Epicurus.Epicurus (341–270 B.C.) founded one of the major
philosophies of ancient Greece, helping to lay the intellectual foundations for modern science and for secular individualism. Many aspects of his thought are still highly relevant some twenty-three centuries after they were first taught in his school in Athens, called “the Garden.” Epicurus's philosophy combines a physics based on an atomistic materialism with a rational hedonistic ethics that emphasizes moderation of desires and cultivation of friendships. His world-view is an optimistic one that stresses that philosophy can liberate one from fears of death and the supernatural, and can teach us how to find happiness in almost any situation. His practical insights into human psychology, as well as his science-friendly world-view, gives Epicureanism great contemporary signficance as well as a venerable role in the intellectual development of Western Civilization. |
Who were the Stoics?Stoicism was one of the new philosophical movements of the Hellenistic period.
The name derives from the porch (stoa poikilê) in the Agora at Athens decorated with mural paintings, where the members of the school congregated, and their lectures were held. Unlike ‘epicurean,’ the sense of the English adjective ‘stoical’ is not utterly misleading with regard to its philosophical origins. The Stoics did, in fact, hold that emotions like fear or envy (or impassioned sexual attachments, or passionate love of anything whatsoever) either were, or arose from, false judgements and that the sage—a person who had attained moral and intellectual perfection—would not undergo them. The later Stoics of Roman Imperial times, Seneca and Epictetus, emphasise the doctrines (already central to the early Stoics' teachings) that the sage is utterly immune to misfortune and that virtue is sufficient for happiness. Our phrase ‘stoic calm’ perhaps encapsulatesthe general drift of these claims. It does not, however, hint at the even more radical ethical views which the Stoics defended, e.g. that only the sage is free while all others are slaves, or that all those who are morally vicious are equally so. Though it seems clear that some Stoics took a kind of perverse joy in advocating views which seem so at odds with common sense, they did not do so simply to shock. Stoic ethics achieves a certain plausibility within the context of their physical theory and psychology, and within the framework of Greek ethical theory as that was handed down to them from Plato and Aristotle. It seems that they were well aware of the mutually interdependent nature of their philosophical views, likening philosophy itself to a living animal in which logic is bones and sinews; ethics and physics, the flesh and the soul respectively (another version reverses this assignment, making ethics the soul). Their views in logic and physics are no less distinctive and interesting than those in ethics itself. |
Greek science and Math.
The Greeks produced great advancements in mathematics which are
still used today. Euclid was known for the basic rules and terms of geometry.
Pythagoras was famous for his theorem A2 +B2 =
C2 for a right triangle. Pythagoras also came
up with the value of pie to calculate the circumference of a circle.Archimedes
discovered the physical law of displacement. The law of displacement is when an
object moves the same volume of water as the object which is placed in it.
Archimedes also used levers and pulleys to move heavy objects. He once launched
a fully loaded ship all by himself. Archimedes also invented the Archimedes
screw, which raises water up from rivers for the irrigation of fields. In
addition to discoveries in math and physics, he also invented weapons to help
the Greeks fight off Roman invasion. One of those weapons was the catapult. In
21 B.C. the Romans captured his city and killed him.
still used today. Euclid was known for the basic rules and terms of geometry.
Pythagoras was famous for his theorem A2 +B2 =
C2 for a right triangle. Pythagoras also came
up with the value of pie to calculate the circumference of a circle.Archimedes
discovered the physical law of displacement. The law of displacement is when an
object moves the same volume of water as the object which is placed in it.
Archimedes also used levers and pulleys to move heavy objects. He once launched
a fully loaded ship all by himself. Archimedes also invented the Archimedes
screw, which raises water up from rivers for the irrigation of fields. In
addition to discoveries in math and physics, he also invented weapons to help
the Greeks fight off Roman invasion. One of those weapons was the catapult. In
21 B.C. the Romans captured his city and killed him.