Ancient Greek Philosophy

1

• Ancient Greek Philosophy
• Main References
• Plato. The Trial and Death of Socrates. Tr. by
  G.M.A. Grube. Indianapolis Hackett, 1975.
• ------. Symposium. Tr. by Alexander Nehamas and
  Paul Woodruff. Indianapolis Hackett, 1989.
• ------. The Republic. Harmondsworth Penguin,
  1974.
• ------. The Last Days of Socrates.
  Harmondsworth Penguin, 1993.

2

• Popper, Karl. The Open Society and Its Enemies.
  Vol. I The Spell of Plato. Princeton Princeton
  U. Press, 1966.
• Aristotle. The Athenian Constitution.
  Harmondsworth Penguin, 1984.
• -----------. Ethics. Harmondsworth Penguin,
  1976.
• -----------. Politics. Grinnell Peripatetic,
  1986.
• Bambrough, Renford. The Philosophy of Aristotle.
  New York Mentor, 1963.

3

• In ancient Greece, at the earliest stage,
  physics, mathematics, and astronomy were included
  as parts of philosophy, which means the love
  of wisdom.

4

• It seeks to trace everything back to its
  ultimate grounds (typical characteristic of a
  philosopher).
• What is the origin of the universe? (Cf. Stephen
  Hawking of our time)
• Philosophy seeks to know why there is a universe
  at all.
• The law of causation -- everything, which has a
  beginning, has a cause.
• (Plato, the unmoved mover, the uncaused cause
  the prime mover).

5

• The earliest pre-Socratic Greek Philosophy the
  Ionic School (in Ionia, coast of Asia Minor)
  Thales, Anaximander, Aniximenes, etc.
• Thales (c. 624-550 B.C.) founder or father of
  the Ionic School of ancient Greek philosophy,
  famous for his mathematic and astronomical
  learning and practical wisdom. Thales believed
  that (1) the principle of all things is water,
  that all comes from water, and to water all
  returns and (2) the earth is a flat disc, which
  floats upon water.

6

• The significance of Thales is not that this
  water philosophy has any value in itself (it
  seems that this philosophy is wrong, according to
  nowadays science yet there are still some
  people, who believe that the earth is flat, and
  they have formed a flat Earth Academic
  Society), but that this was the first recorded
  attempt on natural and scientific principles (not
  by myths and Gods).

7

• Thales asserted that the ultimate reality is
  water, but later, some other ancient Greek
  philosophers believed in other things
• Anaximander (c. 611-547 B.C.)-- indefinite
  matter
• Anaximenes (c. 588-524 B.C.) -- air
• Pythagoras (580 - 507 B.C.) -- number
• Heracleitus -- fire
• Empedocles -- the 4 elements (earth, water, fire,
  wind)
• Therefore, this first stage (pre-Socratic)
  essentially cosmological in character.

8

• The second period of ancient Greek philosophy
  the sophists and Socrates/Plato to Aristotle
  the maturity of ancient Greek philosophy

9

• Socrates
• Born in Athens (469 - 399 B.C.)
• Ugly, yet mind was creative, clear, critical, and
  eager
• Socrates was first interested in natural science,
  including whether the earth is flat or not, but
  he was not satisfied with the result of his
  research so he abandoned the study of natural
  science and turned to the study of human life.

10

• In teaching method, Socrates did not use
  spoon-feeding method, but dialogue --
  questions and answers (cf. Confucius, The
  Analects or Lun Yu).
• Socrates liked using examples of daily affairs to
  enlighten his students.
• educare (Latin) to lead (like a mid-wife
  helping the mother to give birth to her baby).

11

• Socrates divine mission was to expose the
  ignorance of those who thought themselves wise
  (Apology Apology is Platos version of
  Socrates speech to the jury for his own defense
  in his trial cf. C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian, at
  the end of the story, the Lion asked Prince
  Caspian if he was ready to be King. Prince
  Caspian answered modestly that he was still a
  child only. The wisdom is those who thought
  themselves ready usually are NOT ready because
  they are too proud, or they thought too highly of
  themselves on the contrary, those who are
  modest, they are probably close to be ready).

12

• What did Socrates really know?
• Socrates did not claim to know anything
• Socrates did not think he knew a lot.
• But, the Delphis Oracle, no one is wiser than
  Socrates!
• Probably, Socrates knew that he was ignorant, but
  the others did not know that they were ignorant.

13

• (Cf. Confucius, The Analect, say you know when
  you know, say you dont know when you dont know,
  that is know-how or knowledge or wisdom)
• Socrates belittled his own knowledge in fact,
  really honest thinkers are seldom impressed by
  their own ability.
• The companies by whom Socrates was constant
  surrounded were not so much as disciples but were
  as friends who loved him and drew inspiration
  from him.

