HLST200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Physicalism, Epicurus, Ancient Greek Philosophy
2 Jun 2018
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UNIT 2
1. explain why the history of science tends to begin with the Greeks rather than with the
Mesopotamians or the Egyptians.
Part of this is simply chauvinism, science was largely a European creation, so there was a preference for
beginning the heritage of natural philosophy with European source rather than African or Asian one
.There is however a more profound reason to start natural philosophy with the Greeks rather than the
older cultures, despites their many accomplishment. Although these older cultures had technical
knowledge, keen observational skills, and vast resources of material and information, they failed to create
natural philosophy because they did not separate the natural world from the supernatural world.
1. identify the three basic questions prevalent in pre-Socratic thought.
The Presocratic philosophers rejected traditional mythological explanations of the phenomena they saw
around them in favor of more rational explanations. These philosophers asked questions about "the
essence of things":[6] From where does everything come? From what is everything created? How do we
explain the plurality of things found in nature? How might we describe nature mathematically?
1. explain the contributions that Thales, Anaximander, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and
Parmenides made to scientific thought.
Thales (Greek: Θαη) of εiletus (ca. 624 B.C.E. - 545 B.C.E.) is generally understood as the earliest
western philosopher. Before Thales, the Greeks explained the origin and nature of the world through
myths of anthropomorphic gods and heroes. Phenomena like lightning or earthquakes were attributed to
actions of the gods. By contrast, Thales attempted to find naturalistic explanations of the world, without
reference to the supernatural. He explained earthquakes by imagining that the Earth floats on water, and
that earthquakes occur when the Earth is rocked by waves. Thales identified "water" as the ultimate
principle or the original being, and held that all other beings were consisted of this ultimate element.
Since no information source is available except short fragments, we do not know much about his
reasoning. We can only speculate a number of reasons why he identified water as the universal, original
element: water can take three forms (liquid, gas, slid) in natural temperatures; the circulation of water is
vital to changes in nature; it is the vital element of life; finally, it is often used for religious rituals, such as
those that involve "purification."
Anaximander (Greek: Άαία) (611 B.C.E. – ca. 546 B.C.E.) has a reputation which is due mainly to
a cosmological work, little of which remains. From the few extant fragments, we learn that he believed the
beginning or first principle (arche, a word first found in Anaximander's writings, and which he probably
invented) is an endless, unlimited, and unspecified mass (apeiron), subject to neither old age nor decay,
which perpetually yields fresh materials from which everything we can perceive is derived. We can see a
higher level of abstraction in Anaximander's concept of "unlimited mass" than earlier thinker like Thales
who identified a particular element ("water") as the ultimate.
Heraclitus (Greek: Ἡ) of Ephesus (ca. 535 - 475 B.C.E.) disagreed with Thales, Anaximander,
and Pythagoras about the nature of the ultimate substance and claimed instead that everything is derived
from the Greek classical element fire, rather than from air, water, or earth. This led to the belief that
change is real, and stability illusory. For Heraclitus "Everything flows, nothing stands still." He is also
famous for saying: "No man can cross the same river twice, because neither the man nor the river are the
same." His concept of being as process or flux showed a sharp contrast with Parmenides who identified
being as immutable.
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The earliest Greek philosophers in Ionia, known as the Ionians, such as Thales, Anaximander, and
Anaximenes, explored the origin of existing beings and developed theories of nature in order to explain
the natural processes of the formation of the world. Pythagoras, who was born on an island off the coast of
Ionia and later moved to Southern Italy, explored the question of the salvation of human beings by
clarifying the essence of existing beings, and developing a mystical religious philosophy. Pythagoras
developed both a theoretical foundation and a practical methodology, and formed an ascetic religious
community. Followers of Pythagoras are known as Pythagoreans.
