Greek Philosophy, Historical Thinking,

and the Western Tradition of Rational Thought

1) Why did the Greeks move away from a mythical or religious understanding of the world and toward a rational/scientific one?

2) What were the key stages and who figures in the development of Greek philosophy?

Key Terms

1) Pre-Socratic Philosophy

2) Hippocrates

3) Sophists

4) Socrates

5) The Allegory of the Cave

6) Philosopher King

7) Thucydides and the “Science” of History

I. Historical Context and Influences

· Near Eastern/Egyptian Contribution: Math and Astronomy

· The Greek Poets: Homer’s Message and Human Agency

· The Nature of Greek Religion

· Political Systems and Intellectual Creativity

II. The First “Scientists” (650-450B.C.) and the Idea of a Universal Truth

Pre-Socratic Philosophers

· Thales of Miletus (624-548)

· Hericlitus of Ephesus (535-475)

· Parmenides of Elea (514-?)

· Hippocrates of Kos (460-377)

III. The Sophist Challenge and Socrates’ Answer, 450-400 B.C.

· Protagoras (481-411): “Man is the Measure of All Things”

· Socrates (469-399) and Individual Moral Philosophy

IV. Plato, Forms, and a Philosophy for Politics

· The Allegory of the Cave

· Plato’s The Republic and the “Philosopher King”

V. Putting it all Together: Aristotle’s Synthesis and “The Golden Mean”

VI. The “Science” of History

· Herodotus (484-424)

· Thucydides (460-c.400)