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2.3 Classical Greek philosophy

1. The Academy of Athens by Raphael, one of the greatest masters of the Italian Renaissance.

2. Philosophy literally means “love of wisdom” in Greek.

Pre-Socratic period

Thales of Miletus was the first philosopher. In his famous book The History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell wrote: “philosophy begins with Thales”, Miletus was a Greek city in Asia Minor. Thales predicted an eclipse which happened in 585 BC. We can say philosophy and science were born together at the beginning of the sixth century BC. Plato listed Thales as one of the Seven Wise Men. Thales said the fundamental substance is water, everything is made of water.

3. Heraclitus was another Greek philosopher, nearly a century after Thales, also from Ionia. Heraclitus regarded fire as the fundamental substance, everything, like flame in a fire, is born by death of something else. He believed “all things are flowing”,“You cannot step twice into the same river, for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you.” “the sun is new every day.”

4. Socrates

Socrates is one of the founders of Western philosophy. We know when he died, 399BC, but we don’t know exactly when he was born. c. 470, c here means circa, circa in Roman language is about approximately and around sometimes. For lack of reliable sources, it is very difficult to find out the real life of Socrates, thus there is a term “Socratic problem”. The main source of Socrates’s life and philosophy is Plato’s dialogues. He was “hidden behind his best disciple, Plato”. But some facts are clear: he lived entirely within Athens, he refused to write, he taught but refused to be paid, and he was ugly. Cicero said Socrates was“the first who brought philosophy down from the heavens, placed it in cities, introduced it into families, and obliged it to examine into life and morals, and good and evil.” Socrates made great contributions to the field of ethics and epistemology，the philosophy of knowledge.

5. The Socratic Method is a method through dialogue, by asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and finally reach a conclusion. Socrates was a “gadfly” of Athens. Gadfly is a large fly which is very annoying, if we say someone as a gadfly, that means he deliberately annoy or challenge other people, especially people in authority. Someone went to Apollo’s temple in Delphi asking a question: “if anyone were wiser than Socrates”; the Oracle was “no one”. At first Socrates didn’t believe it. He talked to some “wise” men in Athens, statesmen, poets, and artisans. He found all of them were not wise at all. Finally he realized he was indeed wiser because he was the only one aware of his own ignorance. Socrates made these people very embarrassed, they wanted to get rid of this gadfly, and this led to the trial of Socrates. He was pronounced guilty of two charges: one, against the gods, searching into things under the earth and above the heaven, and two, to corrupt the youth by teaching his beliefs. He was sentenced death by drinking a poisonous beverage of hemlock, a poisonous plant.

We mentioned before the Socratic paradox: "I know one thing that I know nothing", paradox is a statement that contradicts itself.

Socrates never stopped searching truth and virtue, he said “The unexamined life is not worth living.” He believed the best way for people to live was to focus on the pursuit of virtue rather than the pursuit, for instance, of material wealth.” Socrates believed“ideals belong in a world only the wise man can understand”, thus only the philosopher is suitable to govern others.

6. This is the death of Socrates, at this moment I believe Socrates is saying: I know one thing that I will die, but I’m not afraid, I refused to escape because I respect the Athenian law

7. Plato 428-348BC was the best student of Socrates, the founder of the Academy in Athens, the first school of higher learning in the Western world.

Plato had witnessed the Peloponnesian War, the falling of Athens, the brutality of the Thirty Tyrants, and the death of Socrates. He developed a hatred for Athenian democracy and distrusted ordinary people’s ability to know the justice. He believed vice and failure of government and society result from ignorance of the truth.

8. The Republic. Plato's best-known work is The Republic; the purpose of this Socratic dialogue is to define what justice is. Plato believed God has created three kinds of men. First made of gold, second made of silver, third made of brass and iron. Plato divided citizens into three classes: first made of gold the guardians, second made of silver the soldiers, third made of brass and iron the common people. Only the guardians should have political power to rule, and the rulers must be philosophers. What is justice? Everybody doing his job and not being a busybody. Busybody is someone who interfere other body’s business. And this is the most difficult part.

9. The theory of Forms or Ideas is an idealist view. It is partly logical, partly metaphysical. The word “metaphysics” in Greek meaning beyond physics. Metaphysics is the study of being and knowing in a highly abstract way, tries to answer questions like what is there? And what is it like? “Form”in Greek means“shape ”or “appearance”, but Plato’s Form or Idea means true knowledge, something eternal, timeless, universal. What is a Form? All horses are different, male, female, old, and lame, all of them will die. But there is something all horses in common, that is the Form of horse, and all Forms not from the world we live. Plato believed there are two realms, realm here means world. The first is the material world in which we live, this world is imperfect, and everything is tangible and keeps changing. Tangible means substantial and touchable. The second is a non-physical world, the world of Forms or Ideas. Forms are perfect, eternal and beyond the experience of senses. World of Forms like sunshine, the material world we live like shadow. Everything we see in this world is not real; they are merely shadows of the eternal Forms or Ideas. Plato believed our souls belong to the world of Forms; it existed before it inhabited the body. To seek the truth, the soul has to return to its origin to get the true knowledge. 

10. Allegory of the cave. Allegory is a short moral story. This story was from Plato’s Republic told by Socrates. In a cave, some prisoners sat with their hands and feet chained. They faced a wall. They were watching shadows on the wall. The shadows were from their back, people were holding up various figures in front a fire. The prisoners thought the shadows are reality. Only one realized this is not truth. He went out the cave, he was a philosopher. But most people refuse to leave. In this story, the cave is a symbol of the real world, the chains represent ignorance, and the shadows represent what people see in the real world, the freed prisoner represents the philosopher who found the truth.

11. Aristotle 384-332BC Along with his teacher Plato, Aristotle is the “Father of Western Philosophy”. He was born in Macedonia. His father is a doctor. He studied in Plato's Academy for twenty years. In 343 BC, he was invited by Philip II of Macedonia to be the tutor of his son Alexander.

Aristotle left many works. His interests and writings covered many fields: political theory, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, rhetoric, language, poetry, drama, music, physics, biology, and zoology. His works formed the first comprehensive system of Western philosophy. Aristotle’s contribution in logic and science became an authority and remained unchallenged until the modern age.

12. Empiricism. Not like Plato’s idealist view. Aristotle in favor of the method of observation, systematic investigation and explanation. Someone says he is the first Empiricist. Empiricism is a theory that states we should rely on practical experience and experiments, rather than on theories, as a basis for knowledge.

Aristotle said:“Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth” It is a very inspiring maxim, isn’t it?

13.Key Words：Socratic paradox，Metaphysics，The theory of Forms，Allegory of the cave，Aristotle