Philosophy

1. Philosophy A brief introduction

2. The beginnings of philosophy • The word philosophy literally means love of wisdom • It can be traced back to the sixth century BC, in ancient Greece. A series of thinkers were making inquiries on comparatively secular issues. These thinkers asked their questions through reason and observation, rather than through tradition or revelation. These thinkers were the first philosophers.

3. Philosophy, of course, is best known for asking some of the most difficult and important questions there are, such as whether or not there is a god, how one can know anything at all, and how a person ought to live. • ‘Although philosophers deal with speculative issues that generally are not subject to investigation through experimental test’, and philosophy is not considered a science however philosophy properly done is not mere speculation. • Philosophers, just like scientists, come up with hypotheses which ultimately must answer to reason and evidence.

4. The Branches of Philosophy Traditionally, there are five main branches of philosophy. They are: • Metaphysics, which deals with the fundamental questions of reality. • Epistemology, which deals with our concept of knowledge, how we learn and what we can know. • Logic, which studies the rules of valid reasoning and argumentation • Ethics, or moral philosophy, which is concerned with human values and how individuals should act. • Aesthetics or esthetics, which deals with the notion of beauty and the philosophy of art.

5. Although each branch of philosophy can be studied by itself in isolation, however these branches overlap one another. One philosophical question leads to another and another until we cover all the branches of philosophy • Consider the following question. • Should people give their excess wealth to the poor? (Ethical Question) • Are standards of right and wrong built into the universe ? (A metaphysical question). • If he claims that people are justified in taking a particular stance on that question, he is making at least a epistemological claim. • Furthermore at every step in his reasoning, he will want to employ logic to minimize the chance of being led into error by the great complexity of the questions. He may very well look to some of the ethical, metaphysical, and epistemological writings of past philosophers to see how his brightest predecessors reasoned about the matter.

6. Other divisions in philosophy • There also exist other divisions in philosophy that focus on different philosophical traditions or schools, rather than the branches of philosophical study. For example, there is a general divide between western philosophy, which puts its origins in ancient Greece, and eastern philosophy. • “Eastern philosophy” can be divided into the philosophies of specific areas, such as Arab philosophy, Asian philosophy, Indian philosophy, Hindu philosophy, Chinese philosophy and so on. These areas have some overlap, of course. Some eastern traditions are rooted more firmly in religious ideas.

7. The demands of philosophy • Philosophy requires a brave mind as you never know what your inquiries will lead you to. Oftentimes shaking your own set of standard beliefs. A philosopher must be ready for the consequences (Eg. In search for answers to whether God exists or not I must be prepared to accept upon discovery that maybe he does exist). • Philosophy requires humility – the acceptance that you do not know it all and you may benefit from another ‘philosopher’s’ contributions or even the acceptance that you could be mistaken

8. The demands of philosophy • Philosophy requires patience – answers do not come easily to the philosopher. A question could keep you engaged for days, months and years and even when you think you have reached the answer as a philosopher you do not consider the chapter closed. • Philosophy requires more than one thinker. Your thoughts sharpened against the thoughts of another one like you is what keeps you on your toes for a certain inquiry yet pointing to problems in your thinking you could never spot yourself

9. Pre - Socratics Rational thought on the scene

10. Pre - Socratics • The early Greek philosophers had many arguments over many centuries over how the world works, how it is made, and how it came into being. • One of the topics these philosophers disagreed about was what the world was made of. They each had their own ideas.

11. The first person we know about that asked questions about matter was Thales, a Greek philosopher. He did a lot of work in astronomy and mathematics. Thales is believed to have traveled to Egypt where he learned geometry and astronomy from the Egyptians. He is credited with bringing this knowledge back to Greece. He used what he knew about the stars to his advantage. Thales believed that water was the fundamental unit of matter. He thought that everything in the universe came from water. Thales also felt that water could turn into earth and other type of matter Thales of Miletus (625-545 BC)

12. Famous Quotes by Thales “The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself.” “Hope is the only good that is common to all men; those who have nothing else possess hope still” Thales of Miletus (625-545 BC)

13. Many philosophers of that time were looking for an answer to the question - what is everything composed of? Anaximander came up with the idea of “the Boundless” or “the Ultimate.” Unfortunately, he never explained what that was. This was not a lot of help to people. Anaximander also studied astronomy. He believed that the earth was hung out in space. He also tried to explain why the earth did not fall. The idea had to do with balance among all the celestial bodies. Famous quotes by Anaximander: Immortal and indestructible, surrounds all and directs all. Anaximander (about 610-547 BC)

14. Anaximenes (550-475 BC) • In contrast to Thales, Anaximenes believed that air was the basic substance of matter. When air is thinned, it could become fire. If air was condensed, it would become wind and cloud. More condensing would make water and earth and stone. • Many natural processes were “explained” by this theory. When we get thunder and lightning, that comes from wind breaking out of clouds. • Rainbows occur when the sun’s rays hit the clouds. Earthquakes take place when the ground dries out after a rainstorm.

15. Heraclitus (540-480) • No Greek philosopher born before Socrates was more creative and influential than Heraclitus of Ephesus. • He is best known for his doctrines that things are constantly changing (universal flux), that opposites coincide (unity of opposites), and that fire is the basic material of the world. • Famous quotes by Heraclitus: • No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man. • There is nothing permanent except change

16. Empedocles (500-430 BC) • Empedocles was all things to all people. Some people believed he was a great healer. Others thought he was a magician. He had some convinced he was a living god. And others believed he was a total fake. • The “periodic table” of earth, air, fire, and water came from Empedocles. He believed that these four “roots” made up all matter. Even living creatures were composed of these materials. • Famous quotes by Empedocles: • Happy is he who has gained the wealth of divine thoughts, wretched is he whose beliefs about the gods are dark.Read more at

17. Democritus (460-370 BC) • Probably one of the first weather forecasters, Democritus had people convinced he could predict the future. • The Greek philosophers debated about a lot of things. One of their debates had to do with sand on the beach. They asked the question: can you divide a grain of sand indefinitely? Is there a point where you have to stop breaking the grain in half? • Most of the philosophers believed you could divide the grain of sand all you wanted and never stop. Democritus said there is a point where the grain of sand can no longer be broken into smaller pieces. He called this smallest piece • Famous quotes by Democritus • Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.Read more at

18. Summarizing the Pre-Socratics • Thales thought everything was made of water. He believed that water was the “primary substance” of all things. He thought that water could not be divided any further. Today we know that water is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. • Anaximander rejected water as the primary substance. He thought everything was made of something he called “the boundless.” Nobody is really sure what Anaximander meant by “the boundless” and this caused problems for him. • Anaximenes didn’t agree with either Thales or Anaximander. He rejected both water and “the boundless” as the primary substance. He believed that air was the primary substance. • Empedocles disagreed with everyone and said that all things in the world were not made up of just one substance, but of four- earth, air, fire and water.

19. Summarizing the Pre-Socratics • Heraclitus is famous for his insistence on ever-present change in the universe • Democritus thought that the world was made up of “atoms.” Of course they did not know anything about atoms and could not explain what atoms were. He believed that all things are made of atoms. Today we know that Democritus was right and the other philosophers were wrong although his contemporaries did not believe in his theories.