Greek philosophers.
Pythagoras was an early Greek philosopher, astronomer and
mathematician known for the Pythagorean theorem, which geometry students use to figure the hypotenuse of a right triangle. He was also the founder of a school
named for him
mathematician known for the Pythagorean theorem, which geometry students use to figure the hypotenuse of a right triangle. He was also the founder of a school
named for him
who were the sophists?The Sophists were orators, public speakers, mouths for hire in an oral
culture.They were gifted with speech.They were skilled in what becomes known as Rhetoric.They were respected, feared and hated.They had a gift and used it in a manner that aroused the ire of many.They challenged, questioned and did not care to arrive at the very best answers.They cared about winning public speaking contests, debates, and lawsuits and in charging fees to teach others how to do as they did.To be able to speak well meant a great deal at that time.As there was no real paper available, there were no written contracts or deeds and disputes that would be settled today with a set of documents as evidence back then they would need to be settled through a contest of words: one person's words against another's.Whoever presented the best oral case would often prevail.To speak well was very important.The Sophists were very good speakers.Indeed, they had reputations for being able to convince a crowd that up was down, that day was night, that the wrong answer could be the right answer, that good was bad and bad is good, even that injustice is justice and justice would be made to appear as injustice! To support one's position in any matter, nothing better could be offered than a quotation from one of the works, which told of the gods and their actions.If an action of the gods could be found that was similar top that being taken by a party to a debate then that was evidence of the correctness of that action.Therefore, those who were the fastest and most accurate at being able to locate quotations and take them and apply them to a given situation would often win the debate, the contest, the lawsuit or discussion.The Sophists were very well versed in the epic tales and poems.They were able to find the most appropriate quotation to support any position.They regularly entered contests and those who won were given prizes, but no prize was greater than being the victor and able to charge the highest rates of tuition to instruct the sons of the wealthy in how to speak in public.This skill was needed to defend oneself against lawsuits even against the most frivolous of lawsuits brought by one who thought himself to be the better speaker. The Sophists taught course such as: ·How to win no matter how bad your case is. ·How to win friends and influence people ·How to succeed in business without really trying ·How to fall into a pigsty and come out smelling like a rose. ·How to succeed in life. ·How to play to win The Sophists held no values other than winning and succeeding.They were not true believers.They were secular atheists, relativists and cynical about religious beliefs and all traditions.They believed and taught that "might makes right".They were pragmatists trusting in whatever works to bring about the desired end at whatever the cost.They made a business of education and profited from it. Their concerns were not with truth but with practical knowledge.They practiced rhetoric in order to persuade and not to discover truth.Their art was to persuade the crowd and not to convince people of the truth.They moved thought from cosmology and cosmogony and theogony, stories of the gods and the universe, to a concern for humanity.Their focus was human civilization and human customs.Their theater was the ethical and political problems of immediate concern for humans.They put the individual human being at the center of all thought and value.They did not hold for any universals; not universal truths nor universal values.They sought and took payment for their lessons at speaking (and writing). |
The ideas of socrates.Socrates (469-399 B.C.) was a classical Greek philosopher who is credited
with laying the fundamentals of modern Western philosophy. He is known for creating Socratic irony and the Socratic method (elenchus). He is best recognized for inventing the teaching practice of pedagogy, wherein a teacher questions a student in a manner that draws out the correct response. He has had a profound influence on Western philosophy, along with his students Plato and Aristole. Though much of Socrates' contribution is to the field of ethics, his input to the field of epistemology and logic is also noteworthy. Socratic problem Scholars and historians who try to gather accurate information about Socrates face a peculiar problem, known as the Socratic problem. This problems arise due to 3 key features - There is no proof that Socrates ever wrote anything, philosophical or biographical. Whatever information we derive about Socrates is from the works of 4 scholars namely - Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, and Aristophanes. The writings are in an artistic and creative style, therefore creating a doubt whether these details are truth or fiction. So the information on Socrates that is available cannot be proved and has no historical evidence. If the evidence is only through the writings of his associates, there is doubt that Socrates ever existed or he was an imaginary character in his students writings to explain their philosophy. THe ideas of platoPlato (437-347) was Socrates’ prized student. From a wealthy and powerful
