Early Greeks
These early Greek philosophers replaced
supernatural explanations for life events with naturalistic explanations. Additionally, they encouraged the evaluation
and criticism of ideas.
650BC-----600BC----550BC----500BC-----450BC-----400BC-----350BC------300BC----
_____-----Thales-----_____________-----Protagoras---______----Aristotle---
________________-----Heraclitus------__------Hippocrates-------______----Epicurus----
__________________________________------Democritus--------_____-----Zeno-------
______________------Pythagoras-----____________------Plato------__-------Pyrrho------
50BC-------0------50------100----150-----200------250-----300------350-----400------450
____-----Philo-----_____________________________-Constantine-___-Augustine---________________________________________
Things in the universe follow natural principles; they aren’t the whims of gods
The world is made of one element: water
Predicted weather and eclipses; helped farming
The beginnings of the critical tradition: welcomed the criticism of his ideas
The world is made up of one thing: fire, because it is ever changing
How can we really know something that is constantly changing?
The universe can be explained through numbers and numerical relationships
Sensory experience can’t provide knowledge
Illness is caused by bodily imbalance
All things are made up of atoms, which are tiny and indivisible
Perception happens when atoms emit from an object and enter the brain, causing the fire atoms there to copy them
All disorders are caused by natural factors
The body can heal itself, a physician just helps
Represents a philosophical shift from the physical world to human concerns
Truth depends on the perceiver
Perceptions vary from person to person
Everything in the real world is a manifestation of a pure form (idea) that exists in the abstract
Using senses to examine the world will only get you opinions, knowledge comes from examining forms
Cave allegory
The soul has a rational, immortal part and also a courageous and appetitive part which are mortal
Nature and knowledge are inseparable
Everything has four causes: material, formal, efficient, and final
Everything in nature exists for a purpose
Hierarchy of souls: vegetative, sensitive, rational
Perception is caused by the stimulation of the five senses
The ultimate human goal is to engage in active reason
Memory and recall led to the laws of association, contiguity, similarity, contrast, and frequency
Dreams are unreliable in their prophecies
Conflicts arise between rationality and our appetites these are best resolved with the golden mean
Attacked dogmatists (anyone claiming to have arrived at an indisputable truth)
Suspension of judgment
Sought a life of quietude to avoid being wrong
Guides for living:
-appearances: sensations and feelings
-convention: traditions, laws, customs
Appearances are acceptable but judgments or interpretations of them are not
Free will, the soul is atoms which settle upon death
Simple lives, uncommon pleasures undermine the common ones
The good life is free, simple, rational, and moderate
The world is ruled by a divine plan
Accept fate with indifference and suffer in silence
How can human will be free in a predetermined universe?
Started philosophy with the bible’s creation of man
Lowly body combined with a divine soul
Sensory experience inhibits learning
Knowledge is revealed by God
Instrumental in making Christianity an accepted religion in Rome
Supported the incorporation of non-Christian philosophy into the faith
Evil exists because people choose it
Behavior is controlled internally (by guilt)
Confession alleviates guilt
You can know God by introspection
Time depends on sensory experience and the memory of it