Classical Greek Philosophy

1. Classical Greek Philosophy

2. Socrates • Simple man • Stonemason • Loyal service in the war • Wisest man in Athens • Famous in his own lifetime • Left behind no writing • What we know we know from students (Plato)

3. Socrates • Thought philosophers could learn what made good people/societies • To learn - must ask questions • “The unexamined life is not worth living.” • Is this chair blue? • Is is still blue to a blind man? • Is blue the same to me as it is to you? • How can we know what blue is? • Is the chair still blue? 3

4. Socrates • Convicted of “corrupting the youth” • Put on Trial, offered no defense, drank poison • Described as “the best and wisest” and “most noble” man

5. Plato • Student of Socrates • Left behind several writings - The Republic

6. Plato • The Republic • Ideal society • Rule by the philosophers (The people who were most qualified to make the best decisions. • Established The Academy to formally train Philosophers • The Allegory of the Cave

7. Allegory of the Cave • Group of prisoners are chained up in a cave, only able to stare at wall in front of them. • There is a fire lit behind them, so that when people carry things into the cave, the prisoners see the shadows of the objects on the wall. • They also attribute the sounds they hear to these shadows • Do the prisoners understand the shadows to be truth? 7

8. Allegory of cave cont. • What would happen if one prisoner was freed and allowed to walk toward the fire? • Person would be confused. Which is real? The shadow? or the real artifact? • Then what if said prisoner was dragged outside in the sun. • Prisoner would examine the world and find artifacts proven to be true. • Now what if this prisoner was forced to return to the cave? Would he pity his former companions? 8

9. Allegory of Cave cont. • Would the prisoners believe his account of life outside the cave? • If they could, would they kill him for his craziness? • Thus we can only know when we are freed from the chains that bind us, and when we are forced to face the light. 9

10. Aristotle • Taught by Plato • Studied at the Academy • Lyceum (school in Athens) • Natural sciences • Truth is best understood from observation of living things • Reason - Clear and ordered thinking - Observing world around you to learn, then think rationally about what you’ve seen

11. Aristotle • Reason - clear and ordered thinking • To learn: • Observe the world around you • think rationally about what you’ve seen • Logic - Making inferences • Use what you already to know to be true to infer new facts • Example: • Birds have feathers and lay eggs • Owls have feathers and lay eggs • Therefore, an owl must be a type of bird.

12. Classical Greek Philosophy Alexander Xenophon Eschines Socrates Raphael Zeno Alcibiades Plato Aristotle Zoroaster Epicurus Parmenides Hypatia Averroes Diogenes Ptolemy Anaxagoras Heraclitus Anaximander Pythagoras Euclid

13. Aristotle' Influence • Taught Alexander the great • Therefore was mistrusted by Athenians • Basis of latter medieval science and religion • Ideas had internal consistency • Ideas were adopted by St. Thomas Aquinas and the Catholic Church