Presocratic Philosophy

Pre-Socratic Philosophy 

Carson Eskew, Jason Tuttle, Ashley Clarkson 

The Pre-Socratic era took place from about 630-370 B.C. Pre-Socratic philosophy is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates and the philosophic teachings that were contemporary to Socrates but were not yet influenced by his work. In the pre-Socratic era, philosophers were called “physiologoi” which is translated in “natural philosopher”. In this presentation, we will summarize the work of a few key philosophers and their main accomplishments. The philosophers from this time were the first to reject traditional mythological explanations and began to favor more rational explanations. Some important movement of the period include the Milesian School, Eleatic School, the Ephesian School, Pluralism, Pythagoreanism, Sophism, and Atomism.  Over a period of 200 years, the Presocratic philosophers focused on three key issues: “the one and the many”, “change and constancy” and “relativism”. The first issue, “the one and the many”, is the concept of explaining how one basic thing can be the source of many things. Second is the problem of “change and constancy”, which is the issue of how to explain the concept things remain constant as they change over time. As things go through change, there’s still something about them that enables them to retain their identity. The third problem is “relativism”, which is the concept of determining whether principles are absolute or created by people. 

 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QG4FGFHfSAkbiUYpaBC4KIDUayjXO2Fcb9cpemeYBfA/edit?usp=sharing  

Quiz Questions:  

1) What is relativism?  

2) Which Pre-Socratic philosopher had beliefs of reincarnation? 

3) What was the atomists solution to the problem of “an orderly world”?  

Discussion Questions: 

1) Do you believe in the theory of “the one and the many”, that is that one thing is the source of many things? The world is full of many objects, some inanimate and some living is it possible that they are all derived from one source?  

2) What makes the atomist view of the world at the smallest scale close, but not a perfect representation?  

3) Do you agree with Heraclitus’s idea that the world is in a constant state of change, and that these changes are not an accident, but happen according to law or “logos”?