Thales (624 BC-546 BC) lived in Ancient Greece and was arguably the world’s first philosopher and scientist. Prior to Thales‚ supernaturalism was considered to be the cause of most if not all things. For example‚ the answer to a question such as‚ "Why does the wind blow?" or "What caused the epidemic?" would invariably involve a supernatural explanation such as‚ "It is the will of the gods." Explanations based on supernaturalism‚ however‚ are not really explanations at all. They represent non-rational
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One of the first concepts early philosophers focused on was the concept of change. The Milesians and Heraclitus believed that change was elemental. Thales argued change was rooted in water. Anaximenes believed it was air. Heraclitus bet his drachmas on fire. All of these philosophers have well thought out arguments. The first philosopher to explore the idea of change was Thales. He believed that water was the origin of all things or that everything was made of some form of water. He adopted
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Although his theories didn’t prove to be right‚ such as spontaneous generation‚ or the theory that earthquakes were caused by waves‚ Thales is considered to be the father of philosophy. Thales had a follower named Anaximander that wasn’t just a philosopher‚ but he was also a scientist and inventer. He believed in the theory of ’apieron" apieron is the unlimited indeficit undestructible substance out of which individual things are created with and destroyed. Anaximander is considered one of the most
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2. Trace the notion of opposites from the thought of Anaximander through the thought of the Atomists. According to Anaximander‚ the worlds consists of opposites. The main opposites are wet-dry and hot-cold. These are conflicting opposites. For one to exist it has to overpower the direct opposite. For example‚ for the dry earth to exist it has to overpower the wet water. According to Anaximander‚ this is injustice to one another. Justice therefore has to be restored by the defeated opposite
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Pre-Socratic Philosopher Pythagoras‚ a famous Greek philosopher‚ born around 580 B.C.‚ was born on the Turkish coast on the island of Samos. It is thought that he may have spent his youth traveling Egypt and many other places‚ gaining knowledge as he went. He spent his philosophical years in southern Italy‚ in the city of Crotona. Pythagoras was influenced by mathematics and science‚ and both were the basis for his religious and philosophical theories ("Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy"‚ 2011)
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Aristotle‚ being the first historian of philosophy‚ categorized his predecessors according to how they’ve answered the central questions of the human mind – the question of the first principle of all things. It is otherwise known as the Four Causes. He defined science as knowledge through causes. This doctrine of causes is scattered in different Aristotelian treatises but have its highlight in his book Metaphysics. This principle of causality is an essential part of Aristotelian thought. In his
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of great philosophers in the world‚ modern and ancient. In Ancient Greece there were many philosophers. Some of these philosophers are Parmenides‚ Anaxagoras‚ Pythagoras and Heraclitus to name a few. These philosophers are known as the Pre Socratic philosophers beginning in the sixth Century BC. There are known as this because they came before Socrates and it is said that ancient Greek philosophy should be organized around Socrates and Plato. But the three main ancient Greek philosophers were Socrates
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Socratic Problem The Socratic problem results from the inability to determine what‚ in the writings of Plato‚ is an accurate portrayal of Socrates’ thought and what is the thought of Plato with Socrates as a literary device. Socrates‚ often credited with founding western philosophy and who was put to death by the democracy of Athens in May‚ 399 BC‚ was Plato’s teacher and mentor; Plato‚ like some of his contemporaries‚ wrote dialogues about his departed teacher. Most of what we know about Socrates comes
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Alan Watts FAMOUS AS: Philosopher‚ Writer & Speaker BORN ON: 06 January 1915 BORN IN: Chislehurst‚ Kent‚ England DIED ON: 16 November 1973 NATIONALITY: United Kingdom WORKS & ACHIEVEMENTS: Popular philosopher known for his Eastern philosophy and Zen teachings‚ Wrote famous books like The Way of Zen (1957)‚ Psychotherapy East and West (1961)‚ The New Alchemy (1958) and The Joyous Cosmology (1962). Alan Watts or Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher‚ writer‚ and speaker who
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The Socratic Method is to engage someone over the meaning of some term or idea‚ and then to cross-examine the opponent until a clear definition is achieved and cannot be refuted. This key idea has both strengths and weaknesses‚ which will be discussed in this paper. One strength of the Socratic Method is that an important meaning can be found by asking simple questions through discussion. The questions and answers develop into dialogue to search for an answer. Asking questions such as ’why?’ really
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