Sophie: Chapter IV--The Natural Philosophers

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			*CHAPTER IV--THE NATURAL PHILOSOPHERS*

				What does 'natural' mean? Where did the natural philosophers begin, and what did they tend to leave behind? The shift redefined western thought despite their errors? What was their starting point?

I. THREE NEW QUESTIONS FOR SOPHIE:

A. IS THERE A BASIC SUBSTANCE?

B. CAN WATER BE CHANGED TO WINE?

C. CAN A FROG COME FROM THE EARTH AND WATER?

II. THE KEY TERM HERE IS ‘PROJECT’ (PAGE 30)

A. NOTE THAT SOPHIE’S PONDERING (WONDERING) ABOUT THE QUESTIONS LEADS
TO THE NEXT LETTER ETC...

B. THE KEY PROBLEM IN GREEK PHILOSOPHY WAS TO EXPLAIN CHANGE AND MOTION

III. THE NATURAL PHILOSOPHERS ( P. 30) CLICK HERE FOR A SUMMARY TABLE DISUCSSING EACH PHILOSOPHER'S CONTRIBUTION (pdf).

A. WHAT ACCOUNTS FOR CHANGE?

B. OBSERVE NATURE--RISE OF SCIENCE --word of the month "NECESSITY"

1--LOOKING FOR ‘LAWS OF NATURE’
2--NOMINALISM CHALLENGES REALISM

C. WHAT HAPPENS TO RELIGION?

IV. THREE PHILOSOPHERS FROM MILETUS:

A. THALES = WATER AS SOURCE OF LIFE

B. ANAXIMANDER = DIVINE MATTER--INFINITE

C. ANAXIMENES--AIR AS THE SOURCE OF LIFE

V. NOTHING CAN COME FROM NOTHING (P. 33) THE SCHOOL FROM ELEA (ELEATICS)

A. PARMENIDES--ALL IS PERMANENT, AND THE SENSES DECEIVE US

B. HERACLITUS--ALL IS FLUX--SENSE ARE RELIABLE:

1--DOCTRINE OF THE OPPOSITES
2--FORERUNNER OF THE DIALECTIC
3--ROLE OF REASON AS THE ORDERING PRINCIPLE AND REJECTION OF OPINION
4-THE SOURCE OF EVERYTHING IS LOGOS...

VI. THE BASIC ELEMENTS: (P.33)

A. ORIGIN OF MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE COSMOLOGY

B. THE SUMMARY OF EMPEDOCLES:

1--THINGS CHANGE AND YET DO NOT
2--ALL COMPOSED OF FOUR ELEMENTS, AND CHANGE IS A RESULT OF THE DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS--LIKE MAKING A CAKE
3--CATALYSTS ARE: LOVE TO BIND, and STRIFE TO SEPARATE-
4--CLICK HERE FOR PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCE COMMENTARY.

PRECURSOR OF NATURAL FORCES THAT CONTROL MOTION SUCH AS GRAVITY

C. THE VIEWS OF ANAXAGORAS--1ST FROM ATHENS

1. SEEDS -- ALL COMPOSED OF TINY PARTICLES--WHOLE PRESENT IN EACH PART
2. MODERN ANALOGY--THE CELL AND DNA
3. WHAT ORDERS THE SEEDS IS ‘NOUS’ OR INTELLIGENCE: click here to my Greek National Character page.

BANQUO:
‘IF YOU CAN LOOK INTO
THE SEEDS OF TIME AND SAY WHICH WILL
GROW AND WHICH WILL NOT, SPEAK....”

<MACBETH>

VII. THE REACTION OF SOPHIE:

A. UNDERSTANDING REQUIRES EFFORT

B. HER REVIEW OF THE PHILOSOPHIES--NOTE THAT SHE EXTRAPOLATES CONCEPTS:

1--PARMENIDES--HOW COULD SOMETHING BECOME TOTALLY DIFFERENT (COURAGE TO CONTRACT THE OBVIOUS--GALILEO)

2--EMPEDOCLES--THERE IS MORE THAN ONE SUBSTANCE

C. YOU CAN THINK PHILOSOPHICALLY USING COMMON SENSE WITHOUT MEMORIZING

SUGGESTED READINGS

PRE-SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY is difficult to locate. Much of what survives is in fragments, and / or is recounted in the writings of Plato and Aristotle, especially his Metaphysics.

Click here for an outline of Presocratic philosophy with links.

See also: Early Greek Philosophy by John Barnes (Penguin classics)