[Also read Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy] 

 
Pre-Socratic philosophy: 
● In Classical antiquity times (Greco-Roman), there were ​physiologoi​ (those who sought natural explanations for phenomena) 
and the ​theologoi​ ​(theologians), or m​ ythologoi​ (story tellers, bards) [distinction by Aristotle]  
● Contemporary analysis of pre-Socratic thought done by Vlastos, Barnes, Nietzsche. 
● Difficult to determine actual line of argument as most supporting texts are lost.  
● Presocratic philosophers rejected traditional mythological explanations of the phenomena they saw around them in favor of 
more rational explanations. 
● Some questions asked included:  
○ From where does everything come? 
○ From what is everything created? 
○ How do we explain the plurality of things found in nature? 
○ How might we describe nature mathematically? 
● First to venture into field of cosmology (particularly, origin of the universe) 
● Western philosophy began in ancient Greece in the 600-501 BCE. 
● Different thinkers, their schools and relationship are given in: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Socratic_philosophy#/media/File:Presocratic_graph.svg 
● Knowledge of pre-socrates derives from later writings about them (historical bias), especially by Aristotle. 
● Some schools of thought include:  
○ Milesian school - Thales (from western coast of Anatolia) is the father of Greek philosophy. One of the basic tenets was 
that water is the basis of all things. His younger contemporary, Anaximenes (585-525 BCE), took for his principle air, 
conceiving it as modified, by thickening and thinning, into fire, wind, clouds, water, and earth. 
○ Pythagoreanism - First to bring up practicality of philosophy. Harmony on Earth is dependent on a number of factors, and 
humankind should not disturb that, and instead learn from the harmoniousness of the planet. 
○ Eleatic school: Believed that there existed one true unchanging entity. Xeno, through the use of paradoxes, showed how 
change leads to contradictions.  
○ Pluralist school: Agreed with the unchangeable nature of substance, but founding principle was that the four classical 
elements (fire, earth, air, water) were responsible for the plurality of things (‘made up everything’) 
 
And then, there was Socrates​ (470-399 BCE). He didn’t write anything, but his ideals spread via the writings of his pupils, Plato and 
Xenophon. He was the first to bring up ethical line of thought. Plato’s dialogue is one of the few surviving records of Socrates, and mention 
several of Socrates contributions (with historical bias, KA Socratic question):  
○ Socratic i​ rony​ (wherein, the questioner pretends to know less than the answerer to draw incoherent statements from the 
answerer, despite the questioner being well-versed in the subject.) Also, screenplays with modern emotions like 
awkwardness w ​ ere also found. 
○ Socratic method:​ a form of argument between individuals that triggers critical thinking. Here, the presumptions of the 
defender (against the questioner) are brought about by the questioner and the defender is made to contradict themselves. 
The Socratic method is a method of hypothesis elimination, in that better hypotheses are found by steadily identifying and 
eliminating those that lead to contradictions. The Socratic method also searches for general, commonly held truths that 
shape beliefs and scrutinizes them to determine their consistency with other beliefs. 
● Participated in the Peloponnesian War (Athenians vs. Spartans, for control over modern-day Greece) as a hoplite. Peloponnesian 
War being stretched out over 30 years, saw both the rise and fall of the Athenians. Athenian public was skeptical about the 
concept of democracy, and Socrates appears to have been a critic of the form of democracy in Athens, at the time. Athenian 
democracy was overthrown soon by a military dictatorship headed by student and friend of Socrates, but again reinstalled in a 
year.  
● To talk about the trial and eventual death of Socrates (by drinking poison hemlock; painting: Jacques-Louis David), we have to 
transition into the the state of religion back in Greco-Roman times. High priestess/Pythia/Oracle of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi 
fell into an argument with Socrates over who was wiser, except they placed their bets on the other guy. The series of events that 
led Socrates to serially question citizens of Athens about the concept of wisdom and general awareness of how much knowledge 
there is [‘I know that I know nothing.’], gave birth to the S
​ ocratic paradox​. This gave rise to ill-will garnered by the citizens toward 
Socrates, and hence, his trial.  
 ● Socrates believed the best way for people to live was to focus on the pursuit of virtue rather than the pursuit, for instance, of 
material wealth. 
 
Plato:  
● Pupil of Socrates, documented most of his life and ideals, wrote the Theory of Forms (modern ideals that still shape our 
lives) 
 
● Some b​ ig-shots ​I missed (chronologically):  
○ Pythagoras [Pre-Socratic]​: Impacted Plato, Aristotle. Devised the doctrine of musica universalis, which holds that the 
planets move according to mathematical equations and thus resonate to produce an inaudible symphony of music. Other 
achievements include: Pythagorean theorem, Pythagorean tuning (system of musical tuning wherein frequency ratios of 
intervals is 3:2, making tuning by ear pretty easy: look up in Music Theory)