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Main Idea: Greek philosophers developed ideas that are still used today.

-The word philosophy comes from the Greek word for “love of wisdom.”

-Greek philosophy led to the study of history, political science, science, and mathematics.

-Greek thinkers who believed the human mind could understand everything were called philosophers.

-Many philosophers were teachers.

Hello!!!

Who were the Sophists?

The Sophists were professional teachers in ancient Greece who traveled from city to city and made a living by teachers others

They believed students should use time to improve themselves and taught students how to win an argument and make good political speeches.

They did not believe that the gods and goddesses influenced people.

They rejected the idea absolute right or wrong and that what might be right for one person might be wrong for another.

The most notable Greek philosophers and their ideas were:

The most notable Greek philosophers and their ideas were:

Pythagoras

Plato Socrates

Aristotle

Taught his pupils thatthe universe followedthe same laws that

governed musicand numbers

Developed many new ideas

about mathematics

Known for developing the Pythagorean theorem

which is a way to determine the length of the sides

of a triangle.

sculptor

critic of the

Sophists

Left no writings behind

and what is known came

from the writings

of his students

Believed absolute

truth existed and that all real

knowledge was in each

person

Invented the Socratic method of teaching Which encouraged people to question everything for truth

Forced students to use their power to reason

and see things for themselves

.

He lost the favor of the Athenian leaders because they saw him as a threat and he was

sentenced to death.

What happene

dTo

Socrates?

Who was Plato?

Student of Socrates

Opened a school in Athenscalled The Academy

. Wrote, The Republic, which explains his ideas about

the perfect type of government

Promoted the idea of equality between

the sexes.

Rejected democracy as a system of government because he didn’t think

the rule by the people produced

fair or sensible policies

Divided society into 3 classes:

1. philosophers-kings to rule with logic and reason

2. warriors to defend the state3. ordinary people whoproduced the state’s

food, clothing, andshelter

Believed a just and reasonable

governmentwas a necessity

Who Was

Aristotle?

Student of Plato whowrote more than 200 books

Opened a school called the Lyceum and taught his students

the “golden mean” which holds that a person should do nothing in excess.

(not too much or too little)

Helped advance science

Described his idea of the best style of government in his book, Politics.

Divided governments into 3 types:

Urged people to use their senses to

make observations

Government by one person (tyrant)Government by a few people

(aristocracy or oligarchy)Government by many people (democracy)

Greeks wrote the first real histories in Western civilization

In most places in the ancient world, people

did not write their history.

Legends and myths were used to explain the past and many were passed on by oral tradition before being written down.

Used gods and goddesses to explain some events.

Wrote the History of the Persian Wars

Western historians consider him the “father of history”

Considered the greatest historian of the ancient world by many historians.

Fought in the Peloponnesian War and wrote the “History of the Peloponnesian War”

Saw war and politics as activities of humans not gods

Check for Understanding

• What does philosophy mean?

• Love of wisdom

• Who were the sophists?

• The Sophists were professional teachers in ancient Greece

• Name one philosopher we discussed.

• Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Pythagoras