What is the Meaning of living?

 Thales asked, “What is Basic Stuff of the Universe?”  What is the “ARCHE?”  Three Assumptions  Fundamental explanation must be ONE.  “The One” must be a Thing.  The One must have the ability to move and change.

 Thales declared that the First Principle is Water;  Everything floats on, depends on it.  Soul is kinetic; it moves.

 Anaximander  The idea of aperion – the ONE was unlimited, boundless, infinite or indefinite.  He said the Earth was like a cylinder.  Anaximenes  Declared the ONE to be Air.

 Pythagoras  Pythagorean Theorem in Geometry...  a²+b²=c²  He believed the Universe was not stuff but forms that could be converted into numbers and mathematics.  He established a “mono”theistic religious order around ideas.

 Xenophanes  He challenged the idea that you could know the divine.  Heraclitus  A dark philosopher  The ONE was Fire  “All things flow” or “change is everything.”

 The Eleatics- From Elea in Italy  Parmenides, Zeno, and Melissus  Parmenides  2 ways of inquiry  whatever is, is and cannot be  something that arises from not-being is impossible and unthinkable Question: What application does Zeno’s logic have today? Research “Thomson’s Lamp” to find out.

 Zeno of Elea  Three paradoxes  Achilles and the Tortoise  A divided bar  The Flecher’s arrow  Melissus  The one is a seamless, unchanging whole.  Change is just in the appearance. Question: What application does Zeno’s logic have today? Research “Thomson’s Lamp” to find out.

– Empedocles Empedocles wanted to show how change was possible. – Democritus atomism- The ONE the “ARCHE” is made particles called atoms, uncuttables that could move and reform within the void.

 Democritus  Death was a dissipation of atoms of the soul, body became devoid of life.  Nothing was random, no real freedom of choice.  Everything happened by necessity.  Democritus wrote on ethics, beliefs about behavior.  He divided what we can know into two types of knowledge:  one by study, genuine.  The other by senses, called the obscure.

 Protagoras  He focused on grammar.  He believed that everything was tied to “excellence”.  Gorgias  Lasting knowledge is impossible.  He was an enemy of Socrates and Plato

 Antiphon  Natural law and human law re-encounter each other in Antiphon.  He was the first to get to the problem: can we get from what “is” to what “ought” to be.  The sophists said “yes”, Socrates said, “Prove it!”

 Socrates...  Influenced every school of thought in Ancient Greece.  Influenced early Christian Scholars like Justin Martyr and St. Augustine.  Was a Hero of the Peloponnesian War.  fought Spartans.  received a life-long pension.

 Socrates...  Originally a sophist, he soon became greatest teacher in Athens.  Challenged Sophists and publically embarrassed them.  Accused of forsaking the gods, called jury idiots if they believed he was teaching against the gods.  Condemned to death.  Drank hemlock, considered an honorable suicide.  Taught of Plato and Aristotle

 recorder of Socrates trial and death  Wrote The Republic in which most ideas of Republican, representative government arise from  Analogy of the Cave- (video) Plato's CavePlato's Cave  Attacked the Sophists blaming them for Socrates death

– Student of Socrates – challenged Plato’s theory of forms saying each particular has a particular – Designation study of nature in to categories like genus and species, Started 1 st zoo with help of Alexander the Great – His ideas on universe accepted by Catholic Church till 1700’s – Wrote Physics which started a new field of science, added metaphysics to explain, unexplainable – Wrote extensively about ethics

Epicurus – Life to be experienced through the senses focused on food, cooking schools called Epicureans Stoics – Believed emotions and feelings dangerous – response to Epicureans who indulged in everything, refused to enjoy anything