Development of Philosophy

Development of Philosophy
Pre-Socratics
Pre-Socratics
Heraclitus
• What is constant is not some stuff
( air, fire, water) but the overall process
of change itself. There is a constant law
of transformations, which is, perhaps,
to be identified with the Logos.
• If this is what Heraclitus has in mind, he goes beyond
the physical theory of his early predecessors to arrive at
something like a process philosophy with a
sophisticated understanding of metaphysics.
Classical Philosophers
Socrates:
• Socrates wanted to base all argumentation on
objectively valid definitions.
• Socrates’ discourse moved in two directions—outward,
to objective definitions, and inward, to discover the
inner person, the soul, which, for Socrates, was the
source of all truth. Such a search is not to be
conducted at a weekend lecture but is the quest of a
lifetime.
• Socrates spent much of his time in the streets and
marketplace of Athens, querying every man he met
about whether that man knew anything. Socrates said
that, if there was an afterlife, he would pose the same
question to the shades in Hades.
 Socrates

Classical Philosophers
 “I KNOW THAT I KNOW NOTHING”
( mentioned in REPUBLIC- Plato)
The many admirable truths they bring
have been discovered by
themselves from within. But the delivery is
heaven’s work and mine (Socrates
described his work as that of a midwife).
(Plato’s Theaetetus)
 Socrates:
Socrates finds “minor flaws” in his
companion’s definition and slowly
begins to unravel it, forcing his
partner to admit ignorance. (In
one dialogue, Socrates’ target
actually ends up in tears.)
3. An agreement is reached by the
two admittedly ignorant companions
to pursue the truth seriously. Almost
all the dialogues end inconclusively.
Of course, they must do so. Socrates
cannot give his disciples the truth.
Each of us must find it out for
ourselves.
 Socrates’ enemies conspired
against him, getting him indicted
( accused without false or offense)
for teaching false doctrines, for
impiety, and for corrupting the
youth. He was then sentenced to
death.
 Plato
The most important of Socrates’
young disciples was Plato (427–
347 B.C.E.), who was one of the
most powerful thinkers in
history. He is also the founder of
the first university, the Academy,
where students read as exercises
the Socratic dialogues that Plato
had written.
 Plato
His philosophy highlighted by his claims
of the existence of the greater realm of
reality apart from the humans’ own
physical world.
This world he called the world of Forms.
He claimed that the road towards the
true life of the soul was a path of
purification, where man should exert
effort to reach genuine wisdom. The soul
was purified as it reached higher degrees
of knowledge.
 Plato
His political philosophy was
encapsulated in his political
treatise known as the republic,
where he believed that an ideal
society must be composed of
workers and warriors ruled by a
philosopher-king.
 Aristotle
Plato’s influence is clearly seen in the
thought of one of his best students,
Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.). Aristotle, born
in Stagira, spent twenty years at Plato’s
academy. Soon after the death of the
master, Aristotle left the school because of
disagreements with its new chiefs, and he
founded an academy of his own, the
Lyceum. In Aristotle’s school, Platonic
philosophy was taught, but it was also
criticized.
 Aristotle
He was known for criticizing Plato’s theory of Forms.
Aristotle contradicted this view, asserting that there
is only one world and that we are right smack in the
middle of it.
According to Aristotle, there is general verbal
agreement that the end toward which all human
acts are directed is happiness; therefore, happiness
is the human good because we seek happiness for
its own sake, not for the sake of something else. But
unless we philosophize about happiness and get to
know exactly what it is and how to achieve it, it will
be platitudinous simply to say that happiness is the
ultimate good.
 Aristotle
He came to the conclusion that a human’s function is
to engage in “an activity of the soul which is in
accordance with virtue” and which “is in conformity
with reason.”

For Aristotle, there are two kinds of virtue:

intellectual and moral. Intellectual virtues are
acquired through a combination of inheritance and
education, and moral virtues through imitation,
practice, and habit. The habits that we develop result
in states of character, that is, in dispositions to act
certain ways, and these states of character are
virtuous for Aristotle if they result in acts that are in
accordance with a golden mean of moderation.
 Aristotle
Hence Aristotle believes that man’s
excellence is towards happiness as the mean
for ultimate goodness.