《古希腊哲学(英文)课件.ppt》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《古希腊哲学(英文)课件.ppt（53页珍藏版）》请在三一办公上搜索。
1、Classical Greek Philosophy,Socrates,Simple manStonemasonShrewish wifeLoyal service in the warIncredible concentrationWisest man in Athens (oracle)Gad fly (Dialectics/Socratic method)“The unexamined life is not worth living.”,Socrates,Convicted of “corrupting the youth”Described as “the best and wise
2、st” and “most noble” man,Plato,Student of SocratesThe AcademyMathematicsWhat is the real nature of things?,What makes this a Chair?,Chairness,Plato,The RepublicIdeal societyRule by the philosophersThe Allegory of the Cave,Plato,Superiority of the intellectual lifePlatonic loveDevalued the physicalCr
3、eation by the DemiurgeShaping imperfect matter into the perfect FormEthics Find the Form in all things,Aristotle,Taught by PlatoLyceumNatural sciencesTruth is best understood from observation of living thingsCapable in many areasForms can be understood from the physical as well as from the purely in
4、tellectual,Aristotle,Aristotelian Scientific Method Used for 2000 yearsBasic assumptions based on reasoningDeductive methodObservations used to confirm the assumptionsExample: Elements of earth (4) and heavensExample: Qualities of thingsDid not employ experimentationDisturbs nature,Aristotle,Four Ca
5、usal Questions (Physics)Material Question (What is it made of?)Efficient Question (What caused it?)Formal Question (What is its Form or essence?)Final Question (What is its final end or purpose?),Aristotle,Example: A MouseMaterial: moleculesEfficient: birthFormal: dna (information)Final: fulfill its
6、 purpose as a creature of God,Aristotle,MotionBodies move to achieve their stable (natural) positionHeavier bodies fall fasterPoeticsRhetoricEthos = power of persuasion created by the character of the speaker (Gettysburg Address)Pathos = power of persuastion created by the passion of the speaker (I
7、Have a Dream speech)Ethics Act to avoid extremes,Thank You,Zeno,Epicurus,Averroes,Anaximander,Pythagoras,Anaxagoras,Hypatia,Parmenides,Eschines,Alcibiades,Xenophon,Alexander,Socrates,Heraclitus,Plato,Aristotle,Diogenes,Euclid,Zoroaster,Ptolemy,Raphael,Classical Greek Philosophy,Socrates470-399 BC,Di
8、vided philosophy into 2 groupsPre-SocraticsAfter were based upon his ethics and methodsPhilosophers versus SophistsBelieved in a single, all powerful GodUsed dialectics (Socratic Method) to find ultimate truth,Socrates,Taken to trial (Apology)Convictedhe did not put on a defenseSentenced to deathDra
9、nk hemlock(Phaedo),“The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates,Plato 427-347 BC,Student of SocratesBorn an aristocratFounded the AcademyFirst universityPurpose-thinking about deeper meaningsWrote dialogues of Socrates, his own political theory and works of ethics,Plato,Forms or IdeasContinua
10、tion of Socrates ultimate natureEssence of something lies in the FormForm has perfectionIdeals comes from Idea = FormImmaterial things also had FormsFor instance: Our remembrance of the Form of beauty allows us to see beauty in other things,One of Platos critics said: “I see particular horses, but n
11、ot horseness.”Plato answered: “That is because you have eyes but no intelligence.”,Plato,Spiritual is more real than the physical (Timaeus)Physical changes, Form is eternalTruth cannot be perceived by the sensesPerfection is only found in the FormsAt death, the soul migrates to the World of Pure For
12、mWhat is the concept of a perfect God?,Plato,The RepublicIdea of the perfect society“What is the nature of reality?”Philosophers emerging from the cave,Plato,MathematicsSupported Pythagorean schoolMath is the organizing rules for the Forms which combine in various geometric shapes to create all thin
13、gsSign on the door of the Academy“Let no one ignorant of geometry enter here”,Aristotle384-322 BC,Son of a physicianBorn in MacedoniaAttended the AcademyBecame Platos foremost studentLeft the Academy when Plato diedFounded the Lyceum in AthensMore focused in natural science,Aristotle,FormsSome Forms
14、 have qualities and quantities that are not fixed (and therefore not perfect)Colors or measurementsForms can be perceived from the object itself by observation and from many others that have similar Forms to develop the nature of the Form of that thingTrue nature is understood by observationClassifi
