Pre-Socratic philosophy
Pre-Socratic philosophy, also known as early Greek philosophy, is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates. Pre-Socratic philosophers were mostly interested in cosmology, the beginning and the substance of the universe, but the inquiries of these early philosophers spanned the workings of the natural world as well as human society, ethics, and religion. They sought explanations based on natural law rather than the actions of gods. Their work and writing has been almost entirely lost. Knowledge of their views comes from testimonia, i.e. later authors’ discussions of the work of pre-Socratics. Philosophy found fertile ground in the ancient Greek world because of the close ties with neighboring civilizations and the rise of autonomous civil entities, poleis.
Pre-Socratic philosophy began in the 6th century BC with the three Milesians: Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes. They all attributed the arche (a word that could take the meaning of “origin”, “substance” or “principle”) of the world to, respectively, water, apeiron (the unlimited), and air. Another three pre-Socratic philosophers came from nearby Ionian towns: Xenophanes, Heraclitus, and Pythagoras. Xenophanes is known for his critique of the anthropomorphism of gods. Heraclitus, who was notoriously difficult to understand, is known for his maxim on impermanence, ta panta rhei, and for attributing fire to be the arche of the world. Pythagoras created a cult-like following that advocated that the universe was made up of numbers. The Eleatic school (Parmenides, Zeno of Elea, and Melissus) followed in the 5th century BC. Parmenides claimed that only one thing exists and nothing can change. Zeno and Melissus mainly defended Parmenides’ opinion. Anaxagoras and Empedocles offered a pluralistic account of how the universe was created. Leucippus and Democritus are known for their atomism, and their views that only void and matter exist. The Sophists advanced philosophical relativism. The Pre-Socratics have had significant impact on several concepts of Western philosophy, such as naturalism and rationalism, and paved the way for scientific methodology.
The main focus of the Pre-Socratic philosophers was to find rational, natural explanations for the universe, shifting from mythological accounts to a search for the fundamental principles and origin of the cosmos. They sought to understand the underlying order of a changing world by investigating the nature of matter, using reason and observation to explain phenomena instead of attributing them to gods.
- Nature of reality: They explored what the world is made of and how it operates, asking questions like “Where does everything come from?”. They proposed different fundamental substances, such as water (Thales), air (Anaximenes), or fire (Heraclitus), and later, even indivisible particles (Democritus).
- Change and permanence: They debated whether the world is in constant flux or if there is an unchanging reality beneath the surface. Heraclitus argued that “everything flows,” while Parmenides argued that change is an illusion and reality is eternal and static.
- Order and unity: They looked for a single underlying principle $arche$) or order $logos$) that governs the multiplicity of things they observed in the world.
- Cosmology: They were considered the first cosmologists, focusing on how the universe began and is structured, which laid the groundwork for later scientific inquiry.
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[2] https://www.britannica.com/topic/pre-Socratic-philosophy
[3] https://fiveable.me/key-terms/introduction-humanities/pre-socratic
[8] https://fiveable.me/lists/key-pre-socratic-philosophers
[9] https://quizlet.com/124857679/pre-socratic-philosophers-flash-cards/