Greek Philosophy: Ionians, Pythagoras, Parmenides,
Heraclitus and Democritus
Welcome viewers; this is a course on Western
Philosophy.
The title of the course is
Aspects of Western Philosophy, and this is
the first module and the first lecture.
The topics which we are going to discuss are;
first of all we see the Ionian period then
we will go on discussing or having a very
brief overview of Greek civilization.
This is
very essential to understand the nature, the
general features and characteristic features
of
Greek philosophy; then we will have the social,
political and cultural aspects that
determined the nature of Greek civilization
and Greek philosophy.
Then we will see further the rise of Athens
because Athens is very important because it
is most of the philosophical thought that
is originated in early Greek world as originated
in Athens one of the city states.
Again we will wind up our discussions with
the general
characteristic features of Ionian philosophy,
and we will also have a brief look into the
a
specific philosophical use of some thinkers
not all of them, this is not an exhaustive
account of the Ionian or Pre-Socratic philosophy,
but a very brief overview of some
selected thinkers like Thales, and Anaximander
and Anaximenes, Pythagoras, Heraclitus
Parmenides and also the atomists.
And this will be followed with the kind of
summary of
the Pre-Socratic philosophy that is what we
are planning to cover in this lecture.
So, we will start with an introduction to
the Ionian period in Greek philosophy, which
is
the very important period in the entire history
of western philosophy.
And this is the
period, which we refer to the period between
600 and 400 B.C by Ionian period.
And
during this period the Greek world witnessed
geographically or dialectically
distinguishable movements, very crucial period
in the history of Greece, in the history of
human though and in the history of western
philosophy.
That is why it is an extremely
decisive period in the history of human civilization
as well, thinkers who were
profoundly innovatory and experimental whom
the now refers to as the first philosopher
of westerns philosophy; westerns history.
Before we proceed further, let us have a very
brief look at the map of Greece.
So, we can
see the city states here, we can see here
a Crete Athens, Thebes, here is Olympia and
this
are all the what we refer to as the Greek
world.
Here will see the Aegean Sea, and what
is so important to note is the emergences
of city states?
Because we can find that the
entire Greek civilization is concentrated
on this city states or the emergences of
philosophy is also associated with the emergences
of various city states in the Greek
world.
So, there are different cultures.
So, that is one thing which is very important
to be noted
that when we call Greek philosophy, we are
talking about the philosophical thinking,
the
thoughts that originated in various Greek
cities.
And Greece as such did not exhibit a
very homogeneous culture of civilization as
such.
There are different cultures that
excited in different city states, the environments
and socio political structures were also
different in this different city states.
So, these differences also contributed to
the richness
and the diversity of Greek philosophy as we
understand it today.
So, before we look into the details of Greek
philosophy, let us have a very brief overview
of Greek civilization.
And this is particularly accounted by Bertrand
Russell in his a
history of western philosophy.
So, this account realized on Bertrand Russell’s
account in
his book, “History of western philosophy”.
This is what Russell’s says at the very
outset,
in all history nothing is so surprising or
so difficult to account for as the sudden
rise of
civilization in Greece.
So, there are lot of issues connected, that
are lot of arguments, lot
of viewpoints about the emergence of Greek
civilization, I am not entering into those
details here.
I will straight away come to the point from
around 2500 B.C to 1400 B.C, the Minoan
culture existed in the island of Crete and
it spread, about 1600 B.C to the mainland
of
Greece.
This is the beginning we can understand this
as the begging, and the Minoan
culture was dominated in commerce and was
artistically advanced.
Again about 900 B.C,
the Mycenaean's who spoke Greek conquered
them.
And when you come to Greek civilization again
the Greeks came to Greece in 3
successive waves, this is the according to
Bertrand Russell.
First the Ionians; then came
Achaeans, and finally, the Dorians, and these
are not there are lot of conflicts involved
in
this successive arrival of Greeks.
The Ionians adopted the Cretan civilization,
the
Achaeans defeated them, but their civilization
was destroyed by the Dorians.
So, it is a
story of conflict as well.
Again Dorains retained the original indo European
religion of their ancestors.
So, when
we talk about Greek civilization, the first
thing that comes to your mind probably is
the
wonderful religion these people.
The mythology, the Greek mythology this people
have
developed, which is the depicted and narrated
in the works of Homer.
So, Dorians have retained the original indo
European religion of their ancestors,
and that was spread all over Greece during
this period.
The religion of classical Greece was a blend
of Dorian and the Mycenaean religion.
Both
during the later part of the Mycenaean age
and after it is end, some of the invaders
settled down and became agriculturists, while
some pushed on, first into the islands of
the Asia minor, then into Sicily and southern
Italy, where they founded cities that lived
by maritime commerce.
Again in these maritime cities the Greeks
first made
qualitatively new contributions to civilization.
So, here onwards we have to be a little more
attentive that real contributions to human
civilization start with this sitting down
of Greek people.
The supremacy of Athens came
a little later, and was associated with naval
power.
I will explain it little more detail
while we proceed.
And now we listen to the social and political
aspects, that I shaped
Greek civilization or Greek culture and philosophical
outlook.
