Introduction to Philosophy: Pre-Socratics and Socrates

Nominal and Real Definitions of Philosophy

Nominal Definition (Etymological): Philo: Love, Sophia: Wisdom. Love of, or tendency towards, wisdom.

Real Definition: Study of entities in their finality. There is no universal agreement on a single definition.

Conditions Favoring the Emergence of Philosophy

1. Geographical Conditions: The barren land necessitated the importation of culture.
2. Eastern Influence: The East provided a stimulus, particularly through the concept of metempsychosis.
3. Absence of Sacred Texts: This allowed for more open inquiry.
4. Political Circumstances: The political climate fostered intellectual discourse.

Mythos and Logos

Most textbooks discuss a transition, or jump, from one form of explanation (mythos) to another (logos). According to Wilhelm Nestle, it is not entirely correct to speak of a sudden shift. Rather, myth became unsatisfactory as a way to explain reality. Thus, the Greek mind gradually replaced myth with rational, causal explanations, while still incorporating some mythical elements.

Arche

The arche is the fundamental principle or origin of all things. It is often a material principle.

Kinesis

Kinesis refers to change or motion. It can be:

• Local (change of place)
• Quantitative (growth or diminution, like having children)
• Qualitative (alteration, like a haircut)
• Substantial (generation or corruption, like death)

Socrates

Socrates was a soldier and stonemason. He was sentenced to death and drank hemlock. He practiced self-reflection (introspection), believing the soul to be the center of the intellectual and moral personality of man.

Socrates' Method

The Mayeutik (art of illuminating the soul) has two parts:

• Refutation
• Positive (Mayeutik proper)

Socrates did not provide answers but instead cast doubt and feigned ignorance. The charges against him were:

1. Wickedness
2. Corruption of youth
3. Introduction of new deities

The Pre-Socratics

Philosophers before Socrates, called "physicists" because they studied nature, focused on what "changes but continues to stand."

Thales of Miletus

One of the Seven Sages of Greece and an astronomer, Thales was the first to consider things as "material" without identifying them with a divine presence. His arche was water: "Everything comes from water and returns to water."

Anaximenes

Anaximenes proposed that the arche is air, arguing that breathing is fundamental and that the soul is the air we breathe.

Anaximander

Anaximander believed the arche is the apeiron: unlimited, with all elements present but without limit. He created the first map and believed the Earth is cylindrical and motionless at the center of the universe.

Heraclitus of Ephesus

Heraclitus believed the arche is fire. Known as "the Obscure" for his enigmatic thoughts, he withdrew from society, which he considered vulgar. He famously stated, "Everything flows; the only thing that remains is change." His thoughts, based on maxims, posited that war is the mother and father of all things and that beneath apparent stability lies a conflict of opposites. He claimed that things are and are not, thus taking a first step towards the principle of non-contradiction.