15、cation of the sciences,Aristotle,Wrote on physicsUniverse is eternal, finite and sphericalEarth is center of the universeWorld composed of 4 elements (earth, fire, water, air)Heavens composed of aether4 elements affected by qualities (dry, cold, wet, hot)Real objects are composites of Form and matte
16、rPlato did not value matterNote Aristotles thinkingspirit and body,Aristotle,Four Casual Questions (Physics)Material QuestionEfficient QuestionFormal QuestionFinal QuestionExample: A MouseIs the final cause perfection? Can anything be perfect?,Nothing we design or make ever really works. We can alwa
17、ys say what more it ought to do, but that it never does. The aircraft falls out of the sky or rams the earth full tilt and kills the people. It has to be tended like a new born babe. Our dinner table ought to be variable in size and height, removable altogether, impervious to scratches, self-cleanin
18、g, and having no legs. Never do we achieve a satisfactory performance. Petroski, Henry The Evolution of Useful Things, Vintage Books, 1994, pp. 25.,Aristotle,Developed rules of logicSyllogismAll trees need light. An oak is tree. Therefore, oaks need light.Inductive This dog needs lungs, therefore al
19、l dogs need lungsDeductive All dogs have lungs, therefore this dog has lungsAristotle favored deductive reasoning,Aristotle,Wrote on politicsAssembled 158 constitutions to compareThree type of governments existedRule by one manmonarchy/tyrannyRule by a few menaristocracy/oligarchyRule by manypolity/
20、democracy Individual considered greater than the state,Aristotle,Wrote on ethicsNicomachean EthicsHappiness sought after naturallyThree levels of happinessBased on pleasureBased on honorBased on contemplation, philosophyAdvocated the Golden Mean Money is not the means to happiness,Aristotle,Wrote Rh
21、etoricBook describing speech to influence othersEthospower of persuasion created by the characterPathospower of persuasion created by passionLogospower of persuasion contained in the speech itself,Aristotle Influence,Taught Alexander the greatTherefore was mistrusted by AtheniansBasis of latter medi
22、eval science and religionIdeas had internal consistencyIdeas were adopted by St. Thomas Aquinas and the Catholic Church,Summary Greek Legacy on Learning,The world is rational (i.e., science)The world can be understood by examining the fundamental Truth is unchanging Science is available to all How t
23、o learn systematicallyRules of logic,The belief that the universe possesses and is governed according to a comprehensive regulating intelligence, and that this same intelligence is reflected in the human mind, rendering it capable of knowing the cosmic order, was one of the most characteristic and r
24、ecurring principles in the central tradition of Hellenic thought. Tarnas, The Passion of the Western Mind, p 47.,I cannot but greatly wonder at those who think that we must attend to none but the Greeks as to the most ancient facts, and learn the truth from them only, and that we are not to believe
25、ourselves or other men. Indeed they admit themselves that it is the Egyptians, the Chaldeans and the Phoenicians (for I will not now include ourselves Jews among those) that have preserved the memory of the most ancient and lasting tradition. Josephus, (Quoted in Toulmin and Goodfield, The Discovery
26、 of Time, The University of Chicago Press, 1965, p. 25.),“My advice is to get married: if you find a good wife youll be happy; if not youll become a philosopher.”,Deep PhilosophyFrom Socrates,Thank You,“The only useful knowledge is that which betters us.”- Socrates,Plato vs. Aristotle,Particular was
27、 less realSubstance is transitoryForm is staticFear of changeFounded academyMysticBelittler of natural scienceMathhighest form of thinking,Universe was less realSubstance needs matterTrue nature evolvesChange inevitable to progressFounded LyceumLogicianObserver of natural scienceSeparated math and s
28、cience,Platonic vs. Pre-Socratic,World is an ordered cosmosPervasive intelligenceOrder transcends physical manifestationComplete knowledge Full understanding satisfies the mind and soul,Knowledge acquired through reasonTruth is transitoryNatural phenomena are impersonal and physicalTheory measured a
29、gainst empirical knowledgeNo thought is final,“Concerning the gods, I have no means of knowing whether they exist or not, nor of what form they are; for there are many obstacles to such knowledge, including the obscurity of the subject and the shortness of human life.” Protagoras (a Sophist),Socrate
