Midterm Study Guide Flashcards
Who are the Milesians?
Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes
What were Thales theories?
Water, in some sense, was the basic stuff of the cosmos/ Earth is stable because it is resting on water/ Everything has a soul
What were Anaximander’s theories?
The origin or source of all things is the apeiron (the unlimited)/ The earth floats free in the middle without falling/ Considered that from warmed up water and earth emerged either fish or entirely fish-like animals.
What were Anaximenes theories?
The basic stuff of the cosmos, the source or origin of everything was air.
Why are the Milesians considered Philosophers?
They do not always give arguments for their views/ They try to explain things not to be reference to deities but introducing impersonal universal principle or principles which could be assessed or argued about and which could, ultimately, provide us with objective understanding of the workings of nature which could be used to predict natural events
What were Xenophanes theories?
Critiqued Homer and Hesiod for representing the gods as human, all too human: imperfect, fallible (mistake-prone), immoral/ Had a non-anthropocentric (humankind) conception
What were Heraclitus theories?
“The Riddler”/ Metamorphic fire is the source of all things/ The Flux Doctrine/ All things are one/ Unity of Opposites
What is the Flux Doctrine and who’s theory did belong to?
Some things stay the same only by changing/ We cannot name anything but can only point at it / Heraclitus
Who said we cannot ‘step into the same river twice’?
Heraclitus
What are possible interpretations for the theory of Unity of Opposites? Who’s theory does it belong to?
Things have contrary qualities at the same time (conflating of opposites into identity)/ Things have contrary qualities at different times/ Heraclitus
Why is Heraclitus important?
Emphasizes thinking about one’s own thinking (self-scrutiny) and questioning one’s own questions
What are Zeno’s theories?
The Stadium (aka the Dichotomy) / Achilles
What is the theory of the Stadium (aka the Dichotomy) ? Who came up with this theory?
The argument that says that there is no motion because that which is moving must reach the midpoint before the end / Zeno
What is the theory of Achilles? Who came up with the theory?
This is the effect that the slowest as it runs will never be caught by the quickest. For the pursuer must first reach the point from which the pursued departed, so that the slower must always be some distance in front / Zeno
What were Empedocles theories?
Four Eternal “roots” and two eternal “forces” acting on them (love and hate)
