Philosophy

of Man:

Western
Traditio
THALES OF MILETUS (624-546 B.C.)

 he’s the founder of Ionian

School of Philosophy
 he associated w/ specific discoveries in
physics, metaphysics, astronomy, geometry and
engineering
 he asserted that the world originated in
water and was sustained by water and that the
earth floated on water

 he asserted that “all things

are full of gods”
  Contributions of Thales:

a ly ’ s R i v er
H
s s a b le f or
pa
King
Croesus
Haly’s River passable for King Croesus
  Contributions of Thales:

a ly ’ s R i v er
H Solstices
s s a b le f or
pa and their
King
cycles
Croesus
Solstices and their cycles
  Contributions of Thales:
 f iv e
a ly ’ s R i v er celesti
H Solstices zones al
s s a b le f or  inc
pa and their linatio
King the zo n of
cycles  sou diac
Croesus rces o
moon’ f the
s light
Five Celestial Zones
Inclination of Zodiac
Sources of Moon’s Light
  Contributions of Thales:
 f iv e
a ly ’ s R i v er celesti
H Solstices zones al
s s a b le f or  inc
pa and their linatio
King the zo n of
cycles  sou diac
Croesus rces o
moon’ f the
s light

l i ca ted
Exp of
r i s e
the
Nile
Explicated the rise of Nile
  Contributions of Thales:
 f iv e
a ly ’ s R i v er celesti
H Solstices zones al
s s a b le f or  inc
pa and their linatio
King the zo n of
cycles  sou diac
Croesus rces o
moon’ f the
s light

F iv e
Theorem
s of
Thales in
l i ca ted
Geometr
y Exp of
r i s e
the
Nile
Five Theorems of Thales in Geometry
  Contributions of Thales:
 f iv e
a ly ’ s R i v er celesti
H Solstices zones al
s s a b le f or  inc
pa and their linatio
King the zo n of
cycles  sou diac
Croesus rces o
moon’ f the
s light

F iv e
Theorem
s of
 height of Thales in
the pyramids l i ca ted
Geometr
y Exp of
 distance of r i s e
ships at sea
the
Nile
Height of the pyramids

Distance of ships at sea

ANAXIMANDER (610-546 B.C.)

 he belongs to the Milesian School of

Greek philosophy with Thales and
Anaximenes

O N
E IR
AP
– comes fro
m the Greek
that means words “a”
‘not’ and “p
”peiras” tha eirar” or
t means ‘lim
“apeiron” m it’; hence,
eans ‘unlim
ited’
 Contributions of Anaximander:

OL O G
CO SM
Y
– the production of the
opposites and their separating
off are important in his
cosmogony “penalty and
retribution of the opposites in
accord to the assessment of
time”
 Contributions of Anaximander:

O L
O O
G
P NY OGN
SMR
T OGOO
ANO
C H
ZO Y Y
– thest production of the
– the 1 living creature were
opposites
– Man and their
was born separating
born in moisture and from
enclosed
off are important in his
animals
in thornyof another
barks. species
As their age
cosmogony “penalty and
grow, came
(man they cameinto forth
being into the
inside
retribution of the opposites in
drier part fishes)
and the bark was
accord to the assessment of
broken off
time”
 ANAXIMENES (585-528 B.C.)

“Our soul, being air, holds us together,

so do breath and air encompass the
whole world"

 Hot and cold are the common attributes of

matter that come from the result of its
changes. Matter comes first. Matter is air.

 Sun and moon are fiery celestial bodies carried by

air in their flatness. The origin of stars is called
moisture exhalation. Air is god. Air has the same
function to man and the universe.
 Pythagoras and the
Pythagoreans (Samos: 570-500)

Mathematics is the
t p ur i fier of t h e All things are
be s
soul. numbers.
1. 2.

 square of the hypotenuse as equal to the squares of

the other two sides of a right-angled triangle.
 correlation between numbers and magnitude
provided immense consolation to those who were
seeking evidence of a principle of structure and order
in the universe.
3.
 XENOPHANES OF COLOPHON (570 B.C.)

 he declined the immorality of the

gods and believed on a single
anthropomorphic Deity
disciple
 he taught on the unity of all things,
eternity of the totality being, and the
Elea nature as imbued with the divine

polyt
heisti  he taught on the unity of all things,
belief c
eternity of the totality being, and the
nature as imbued with the divine
XENOPHANES OF COLOPHON (570 B.C.)

 he started with the principle that

“nothing comes from nothing: all is one
and one is all”

 he advocated empirical knowledge

 The truth has to be discovered by degrees.

