Who is the greatest Greek philosopher of all time?
Socrates of Athens (469 – 399 BC) Socrates of Athens is the best known Greek philosopher, and one of the founders of western philosophy. He was so influential, that all philosophers who lived before him are known as “pre Socratic philosophers”.
How are ancient Greek philosophers used in modern society?
Modern philosophers and educators still employ the patterns of thinking and exploration established by ancient Greek philosophers, such as the application of logic to questions of thought and engaging in debate to better convey philosophical ideas. Socrates and Plato are two famous Greek philosophers whose ideas still impact society today.
What did Ancient Greek philosophers believe about the origin of life?
They believed that humans originated from a single substance, which could be water, air, or an unlimited substance called “apeiron.” One well-known philosopher from this group was Pythagoras, the mathematician who created the Pythagorean Theorem. The Socratic philosophers in ancient Greece were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
What is a philosopher?
A philosopher is someone who reflects and forms theories related to fields like logic, ethics, ideologies and human nature. Here are 12 Ancient Greek philosophers who helped shape the main virtues and ethics in Ancient Greece.
Who is the father of Greek philosophy?
Socrates of AthensSocrates of Athens (l. c. 470/469-399 BCE) is among the most famous figures in world history for his contributions to the development of ancient Greek philosophy which provided the foundation for all of Western Philosophy. He is, in fact, known as the "Father of Western Philosophy" for this reason.
Where was Greek philosophy founded?
It has long been established that ancient Greek philosophy begins in the Greek colonies of Ionia along the coast of Asia Minor as the first three Pre-Socratic philosophers all came from Ionian Miletus and the Milesian School is the first Greek philosophical school of thought.
Who was the first famous philosopher of Greek philosophy?
1. Thales Of Miletus – The First Greek Philosopher.
Who is the most famous Greek philosopher?
SocratesThe most well-known ancient Greek Philosopher of all time, Socrates, was a master stonemason and social critic. He never wrote anything and most of his philosophical contributions come through his students, mainly Plato.
Who started philosophy?
The separation of philosophy and science from theology began in Greece during the 6th century BC. Thales, an astronomer and mathematician, was considered by Aristotle to be the first philosopher of the Greek tradition. While Pythagoras coined the word, the first known elaboration on the topic was conducted by Plato.
Who is the 5 Greek philosophers?
5 of the Most Influential Ancient Greek PhilosophersThales of Miletus (620 BC–546 BC) ... Pythagoras (570 BC–495 BC) ... Socrates (469 BC–399 BC) ... Plato (427 BC–347 BC) ... Aristotle (384 BC–322 BC)
Who was first philosopher?
ThalesThe first philosopher is usually said to have been Thales.
Who were the 3 main philosophers?
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle: The Big Three of Greek Philosophy - dummies.
Is Socrates a Greek philosopher?
Viewed by many as the founding figure of Western philosophy, Socrates (469-399 B.C.) is at once the most exemplary and the strangest of the Greek philosophers. He grew up during the golden age of Pericles' Athens, served with distinction as a soldier, but became best known as a questioner of everything and everyone.
What are the 7 philosophers?
Seven thinkers and how they grew: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz; Locke, Berkeley, Hume; Kant (Chapter 6) - Philosophy in History.
How many Greek philosophers are there?
10 Greek philosophers, you should knowSocrates (469- 399 BC)Plato (428-348 BC)Aristotle (385-323 BC)Thales of Miletus (625- 546 BC)Pythagoras (570- 495 BC)Democritus (460- 370 BC)Empedokles (483- 330 BC)Anaxagoras (510- 428 BC)More items...•
Who was the Greek philosopher who studied ethics, virtue, and justice?
Plato (428/427–348/347 B.C.E.) studied ethics, virtue, justice, and other ideas relating to human behavior. Following in Socrates’ footsteps, he became a teacher and inspired the work of the next great Greek philosopher, Aristotle.
What are the three groups of Greek philosophers?
Ancient Greek philosophers can be categorized into three groups: the Pre-Socratics, the Socratics, and the Post-Socratics . Pre-Socratic philosophers mostly investigated natural phenomena. They believed that humans originated from a single substance, which could be water, air, or an unlimited substance called “apeiron.”.
Why did Socrates ask difficult questions?
