1. Greek Philosophy and History
Ch. 5 Section 2
Greek Philosophy and History

2. Main Idea: Greek philosophers developed ideas that are still
used today. 1 3 2 4
Greek Philosophy
The word philosophy comes from the Greek word for “love of wisdom.”
Greek philosophy led to the study of history, political science, science, and mathematics.
Greek thinkers who believed the human mind could understand everything were called philosophers.
Many philosophers were teachers.

3. Hello!!! Who were the Sophists?
The Sophists were professional teachers in ancient Greece who traveled from city to city and
made a living by teachers
others
They
believed students should use time to improve themselves and taught students how to win an argument and make good political speeches.
They did not believe that the gods and goddesses influenced people.
Hello!!!
Who were the Sophists?
They rejected the idea absolute right or wrong and that what might be right for one person might be wrong for another.

4. The most notable Greek philosophers and their ideas were:
Plato
Socrates
Pythagoras
Aristotle

5. Pythagoras Developed many new Taught his pupils that ideas
about
mathematics
Taught his pupils that
the universe followed
the same laws that
governed music
and numbers
Pythagoras
Known for developing
the Pythagorean theorem
which is a way to determine
the length of the sides
of a triangle.

6. Socrates Left no writings behind and what is known came from the
of his students
Believed
absolute
truth existed
and that
all real
knowledge
was in each
person
sculptor
critic of
the
Sophists
Invented the Socratic
method of teaching
Which encouraged
people to question
everything for truth
Forced students to use
their power to reason
and see things
for themselves

7. leaders because they saw him as a threat and he was
What happened To
Socrates? .
He lost the favor of the Athenian
leaders because they saw
him as a threat and he was
sentenced to death.

8. Opened a school in Athens
Student of Socrates
Opened a school in Athens
called The Academy
. Wrote, The Republic,
which explains
his ideas about
the perfect
type of government
Plato
Who was
Plato?

9. Plato Believed a just and of equality reasonable between government
Promoted the idea
of equality
between
the sexes.
Believed a just and
reasonable
government
was a necessity
Plato
Divided society into
3 classes:
philosophers-kings to
rule with logic and reason
2. warriors to defend the state
3. ordinary people who
produced the state’s
food, clothing, and
shelter
Rejected democracy as
a system of government
because he didn’t think
the rule by the
people produced
fair or
sensible policies

10. Aristotle Student of Plato who wrote more than 200 books
Opened a school called the Lyceum
and taught his students
the “golden mean” which holds that
a person should do
nothing in excess.
(not too much or too little)
Aristotle
Who
Was
Aristotle?

11. Aristotle Described his idea of the
Helped advance science
Urged people to use
their senses to
make observations
Described his idea of the
best style of government in his book, Politics.
Divided governments into 3 types:
Government by one person (tyrant)
Government by a few people
(aristocracy or oligarchy)
Government by many people (democracy)

13. Greeks wrote the first real histories in
Greek Historians
Main Idea:
Greeks wrote the first real histories in
Western civilization
Legends and myths
were used to explain
the past and many
were passed on by
oral tradition before
being written down.
In most places in the
ancient world, people
did not write
their history.

14. Herodotus some events. Wrote the History of the Persian Wars
Used gods and goddesses to explain
some events.
Wrote the History of the Persian Wars
Western historians consider him the
“father of history”

15. Thucydides Considered the greatest historian of the ancient
world by many historians.
Fought in the Peloponnesian War and wrote the
“History of the Peloponnesian War”
Saw war and politics as activities of humans not gods

16. Check for Understanding
What does philosophy mean?
Love of wisdom
Who were the sophists?
The Sophists were professional teachers in ancient Greece
Name one philosopher we discussed.
Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Pythagoras