So, here when we talk about the ancient Greek
politics, there are three major approaches,
or rather three major trends that are prevalent.
First of all there is the tyranny period the
tyranny, then comes the aristocracy, and then
comes democracy.
So, all these 3 existed at
the same period in different cities and we
can see that there is a kind of comfit between
the supporters of aristocracy and support
of democracy, later which will find this is
culminated in the death of Socratics as well.
We will discuss all this issues in the
subsequent lectures.
And here one interesting aspect is that when
we talk about Greek democracy, it is the
unique consumption of democracy, not in the
sense we understand the term democracy
today in the modern world.
So, but still it was a garment by all the
citizens, but they have
a consumption of citizen which was unique,
it was not an all inclusive notion that it
never included every human being in the society,
of course they left out women and
slaves, they were not included into the category
of citizen in the Greek democratic
culture.
So, this is poetry of Homer, and when we refer
to cultural aspect of course, Homer is one
person which comes to our mind so frequently
and so suddenly.
And here we have to
refer to the art of writing and this was the
Greeks of got this from the Phoenicians,
Greeks modified it and this accelerated the
rise of their civilization, that is another
interesting thing about Greek civilization
and also about Europeans civilization in
general that they have got have lot from others,
from other civilization, from the Asian.
But they have made it have appropriate it
further developed it.
Similarly the art of writing was also sort
of developed further and this is resulted
in the
dramatic rise of Greek civilization.
And next major event in the history of Greek
civilization is the composition of Iliad and
the Odyssey by Homer, which already
mention during 750 to 550 B.C.
So, here is the paragraph, here is a quotation
from Bertrand Russell, Homer as a finished
achievement was a product of Ionia, that is
a part of Hellenic Asia minor and the
adjacent islands.
Sometime during the sixth century at latest,
the Homeric poems became
fixed in their present form.
It is also during this century that Greek
science and
philosophy and mathematics began.
So, let us have a kind of summary.
The three main civilization of Greece law:
the Trojan
in troy, the Cretan or Minoan in Crete and
the Mycenaean in the Greek mainland.
And the one thing to be noted here, when we
since this is course and philosophy, the
most working aspects or the important and
the relevant thing to be noted is the rise
of
Athens as a superpower; super power not in
the modern sense, not in the military sense
of atoms, but in the intellectual sense in
the term.
So, there is several reasons for that
geographical, cultural, historical, political
and several other reasons for this.
The first one
is that is located in east, was a gateway
to Asia Minor.
So, since it performed gate fail, lot of exchanges
went all, lot of interaction with other
culture other civilization happened, this
is contributed to the research and diversity
of
Athenian people.
Had a very good port that is another reason,
because since it very good
port commerce to place in a major way had
a great maritime fleet.
And again during 490 to 470 B.C, together
with Sparta, Athenian fought with the
Persians under Darius and Xeroxes.
So, this is another very important aspect,
political
aspect because there is fight, there is conflict;
there is war with Persians who are Asian.
So, Asia and Europe started fighting with
each other during this period and this war
Athenians was supported by Sparta as well.
Sparta provided the army and Athens the
navy and Europeans fought against the Asian
and finally defeated them.
After the war, now suddenly that is reality
to face, after the war what happened Sparta
demobilized it is troops and suffered economic
turmoil, because the troops that send
back home demobilized and what will this people
do?
But for Athens turned it is navy,
because Athens contributed to naval power.
So, it could immediately transformed turn
it
is navy into merchant feed, which is for the
contributed to development of commerce,
economic vibrant economic activities.
People in Athens interacted with people across
the
world different cultures different civilizations.
And again trading necessitated the growth
of mathematics.
So, gradually this process this
vibrant economic process has also growth of
sciences, various
sciences, first of all mathematics, because
trading necessitated the growth of
mathematics also contact with India, where
mathematics and philosophy were dominant.
They had trading relation with India since
ages, the Greeks and the Romans had trading
relationship with India.
During that period India was great civilization;
where
mathematics was developed, astronomy was developed
and also philosophy was
dominate.
So, naturally the Greeks were also they also
make into contact with this individual
developments in other civilization and other
cultures.
Astronomy became necessary for
the navigators, because they have to sort
of go to the sea, go to the Ossian and to
find
there directions they need to master in astronomy
and this they could do because of their
contact with Egypt’s and Babylonian civilization,
where astronomy was developed.
And economic prosperity the next step, Economic
prosperity naturally got leisure and
security: which are essential for speculative
philosophical thinking.
So, naturally there is
lot of leisure time available for the rich
people in Athens, to think about the completed
about the first realities to highly metaphysical
questions, raise the first metaphysical most
in the inventory questions of human reality.
Now the see the brief summary of this development
what we have discussion now.
So,
the early and later Greek civilization the
early period is to 1200 B.C, where the fall
of
Mycenaean civilization is what we refer to
as the early period.
Then comes 800 B.C
which is called the later civilization, where
the emergence of city states took places.
In
between you have the dark ages; we do not
know much about this period, what is
happened this period, the intellectual other
kinds of developments that we taken place
during this period is not really known to
us.