Instead of lecturing his students, he asked them difficult questions in order to challenge their underlying assumptions —a method still used in modern-day law schools. Because Socrates wrote little about his life or work, much of what we know comes from his student Plato.
What were the four schools of philosophy that the Post-Socratic philosophers established?
The Post-Socratic philosophers established four schools of philosophy: Cynicism, Skepticism, Epicureanism, and Stoicism.
Who were the Socrates?
The Socratic philosophers in ancient Greece were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle . These are some of the most well-known of all Greek philosophers. Socrates (470/469–399 B.C.E.) is remembered for his teaching methods and for asking thought-provoking questions.
Who are Socrates and Plato?
Socrates and Plato are two famous Greek philosophers whose ideas still impact society today. (384-322 BCE) Greek scientist and philosopher. the study of space beyond Earth's atmosphere. study of living things. shared. beliefs about what is right and wrong.
Who is Plato?
Plato. Noun. (427-347 BCE) Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the Academy, the first institution of higher learning in Western Civilization . skepticism.
Miletus
Greek philosophy began in a city-state on the coast of south-west Turkey: Miletus, which claimed that it was founded by a city on Crete called Milatos—probably Mallia on the north coast of Crete—in the Minoan period.
Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes
Thales believed that everything in the world is made of matter which might take various forms, be it solid, liquid or gas. The one matter that he knew could appear in all these forms was water. If heat was applied to ice, it became water, and heat applied to water produced steam that in turn could condense and return to water.
Who was the Greek philosopher who was born in 470 BC?
Classical Greek Athenian philosopher (c. 470 – 399 BC) This article is about the classical Greek philosopher. For other uses of Socrates, see Socrates (disambiguation). For the Attic orator, see Isocrates. Socrates. A marble head of Socrates in the Louvre. Born. c. 470 BC. Deme Alopece, Athens.
Which philosopher lacks the philosophical features of Plato's Socrates?
Xenophon's Socrates lacks the philosophical features of Plato's Socrates — ignorance, elenchus — and thinks enkrateia is of pivotal importance, which is not the case of Plato's Socrates.
What is the Socratic dialogue?
These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject, and gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre. Contradictory accounts of Socrates make the reconstruction of the history of his life nearly impossible, a situation known as the Socratic problem.
How many sons did Socrates have?
He had three sons with Xanthippe. Socrates fulfilled his military service during the Peloponnesian War and distinguished himself in three campaigns. In 406, Socrates participated as a member of the Boule in the trial of six commanders when his tribe (the Antiochis) comprised the prytany.
Why did Socrates go to trial?
In 399 BC, Socrates went on trial for corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and for impiety. Socrates defended himself but was subsequently found guilty by a jury of 500 male Athenian citizens (280 vs 220 votes). According to the then custom, he proposed a penalty (in his case Socrates offered some money) but jurors declined his offer and commanded the death penalty. The official charges were corrupting youth, worshipping false gods and not worshipping the state religion.
How does Xenophon differ from Plato?
Xenophon's and Plato's accounts differ in their presentations of Socrates as a person — in Xenophon's portrait, he is more dull, and less humorous and ironic. Plato's Socrates is far from conservative Xenophon's Socrates.
What is Plato's contribution to Socrates?
Plato's dialogues are among the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity, from which Socrates has become renowned for his contributions to the fields of rationalism, ethics and epistemology. This Platonic Socrates lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic method.
Life of Socrates
Socrates was born to Sophroniscus and Faenarete in Alopece, a deme of Athens. His father was a stone cutter and Faenarete a well-known midwife.
The philosophy of Socrates
Socrates did not leave any written works. However, his student Plato recorded the dialogues he had with his teacher — and through them we see Socrates’ way of thinking.
The trial and death of the great philosopher
In 399 BC, the great Athenian philosopher was taken to court on two charges: asebeia (impiety) against the pantheon of Athens, and corruption of the youth of the city-state.
Which theorem was developed by Pythagorean school?
Other discoveries often attributed to him (the incommensurability of the side and diagonal of a square, for example, and the Pythagorean theorem for right triangles) were probably developed only later by the Pythagorean school.
Where did Pythagoras die?
