CHAPTER 2:THEPRE-SOCRATICS
Main Points
1.Epistemologyisthebranchofphilosophyconcerned primarilywiththenature,sources,limits,andcriteriaofknowledge.Inthehistoryofphilosophy,epistemologyandmetaphysicshavebeenintimatelyconnected.
2.“Metaphysics,”theterm, inits originalmeaningrefersto thoseuntitledwritings ofAristotle“afterthePhysics”thatdealwithsubjectsmoreabstractanddifficulttounderstandthanthoseexaminedinthePhysics.
3.ThefundamentalquestionofAristotle’smetaphysics,andthereforeofmetaphysicsasasubject,isWhatisthenatureofbeing?However,thisquestionwasaskedbeforeAristotle,sohewasnotthefirstmetaphysician. Inaddition,ithasadmittedavarietyofinterpretations overthecenturies,thoughformostphilosophersitdoes notincludesuchsubjectsasastralprojection,UFOs,orpsychicsurgery.
4.ThefirstWesternphilosophersare known collectivelyasthepre-Socratics,aloosechronologicaltermapplyingtothoseGreekphilosopherswholivedbeforeSocrates (c.470–399B.C.).
5.Thethinking of these earlyphilosophersusheredina perspectivethatmadepossibleadeepunderstandingofthenaturalworld.AdvancedcivilizationisthedirectconsequenceoftheGreekdiscovery of mathematicsandtheGreekinventionofphilosophy.
TheMilesians
6.Thalesconceivedandlookedfor(andissaidtobethefirsttodoso)abasicstuffoutofwhichallisconstituted.Hepronouncedittobewater.
7.Thalesalso introducedaperspectivethatwas notmythologicalincharacter.His viewcontributed totheideathatnature runsitselfaccording tofixedprocesses thatgovernunderlying substances.
8.Anaximanderthoughtthebasicsubstancemustbe moreelementary thanwaterand mustbeageless,boundless,andindeterminate.
9.Anaximenes pronouncedthebasicsubstancetobeair.
Pythagoras
10.Pythagoras issaidtohavemaintainedthatthingsarenumbers,but,moreaccurately(accordingtohiswifeTheano),Pythagorasmeantthatthings arethings becausethey canbeenumerated. Ifsomething can becounted,itisathing (whetherphysicalor not).
11.ForPythagoras,thereisanintimacybetweenthingsandnumbers.Thingsparticipateintheuniverseof orderandharmony.Thisledtotheconceptthatfundamentalrealityiseternal,unchanging,andaccessibleonlytoreason.
HeraclitusandParmenides
12.ForHeraclitus,theessentialfeatureofrealityisfire, whosenatureisceaselesschangedeterminedbyacosmicorderhecalledthelogos,through whichthereisaharmoniousunionofopposites.Suchceaselesschangeraisestheproblem ofidentity(canIstepintothesamerivertwice?)andtheproblem ofpersonal identity(amIthe samepersonoveralifetime?)
13.Parmenidesdeducedfromaprioriprinciplesthatbeing isachangeless,single,permanent,indivisible,andundifferentiatedwhole.Motionandgenerationareimpossible,forifbeingitselfweretochangeitwouldbecomesomethingdifferent.Butwhatisdifferentfrombeing isnon-being,andnon-beingjustplainisn’t.
EmpedoclesandAnaxagoras
14.Empedocles, reconcilingthe viewsofHeraclitus andParmenides, recognizedchange in objectsbutsaidtheywerecomposedofchangelessbasicmaterialparticles:earth,air,fire,water.Theapparentchangesintheobjectsofexperiencewereinrealitychangesinthepositionsofthebasicparticles.Healsorecognizedbasicforcesofchange,love,andstrife.
15.AnaxagorasintroducedphilosophytoAthensand introduced into metaphysics thedistinctionbetweenmatterandmind.Heheldthattheformationoftheworldresultedfromrotarymotioninducedinmassbymind=reason=nous.
16.Minddidnotcreatematter,butonlyactedonit, anddidnotactoutofpurposeor objective. UnlikeEmpedocles,Anaxagorasbelievedmatterwascomposedofparticlesthatwereinfinitelydivisible.
