first place. Note that Greeks also believed that things cannot disappear into nothing‚ just as they can’t be created from nothing‚ but if they ceased to exist‚ they transform into some other form of being. We can trace this idea to the teaching of Empedocles. Today the idea is loosely associated with the laws of conservation of mass andenergy. Ex nihilo is a Latin phrase meaning "out of nothing". It often appears in conjunction with the concept of creation‚ as in creatio ex nihilo‚ meaning "creation
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1) Explain (the main ideas and views) and evaluate (by giving arguments) the view of Heraclitus regarding the nature of reality? Heraclitus was one of many pre-Socratic philosophers‚ and he’s considered to be the most important and influential. I don’t know why‚ I find him a bit contradictory. His way of thinking was the result of perception and intuition. He despised rational‚ logical‚ conceptual thought. His pronouncements were purposely self-contradictory. "We are and at the same time are not
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Atomism Atomism is the final development of a school of thought called pluralism‚ which is an attempt to explain a very fundamental question‚ “What is the nature of the universe?” Monism‚ the opposing view of pluralism‚ asserts that only one being‚ or type of being‚ exists‚ and that the variety in our everyday experience is caused by the different states of this single all encompassing substance. Pluralism rejects this idea‚ and claims that the material that makes up our universe
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Philosophy Study Notes – Greek Philosophers - The earliest Greek philosophers are sometimes called NATURAL PHILOSOPHERS because they were mainly concerned with the natural world and it’s processes - Pythagoras (570 B.C)‚ Heraclitus (500 B.C)‚ Empedocles (490 B.C.)‚ Zeno (490 B.C.)‚ Parmenides (470 B.C.)‚ Democritus (460 B.C.) = Pre-Socratic - All the earliest philosophers shared the belief that there had to be a certain basic substance at the root of all change Pythagoras - Basic Beliefs:
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most important ideas are "flux" and "Unity of opposites". Heraclitus is called a monist (because he believes fire is the underlying principle) and an elitist (he believes most people are stupid). Heraclitus is said to have influenced Parmenides‚ Empedocles‚ Democritus‚ Plato‚ and the Stoics. Heraclitus said: "You cannot step into the same river twice‚ for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you." This statement is the essence of the concept of "flux" as it means that the river is always different
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The Pre-Socratic Philosophers | "Pre-Socratic" is the expression commonly used to describe those Greek thinkers who lived and wrote between 600 and 400 B.C. It was the Pre-Socratics who attempted to find universal principles which would explain the natural world from its origins to man’s place in it. Although Socrates died in 399 B.C.‚ the term "Pre-Socratic" indicates not so much a chronological limit‚ but rather an outlook or range of interests‚ an outlook attacked by both Protagoras (a Sophist)
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5. Contemporary Pythagoras: universe was made up of numbers Lenappus Democritus: The universe was made up of atomos The revolution of science * Historical background * Ancient and Medieval Science in the Western World * Empedocles: He was first formulated the notion that the universe was made up of 4 elements * Earth * Air * Water * Fire Kosmos: Physical universe with unity‚ order and beauty‚ bringing the unity of the
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Religion and Science: The relationship between science and religion up until the 6th century were one in the same. Philosophers believed that natural occurrences were due to a divine power. Earthquakes and thunderstorms were merely upset gods showing their wrath. Individuals sought to learn the language of the gods to comprehend these phenomena. After the 6th century‚ new ideas formed that excluded the gods. These philosophers did not personify nature. They believed the world to be orderly and
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The Four Elements The task of the Gods was to govern the four elements and control the natural forces of the universe “According to the Empedocles‚ a Greek philosopher‚ scientist and healer who lived in Sicily in the fifth century B.C.‚ all matter is comprised of four “roots" or elements of earth‚ air‚ fire‚ and water. Fire and air are outwardly reaching elements‚ reaching up and out‚ whereas earth and water turn inward and downward” (Tracy‚ 1998). The Gods and Goddesses in mythology give nations
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The Ancient Greek philosophers have played a pivotal role in the shaping of the western philosophical tradition. This article surveys the seminal works and ideas of key figures in the Ancient Greek philosophical tradition from the Presocratics to the Neoplatonists. It highlights their main philosophical concerns and the evolution in their thought from the sixth century BCE to the sixth century CE. The Ancient Greek philosophical tradition broke away from a mythological approach to explaining the
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