philosophies

1. Ancient Greek philosophy is dominated by three very famous men:Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. All three of these lived in Athens for most of their lives, and they knew each other. Socrates came first, and Platowas his student, around 400 BC. Socrates was killed in 399 BC, and Plato began his work by writing down what Socrates had taught, and then continued by writing down his own ideas and opening a school. Aristotle, who was younger, came to study at Plato's school, and ended up starting his own school as well. In the years after Plato and Aristotle died, in the 200s BC, three famous kinds of philosophy started up in the schools that PlatoandAristotle had started. These are the Stoics, the Skeptics, and theEpicureans. Each of these continued to be important ways of thinking about the world all the way through the Roman Empire, until people converted to Christianity in the 300s AD, and even after that. Name the three philosophers that dominated Ancient Greek philosophy. What were the three famous philosophies that began in the schools Plato and Aristotle started?

2. Socrates was one of the most famous teachers in Athens. His method was to question. He questioned everything. He wanted his students to question everything. He asked questions like: "Are the stories about the gods real? How can we improve our government?" A handful of wealthy nobles found his teaching methods unacceptable. They accused him of mocking the gods and challenging the Greek way of life in the city-state of Athens. They wanted him punished. Socrates was about seventy years old at the time. He had been teaching for a long time. He thought the whole thing was ridiculous. In ancient Athens, anyone could demand a trial. There were rules, but if you followed the rules, sooner or later, you would end up in court. There, the accused would have a chance to defend themselves. This handful of wealthy nobles filed charges against Socrates. At the trial, Socrates refused to defend himself - defend himself from what? Since he did not defend himself in any way, the jury felt they had no choice but to find him guilty. The punishment for mocking the gods was death. Socrates drank poison and killed himself. It was a sad day for educators and for free thinking people in ancient Athens. What was Socrates method of teaching? In ancient Athens, what could anyone demand? What was the punishment for mocking gods?

3. This quotation is from the philosopher Socrates, who lived in Athens from about 470 to about 399 B.C.E. “The unexamined life is not worth living.” 1) What was Socrates suggesting about each person’s individual life in this quote?

4. Plato was born to a wealthy family and was a student of the great philosopher Socrates. After the death of his teache,rPlato founded the first university, called the Academy. There, students focused on important questions such as "What is the self?" and "What is human nature?“ Plato believed that there are unchanging truths about all things. For example, there are many breeds of horses, but there are definite things that define "horseness" about them all. He also believed that a philosopher's job is to open people's eyes to the truth and help them strive to be good and fair. Plato believed that men and women had the same intellectual powers, and was one of the first to teach that women should receive the same education as men. Plato also believed in an unseen world where there existed perfect models of all things on Earth. He also held that society would be at its best, and remain stable and just, with philosophers in power. Plato wrote down his teachings in the form of conversations called Dialogues. The most famous of his Dialogues are "The Republic" and "The Death of Socrates.“ What are three of Plato’s beliefs? According to Plato, when would society be at its best? Pato’s teaching were written in what form?

5. Aristotle, was Plato’s student. He was more interested in science than Socrates or Plato, maybe because his father was a doctor. He wanted to use Socrates' logical methods to figure out how the real world worked; therefore Aristotle is really the father of today's scientific method. Aristotle was especially interested in biology, in classifying plants and animals in a way that would make sense. This is part of the Greek impulse to make order out of chaos: to take the chaotic natural world and impose a man-made order on it. He created a classification system of monarchies, oligarchies, tyrannies, democracies and republics which we still use today. What did the Aristotle use Socrates methods to do? According to this passage, what do the Greeks like to do? What is he the father of?

6. This quotation is from the philosopher Aristotle, who lived and taught in Athens from 384 B.C.E. to 322 B.C.E. “Since human reason is the most godlike part of human nature, a life guided by human reason is superior to any other…For man, this is the life of reason, since the faculty [ability] of reason is the distinguishing characteristic of human beings.” 1)Why did Aristotle believe human nature was so superior to other beings on this planet?