The primitive substance was earth; others
would say water and earth. Xenophanes
believed that the one is eternal; the world in its
present form is not eternal
 HERACLITUS (504-501 B.C.)

 he held that the world was not

created but had always existed

The logo
 he believed that the
– structural dry soul is the wisest
coherence and the best in
comparison to wet soul

 War is the father of all and the king of all, and

some he presents as gods, others as man, some as
slavers others as free (Collinson, 10-12)
PARMENIDES (501-492 B.C.)

Fathe
r
 he begins with what he of
Ideali
takes to a self-evident truth: sm
“It is”. It is the truth of
reason. It cannot be denied if monistic
you say, “it is not”, then you a t er i a l i st
m
have proved that “it is”; for ic rather
if nothing exists, it’s not than an
nothing, rather it is idealist
something
  Parmenides believed that:

1. Being/Reality
Being is
rational. – uncreated and imperishable,
eternal, indivisible and
2. homogenous, motionless, finite and
The air is
equally real in all directions. It is a
separated
timeless plenum. He negated the
off from the
notion of time, the void and
earth.
plurality.

“The moon is compounded of both air and fire.

Aither is outermost, surrounding all, next is the fiery
sky, and lastly, the earth (Kirk and Raven, 283-285)
 MELISSUS OF SAMOS (500 B.C.)

 he was a disciple of Parmenides whose

notion of being was in contrast with him

“Being/Reality is one, eternal,

infinite and unchangeable”

The One is incorporeal. If this incorporeal being

were to exist, it must be one, but if it were one it
cannot have body, for if it had body, it would have
parts, and no longer be one (Monists and
Pantheists Perspective)
 ZENO OF ELEA (490-B.C.)

 his master was Parmenides

 he did not develop his own philosophy

but he defend his master that there is only
one reality

 he proved the impossibility of

motion using a method known as
reduction ad absurdum
 ZENO OF ELEA (490-B.C.)

FOUR ARGUMENTS:

Against Against
R.S.E.
Plurality
Space Motion
- It proves that one of
- if everything that - thetherace course
senses is
- exists
if things
hasare
a place,
many, - the tortoiseItand
unreliable. is
that
theyplace
mustwill
be both
have Achilles
connected w/ the
a like
place,
andand
unlike
so on query
- the how much
flying force
arrow
without limit it takes
- the to shift a
stadium
heavy weight
 ZENO OF ELEA (490-B.C.)

“Motion and Change is

impossible”

“Being is one, seamless

and unchanging whole”

Parmenides
PHILOLAUS AND EURYSTUS OF CROTON

Eurystus Philolaus

 he believed that
bodies are composed
 unlimited
The of the(womb
he suggest anfor
hot =they
analogy
 he believed that numbers
implanted)
have are
represents
no share the
in the
between macrocosm
causes ofdarkness,
substanceswhileand of
limit being
stand
cold
and microcosm
whether asforlimits (as points
light (Kirk are of
and Raven,
312-313)
spatial magnitudes)
 EMPEDOCLES OF ACRAGAS

 his philosophy is eclectic, all

knowing

Principles of Empedocles:

12..
Matter
Therehas
is nonoabsolute
absolutebeginning,
beginning
becoming. or
Anend. Matter
object is
as a whole begins
eternal.
and Matter is uncreated
ceases to and
be. These matters are
indestructible.
capable of change. It remains as it is.
 EMPEDOCLES OF ACRAGAS

Four Elements:

3. Aidoneus
1. Zeus (fire) METEMPSYCHOS
2. Nestis
Hera (air)
MATTER 4. IS
(water)
(earth)

– dead; lifeless;
– transmigration
it cannot supply
of soul;
the principle of
reincarnation
motion
ANAXAGORAS OF CLAZOMENAE (500-428 B.C.)

The Two Propositions

1. 2.
The things with like
 For him, all things were There
together,
is a portion
infinite
parts or
inrespect of both number of
andeverything
smallness, infor
Air
Hebeing
Homoeomereity: corporeal,
reacted to aZeno:is Neither
distinguished from
is there a
the the
non-existent small too
void. was infinite.
everything.
Heisnegated the there
existence
natural
smallest substance.
part of what small, but is
of the
always void andlarger
something gave no explication
than of
what is large.
differences
It is equalof weight (Kirktoand
in numbers Raven,
what 368 ff.)
is small,
everything is relation to itself, being both
large and small. All things are always equal.
 ARCHELAUS OF ATHENS

 he was a pupil of Anaxagoras and a

 he was a physicist
teacher who transferred
of stSocrates.
physical
For him, the 1 principle
philosophy was infinite
from Ionia to
air, with its condensation and
Athens.
rarefraction, the former of which was
water, the latter fire. He maintained
that right and wrong exist only by
convention and not by nature.
 THE ATOMISTS: LEUCIPPUS OF MILETUS AND
DEMOCRITUS OF ABDERA (460-371 B.C.)