14

• Socrates liked to use dialogues with careful
  definition and logical thinking systematic
  questioning, such as what, where, when, why, how,
  etc.
• Socrates, the greatest power on earth is the
  power of reflection.

15

• In 399 B.C., 3 Athenian citizens accused Socrates
  of (1) heresy (or impiety) (2) did not
  believe or observe the gods of the polis and (3)
  corrupted the minds of the youth!

16

• According to G.M.A. Grube, at the time of his
  trial and execution in 399 B.C., Socrates was
  seventy years of age. He had lived through the
  Periclean Age when Athens was at the pinnacle of
  her imperial power and her cultural ascendancy,
  then through twenty-five years of war with Sparta
  the Peloponnesian War, 431 - 404 B.C. and the
  final defeat of Athens in 405 404 B.C., the
  oligarchic revolution that followed, and,
  finally, the restoration of democracy.

17

• His mission, which he explains in the Apology,
  was to expose the ignorance of those who thought
  themselves wise and to try to convince his
  fellow-citizens that every man is responsible for
  his own moral attitudes.

18

• Not surprisingly, Socrates was often confused
  with these Sophists in the public mind, for both
  of them were apt to question established and
  inherited values. But their differences were
  vital the Sophists professed to put men on the
  road to success and to teach people rhetoric or
  how to argue with no moral responsibility as long
  as the Sophists got paid (Socrates/Plato called
  them intellectual prostitutes),

19

• whereas Socrates disclaimed that he taught
  anything his conversation aimed at discovering
  the truth, at acquiring that knowledge and
  understanding of life and its values that he
  thought was the very basis of the good life and
  of philosophy, to him a moral as well as an
  intellectual pursuit. (The Trial and Death of
  Socrates, pp. 1-2).

20

• Plato (427-347 B.C.)
• born in Athens,
• of noble birth, yet his youth witnessed the
  decline and fall of Athens (in 404 B.C., Sparta
  defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War in
  399 B.C., the trial and execution of Socrates,
  his beloved mentor/master, via democratic ways,
  thus, Plato preferred Spartan timarchy to
  Athenian democracy (which was with selfish
  individualism, civic irresponsibility, diversity,
  disintegration, dislike of authority, no respect
  for the authority, class war lack of cohesion,
  that is, all negative)).

21

• After the execution of Socrates in 399 B.C., with
  final disillusionment, Plato left Athens and
  traveled, including to Syracuse in southern
  Italy.
• In 386 B.C., Plato returned to Athens and founded
  the Academy where he taught for the rest of his
  life (d. 347 B.C.).

22

• Plato used the dialogue form of writing as the
  most effective means of presenting his
  philosophical ideas.
• It was not Platos intention to answer specific
  question or to propose final and dogmatic
  solutions to any of the problem that were being
  discussed.

23

• Plato preferred instead to do something that
  would stimulate original thinking on the part of
  the reader. This manner of presentation enabled
  Plato to present contrasting points of views as
  they would likely to occur in a series of
  conversations taking place among individuals
  having different points of views.

24

• Finally, by using conversational method
  (dialogue), it would be possible to illustrate
  way in which current issues of the day were
  related to one another.
• This is one of the reasons why not one of Platos
  dialogues is devoted exclusively to the
  discussion of a single topic. Plato wanted to
  make it clear that in order to understand any
  particular subject, you must see how it is
  related to other subjects and to the field of
  knowledge as a whole.

25

• Platos Republic
• With theories of government
• It represents what Plato regarded as the ideal
  toward which actual states should strive it is a
  little bit too idealistic in a later and
  considerably longer dialogue titled, The Laws,
  Plato proposed a less idealistic but more
  practical alternative for the organization of
  state government.

26

• Timarchy (Sparta)
• Oligarchy
• Democracy (Athens)
• Tyranny
• To Plato, democracy was controlled by the
  ignorant majority and there was no
  order/discipline. Yet, there were
  political/class/power struggles, disorder, and
  wars.

27

• The philosopher-king (of Gold quality with
  wisdom, benevolence, yet little desire) the
  ideal ruler Plato believed that only those
  persons who possessed intellectual as well as
  moral qualities should be entrusted with the
  power to rule over others

28

• Auxiliaries (of silver quality with bravery,
  obedient to the philosopher-king) warriors
  protecting/defending
• Citizens (of iron quality with a lot of desires)
  ordinary people, such as farmers and workers
  to produce accordingly
• Each should behave accordingly, then,
  everything would be in order, (but, in reality,
  thats not the case. A lot of people, such as
  Hitler, would believe that they are the
  philosopher-king!)

29

• Plato believed that there was an ideal state (or
  the perfect polis/republic cf. Thomas Mores
  Utopia) up above in heaven and this world of
  phenomenon is not the real world but pale,
  imperfect reflections of ideal models.