30、s,Taught a barbarian the Pythagorean TheoremKnowledge is intuitive and is merely revealed by learning“Know thyself.” Socrates,+,=,For Plato knowing is an act of making the observable world intelligible by showing how it is related to an eternal order of intelligible truths.“ Palmer, Donald, Does the
31、 Center Hold?, Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1991, p. 58.,The essence (or form, as he Aristotle called it, borrowing Platos term.) is the things whatness, and its materiality is its thisness. That is, an oak trees whatness, its essence or form, is the combination of characteristics
32、 that make it an oak tree rather than, say, a pussy cat; and its thisness is its individuality what distinguishes this oak tree from all other oak trees. Palmer, Donald, Does the Center Hold?, Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1991, p. 162-163.,“Aristotles universe was composed of a pl
33、urality of real beings that fell into an orderly hierarchy of perfection. Prime matter and substantial form were the principles of every physical body. The simplest bodies occurring in nature were the four elements, earth, air, fire and water. These combined to produce the various types of inanimate
34、 objects. Living things were more complex bodies which were united by a higher type of substantial form, called soul. Aristotle distinguished three types of souls, vegetative, sensitive, and rational, corresponding to the degrees of perfection found in plants, animals, and human beings.” Langford in
35、 Galileo, Science and the Church,Socrates,Socratic MethodPosed questions and then questioned the answersSearched for the ultimate nature of qualitiesWhat is Duty?What is Truth?What is Evil?,Happiness is the consequence not of physical or external circumstances, of wealth or power or reputation, but
36、of living a life that is good for the soul. Yet to live a genuinely good life, one must know what is the nature and essence of the good. Richard Tarnas in The Passion of the Western Mind,Socrates taught:,The works of Homer had embodied the aristocratic values that Plato wished to support, but Homer
37、had offered no defense of those values except an appeal to the emotions through his poetic discourse. If Plato was to defend values rationally, he had to replace the power of poetry (as manifested in Greek myth and drama) with that of philosophy, the spokeswoman for reason. Palmer, Donald, Does the
38、Center Hold?, Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1991, p. 60.,From the Pythagorean perspective, the fundamentals of existence are the archetypal Forms or Ideas, which constitute the intangible substrate of all that is tangible. The true structure of the world is revealed not by the sens
39、es, but by the intellect, which in its highest state has direct access to the Ideas governing reality. All knowledge presupposes the abstraction or imaginary metaphor for the concrete world, is here considered to be the very basis of reality, that which determines its order and renders it knowable.
40、To this end, Pythagoras and later Plato declared direct experience of the transcendent Ideas to be the philosophers primary goal and ultimate destination. Tarnas, The Passion of the Western Mind, p 12.,For Plato the Creation of the cosmos was the process by which the eternal mathematical principles
41、were given material embodiment, imposing an order on the formless raw materials of the world, and setting them working according to ideal specifications. When a mathematician worked out the geometrical relations manifested in the motions of the planets, or the properties of material substances, he w
42、as likewise revealing the Craftsmans rational design.“ Toulmin, Stephen and June Goodfield, The Discovery of Time, The University of Chicago Press, 1965, p.42-43.,Aristotle believed that the world we are born into is the real world and is not just a shadow of a more ultimate world. He brought Platos
43、 philosophy down to earth by claiming that the Forms must be imbedded in matter. He believed that the distinction between Form and matter was only an intellectual distinction, a distinction that could be drawn in theory but not in reality. Palmer, Donald, Does the Center Hold?, Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1991, p. 448.,“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.”Plato,
