Lesson 2 - the First Philosophers Flashcards
Who were the Milesians?
- Reductionists, who boiled the universe down to one element (eg. earth, air, fire, water)
- Material explanations instead of theistic explanations
- Thales (water)
- Anaximander (indefinite substance)
- Anaximenes (air)
What was the Milesians big idea?
Everything in the world is reducible to one kind of stuff
What was the main idea of Pythagoras?
- All is number
- developed the concept of form (limit) which is applied to matter (the unlimited)
- Huge influence on Plato
What was the main idea of Heraclitus (535-475 BC)
– Change is fundamental to reality
What was the fundamental element of Heraclitus?
Fire
Who were the Eleatics?
- Xenophanes
- Parmenides
- Zeno
What was Parmenides big idea?
Change and division are illusions; everything is ultimately one
Who were the Pluralists?
Philosophers who tried to accommodate a pluraity of views:
a. ) Empedocles
b. ) Anaxagoras
Who was the first philosopher to synthesize previous positions instead of taking sides?
Empedocles
- Parmenides is right: being is eternal
- Parmenides is wrong: being is not one, but many
What was Anaxagoras big idea?
Mind is prior to matter and explains its order (first philosopher to distinguish mind from matter)
Who were the Atomists?
Everything is reducible to the interaction of material particles:
– Leucippus and Democritus (original materialists)
Who were the Sophists?
There is no objective truth or knowledge, so the goal of philosophical argument is persuasion in the interest of power:
- Protagoras - first philosophical relativists (“man is the measure of all things”)
- Gorgias
- Thrasymachus
What did the Sophists shift in philosophy?
Shift from Metaphysics to Epistemology in philosophy (skeptics about knowledge, relativists about truth)