 heFor
Himrefined
with
him, thethesystem
Parmenides and of
visual
Xenophanes
the atomic regarded that the
theory.
ct e ri s t i c s image
–whole
it isdoes not
asunsplittable;
arise
it
Chara  he one,most
motionless,
o f A to m : Atom
directlywas in is
the eternal,
the
uncreated and limited,
travelled
pupil, but
not being
DEMOCRITU cannot
man of hisbetime
waspassive,
affected;
solidbecauseitheis
and
LEUCIPPUS
ATOMOS
S the
wanted
air between
impossible
to study.
and the
forbade eye
even
and so
the small
search
the for
immutable.
objectand
what have
is not,
of and
sight no
he is
 For him, atoms void
contracted parts.
posited innumerable elements in
andnamely,
stamped
are the material
perpetual motion, causes theof
by the object
reality. atoms and seen
void.
 DIOGENES OF APOLLONIA

 his philosophy was monism (all

things are modifications of a single
basic substance: air)

 he believed on accurate anatomy of

human veins and that semen aerated,
since semen produces new life

Air is:
- intelligent - divine
 Anaximenes Anaxagoras Heraclitus

 “mind” [nous]
 “air” (takes
(unmixed with but it
other forms  “logos”/fire
Medical rules all things)
when steers all
Principle  material
condensed things
 only exist in
and rarified)
animate things

 “air” (other
attributes)  [noesis] intelligence
 every
 hot and cold (mixed with and
natural event
Diogenes  dry and wet ruling all things)
was due
[Air]  stability and  spiritual
directly to this
mobility  exists in animate
intelligence
 flavour and and inanimate things
color
 Anaxagoras Leucippus

 infinite void
 noetic
Cosmogony and infinite
substance
and cosmos
starting a
Cosmology  all things
vortex
are in motion
 PROTAGORAS OF
ABDERA (490-420 B.C.)

hehetalks
was about
the first
theintellectual leader
myth of human
 he was tried of at Athens
the and
Sophist
progress condemned
S  he held this Protagorean relativism: “a
O to death and banished for his agnosticism
human being is the measure of all
P – are persons concerning to gods
Two things”—this
gifts of Zeus: is known asathe
skilled in particular
emblem of
H craft, or the knowledgeable and the
I
the entire sophistic movement
 Aidoswise
– aor a specialist
sense of shame inand
wisdom.
respect
S
Tfor others.
S Dike – a sense of right and justice.
SOCRATES (469-399 B.C.) = ETHICS AND RELIGION

 hejustice,
 Piety, abandoned courage art and temperance
advocated
 he
are visualizes
education,
The
the charges
names the value
conceiving
lodged
which of
wisdom
 he sought to discover the truth and the the
that he
againstsoul,
had
bars inthe
a
importance
differentdivine ofgood
spheres knowledge
commission,
of action: and
to be wisdom
witnessedpiousby is if
to
Socrates:life
know the soul
oracles,
what isisdue
dreams properly
toand tended.
thesigns,
gods; to Thus
not to just
be teach is
knowledge
to doctrine,
know what leads
but totoconvict
is due ethical
to men; action.
men of
to be
1. Impiety towards
Knowledge and virtue the
are gods.
one. Thus a
courageous ignorance mistaking
is to know what isitself
to be forfeared
2.
wiseCorruption
knowledge, and of the
what
by so minds
and what is not; to be temperate iswill
man knows is right
doing to of
and the
promote
to
know youngtheir
how people.
also
to dowhat
whatisisand
intellectual
use right
good moral
and avoid
improvement
evil
PLATO (427-347 B.C.) = RING OF GYGES

 he believed that philosophers have

T H E
a duty toICsociety, to help their fellow
P U BL
E
Rcitizens in their search for wisdom, he
established a school in Athens, the
– one of the most influential books in
Academy
the history of Western Civilization. It
talks about “the ring of gyges”, in
which the issues whether humans are
naturally just or unjust is raised.
PLATO (427-347 B.C.) = RING OF GYGES

Plato believes that:

5.Four Cardinal
1.
3. 2.
4.
Man is Allegory
Virtue is of the Cave
knowledge,
Man is a
Virtues: The Theory of Forms
Thepresent
Theory of and the source of
knower and a – the myth of theIt
earthly
 Wisdom
Knowledge knowledge is virtue.
possessor of – the real nature of any
iscave describes
not abstract but
existence.
 Courage individual thing
an
– knowledge is concrete knowledge,
individuals chainednot
 Temperance depends on the form in
immortality
attainable. theoretical
deep but practical
within the
 Justice which it “participates”.
of the soul. knowledge.
recesses of a cave.
 ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.)

