PHILOSOPHER

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PHILOSOPHER
MEANING???

• Lover of Wisdom

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ANAXAGORAS(500-428 BCE.)

• Described as the first scientist
• Born a Persian subject
• Migrated to Greece around 500 BCE in the first
  wave of Greek intellectuals who migrated to
  Athens.
• In Athens he pursued his interest in philosophy
  and became a teacher.
• He explained solar and lunar eclipses
  scientifically (a phenomena that terrified people
  for millennia)
• He believed the mind was God.
• He was accused of Atheism by city officials, who
  associated his impiety with disloyalty toward the
  city.
• Anaxagoras was friends with Pericles, but this
  could not save him from Athenian courts.
• Anaxagoras was exiled and his teachings were
  banished.

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Anaxagoras of Clazomenae Born 499 BC in
Clazomenae, Lydia (now Turkey)Died 428 BC in
Lampsacus, Mysia (now Turkey)
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HIPPOCRATESthe father of medicine

• Lived from 460 377 BCE
• Son of a priest-physician
• Revolted against medicine tied to superstition
  and religion. (the attempt to cure by use of
  charms, amulets, and incantations).
• Believed that diseases were from natural causes,
  not angry gods.
• Wanted health care built on observation.
• Advocated public health, good diet, and hygiene.
• His first rule for all physicians was do no
  harm.

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SOCRATES

• Everything we know about him comes from what his
  students recorded.
• In the Peloponnesian War, Socrates was in his
  late 30s, and was an Athenian infantryman.
• After the war he became a teacher, mainly to the
  sons of aristocrats without asking for money.
• He questioned assumptions about religion and
  ethics.
• Like Anaxagoras, he believed that the universe
  was guided by a god with a sense of purpose, a
  God that was mind, a god that was the source of
  human consciousness and morality.
• He described hearing an inner voice that he
  believed was Gods.

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More Socrates

• Socrates believed that goodness was created by
  God and that people needed to simply match that
  goodness.
• He believed that knowledge and obedience to truth
  improved ones soul and diminished wrongdoing,
  confusion, and ugliness.
• To help people gain knowledge and improve their
  soul he tried to expose their ignorance and
  mistaken reasoning.
• He often began with a question.
• The Socratic Method
• He often argued his ideas in the marketplace
  (agora).
• Many felt he was a foolish babbler.
• He is not known to have been politically active.
• But he was associated with people who were in
  favor of a ruling aristocracy and who were not in
  favor of democracy.

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The end of Socrates (literally)

• Just before the Peloponnesian War
• Pro-Democracy regime
• Feel he is hostile to them
• Think he sees them as immoral
• See Socrates as a danger to their democratic
  regime
• Had him arrested
• Charged him with
• Not believing the god of the state
• Introducing new gods
• Corrupting young people with his talk
• Socrates admitted that he did not believe in the
  gods of the state.
• Said he had not intentionally corrupted Athenians
• Asked the court that rather than prosecute him,
  the honorable jurors should tell him what course
  of thought was correct.
• They were unammused.
• Found Socrates guilty and suggested the death
  sentence.
• Socrates could have asked for a lesser
  punishment, instead he announced that he should
  be praised as a public benefactor instead of
  being sentenced.
• Friends of Socrates fled the city, after his
  death, fearing persecution

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(At Left) Socrates
(Below) The Last Days of Socrates
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"There exists a false aristocracy based on family
name, property, and inherited wealth. But there
likewise exists a true aristocracy based on
intelligence, talent, and virtue." -Thomas
Jefferson- 1743-1826
Who came up with this idea first?
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PLATO

• Plato was one of the Athenians who fled after
  Socrates death.
• He was 27
• Saw democracy as having contributed to Athens
  defeat in the Peloponnesian War.
• Dissatisfied with the world around him
• Saw that only individuals could improve the world
  by improving themselves.
• He felt new institutions were needed too.
• Created an ideal society and government in his
  writing Republic
• It was strong enough to win wars
• Able to provide a livelihood for its people
• Free of self-serving individualism and
  commercialism (unlike Athens)
• Unified by a harmony of interests.

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Platos Republic

• A polis of no more than 20,000 people
• Ruling Elite made up of men of learning, who
  could pass their status to their sons but lose
  their status if their peers decided that they
  were unfit.
• Only those who had developed into sound
  philosophers could be part of this rank.
• Believed that all philosophers understood the
  concept of harmony and would not break into
  hostile factions all trying to rule.
• Should be unconcerned with possessions.
• Free from ordinary labor to concentrate on
  philosophy.
• Second and third class
• Warriors (free from ordinary labor to
  concentrate on training)
• Third class labored.
• Women
• Saw them as equal to men in many ways
• Phiosophic capacities
• Capable of virtue
• Mentally accomplisted female was superior to
  mentally incompetent male.
• Greater respect and freedom for women (more like
  Sparta).
• Men should still rule, but women should be free
  rather than possessed by men.

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Platos Republic Lost

• Knew the philosophers were unpolular
• Knew the philosophers would not ban together and
  overthrow the established authority
• Wanted to find someone with power who would
  follow his vision
• Late in his life a close friend of his became
  advisor to the young kind Dionysius II.
• Plato was invited to tutor Dionysius
• His friend was exiled a few months after his
  arrival
• Plato lost any influence he might have had over
  Dionysius
• His friend eventually overthrew Dionysius, but
  was unpopular and assassinated
• This completely ended Platos hope of a utopia.

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PLATO
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ARISTOTLE

• Son of a Greek doctor who served the king of
  Macedonia (land north of Greece)
• At 18 he went to study under Plato in Athens
• Stayed at Platos academy for twenty years
• Until Plato died in 347BCE
• Believed that observation was the best teacher
• (ex Many thought rivers began at some great
  pool of water hidden from humanitys view He
  suggested people climb mountains to observe that
  rivers began as small streams in high places)

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Yea! More Aristotle

• Became a collector of facts
• Was recognized as the foremost authority on logic
• Both in ancient times and medieval times!
• He forced people to think more clearly and to
  examine presumptions and contradictions.
• Unlike Anaxagoras and Socrates he did not believe
  that the mind was God, he thought it was the
  soul.
• He felt that soul was a collective force and did
  not survive death in individualistic form. It
  returned to the collective (Zeus).
• Believed that Zeus was the source of all, but was
  not interventionist.
• Also believed the Zeus did not create the
  universe because he could not believe that
  something was created from nothing.

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Aristotle on Politics!

• Well being of a community helped the well-being
  of its members.
• Polis more important than family and individuals.
• Believed in rule by an elitie, like Plato
• Rule should go to the wise
• Best way of creating harmony
• Opposed to democracy
• Unsuitable because of the lack of wisdom among
  common people who could be swayed by leader
  claiming to be for the people.
• Did not like the idea of permanent aristocracy.
• Unlike Plato (who saw the aristocracy as the
  philosophical ruling elite)
• Felt the best rulers first learned to be good
  subjects
• Young men should be warriors, middle aged men
  should rule, and older men should be priests.

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Aristotle