Pythagoras approached the question of being from an angle that was different from that of early Ionian
philosophers. While the Ionians tried to find the original matter out of which the world is made,
Pythagoras dove into the principles that give order and harmony to the elements of the world. In other
words, Pythagoras found the essence of being not in “what is to be determined” but in “what determines.”
From Pythagoras’ perspective, the Ionians’ prime elements, such as Thales’ “water” and Anaximander’s
“indefinite,” were beings that were equally determined, and they did not explain why and how the world
was orderly structured and maintained its rhythm and harmony.
According to Pythagoras, “number” or mathematical principle was that which gives order, harmony,
rhythm, and beauty to the world. This harmony keeps a balance both in the cosmos and in the soul. For
Pythagoras, “numbers” are not abstract concepts but embodied entities manifested as norms, cosmos, and
sensible natural objects. The mathematical order in beings is perceivable not by the physical senses but by
senses of the soul. Unlike the modern concept of mathematical exercises, Pythagoras conceived
mathematics as the method for liberating the soul from the bondages of bodily senses and essentially as
religious training. For Pythagoras, the soul is immortal and the cultivation of the soul is achieved by the
studies of truth and the ascetic life. Aristotle noted that Pythagoras was the first person who took up the
issue of “virtue” in philosophy (DK. 58B4).
Pythagoras opened a new path to early Greek ontology by his focus on the soul, virtue, and the ascetic life.
He presented a new integral model of thought where the mystic and the mathematical or the religious and
the scientific (as well as the aesthetic) are uniquely integrated. This type of thought is uncommon in
mainstream philosophy today. Like other wise men of antiquity, Pythagoras had a broad knowledge
encompassing medicine, music, cosmology, astronomy, mathematics, and others. Finally, his thought
made a strong impact on Plato which is seen through his works.
The main doctrines of the Eleatics were evolved in opposition to the theories of the early physicalist
philosophers, who explained all existence in terms of primary matter, and to the theory of Heraclitus,
which declared that all existence may be summed up as perpetual change. The Eleatics maintained that
the true explanation of things lies in the conception of a universal unity of being. According to their
doctrine, the senses cannot cognize this unity, because their reports are inconsistent; it is by thought
alone that we can pass beyond the false appearances of sense and arrive at the knowledge of being, at the
fundamental truth that the All is One. Furthermore, there can be no creation, for being cannot come from
non-being, because a thing cannot arise from that which is different from it. They argued that errors on
this point commonly arise from the ambiguous use of the verb to be, which may imply existence or be
merely the copula which connects subject and predicate.
1. discuss the impact of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the Epicureans on the development of
natural philosophy.
Socrates was the central figure in Ancient Greek philosophy. He shifted the center of inquiry from natural
phenomena, the primary concern of his predecessors, to the questions of human life. Based upon the
Pythagorean belief of the immortality of the soul, Socrates challenged materialists and the moral
relativism of Sophists. A few points in his philosophy include that the cultivation of the soul must be the
primary issue of human life, the soul can be cultivated only by controlling desires of flesh, and that
genuine knowledge is the realization of truth, which is sharply distinguished from mere opinions. Socrates
left no writings and his student Plato depicted him as the main character of his dialogues, for dialogue was
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Document Summary
Unit 2: explain why the history of science tends to begin with the greeks rather than with the. Part of this is simply chauvinism, science was largely a european creation, so there was a preference for beginning the heritage of natural philosophy with european source rather than african or asian one. there is however a more profound reason to start natural philosophy with the greeks rather than the older cultures, despites their many accomplishment. The presocratic philosophers rejected traditional mythological explanations of the phenomena they saw around them in favor of more rational explanations. How might we describe nature mathematically: explain the contributions that thales, anaximander, pythagoras, heraclitus, and. 545 b. c. e. ) is generally understood as the earliest western philosopher. Before thales, the greeks explained the origin and nature of the world through myths of anthropomorphic gods and heroes. Phenomena like lightning or earthquakes were attributed to actions of the gods.
