Overview on Philosophy: Phil: love of wisdom Metaphysics: the ultimate principle: what is real Logos: something that holds the entire universe together and without it, the universe would fall apart What is essential: essence, what is the essence of being a human being, that thing without which something wouldn't exist: Contingent: it could exist or not exist and the universe wouldn't suffer Epistemology: what is true? Ethics: what constitutes morality? Right from wrong Social and political philosophy: what legitimizes the government, how should goods and services be distributed, what are we going to do with people who violate these laws Logic: rules for thinking
Ancient philosophy Begins with ancient Greece The first of the western philosophers 2600 b.c. philosophy emerges: the age when human thinking changes pre-Socratic philosophers: philosophers who began contemplation before Socrates; "natural philosophers"; studied everything there was to study before, you went to a priest or wise men; then they started to contemplate and answer questions on their own Gods didn't like Hubris (to have too much pride) and for any human to go against them Hesiod: the theoganny; genealogy of the gods, how they came to be and their powers; first to hinder a new thought on the gods Heraclitus: first to say out loud that human beings can answer the questions; "what do we know is real?"; "everything is constantly influx and in a state of becoming"; "you cant step into the same river twice"; everything is always changing ** one common building block: the one and the many: how did all of these things come about ** Atomists: ancient group that named the atom and developed the basic building block idea "out of chaos comes order, out of order comes chaos" importance of philosophy is to make yourself think Parmenides: there is no change: universe is like a fishbowl filled to the top, no room for things to go; the universe is "full", change is an illusion; Zeno= his student; Zeno's paradox Pythagoras: mathematics (or music) is the only thing that is true, everything is mathematical or harmonic Greek psyche: lived in the city-state, each one had their own way of thinking o Believed in autochthony- they had just sprung from the land and they were tied to it; originary language- thought it was best suited for philosophy, very direct Greeks value loyalty, honor, courage, rea