PHIL 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Xenophanes, Anaximander, Israelites
29 Aug 2016
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Document Summary
Pre-socratic philosophers: not content with stories about the gods. Nature philosophy: there are natural causes for everything. In contrast, mythology says that there are supernatural causes for everything, external laws for natural phenomenon. The one and the many: the one has to be a stable reality, despite all the different changes. Thales: (624-546 bc) said that the one is water and that all things are filled with gods. Water: all life forms and major cultures depend on water (tigris and. The greeks needed water for food and transportation. Water exists in all three states of matter (liquid, solid, gas). Empirical observation: thales got this knowledge by looking out at the world. He then chooses a concrete, material thing as the one , instead of gods. Then, he says that this source is eternal. Anaximander: (610-546 bc) the one is the boundless . Four elements: only four elements during this time: earth (cold), air (dry), fire (hot), and water (wet).
