The Golden Age of Greek Philosophy

Pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle

Pre-Socratics

• Philo, sophia • pre-Socratics: What is the fundamental unity

of all things? – Thales of Miletus (624-548 BC): water– Anaximenes (6th century BC): air– Empedocles (493-433 BC): earth, air, fire, water– Heracleitus (550-475 BC): logos; rational

principle underlying all flux

• Pythagoras (582-500 BC): ultimate reality, like mathematics, is grasped in the mind only

Socrates (469-399 BC)• Famous teacher of Plato• Socratic method: through dialogue, asking

questions• Sentenced to death for blasphemy and

corrupting the youth by Athenian polis

Plato (428/27 BC – 348/47 BC )

Questions

• What are the implications of Plato's theory of forms for beliefs about the world and human beings? for beliefs about the gods?

• How does the Greek concept of the Good compare to the Hebrew God?

• How do Greek philosophers reflect agonistic values?

• How does Aristotle's philosophy differ from that of Plato?

• What are the defining features of the ideal city, according to Plato's Republic?

Aristotle (384-322 BC)

• Unlike Plato, believed that knowledge begins with the senses

• Things are categorized according to their likenesses and differences (e.g.: a human being is a rational animal)

• Teleology (telos)• Syllogistic logic• Fourfold theory of

causation

Questions from the Textbook

• How do the concerns of modern scientists compare to those of the ancient Greek philosophers?

• What are the implications of Plato's theory of forms for beliefs about the world and human beings? for beliefs about the gods?

• How does the Greek concept of the Good compare to the Hebrew God?

• How do Greek philosophers reflect agonistic values? • How does Aristotle's philosophy differ from that of

Plato? • What are the defining features of the ideal city,

according to Plato's Republic?

Questions on the SourcesMitylinean debate, from

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War:

• Evaluate the arguments for and against maintaining the death sentence against the Mitylineans. What is the basis for each position?

• Cleon delivers a critique of Athenian democracy, and a characterization of the Athenian empire. How does his view compare to the ideal articulated by Pericles earlier in the war?

Plato's Symposium• In the section we are reading

for today, we encounter five speeches on love: those of Phaedrus, Pausanias, Eryximachus, Aristophanes, and Agathon. Pick any two of these speeches and analyze them as best you can. Do the five speeches conflict with one another, or build on one another? Explain your answer.

• Socrates hasn’t given his speech yet, but he’s been part of the conversation. What do we learn so far about Socrates’ character and beliefs?