30

• Chapter 7 in The Republic The Allegory of the
  Cave
• In the cave, people faced the deep end (like a
  screen) with lights coming from the entrance
  objects were pale shadows/reflections in the
  screen, yet people got used to it and believed
  those were the real objects.

31

• Yet, some philosophers (like him) went outside of
  the cave and found the truth/reality, and because
  of the sense of duty as a philosopher, these
  philosophers tried to tell the truth but in
  vain.

32

• Nevertheless, Platos conclusion objects that
  we perceive through our senses are merely pale,
  imperfect reflections of ideal models that exist
  in a world invisible to us.
• To Plato, knowing reality is not by
  doing/observing experiments like Aristotles
  science, but by thinking/contemplating like
  pure mathematics.

33

• Later books influenced by The Republic
• St. Augustine, The City of God
• Thomas More, Utopia
• Francis Bacon, The New Atlantis
• James Hilton, The Lost Horizon

34

• Just the opposite, there were books/literature
  criticizing these kinds of ideal world
• Aristophanes, Birds
• Jonathan Swift, Gullivers Travels
• Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
• George Orwell, 1984

35

• Plato, Symposium
• According to Alexander Nehamas and Paul Woodruff,
  The Symposium is one of Platos best known and
  most influential works. ... The dialogue
  presents at least four different aspects to its
  readers, First of all, the Symposium contains
  a series of speeches on the subject of love
  eros, and this is the main reason most readers
  are attracted to it. Second, it contains one of
  the most explicit and vivid descriptions of a
  Platonic form, the Form of Beauty, which
  according to Socrates speech, is the final
  object of all love.

36

• The Symposium usually is translated as dinner
  party or feast, but literally means drinking
  together is an account of a banquet given by the
  young poet Agathon to celebrate his first victory
  at the dramatic contest

37

• The general Greek word for love is philia,
  which applies indifferent to the feelings of
  friends, family members, and lovers. Eros refers
  to particularly intense attachment and desire in
  general. Most commonly, however, it is applied
  to passionate love and desire, usually sexual,
  and to the god who personified that state.
• Homosexual
• Heterosexual

38

• Nevertheless, the Symposium presents a
  revisionary, otherworldly conception of love and
  a metaphysical vision to support that conception.
  that Plato has succeeded in convincing
  generations of readers that his idea of love is
  not simply a wild philosophical fantasy but
  rather an ideal according to which life can
  almost be lived.

39

• The Symposium is to be read and savored for all
  these reasons for its philosophical views -- the
  theory of love, the description of the Form of
  Beauty for its literary elements and for the
  product of the interaction between these two
  (Symposium, xi - xxvi)

40

• Plato if you dont know that you are ignorant,
  you are really ignorant. (cf. Zhuang Zi).
• Plato loved and respected Socrates, his teacher
  and friend.
• In his later years, Plato is reported to have
  said, I thank God that I was born Greek and not
  barbarian, free and not slave, male and not
  female, but above all that I was born in the age
  of Socrates.

41

• Platos questions and answers are still valid
  today The Prince of Philosophy, because (1)
  Plato asked many of the fundamental philosophical
  questions that philosophers still ask today (2)
  many of Platos answers have been continuously
  meaningful and are still meaningful for us today.

42

• According to Whitehead (a renowned 20th century
  philosopher, who concluded at his article for
  Plato in the Encyclopedia Britannica), modern
  Western philosophy is only footnotes to Plato.

43

• Aristotle (c. 384-322 B.C.)
• Born in Stagir, Macedonia, son of a physician,
  studied under Plato in his Academy, teacher of
  Alexander the Great
• Works (1) scientific Physics, The Generations
  of Animals, (2) philosophical/political
  Ethics, Politics, Metaphysics.

44

• Aristotle was praised for his contributions in
  natural science, such as biology, zoology, by
  his approach of classification and observation in
  experiments (contrary to Plato, his teacher)
• On ethics, Aristotle believed in the golden
  means (between the extremes) cf. Confucian
  chung yung

45

• According to Renford Bambrough, Darwin testified
  to his Platos hugh achievement as a biologist,
  Linnaeus and Curvier have been my two gods, but
  they were mere schoolboys to old Aristotle.

46

• Aristotles master and his pupil Plato and
  Alexander the Great, respectively were the two
  greatest men of his time, with the possible
  exception of Aristotle himself. The association
  between Aristotle and Alexander has naturally
  exited the imagination of later ages the future
  master of the known world makes a romantic
  picture. The probable truth is that neither had
  any marked effect on the other. Aristotles
  main approaches and interests were opposite to
  Platos

47

• Alexanders achievement was to transform the
  world on lines of which his tutor had no inkling,
  and there is little evidence that he shared
  Aristotles academic aspirations. He is reported
  to have financial support to Aristotle researches
  in biology and to have instructed his subjects to
  help Aristotle with his search for objects of
  scientific interest. (The Philosophy of
  Aristotle, pp. 11-17).