family, his actual name was Aristocles -- Plato was a nickname, referring to his broad physique. When he was about twenty, he came under Socrates’ spell and decided to devote himself to philosophy. Devastated by Socrates’ death, he wandered around Greece and the Mediterranean and was taken by pirates. His friends raised money to ransom him from slavery, but when he was released without it, they bought him a small property called Academus to start a school -- the Academy, founded in 386. The Academy was more like Pythagorus’ community -- a sort of quasi-religious fraternity, where rich young men studied mathematics, astronomy, law, and, of course, philosophy. It was free, depending entirely on donations. True to his ideals, Plato also permitted women to attend! The Academy would become the center of Greek learning for almost a millennium. Plato can be understood as idealistic and rationalistic, much like Pythagorus but much less mystical. He divides reality into two: On the one hand we have ontos, idea or ideal. This is ultimate reality, permanent, eternal, spiritual. On the other hand, there’s phenomena, which is a manifestation of the ideal. Phenomena are appearances -- things as they seem to us -- and are associated with matter, time, and space. Phenomena are illusions which decay and die. Ideals are unchanging, perfect. Phenomena are definitely inferior to Ideals! The idea of a triangle -- the defining mathematics of it, the form or essence of it -- is eternal. Any individual triangle, the triangles of the day-to-day experiential world, are never quite perfect: They may be a little crooked, or the lines a little thick, or the angles not quite right.... They only approximate that perfect triangle, the ideal triangle. |
Who was aristotle?
Aristotle (384-322) was born in a small Greek colony in Thrace called Stagira.
His father was a physician and served the grandfather of Alexander the Great.
Presumably, it was his father who taught him to take an interest in the details
of natural life.
He was Plato’s prize student, even though he disagreed with him on many
points. When Plato died, Aristotle stayed for a while with another student of
Plato, who had made himself a dictator in northern Asia Minor. He married the
dictator’s daughter, Pythias. They moved to Lesbos, where Pythias died giving
birth to their only child, a daughter. Although he married again, his love for
Pythias never died, and he requested that they be buried side by side.
For four years, Aristotle served as the teacher of a thirteen year old
Alexander, son of Philip of Macedon. In 334, he returned to Athens and
established his school of philosophy in a set of buildings called the Lyceum
(from a name for Apollo, “the shepherd”). The beautiful grounds and covered
walkways were conducive to leisurely walking discussions, so the students were
known as peripatoi (“covered walkways”).
First, we must point out that Aristotle was as much a scientist as a
philosopher. He was endlessly fascinated with nature, and went a long way
towards classifying the plants and animals of Greece. He was equally
interested in studying the anatomies of animals and their behavior in the wild.
Aristotle also pretty much invented modern logic. Except for its symbolic
form, it is essentially the same today.
His father was a physician and served the grandfather of Alexander the Great.
Presumably, it was his father who taught him to take an interest in the details
of natural life.
He was Plato’s prize student, even though he disagreed with him on many
points. When Plato died, Aristotle stayed for a while with another student of
Plato, who had made himself a dictator in northern Asia Minor. He married the
dictator’s daughter, Pythias. They moved to Lesbos, where Pythias died giving
birth to their only child, a daughter. Although he married again, his love for
Pythias never died, and he requested that they be buried side by side.
For four years, Aristotle served as the teacher of a thirteen year old
Alexander, son of Philip of Macedon. In 334, he returned to Athens and
established his school of philosophy in a set of buildings called the Lyceum
(from a name for Apollo, “the shepherd”). The beautiful grounds and covered
walkways were conducive to leisurely walking discussions, so the students were
known as peripatoi (“covered walkways”).
First, we must point out that Aristotle was as much a scientist as a
philosopher. He was endlessly fascinated with nature, and went a long way
towards classifying the plants and animals of Greece. He was equally
interested in studying the anatomies of animals and their behavior in the wild.
Aristotle also pretty much invented modern logic. Except for its symbolic
form, it is essentially the same today.