The Nihilist” Nothing exists If anything did exist, you could not know about it If something existed and you knew about it, you could not communicate that awareness to others

Socrates Compared himself to a gadfly (annoying to Athenians) Wanted to find the TRUTH Posed questions & then questioned the response others gave him (Socratic Method) Never wrote his ideas down (couldn’t read or write) We know about Socrates’s ideas through Plato’s accounts Accused of corrupting the youth Was put on trial, convicted, and sentenced to death

Plato Protégé of Socrates Allegory of the Cave  meant to illustrate how people live with a veil over their eyes Can people respond to the TRUTH or one who has seen the TRUTH? Theory of Forms  perfect form of beauty, perfect form of numbers, cure for cancer, etc. The Republic  Most famous work; describes Plato’s perfect government system (philosophers rule– surprise, surprise)

Aristotle “Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth” “Friendship is one soul living in two bodies” He believed we have souls but they die with the body. Agree? Too little or too much of anything is bad Avoid extremes Balance = harmony

The Golden Mean The cause of things is not just what happens as a lead up to an event, it is also a goal being realized (or a sense of purpose). It is as if the outcome is already there ahead of time, pulling reality along with it. Also considered an attribute of beauty Do you agree with this concept? Are there religious beliefs that match up with this concept? Teleology: the study of the purpose of things

PAGE 62 Read the quotes in the green box on page 62 You need a half sheet of paper to answer these questions: Which do you agree with the most and why? 5 sentence minimum explanation. Which one do you agree with the least & why (excluding Empedocles’s quote)? 5 sentence minimum explanation.