Intro to Ancient Greek Philosophy

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Intro to Ancient Greek Philosophy

• R.S. Stewart
• Lecture 1
• Intro The Pre-Socratics

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Map of Ancient Greece
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Athens

• The Agora where Socrates lectured

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Athens

• Parthenon Built between 447 438 BCE with
  adornments continued to 432 BCE. It has served as
  a treasury, been converted both to a Christian
  Church and a Mosque and was badly damaged when
  bombed by Venetians while serving as an Ottoman
  armory in 1867.

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Athens

• Parthenon

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Parthenon on Acropolis

• Artist's rendition

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Athens

• Herodion Theatre (looking down from the Parthenon)

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Athens

• Temple of Zeus (from Parthenon)

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Athens

• Temple of Zeus

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Athens

• Temple

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External Nature

• Thales, water
• Anaximander, the indefinite
• Empedocles, air earth, fire, and water
• Democritus, atoms
• Materialism, Reductionism, Determinism, and
  Mechanism

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The Beginnings of Western Philosophy

• Socrates and the Story of the Oracle at Delphi
  (from Apology) Philosophy as a critical stance
  in search of proper definitions

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Thales (b c.624 BCE) The first Pre-Socratic

• All is water The discovery of nature and the
  rejection of mythopoeic explanations

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The Milesians

• Thales, water
• Anaximander (b. 610 BCE), The Indefinite
• Anaximenes (b585 BCE), Air
• Plenums and the lack of space

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Parmenides of Elea
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Parmenides (fl. Early 5th C BCE) argument
against motion

• An Argument in Philosophy a set of reasons put
  forward (called premises) in support of a claim
  (called the conclusion).
• 1) What is, is what is not, is not.
• Assumption 1 Law of the excluded Middle
• Assumption 2 What exists must be knowable by
  having consistent properties.

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Parmenides argument against motion

• 1) What is, is what is not, is not.
• 2) Change requires motion.
• 3) Motion requires empty space.
• 4) Empty space is nothing or something that is
  not.
• 5) Empty space is not
• 6) Motion is not.
• 7) Change is not.
• Therefore, Nothing ever changes or can change.

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Democritus (b. Thrace, 460-457 BCE)

• Atomic theory and the resolution of Parmenides
  problem
• Matter comes in units that are uncuttable
  (automa or atoms) This means that empty space
  (that which is not) cannot enter into the atom
  (which is).
• Empty space exists as the separator of atoms.
• Atoms differ in size, shape and position.
• Atoms are self moving.

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The Sophists

• A shift to law and politics Democracy and the
  need for public speakers.
• Relativism.
• A human being is the measure of all things of
  things that are, that they are, and of things
  that are not, that they are not. Protagoras
• There are two opposing arguments concerning
  everything. Protagoras
• To make the weaker argument the stronger.
  Protagoras