Top 10 Pre-Socratic Philosophers The belief in reincarnation probably led to the stories which surround

Empedocles’ death. One of the stories tells that Empedocles climbed to the
Plato has left us one of the greatest philosophical bodies of work. So great summit of Mount Etna and threw himself to his death in the lava. Either he did
has the influence of Plato been that his representation of Socrates has this as a way of actually becoming a god, or to fool his followers into believing
eclipsed all of the philosophers who existed in the Greek world at the time and he had vanished from the Earth. Either way it is said that the volcano spat out
before. These preceding philosophers are commonly known as pre-Socratic, one of his bronze sandals, revealing his death.
not necessarily because they were inferior to Socrates but merely because 9
they came before. We do not have nearly as much information about their Zeno
lives and teachings but what we do have is very interesting. For a more full
reading on these, the best source we have, though not totally trustworthy, is
Diogenes Laertius’ ‘Lives of the Philosophers.’ Here are ten of best pre-
Socratic philosophers.
10
Empedocles

Zeno was the student of another philosopher on this list, Parmenides. We

know of Zeno because his writings were discussed by Aristotle and he
features in a dialogue of Plato. Despite his description in Plato we know very
little of Zeno himself. What we know of Zeno is his staunch support for the
theories of his teacher.
Empedocles is the source of the Classical idea that the universe is composed
Zeno is well-known today for his paradoxes which sought to demonstrate the
of four elements: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. Believing that is was impossible
falseness of sensory information and the impossibility of change. Using a tale
for anything to come into existence out of nothing, or for existing things to go
of a race between Achilles and a slow runner (sometimes given as a tortoise)
into nothing, he believed that all change was brought about by the mixing of
Zeno proves the impossibility of motion. In the paradox Achilles gives a
those four elements. Part of this belief in the continuation of existence was his
runner half as fast as himself a head start. Who would we expect to win? If
firm belief in reincarnation.
such a race were really held we would see Achilles overtake the slower Parmenides believed that the whole universe, all that exists, is timeless and
runner. However we can reason that Achilles should never pass the slower unified. In his view change was impossible. His ideas have some logical basis
runner, or in fact move at all. If the slow runner is given a head start then by and have proved influential. Since we can sense that things are changing all
the time Achilles reaches where the slower man was the slower man should the time, yet logically prove that change is impossible we must find a way to
have moved on half the distance Achilles had traveled himself. Then by the justify this apparent clash of world views.
time Achilles reaches that point the runner would have moved on and so on, 7
thus he will never overtake the slower man. Protagoras

8
Parmenides

In opposition to Parmenides belief in a singular unchangeable universe

Protagoras famously said “Man is the measure of all things.” All that exists
can be judged against man’s sensation and interpretation of it. What you feel
The Platonic dialogue Parmenides is one of the most complex of his works to be true is true for you, what I feel to be true is true for me, and there is no
and seems to reflect the profound nature of Parmenides’ philosophy while reason they should be the same. This view of existence is very handy for
satirizing its difficulty. Parmenides was respected in his own time as a teacher arguing legal and moral cases since you can prove whatever you wish to
and appears to have authored only one work, a poem On Nature. This poem prove. Some philosophers have seen the whole of Plato’s work as a way of
tells of Parmenides journey to visit a Goddess in search of wisdom. What we finding a third path between Parmenides’ unity and Protagoras’ relativism.
possess is fragmentary but is sufficient to judge Parmenides’ thinking.
6
Gorgias 5
Anaxagoras

Gorgias is perhaps the most amusing of the pre-Socratic philosophers.

Clearly a clever and persuasive man, if Plato is to be believed, Gorgias Anaxagoras was the favorite philosopher of the Athenian leader Pericles. The
believed in nothing. He was the first known Nihilist. He tried to prove that age of Pericles is considered the golden age of Athens and it was in this age
nothing exists at all. In his work, now lost, On Not-Being, Gorgias used the that scientific philosophy flourished. Anaxagoras treated all events as
following line of argument: Nothing exists, or if it does exist we cannot know it, scientifically explicable instead of being caused by supernatural agents.
or if we can know it it is impossible to communicate it. You get the sense that Famously he declared that the sun was an enormous, hot rock in the sky and
Gorgias was thumbing his nose at other thinkers and displaying his logical not the chariot of Apollo. This remarkably modern view of the world was his
proficiency. To get a sense of Gorgias’ style we must also consider that he downfall. The enemies of Pericles sought to discredit him by attacking
wrote a speech in defense of Helen of Troy, the most hated woman in ancient Anaxagoras. They accused him of impiety towards the gods and he was
Greek mythology. imprisoned. He was freed and fled Athens.
4 3
Heraclitus Thales of Miletus

Heraclitus, also known as Heraclitus the Black, the Obscure, and the Thales of Miletus is often credited with being the first systematic philosopher
Weeping Philosopher for his negative outlook and mysterious sayings. What of the Western world. He was the first to reject supernatural explanations and
little we have of Heraclitus’ work exists in short sayings open to multiple seek reasons behind events. To prove the value of this understanding of the
interpretation. He is famous for the saying ‘You cannot step in the same river world he used his logic and evidence to predict a good crop of olives and,
twice.’ Is this because the river will have changed between steps, or you will buying up olive presses, was able to corner the market in oil and make a
have? Another of his sayings was ‘Everything flows.’ Little of his work fortune. As well as devising several geometric theories (which allowed him to
survives today but he was well-known in antiquity and was influential on later measure the height of the pyramids from the ground) Thales was also the first
philosophers. In his later days he suffered from dropsy, accumulation of fluid person to study electricity. It had been noticed that amber, when rubbed,
under the skin. In an effort to cure this he plastered himself in cow dung and attracted threads of fiber to it. It was this static electricity which Thales’
lay in the sun hoping to drive the fluid off. After a day, he died. studied. When the negative particle of the atom was named it was called the
electron, after the Greek for amber – elektron.
2 1
Democritus Pythagoras

