NOTES- Chapter 2, Section 4: Greek Philosophy

NOTES- Chapter 2, Section 4: Greek Philosophy

HONORS

NOTES- Chapter 2, Section 4: Greek Philosophy

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

  1. Why was the Chinese revolution more alike to Greek thought than to Indian religion or Judaic monotheism?
  2. Why, beginning in the 6th century BCE, did Greek thinkers produce an intellectual revolution?

GREEK PHILOSOPHY- The Greeks were the first to initiate the unreservedly rational investigation of the universe. They thus became the forerunners of Western philosophy and science. In the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, Greek thinkers, such as Thales of Miletus and Heraclitus, sought to explain natural phenomena without recourse to divine intervention. In the later 5th century and the fourth century BCE, philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, applied the same rational, inquisitive approach to the study of moral and political issues in the life of the Greet city-state, or polis.

GREEK PHILOSOPHY

  1. Background
  2. 6th century BCE- Greeks raising questions about nature that produced an intellectual revolution with no reference to supernatural powers
  3. Influenced Greek views on law/justice
  4. Laws were made by humans and should be obeyed because they represent the consent of the citizens
  5. Opened the door for asking more questions about the universe
  6. Philosophy- the intellectual examination of the physical world and the place of humankind
  1. Reason and the Scientific Spirit
  2. Greek philosophers assumed that the world was knowable, rational, and simple
  3. THALES OF MILETUS/ ANAXIMANDER / HERACLITUS OF EPHESUS / PARMENIDES OF ELEA/ ZENO / EMPEDOCLES OF ACRAGAS
  4. Atomists (LEUCIPPUS OF MILETUS/ DEMOCRITUS OF ABDERA)- believed that minds were guided by purely physical laws.
  5. Sophists (professional teachers who taught practical techniques of persuasion/rhetoric)
  6. Did not speculate about the physical universe (like atomists); applied reasoned analysis to human beliefs/institutions
  7. Many argued that law was in accord with nature; led to the beliefs about the Polis (Greek city-state)
  8. Others argued that laws were not in accord with nature but the result of an agreement among people- prevented them from harming each other.
  9. Most extreme argued that law was contrary to nature and was a trick used by the weak to control the strong
  1. Political and Moral Philosophy
  2. Concerned with the creating of moral principles to govern the people and the state and answer the problems of nature/transcendence
  3. Socrates
  4. Committed to the search for truth and knowledge about human affairs through the use of reason
  5. METHOD- question and cross-examine men to answer moral questions
  6. Believed in the supremacy of the polis but did not believe in democracy- thought it relied on uninformed masses to make decisions
  7. Plato
  8. Student of Socrates; first systematic philosopher (wrote 26 philosophical discussions)
  9. Founded the Academy- a center for philosophical investigation; school to train statesmen
  10. Virtues of the polis were order, harmony, justice
  11. Main objective of the polis- produce good people
  12. Definition of justice- man should do only that one thing to which his nature was best suited
  13. Believed he could improve the polis through moral/political reform by destroying the causes of strife (private property, the family, other obstacles that prevented devotion to the polis)
  14. Aristotle
  15. Student of Plato
  16. Founded the Lyceum school in Athens
  17. Members were concerned with gathering, ordering, and analyzing all human knowledge
  18. Prepared collections of information for scientific works (logic, physics, astronomy, biology, ethics, rhetoric, literary criticism, politics)
  19. METHOD
  20. Observation of the evidence
  21. Application of reason to discover inconsistencies/problems
  22. Introduced metaphysical principles to explain/correct the problems
  23. The purpose of most things could be seen by observation of their behavior
  24. Balance between reason and experience in life
  25. Believed the polis made individuals self-sufficient and allowed the full realization of their potential
  26. Marriage, household, village, polis (highest social institution to serve needs of the people)
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