Pre-Socratics
Thales- 1. Western thought began in Greece with Thales of Miletus (624-546 BC), who is considered the first true scientist and philosopher.
- 2. Thales rejected mythological and religious explanations, and tried to explain things in natural terms - the beginnings of science.
- 3. He made discoveries in geometry, astronomy, and meteorology, and even cashed in on a bumper olive harvest which he had predicted.
- 4. Despite this, he also said, "All things are full of gods". For modern philosophers (mostly atheist) this is slightly embarrassing.
- 5. Thales thought that the world basically consists of water, which can be all states: solid (ice), gas (steam) or liquid (um…water!)
- 6. Famously, Thales fell into a well whilst pondering the stars. Let that be a lesson to all who wander and ponder.
- 7. Plato lists Thales as one of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece, and some also attribute to him the famous aphorism “Know thyself”.
- 8. Anaximander (610-546 BC), Thales’ pupil, disagreed with him: water isn’t the primary principle - where would dry things come from?
- 9. Anaximander therefore argued for a sort of primal chaos - ‘the boundless’ – as the basic substance from which all things originate.
- 10. Anaximander also thought that the world was shaped like a drum, with an upper and a lower surface, suspended in space.
- 11. While this is obviously wrong, the idea that the earth was unsupported in space was an important development for future theories.
- 12. His account of human origins also remarkably anticipates Darwin, proposing that we most likely developed from aquatic animals.
- 13. He also made one of the first star charts, published the earliest known map of the world, and developed the first Greek sundial.
- 14. Anaximander argued for an infinite universe, opening the door to cosmic pluralism: the idea that there are many worlds like ours.
- 15. Later, Plato, Aristotle, and eventually Christianity, rejected this in favour of a rare Earth hypothesis: our world is unique.
- 16. Anaximenes (535-528 BC) was Anaximander's pupil, the third and final Milesian philosopher (from Miletus, in what is now Turkey).
- 17. Anaximenes proposed yet another candidate for the most basic substance: air (a backward step, really, scientifically speaking).
- 18. Anaximenes thought the world was flat. Sadly, this view was to prove more popular over the next few centuries than his tutor's.
- 19. Next is Pythagoras (570-497 BC), whose theorem about right-angled triangles is indiscriminately etched onto every child's brain.
- 20. Pythagoras is thought to have invented the term "philosophy" (love of wisdom), and be the first to use "cosmos" in its modern sense.
- 21. He argued that there are three types of people: lovers of wealth, lovers of honour, and lovers of wisdom - that is, philosophers.
- 22. On the advice of Thales, Pythagoras went to Egypt, then held to be the world centre for the study of philosophy and religion.
- 23. Pythagoras believed in reincarnation, and once stopped a puppy being beaten because he recognised in it the soul of a friend.
- 24. He also believed in eternal recurrence - that eventually, this day, in every detail, will come round again, and again, eternally.
- 25. Pythagoras had many pupils, who studied together in a religious and philosophical community – the basis of the modern university.
- 26. For Pythagoras, number was the basis of reality, and the planets moved in a sort of musical harmony – the 'music of the spheres'.
- 27. Alcmaeon (fl. 6th century BC) is considered a Pythagorean, but is now remembered as the first to undertake anatomical dissection.
- 28. Xenophanes (c.570 – c.480 BC) founded the Eleatic School, was a satirical poet and traveller, and lived to the extreme age of 93.
- 29. Some thought him a sceptic, but he was actually a 'gradualist': knowledge is difficult to acquire and must be gathered bit by bit.
- 30. Xenophanes is also known for advocating rational monotheism: there was one God, who was impersonal, omniscient and omnipotent.
- 31. Heraclitus (c.535 - c.475 BC) was known as 'the weeping philosopher' because of his pessimistic and cynical view of human nature.
- 32. He was also known as 'the obscure' and 'the riddler' for his tendency to communicate his ideas in short, enigmatic phrases.
- 33. Heraclitus thought that the the most fundamental substance is fire, and as a result everything is in a constant state of change.
- 34. This is the meaning of his famous saying, 'You cannot step into the same river twice', for either you or the river are different.
- 35. Unlike Thales or Anaximenes, Heraclitus didn't think the universe was created or had a beginning, but that it has always existed.
- 36. Highly critical of other philosophers and their claims to knowledge, he believed true knowledge was possible, but hard to come by.
- 37. Another of Heraclitus' noted ideas was that all elements exist in paired opposites, warring with each other in constant strife.
- 38. The next philosophical school came from Elea, a Greek colony in South-West Italy, and centred around Parmenides (c.520–c.450 BC).
- 39. The Eleatics, unlike previous schools, argued that it is thought, not sense experience, which gives us a true picture of reality.
- 40. Parmenides was a “monist” - he believed that there is only one true substance in the universe, of which all things are aspects.
- 41. Thus intellectual knowledge is key, for whilst the world appears as many things, only the mind can realise its underlying unity.
- 42. Parmenides' monism led him to argue that, since we can't conceive of nothing, anything we can conceive of must exist in some form.
- 43. The universe was therefore indestructible, changeless (change is illusory), eternal, seamless and finite – it has boundaries.
- 44. In terms of natural philosophy (science) he had some progressive views: the earth is a sphere, and the moon's light is reflected.
- 45. Melissus (5th century BC) was a follower of Parmenides, and concentrated upon explaining and expanding upon Parmenides' views.
- 46. Melissus argued that empty space is inconceivable, but - unlike Parmenides - considered the universe to be of infinite size.
- 47. The third and last philosopher of the Eleatic school was Zeno (c.490-c.430 BC), who is now best remembered for his paradoxes.
- 48. To overtake a tortoise, we must first close half the gap, then half the remaining gap – and so on, infinitely, never passing it.
- 49. Another similar paradox involves an arrow never reaching its target, for the distance to be covered can be infinitely divided.
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