Pythagoras was born about 570 BCE on the island of Samos. He died at Metapontium, in modern-day Italy, about 500 to 490 BCE. In one version of his life, he died after being expelled from Croton (where he had founded his school) by a revolt against him and his followers; the revolt was led by Cylon, an influential man in Croton who had been rejected ...
Did Pythagoras write a book?
Pythagoras himself likely wrote no books, and Pythagoreans invariably supported their doctrines by indiscriminately citing their master’s authority. Pythagoras, however, is generally credited with the theory of the functional significance of numbers in the objective world and in music.
Who are the Greek philosophers?
9 Greek Philosophers Who Shaped The World. Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle laid the foundations of Western thought, and the ideas of these Ancient Greek philosophers still influence our understanding of the world today. The foundational ideas laid down by great thinkers such as Socrates, Plato, ...
Who was the first Greek philosopher to focus on scientific thought?
One of the first Greek philosophers to concentrate on scientific thought was Thales of Miletus. Thales was born around 624 BC in the city of Miletus in Asia Minor and was part of the new wave of thinkers trying to determine how the cosmos was constructed. This was the philosophical branch of metaphysics.
How old was Aristotle when he studied?
At 17 years old, Aristotle studied under Plato at the Academy. After disagreeing with some of Plato’s ideas, Aristotle left to form his own school, the Lyceum. He also tutored Alexander the Great and was one of the first ancient Greek philosophers to have his ideas translated into Arabic.
Why did Socrates' ideas endure?
Socrates’s ideas endured because his pupil, Plato, made Socrates the central character of his dialogues. Through these writings, the Socratic Method survived to become the core tenet of scientific reasoning for centuries. 5. Plato – The Most Famous Ancient Greek Philosopher.
What did Pythagoras study?
Pythagoras studied geometry and made several stunning discoveries that would eventually influence architecture and mathematics for thousands of years. He was one of the first ancient Greek philosophers to use deductive reasoning to make his conclusions, which was a monumental shift in how thinkers formed theories.
What did Socrates believe?
Socrates believed that knowledge was the ultimate good and that pursuing knowledge was vital to living a good, virtuous life. Socrates argued that good and evil were absolute and that only through pursuing knowledge can we learn the difference. To Socrates, ignorance was the ultimate evil.
What is the Greek philosopher Epicurus?
One of these was The Garden, founded by the Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicurus saw pleasure as the ultimate example of good, while pain was the foremost example of evil. Concepts such as justice and virtue come from pleasure.
Ancient Greek philosophy
People who travel to Greece are often overwhelmed by our ancient monuments. Sites like the Acropolis of Athens, Ancient Epidaurus or Ancient Olympia are tied to Greece’s long and rich history.
2. Pythagoras of Samos (570- 495 BC)
Pythagoras came from Samos island. He founded the movement of Pythagoreanism, a school of thought which advocated a communal, frugal lifestyle, in accordance with nature.
3. Parmenides of Elea (c. 520 BC – c. 440 BC)
The Greek philosopher Parmenides was born in Elea, south Italy. He was the founder of the Eleatic School, and is thought as the father of metaphysics.
4. Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (500 – 428 BC)
Anaxagoras was born in Clazomenae, Asia Minor, and moved to Athens when he was 20 years old. He was an astronomer and philosopher.
5. Empedocles of Akragas (495 – 435 BC)
Empedocles was born in Akragas, a Greek city in Sicily, to a noble family. During his tours around Sicily and the Peloponnese, he was regarded as an almost supernatural teacher and healer.
7. Socrates of Athens (469 – 399 BC)
Socrates of Athens is the best known Greek philosopher, and one of the founders of western philosophy. He was so influential, that all philosophers who lived before him are known as “pre Socratic philosophers”.
8. Democritus of Abdera (460 – 370 BC)
Democritus was born in Abdera to a wealthy family. Even though he was contemporary to Socrates, he is classified among the pre Socratic ancient Greek philosophers.
Who coined the term "philosophy"?
Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some sources claim the term was coined by Pythagoras (c. 570 – c. 495 BCE), others dispute this story, arguing that Pythagoreans merely claimed use of a preexisting term. Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument, and systematic presentation.
What were the major philosophical schools of the Greeks?
