Pre-Socratic Philosophers: From Thales to Socrates

The Pre-Socratic Philosophers

The Milesians (Monists: One Arché)

• Thales: Considered the first Milesian thinker, he proposed that the Arché (the fundamental principle) is water. He reasoned this based on observations: solid land seemingly floats on water, water reflects the heavens, and water in its gaseous state forms clouds.
• Anaximander: Believed the Arché to be the Apeiron (the boundless or infinite), a substance in perpetual motion, from which opposing forces (hot-dry, like stars; cold-wet, like Earth) arise. He also proposed that living beings evolved from fish.
• Anaximenes: Identified air as the Arché, a limitless substance that transforms through condensation and rarefaction.

Pythagoreans

The Pythagoreans believed that number is the Arché. They saw the elements as geometric shapes (air as an octahedron, fire as a tetrahedron, Earth as a hexahedron, and the cosmos as an icosahedron). They believed mathematics was the key to understanding the world.

• Encourages Theory: They believed that souls transmigrate to other cosmoses after death.
• Mathematical Theory: The cosmos has a mathematical structure.

Pluralists (No Single Arché)

• Empedocles: Proposed that the Arché consists of four elements, whose combinations, governed by love (attraction) and hate (repulsion), give rise to all things, including humans.
• Anaxagoras: Believed in an infinite number of seeds with different qualities. He introduced the concept of Nous (Mind), a force that orders the universe.

Atomists

• Democritus: Proposed that the Arché consists of atoms, indivisible particles that combine to form all things.
• Cosmology of Democritus: Atoms come together, forming a whirlpool. This accumulation forms a crust that dries, becoming Earth. Particles of water form mud, and as they rotate and dry, they ignite, becoming fire.

Heraclitus and Parmenides

• Heraclitus: Emphasized the constant process of change, famously stating that "everything flows."
• Parmenides: Argued that "what is, is, and what is not, is not." He believed that change is an illusion and that reality is static.

The Sophists

The Sophists were paid educators who focused on rhetoric and argumentation.

• They believed that the Arché is man and society.
• They employed dialogue as a tool for discussion and teaching.
• They aimed to teach the art of living and governing.
• They contrasted law (nomos) with nature (physis).

Sophist Theses

• Nihilism of Being: There is no constant essence behind change.
• Phenomenalism: The only knowledge is that of appearances.
• Sensism: Experience is the only source of knowledge.
• Subjectivism: The individual is the only criterion of truth in judgments.
• Relativism: Everything is debatable.
• Skepticism: There may be no universal truth; all truths may be simultaneously true or false.
• Conventionalism: Truth is the result of a social consensus.
• Positivism: Laws are created by humans.

Summary of the Sophists

• Sophists emphasized perception: "Only beliefs exist, not knowledge."
• Language and rhetoric are fundamental.
• Major Sophists include Protagoras and Gorgias.
• Socrates and Plato rejected their views.

Socrates

Famous quote: "I know that I know nothing."

The Socratic Method

Engaging in dialogue with those seeking truth to facilitate self-knowledge. It has two parts:

• Irony: Exposing the absurdity of others' ideas.
• Maieutics: Guiding the transition from common opinions to scientific understanding.

Intellectualism in Morality

A person who knows what is good will act accordingly; all good people are wise. To act well is to be happy.

Learned Ignorance

Recognizing one's own ignorance is the first step toward wisdom.

Ethical Universalism

Rejection of the Sophists' relativism. Socrates believed it is better to be just than unjust, better to be good than bad.

Similarities with the Sophists

Interest in humanity, language, and the social influence of morality in politics.

Differences with the Sophists

Socrates believed that words should lead to happiness, while the Sophists believed they should lead to power. The Socratic ideal is happiness, while the Sophist ideal is success. Socrates sought to establish a philosophical foundation for goodness, a concept the Sophists deemed impossible to define.