Pythagoras is probably the best known of any of the names on this list. The
theorem which bares his name was well-known in Egypt long before his birth.
It was known that if a right angled triangle had sides of lengths 3 and 4 then
the hypotenuse would have a length of 5. What probably happened is that
Democritus was perhaps the most successful of the ancient philosophers
Pythagoras took this special case and worked out a theory which worked on
from a scientific standpoint, and yet he was largely ignored in the ancient
all right angled triangles. As well as this he worked out the relationships
world. We know that he believed that the whole universe was governed by
between musical notes, figured out all regular solids, and was the first to
natural laws which were understandable and predictable, a very modern view.
study irrational numbers. Apart from these scientific discoveries he also did
Using reason Democritus also predicted the existence of atoms and vacuums.
much work on mystical beliefs such as reincarnation. He formed a community
This was at a time when it was impossible to detect anything smaller than the
of followers who adhered to somewhat eccentric rules. It was against their
eye can see and the idea of nothingness and vacuums was anathema to most
rules to eat beans, unload a wagon on the street, and never stir a fire with an
thinkers. His wide ranging studies also took on the finer points of philosophy,
iron tool. Modern opinion is that Pythagoras may have gathered around him a
biology, human society, and geometry. As well as being right on so many
group of learned individuals and all of their discoveries became linked to his
matters, even if unacknowledged, he was also a cheery individual known as
name. Of the stories regarding Pythagoras’ death most include stories of him
the Laughing Philosopher.
being chased out of town by a mob. It is also reported that he was caught by
the mob when he came to a field of beans and could not bring himself to
trample on those holy plants.
The Cradle of Western Thought The Milesians

 Thales
Pre-Socratic Philosophy
 Anaximander
600 – 450 B.C.
 Anaximenes

In the beginning…
The Ionians/Milesians
 “The history of philosophy began on May 28, 585 B.C. At 6:13 p.m.
Greek Standard Time.” (Gordon Clark) Fundamental to their cosmogony was the belief that the world came into
being, that is, the first reality was a single living stuff.

 Naturalists
The Pre-Socratics
 Tries to explain the world without any reference to a
 Asia Minor (Ionia) supernatural being
• Thales, Anaximander, & Anaximenes (Miletus)  Materialists
• Heraclitus (Ephesus)  Referred to the Arch as divine, but probably meant nothing more
than that it was eternal.
• Anaxagoras
 Hylozoists
• The Atomists
 Living matter (ex: magnet)
 Southern Italy
 Monists
• The Pythagoreans
 The ultimate explanation for reality is one basic thing
• Parmenides, Zeno, and Empedocles
 They would have loved the weather channel. Anaximander

 Arch one of four basic elements  610-546 B.C.

 Mixed by the weather  Given credit for Inventing the sundial, making the first map, and making
astronomical discoveries.

 Apeiron - the boundless is the arch

Thales
 Peiron = fence, boundary
 625-546 B.C.
 Formless, shapeless, propertyless
 First to predict the eclipse of the sun

 Scientist, philosopher, and businessman

Heraclitus of Ephesus
• Fell in an open well while contemplating the heavens
 535-475 B.C.
• Bought up the olive presses
 The “dark one”
 Cosmogony = Arch is water (“the moist”)
 First to use logos as a technical term
Anaximenes
 Pantheistic
 585-525 B.C.
 Philo, Stoics, John the Bishop of Ephesus
 The arch is aer (breath)
• Valuable for expressing Christian truth
• Method:
• Christians use of the same language to explain something is not
 condensation – increase in density (turns into earth) necessarily a sign of influence

 rarefaction – decrease in density (clouds & fire)  Died in deep doo-doo

 Anaxagoras Zeno

 Nous - mind  Zeno’s paradoxes

 Infinite division of space so movement is not possible

The Atomists  Tortoise and hare

 Leucippus

 Democritus (460-370 B.C) The Orphic Movement

 Matter is made up of propertyless, imperishable, indivisible elements  Ascetic life

called atoma
 Purification rituals to release the god inside us all
 Nothing beyond the natural order.
 Fantastic cosmologies (like Scientology)
 Only two things, atoms and empty space.
 Reincarnation until our inner god is released by Orphic practices

 Killing an animal is murder

Parmenides
• Vegetarians
 The first rationalist (vs. empiricism)
The Pythagoreans
• Starting point for Platonic dialectic and Aristotelian logic
[Armstrong, p. 12]  Pythagoras ??? (580-500 B.C??)

 God is one; an immanent all-pervading world soul  Monastic brotherhood

 Philosopher most respected by Plato  Pebbles / Calculus

 Bill Clinton’s favorite philosopher • By contemplating form, order, proportion & harmony, the soul is
purified, thus mathematics and music
• What is, is. What is not, is not.
• “things are numbers”
 Good vs. Bad

• Form, the male principle, is good

• Matter, the female principle, is evil

 Emphasized purification of the soul to escape the reincarnation cycle

• Don’t poke a fire with a knife

• Get out on the right side of bed

• Put on the right shoe first

• Don’t let the swallows land on your roof

• Don’t eat beans!

 Influenced Plato (Phaedo and Meno)

Their beliefs:

 Mind-body dualism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Immortality of the Soul

 Body is a Prison of the Soul

 Transmigration of the Soul