Most notable among the schools influenced by Socrates' teachings were Plato, who founded the Platonic Academy, and his student Aristotle, who founded the Peripatetic school. Other ancient philosophical traditions influenced by Socrates included Cynicism, Cyrenaicism, Stoicism, and Academic Skepticism. Two other traditions were influenced by Socrates' contemporary, Democritus: Pyrrhonism and Epicureanism. Important topics covered by the Greeks included metaphysics (with competing theories such as atomism and monism ), cosmology, the nature of the well-lived life ( eudaimonia ), the possibility of knowledge, and the nature of reason ( logos ). With the rise of the Roman empire, Greek philosophy was increasingly discussed in Latin by Romans such as Cicero and Seneca (see Roman philosophy ).
What is the difference between empiricism and rationalism?
Empiricism is associated with a posteriori knowledge, which is obtained through experience (such as scientific knowledge ). Rationalism places emphasis on reason as a source of knowledge. Rational ism is associated with a priori knowledge, which is independent of experience (such as logic and mathematics ).
What were the main topics of the Greeks?
Important topics covered by the Greeks included metaphysics (with competi ng theories such as atomism and monism ), cosmology, the nature of the well-lived life ( eudaimonia ), the possibility of knowledge, and the nature of reason ( logos ).
What is the philosophy of language?
Philosophy of language explores the nature, origins, and use of language. Philosophy of mind explores the nature of the mind and its relationship to the body, as typified by disputes between materialism and dualism. In recent years, this branch has become related to cognitive science .
What philosophy did Chinese thinkers use?
In the Modern era, Chinese thinkers incorporated ideas from Western philosophy. Chinese Marxist philosophy developed under the influence of Mao Zedong, while a Chinese pragmatism developed under Hu Shih. The old traditional philosophies also began to reassert themselves in the 20th century.
What were the problems of medieval philosophy?
Problems such as the existence and nature of God, the nature of faith and reason, metaphysics, the problem of evil were discussed in this period. Some key Medieval thinkers include St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Boethius, Anselm and Roger Bacon. Philosophy for these thinkers was viewed as an aid to Theology ( ancilla theologiae) and hence they sought to align their philosophy with their interpretation of sacred scripture. This period saw the development of Scholasticism, a text critical method developed in medieval universities based on close reading and disputation on key texts. The Renaissance period saw increasing focus on classic Greco-Roman thought and on a robust Humanism .
Overview
Pre-Socratic philosophy
The convention of terming those philosophers who were active prior to the death of Socrates as the pre-Socratics gained currency with the 1903 publication of Hermann Diels' Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, although the term did not originate with him. The term is considered useful because what came to be known as the "Athenian school" (composed of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle) signaled the rise of a new approach to philosophy; Friedrich Nietzsche's thesis that thi…
Classical Greek philosophy
Socrates, believed to have been born in Athens in the 5th century BC, marks a watershed in ancient Greek philosophy. Athens was a center of learning, with sophists and philosophers traveling from across Greece to teach rhetoric, astronomy, cosmology, and geometry.
While philosophy was an established pursuit prior to Socrates, Cicero credits hi…
Hellenistic philosophy
During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, many different schools of thought developed in the Hellenistic world and then the Greco-Roman world. There were Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Syrians and Arabs who contributed to the development of Hellenistic philosophy. Elements of Persian philosophy and Indian philosophy also had an influence. The spread of Christianity throughout the Roman world, f…
Transmission of Greek philosophy in the Medieval Period
During the Middle Ages, Greek ideas were largely forgotten in Western Europe due to the decline in literacy during the Migration Period. In the Byzantine Empire, however, Greek ideas were preserved and studied. Islamic philosophers such as Al-Kindi (Alkindus), Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes) also reinterpreted these works after the caliphs authorized the gathering of Greek manuscripts and hired translators to increase their prestige. During the High …
See also
• Ancient philosophy
• Byzantine philosophy
• Definitions of philosophy
• Dehellenization
• English words of Greek origin
Further reading
• Clark, Stephen. 2012. Ancient Mediterranean Philosophy: An Introduction. New York: Bloomsbury.
• Curd, Patricia, and D.W. Graham, eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Presocratic Philosophy. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
• Gaca, Kathy L. 2003. The Making of Fornication: Eros, Ethics, and Political Reform in Greek Philosophy and Early Christianity. Berkeley: University of California Press.