Pre-Socratic Philosophers: Origins of Western Thought
MITA: A Story the Collective Wants Explanations For
Myths are stories that communities want to know about. Normally, myths explain the beginning of something. Example: The Myth of the Cave.
Arche: The First Cause
Arche means ‘first’ or ‘initial cause.’ There are two types of Arche: Arche as origin and Arche as a principle in the constitution of being.
Monism: Belief in a Single Constituent Element
Monism is the belief in a single constituent element. Examples:
- Pythagoras believed that the Arche was numbers.
- Anaximander believed that the Arche was the Apeiron (the undetermined).
- Anaximenes believed that air was the Arche.
- Heraclitus believed fire was the Arche.
Pluralism: Belief in Multiple Constituent Elements
Pluralism is the belief in more than one constituent element. Example: Empedocles believed that the Arche was formed by four elements: earth, water, air, and fire.
Heraclitus vs. Parmenides
Heraclitus was a philosopher who believed in the idea of change and that knowledge comes from the senses (empiricist idea), while Parmenides was a philosopher who believed in the idea of permanence and that knowledge comes from reason (rationalist idea).
The Sophists
The Sophists (sophos = wise) knew almost everything. They were metecs (foreigners) who had no property in the city because they were foreigners. They had a good social rank because they worked as professors, teaching oratory. However, they had a bad reputation for being foreigners. They taught the people of the town about politics and promoted two ideas:
- Everything is relative (relativism).
- Skepticism: that human beings cannot truly know reality.
Socrates
Socrates opposed the Sophists, arguing that not everything is relative, including the laws. Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth and sentenced to death in Athens. His friends helped him escape, but he finally committed suicide with poison.
Plato
Plato was one of Socrates’ disciples. He followed Socrates’ ideas and wanted to bring an end to the Sophists’ ideas with a “philosophical project.” This project discussed who is best to govern the polis. Plato argued that the polis should be governed by philosophers, as they are the wisest.
The project’s themes were:
- Reality
- Knowledge
- Anthropology
- Ethics
- Politics
Plato’s Theory of Forms (Dualism)
Besides politics, Plato explained more things, such as the idea that the world we know is not the real world. He spoke of a duality: the world of ideas versus the world of reality (sensible world).
- World of Ideas: Plato believed that this world is composed of eternal and immutable ideas. This world is accessed through reason and is the path to becoming a wise philosopher.
- Sensible World: This world is a reflection of reality, and we cannot truly learn from it because it is full of change and is not truly knowable.
Plato’s Theory of the Soul
Plato also spoke of the human being, stating that a person is divided into two parts: body and soul. The body is in the sensible world, and the soul is in the world of ideas. We cannot learn if the soul is trapped in the body. His methods for accessing the soul’s knowledge include:
- Reminiscence: This theory is based on the idea that the soul knows everything but forgets it when it changes bodies. Therefore, learning is remembering. The philosopher helps in this process. (Critiques: How do we learn new concepts and objects? Why is the soul immutable? Why must philosophers be the wisest?)
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Social Classes
Plato also spoke of the Myth of the Cave. He believed that social classes were determined by the soul. Each person had a dominant soul: some were warriors, others artisans, and others philosophers. Each class had a virtue. This created a closed society where evolution was not allowed.