Nichomachean Ethics
tuoPlato’s
b tronr ian
ion t4ieerB
s8ucw
f3Academy rn
ie Csnt.d
.
t
nderirsetd
t
e
in
phdiilfoafsneordpeh nter
– one of the two major
branches Aristotelian treatises on
roetfseesaaccirhecnehrceer ethical theory.
 ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.)

Aristotle believes that:

VIRTUE
1.
2.Man is a rational
The very animal.
goal of human
life is happiness. As he put – a s ta
te o f
it: Virtue is a habit (moral charac
concer t er
virtue) or trained faculty of ned wi
choice th
choice (intellectual virtue). , lying
a mean in
.
Two Types of Virtues:

- Intellectual Virtues - Moral Virtues

 ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.)

Aristotle believes that:

MATTE
R
4.
3. For him, reality
Moderation consists
comes in the – a con
matter
middleand form.between
or mean tinuing
proces
two vices, one on the side of develo s of
excess, the other on the side ping o
THE FOUR CAUSES: becom r
of defect. ing.
a.
c.b.d.
Efficient
Material
Formal
Final Cause
Cause
Cause
– the
– what
purpose
an object
or characteristic
is made from,
activity
its
––how
howmatter
something
is organized
came to or
bestructured.
what it is.
of the
matter.
object.
 ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.)

Exitus
he The et reditus
synthesized
body is Principle:
Aristotle’s
alive if it All
science
has by
a
 God iscome
things theit unmoved
interpreting from
is an God
evidencemover.
and
of a
soul.
divine plan operating
return to God.in nature
Three Fundamental Activities of Life for
TELEOLOGY
Thomas Aquinas Aristotle:
–Eternal
Natural
purpose,Law
Law
function,
 Nutrition
-or
enables
- end.
humanus way
to develop
of knowing
our unique
the
 Sensation
ultimate qualities.
norm of morality.
 Thinking
 EPICURUS (341-270 B.C.)

 he founded a school of
 he believed that not EPICUREANISM
only
philosophy
that we ought to act in
ATOMIC
such a way as to produce  he regarded pleasure as
MATERIALIS
the greatest amountthe of beginning
it advocates
and end of the

M he gave
pleasure (ethicalus the hedonism (from the
blessed life
- the universe
analogy
hedonism), butisalso
of health and word
that Greek
composed of
we are so constituted “pleasure”)
matter
disease
psychologically
(in the that we
inevitably
form take pleasure
of atoms) in in
 Pleasure is the only
all our acts (psychological
motion in empty good in life.
hedonism)
space.
 EPICTETUS (C. 50 – C. 130) = STOICISM

STOICISM’S ENCHEIRIDIO
PHILOSOPHY OF RIGID
Ethical Teachings of Epictetus:
AUSTERITY AND SELFN DENIAL
6.
4. A
The 1private
man can be
. Epictetus
is peaceful andthe
Stoicthan
better view self-
of man
a. It contrasts
composed
public; the even
inner while
self being
is tortured
better than
Epicureanism’s
– a philosophy
manual editedof from his
or
the
2. inouter
greatself.
Dualism illness.
of mind (soul) and body
pleasure.
lecture notes taken by one of
hishappiness
b. Men must find students.in
3.7.
5.Virtue
The
Man’sinner
dutyself
does is to
not canmake
be free;
consist inthe mind
the
external
himself.
outer
master self
over
isHe must and
fearby
determined
desires theevents.
needs.God
performance, but in inner attitude.
within him.
 PLOTINUS (205-270 A.D.)

 he
 was a pantheist. He envisaged God
The he One
believed in the source of
as an impersonal Unity – infinite, eternal,
EMANATIONISM
all creation called by Him, the
with no spatial location and without
One or movement
thought, knowledge  a cosmological
Mind (nous) totally
theory which self-
asserts
"intelligence",
the dynamic,
sufficient,
absolute
that all thingshas
evil no
"flow"or
creative
"thought",
from an temporal
"the
underlying
Soul neednon-being
of acting in a
divine
power
principle mind”
or reality,
creative capacity
usually called the
Matter Godhead.