Pre-Socratic Philosophers: Key Thinkers and Core Concepts

Posted on Apr 6, 2025 in Philosophy and ethics

Pre-Socratic Philosophers: Myths and the Dawn of Reason

The Pre-Socratic philosophers sought rational explanations (logos) for the natural world, moving away from mythical accounts. Philosophy emerged as a reflection on the fundamental principle of nature.

The Milesians

Thales

Thales posited that the fundamental principle (arkhe) of everything is water, from which all things arise and to which they return.

Anaximander

Anaximander believed that the arkhe is the apeiron, an indefinite and boundless substance from which all determinate things originate.

Anaximenes

Anaximenes proposed that the arkhe is air, from which things arise through condensation and rarefaction.

The Pythagorean School

For the Pythagoreans, numbers constituted the fundamental nature of things. The observation that musical harmony could be reduced to numerical proportions supported this idea.

Numbers and Music

The Pythagoreans believed that the nature of things could be understood through numerical relationships, as demonstrated by their observations of music.

Heraclitus

Heraclitus is known for his doctrine of constant change, asserting that the world is in a perpetual state of becoming. He also emphasized the logos, a permanent law governing all things.

Parmenides

Parmenides argued that being is immutable. Change would require admitting the passage of non-being into being, which he considered impossible.

The Pluralists

Empedocles

Empedocles proposed that the world is composed of four roots: earth, water, air, and fire. These roots possess the characteristics of Parmenidean being—unity, immutability, and eternity. Mixture and separation are explained by the principles of love (which unites) and strife (which separates).

Anaxagoras

Anaxagoras believed that the fundamental elements are seeds (spermata), infinitely divisible and qualitatively diverse. He introduced the concept of nous (mind) as the ordering principle.

The Atomists

The Atomists posited that the world is composed of an infinite number of atoms, which are eternal, indivisible, and differ only in shape, arrangement, and position. These atoms move in the void.

The Sophists and Socrates

The Sophists

Teaching Methods

The Sophists favored rhetoric and eristic (the art of disputation) as primary teaching methods, aiming to achieve success in public debates rather than acquiring knowledge.

Content of Education

  1. A distinction emerged between physis (nature) and nomos (convention). The Sophists believed that law (nomos) does not necessarily align with the rules of nature.
  2. They questioned the notion of objective truth, suggesting that things are as they appear.
  3. They embraced skepticism and relativism regarding morality, institutions, and laws, arguing that each individual has their own perspective and that there is no objective basis for judging certain customs as superior to others.
  4. They developed a new understanding of culture and education.

Socrates

Differences from the Sophists

  1. Socrates did not charge for teaching.
  2. He maintained an anti-skeptical and anti-relativist stance, believing that truth and knowledge are attainable.
  3. He advocated ethical intellectualism.
  4. He employed dialogue as his primary method.
  5. He defended a new conception of knowledge and truth based on universal definitions.

Method

Socrates’ educational system was developed through dialogue, involving two key components:

  1. Irony: Socrates feigned ignorance and asked questions to expose contradictions in his interlocutors’ beliefs, revealing the limitations of their supposed knowledge.
  2. Maieutics: Once ignorance was acknowledged, Socrates guided his interlocutors toward the discovery of truth through questioning, combating Sophist skepticism by demonstrating that knowledge is possible through universal definitions.

Knowledge and Virtue

Socrates emphasized ethical intellectualism, believing that virtue is knowledge and that wrongdoing stems from ignorance of the good. He advocated self-knowledge (Know thyself) as essential for living a good life. Socrates combatted Sophist relativism by asserting that once definitions of good, bad, right, and wrong are established, these values are universally and eternally valid.