Philosophy/Nature

Greek Pre-Socratic Nature Philosophy


 * I. Milesian Monistic

Homer and Hesiod were mythopoetic theoganists. a) Homer = fate, chronos b) Hesiod = chaos, eros, earth Thales is the water boy... Anaximander, Thales' pupil, talks of earth Aperion, suspended boundless in space Anaximenes, Anaximander's pupil, says earth floats in air, and this belief carries until around 1400 CE Heraclitus believed in the unity of opposites (opposites attract); he used fire to represent that an object is not just an object but a process


 * II. Eleatic Monistic

Xenophanes says all scientific knowledge is merely conjecture Parmenides states that life is eternal, changeless Zeno of Elea created a great philosophical paradigm by the story of Achilles and the Tortoise. Reductio ad absurdum.


 * III. Eleatic Pluristic

Melissus continued the philosophy in being as one, eternal, changeless. Empedocles four elements comprised of two groups, love and strife Anaxagoras was the spermata that spawned philosophy in Athens Pythagoras believed that mathematics could explain the universe.


 * IV. Sophists

Protagoras thought all truth was relative Callicles


 * V. Atomists

Leucippus talked about the transition from qualitative to quantitative Democritus introduced first Greek philosophical system along with mechanistic determinalism


 * VI. Socrates


 * VII. Plato

Schools of Greek Thought
 * VIII. Aristotle:
 * I. Cynicism
 * I. Cynicism
 * I. Cynicism


 * II. Epicureanism


 * III. Stoicism


 * IV. Platonism


 * V. Epicureanism: founded by Epicurus, metaphysical duelist

Philosophy: You cannot live well until you overcome fear. Live in this world (negates afterlife), and find pleasure moderately, Epicureans said. Epicurus said the gods are far, far away and do not dabble in the affairs of men. Lucretius was the best-known Epicurean philosopher. Momento mori; Ataraxia= peace of mind. Humanity lacks ataraxia due to fear.


 * VI. Stoicism: founded by Zeno of Citium

Philosophy: Reason is the highest authority for Stoics. Stoics conceived of God as present in all things, the spirit of rationality. Early Stoics are Syrian, the latter are Roman, such as Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus (slave). Withstood adversity without complaint. Moral ethics similar to Socrates. Sees rationality as divine will. Apatheia= spiritual peace and well-being-a spiritual form as opposed to a rational format: Eudaimonia= the cumulation of interest, abilities and values set in a mode of existence unique for each individual.


 * VII. Skepticism: founded by Pyrrho

Philosophy: Ancient skeptics were seekers or inquirers. Modern skeptics doubt everything. Everything is relative is often attached to this group with gusto. Ancient skeptics only questioned the nature of reality, not concrete things such as nature and ourselves. Descartes is famous for his saying "I think therefore I am". Two classes of skeptics: Dogmatists (relativists and absolutists) and True Skeptics.


 * VIII. Cynicism: founded by Antisthenes


 * VIIII. Neo-Platonism: founded by Plotinus, metaphysical duelist.

Philosophy: Similar to Plato's