Natural Philosophers in Ancient Greece Thales’ Problem Natural Philosophers in Ancient Greece

Greek Thought: a Neo Way Did not have to resort to animistic or deistic explanations Assumed that the cosmos was understandable, ordered and constructed intelligibly That as humans we have the special capacity: we could figure it all out…the question drove them like a splinter in the mind…

Hubris and Nemesis Be careful!! Explosions in Human Knowledge…

Q: What is the whole world made up of? Thales Thales (625-550bc) was a smart guy, revered by Greeks and Romans in ancient world Lived in Miletus, an Athenian colony and hotbed of intellectuals on eastern shore of Aegean (Turkey today) Thales’ Answer: water Neo: what is the matrix?

The Guys from Miletus Debate: Anaximander’s Answer Everything is from and made out of the Boundless

The Guys from Miletus Debate: Anaximenes’ Answer Everything is from and made out of ….Vapor…

Parmenides’ Answer: 540-480bc Everything has always existed Nothing can come from nothing Nothing really changes Senses are unreliable But his problem is how are the changes in the constant universe generated?

Heraclitus’ Answer 540-480bc Everything is in flux Opposites dominate World based on interactions – thus change Senses are reliable His problem: what holds everything together?

Who’s right? Parmenides 540-480bce Heraclitus 540-480bc Everything has always existed Nothing can come from nothing Nothing really changes Our senses are unreliable when they tell us of the transitoriness of world Rationalism Heraclitus 540-480bc Everything is in flux Opposites dominate World based on interactions – thus change Senses are reliable Empiricism

Empedocles’ Answer… He combined the two philosophers’ ideas From Parmenides, he took… There is an unchanging substratum 4 unchanging roots: fire, water, earth and air From Heraclitus , he took… But world is changing; you can trust your senses Yet 2 forces interplay and yield changes “love” - attraction “strife” – separation/repulsion Any guesses?

Empedocles: 2 Forces Filotis: Neikos = love – gravity Neikos = escape or strife – centifugal He believed planets orbiting sun were result of 2 forces… http://www.petra.gr/Theology/empedocles.htm

Pythagorus’ Answer : Numbers 570-495 BC of Samos 3.14.. ∞… ∂…99.999 ∏… Pythagorus’ Answer : Numbers 570-495 BC of Samos “Numbers are things, things are numbers” “Music of the spheres” Ratios of numbers explain harmonies In awe of the mystical Irrational numbers If numbers are things, where are they? tried to explain them Pythagoreanism became a religion

Democritus’ Answer: Atoms Eternal and immutable pieces of material Invisibly small and indivisible All of it is of the same stuff Comes in different sizes shapes Cling to each other In perpetual motion Soul is also made of these atoms

Sophists v Socrates (470-399BC) Sophists: There is no truth Everything is in flux, everything is relative Skeptical that anything can be known “Man is the measure of all things” - Protagorus

Socrates Assumes objectivity…a rationalist… There are unchangeable truths …what are they? The Power of Socratic dialogue Euthyphro Reading…

Socrates Recall 4 Views of Ethics: Non-Cognitive Theory: Boo/Yay theory Ethical Subjective Theory Cultural Subjective Theory Moral Objective Theory

Would Socrates Make a Good Teacher at our School?

Plato: An Idealist Answering Thales’ Problem Seeking a Unified Field Theory to Explain Everything

Plato’s Theory of Forms Premise: Thales’ answer did not include everything in the intangible world Material stuff changes and erodes Unchanging is the timeless ideas or molds

Plato’s Theory of Forms These molds exist in intangible real of ideas These immutable molds: called “forms” We relate to these “forms” through our reason The world of senses is transitory and subject to opinion via the senses

True Reality is in the realm of Idea It is immaterial and eternal and unchanging One cannot obtain true knowledge through the senses Physical world is a reflection of reality but not reality itself

How do we locate reality? A rationalist approach Dialectical discussions of ideas Push each idea, probe, question Locate errors and adjust thinking …This sounds like someone else we know…

Man is a dual creature Realm of forms Realm of senses Permanent real “a circle” Realm of senses Soap bubbles – flux Poor reflections circle We are not born tabular rasa; we have latent knowledge of the realm of forms – we recognize types in this world because of inbred knowledge of forms…