TheAtomists
17.LeucippusandDemocritus:Allthingsare composed ofminute,imperceptible,indestructible,indivisible,eternal,anduncreatedparticles,differinginsize,shape,andperhapsweight.Atomsareinfiniteinnumberandeternallyinmotion.
18.TheAtomistsdistinguishedinherent andnoninherentqualities of everyday objects: colorandtastearenotreally“in”objects,butotherqualities,suchasweightandhardness,are.
19.TheAtomistsheldthatbecausethingsmove,emptyspacemustbereal.
20.TheAtomistsweredeterminists.Theybelievedthatatomsoperateinstrictaccordancewithphysicallaws.Theysaid futuremotionswouldbecompletelypredictableforanyonewith enoughknowledgeabouttheshapes,sizes,locations,directions,andvelocitiesoftheatoms.
21.Thecommon threadof the pre-Socratics:allbelievedthattheworld we experienceismerelyamanifestationofa morefundamental,underlyingreality.
Boxes
TheNatureofBeing?
(Someofthevarious questionsaphilosophermighthave in mind whenheorsheasks thequestion)
Profile:Pythagoras
(RememberedforthePythagoreanTheorem,actuallydiscoveredearlierbytheBabylonians)
OnRabbitsandMotion
(TwoofZeno’santimotionargumentsexplained)
Mythology
(Thelegacyofancientmyths)
Philosophers
•Anaxagorasmaintained that all things are composed of infinitely divisible particles; the universe was caused by mind (nous) acting on matter.27
•Anaximanderheld that the original source of all things is a boundless, indeterminate element.21
•Anaximenessaid that the underlying principle of all things is air.22
•The Atomists(especially Leucippus and Democritus) said that all things are composed of imperceptible, indestructible, indivisible, eternal, and uncreated atoms. Motion needs no explanation.28
•Empedoclesheld that apparent changes in things are in fact changes in the positions of basic particles, of which there are four types: earth, air, fire, and water. Two forces cause these basic changes: love and strife.26
•Heraclitusheld that the only reality is ceaseless change and that the underlying substance of the universe is fire.23
•Parmenidessaid that the only reality is permanent, unchanging, indivisible, and undifferentiated being and that change and motion are illusions of the senses.25
•Pythagorasmaintained that enumerability constitutes the true nature of things.22
•Thalesheld that water is the basic stuff of which all else is composed.20
•Zenodevised clever paradoxes seeming to show that motion is impossible.25
Suggested Further Readings
Forrest E. Baird, and Walter Kaufmann eds., Philosophic Classics: Vol. I: Ancient Philosophy (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1996). An anthology of the philosophical classics from the ancient world.
Jonathan Barnes, Early Greek Philosophy (New York: Penguin Books, 2001). A basic collection of the pre-Socratic thinkers who provided the foundation of later Western philosophy.
John Burnet, Early Greek Philosophy, 4th ed. (London: Macmillan, originally published in 1930). This is generally considered the standard work on the subject.
Marc Cohen, Patricia Curd, and C. D. C. Reeve, eds., Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy 4th edition (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2011). A good selection of the important readings in ancient Greek philosophy.
John Dillan and Tavia Gergel, The Greek Sophists (New York: Penguin Books, 2003). Important early texts in the art of rhetoric and sophistical thinking from the fifth century.
Terence Irwin, Classical Philosophy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999). A good anthology of the writings of ancient Greek and Roman philosophers on the basic questions of philosophy.
G. S. Kirk, J. E. Raven, and M. Schofield, The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selection of Texts, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983). This is a comprehensive treatment of the pre-Socratics.
A. A. Long, The Cambridge Companion to Early Greek Philosophy (New York: Cambridge University, 1999). A consideration of some of the pre-Socratic philosophers and the problems they faced.
Mary Ellen Waithe, ed., A History of Women Philosophers, vol. 1 (Dordrecht, Boston, and London: Kluwer Academic Press, 1991). The first of a four-volume series on the history of women philosophers.
Robin Waterfield, trans., The First Philosophers (New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 2000). A new translation of many of the important pre-Socratic philosophers.
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