Presocratics 1
Thales of Miletus was the first...
Philosopher
The musings of the Presocratics represent the beginning of what major field of study?
Science
What was the geographical location of Ancient Greece?
Mediterranean Sea and Balkan Peninsula
The two different labels that we have used in class to talk about kind of explanation are...
Cosmological and cosmogonical explanations
What is the other way that was seen to refer to the transition from myth to logos?
The Greek Miracle
What is the main concern of study of the pre-Socratic philosophers and what is the concept that summarizes this concern?
Nature - Arjé
What is the muse of philosophy and what is the inspiration it provides?
Sapho - Love
Who were the two great poets of Ancient Greece and their main books?
Homer: Iliad and Odyssey
Hesiod: Theogony
What is the type of explanation that is based on belief, context and customs? Give an example.
Cosmogonical. Any type of explanation through imagination and mythology is valid.
What is and why is important the concept of "logos"?
Logos means "reason" and demonstrates the importance of establishing explanations beyond mythical and religious views.
Mention 3 pre-Socratic thinkers and their main idea.
Various
One of the main points of a pre-Socratic thinker is the origin from fire. Why fire?
Because it represents the only constant: change.
Why is the myth of Prometheus fundamental to philosophical thought?
Because it demonstrates and represents, through fire, the fundamental importance of knowledge and discovery through human reason.
What type of explanation is based on reasons, precise observation and methodical analysis? Give an example.
Cosmological. Any type of explanation based on science or rational perspective is valid.
Why the free time and otium were important to the beginning of philosophy and happened in Ancient Greece?
It provides individuals with opportunity for contemplation, intellectual exploration, and the pursuit of knowledge beyond immediate practical concerns, fostering the conditions for reflective thought and the emergence of philosophical inquiries in socio-economical context of Ancient Greece.
These are the four elements and two forces that Empedocles describes.
Earth, air, fire, water; love and strife.
This is the meaning of a monist
A person or current of thought that believes affirm there is a single origin of all things”
Why does the figure of Athena and her birth represent philosophy?
Because her birth, from a headache of Zeus, represents the ideas and knowledge that arise from the mind of human beings.
Philosophy asks many questions and about many things (humanity, our behaviour, reality...) but what was the first philosophical question about?
Nature
What were the factors that allowed the emergence of philosophy in Ancient Greece?
1. Geographical location
2. Democracy and freedom of thought
3. Culture and mythology
4. Trade and commerce
5. Cultural exchange.
Uno de los principales pensadores de la época presocrática, y de la filosofía en general, sostenía que el origen de todo eran los números. ¿Cuál es su nombre y su argumento?
Pythagoras. Everything arises from numbers because everything materializes geometrically and numbers are the foundation of geometry.
The most important concept of modern science was born in Ancient Greece. What is the concept, who put it forward and what is the argument?
Atoms.
Democritus and Leucippus.
The division of bodies cannot be to infinity: there must be something that cannot be divided.
Why can't philosophy be thought without mythology?
Because mythology represents the yearning of the human being, from the astonishment, to establish possible answers to fundamental questions: in the need to explain, represented by mythology, philosophy arises.
What is the main similarity and difference between the two types of explanations?
The main similarity is that both attempts at explanation arise from the amazement of the human being. The main difference lies in how the fundamental questions are answered: from a mythological perspective or a rational one.
Using eclipse: explain what is the transition from myth to logos?
The Eclipse represents change because it demonstrates that explanations of observed phenomena do not require the use of gods, goddesses or imagination. It is through the understanding of phenomena from their logical causes and consequences.