Ancient Greek philosophy

The rise of philosophy in Greece was related to its religion, or more specifically, its gods' lack of omnipotent control of the whole world. Even the supreme Greek god, Zeus, was limited in his power and could not fight against the fates. This limited control of the gods in the world left room for human thinking, hence the possibility of the development of philosophy, inquiries about nature and human society. In the realm of philosophy, three philosophers from Athens decisively shaped philosophical inquiry for Western civilization. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle turned their attention — and that of philosophers in general — away from questions concerning the material world and toward contemplation of spiritual and moral issues.

Socrates A later statesman wrote that Socrates was the man who “brought down philosophy from heaven to earth,” emphasizing that Socrates moved the discussions of philosophers from the theoretical, i.e., speculation about the essential matter of all material things, to the practical, i.e., how to live in the day-to-day world. Before Socrates, Greek philosophy was dominated by the Sophists, itinerant teachers in Greece (5th cent. BC) who provided education through lectures and in return received fees from their audiences. The main thing they taught was rhetoric, as many aspiring young men wanted to improve on their speech powers to become politicians. The Sophists sometimes prided themselves as being able to depict something better than it actually was. Socrates was directly influenced by several philosopher/scientists. They were interested in questions such as what were the essential elements that made up the earth, and what the universe was made of. One possible teacher of his, Anaxagoras (500-428 BC), believed that the sun was a white-hot stone and that the moon was made of earth. In Athens, Socrates (470-399 B.C.E.) had seen moral values erode and political life fall into a purposeless muddle. As a result, he began his examination of the ethical life. He was particularly influenced by the chaos of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.E.), a war fought between Greek city states with those under Athenian leadership on one side, and those under Spartan leadership on the other side, and its aftermath, both of which made questions about the material nature of the universe seem less important than questions about life itself. Socratic wisdom, as a definition, consists of a sincere quest for understanding, rather than a belief that understanding has been reached. To Socrates, philosophy was a constant, unending dialogue, the goal of which was to force one to confront fundamental ethical questions, such as “What is the Good?”, thatgave meaning to one’s life. Socratic wisdom, in turn, gave rise to the Socratic method of teaching, which involves asking questions rather than giving lectures. To think through possible solutions and arrive at concrete conclusions requires that students carefully examine their assumptions by exposing them to open dialogue. Students, prodded by questions from the teacher, must keep examining their own ways of thinking through a problem. This method makes the student a more active learner. Because scholars have found nothing written by Socrates about himself or his philosophy, all our knowledge about Socrates’ life comes from other sources. Two leading Greek philosophers, both around 45 years younger than Socrates, are responsible for many works that articulate and build on Socrates’ ideas. Plato, for example, who was his student, wrote many dialogues in which one participant represents Socrates’ point of view. Xenophon (430–ca. 350 B.C.), a popular writer who observed historical events first-hand, wrote Memorabilia, in which he recounts anecdotes about Socrates’ life. Plato Like his mentor, Plato (427-347 B.C.) was involved in politics to some degree in Athens and in Syracuse, but his real passion was philosophy. His philosophical exercises extended into many areas including discourses on what the ideal order of the state should be and who its ideal rulers would be. Except for using the Socratic method of questioning, however, Plato developed a new philosophy wholly his own. Plato was the first thinker to confront the full range of issues that continue to challenge most philosophers. He systematically thought about a broad range of fields, including morals, politics, science, and mathematics. In addition, Platonism, the first of the great classical philosophical systems, was the only such system rooted in a non-materialist view of reality. Most other great philosophical systems of Antiquity were primarily materialistic. In fact, Plato was the first thinker to truly crystallize the notion of a spiritual realm. Although this is not directly stated in the excerpt of Plato's Republic for this class, there Plato did mention numerous virtues of the philosopher, including his total devotion to spiritual matters. Aristotle Aristotle (384-322 BC) was Plato's student at a school called the Academy (367-347 BC). He later opened his own school in Athens. Much more than his teacher Plato, Aristotle emphasized direct observation of nature, and in science he taught that theory must follow fact. He considered philosophy to be the discerning of the self-evident, changeless first principles that form the basis of all knowledge. Logic was for Aristotle the necessary tool of any inquiry. He introduced categories to classify reality and all branches of studies of nature. Today when we talk about cause and effect, we can trace them to Aristotle as he gave them a most systematic development, called syllogism. Aristotle's views on politics were very much based on his perception of Athenian democracy. In fact he investigated the politics of over 150 Greek city states before he wrote the piece. As you can see, much of his reasoning was based on common sense, and a discernment of human nature. This was in some kind of contradiction with his belief that timeless rules and categories could explain the world, a legacy from his teacher Plato that ideas, ultimately, rule the world.