And also you know no significant influence
of early on later, because of this dark ages
which comes in between, there is no significant
influence of the early on the later.
And
when we talk about emergence of city states
I have already mentioned it, Greece was
divided into a large number of small independent
states, each consisting of a city with
some agricultural territory surrounding it.
So, this is what gives your picture of Greek
city states.
And finally, we have the greatest philosopher
of Greek civilization, agreed for greatest
philosopher of Greek civilization Socrates
399 B.C and we are particularly concerned
about the Pre-Socratic thinkers here, this
is the Pre-Socratic thinkers with whom we
are
dealing with in this lecture, Ionians Pythagoreans,
Eleatic philosopher and the sophistic.
Sophistic of course, we not be discussing
in this lecture.
So, this is again a brief overview of philosophy,
you have Ionianic, Pythagorean, Eleatic
and sophistic.
And here Ionian thinkers have developed they
were good in physics,
physics in the not in the typical scientific
of the term, we identify it has the development
of physics here because these philosopher
were naturalist; they were concerned about
the
natural world which is sensible.
When we come to Pythagoreans, Pythagoreans
was
reputed for his developing of philosophy based
on mathematic numbers and also
religion.
So, ethics was given at most importance in
Pythagoras philosophy.
So, ethics, then when
it is comes to Eleatic will find the dialectic
development.
So, physics ethics and dialectic
and when it comes to the sophistic, which
is almost Socratic period, we find it decline
of
all these sciences.
So, there you can find that the reason real
meat for emergence of
philosophy a new fashion which will see the
subsequent lecture.
Now, when we talk about have a very brief
overview of this, when we talk about the
early Ionians, we refer to Thales and Anaximander
and Anaximenes, the first I will sort
in actually calls them the first physiologists
or student of nature, the reason will be
explain later.
At the problem of the origin and laws of the
physical universe, this was the
major concerned of this early Ionians.
The origin and laws of the physical universe,
the
fundamentals substance we explain it slightly
later.
The world has originated from a primitive
substance that is the primary assumption there
is the substance, out of which everything
this universe the diversity, the divers objects,
everything in universe as come out of, that
is the primary assumptions of this early
Ionian philosophy.
And when we come to the later period, later
Ionians are again very
profound thinkers like Heraclitus Empedocles,
and Anaxagoras and like.
And the
problem of the origin and the nature of the
universe still passed even for them that are
very important; though they have advanced
the thinking, the line of thinking, and the
approaches of the early Ionian further into
different domains still the problem of the
fundamental substance processed in that philosophy
as well.
Distinguished the primitive world forming
force from the primitive matter of which the
world was made.
That is another advance method in that thought.
Force is distinct from
matter, there is distinction then make the
between force and matter, which is very
important from the scientific prospective
as well as a philosophical prospective.
We will see the other Ionians now.
So, we have the most prominent of thinker
here is
Pythagoras, 560 to 480 B.C, who are studied
under the Thales before traveling to Egypt
and Mesopotamia, ultimately establishing his
own school of philosophy in Croton in
southern Italy.
One of the very important thinkers in human
intellectual history
Pythagoras and every school children, every
student, every fifth standard student would
be able to tell us who Pythagoras the famous
Pythagoras theorem.
But of course,
Pythagoras was not just a mathematician, he
was the philosopher and also have
developed, is developed unique region I am
not going to the details of that here.
The Eleatic school again of Xenophanes, and
Parmenides and Zeno; we will be
discussing paramagnets little bit in details
here in this lecture.
Again the atomists like
Leucippus and Democritus, this are the other
Ionians.
Now before we examine some of the important
thinkers as I mention earlier, I will
focusing on the contributions of some of this
people not every one of them, but before
that we will have a very brief general characteristic
features, and understanding of the
general characteristic features of this Ionian
philosophers.
This is by Bertrand Russell,
the Milesian school is important, not for
what it achieved, but for what it attempted;
not
for what it achieved, but for what it attempted.
So, this is the Bertrand Russell’s
comment about this people, these original
thinkers.
And the let see what Zeller has to say about
it Pre-Socratic philosophy arose from the
inclination of natural science to enquire
about the essence and of the natural phenomena.
This is one of the fundamental features of
philosophical enquire.
One branch of
philosopher at least traditional essential
philosophy they were always interested concept
of essence.
Look out for the essence because the world
which we leave is chaotic, the
world which we leave as tremendous diversity
different objects, lot of different qualities
different objects, but underlines all this
differences, underlines all this diversity,
there is
something which is essential.
So, there is the search for the essence, which
is one of the features of philosophical
enquire even in 20th philosophy we can find
it, people like Hussar, Hussars
philosophical
project
itself
atmen
result
the
great
mathematician,
logician
phenomenologist, whose philosophical project
itself is to arrive it something called pre
supposition less philosophy.
Phenomenology itself is kind of attempt to
see essences the
thinks in themselves.
So, we can see that you know this is one of
the most important philosophy excises
attempts by thinkers.
To see the essence of natural phenomena here
and we can
characterized as a philosophy of nature.
So, that is another way to see this, the important
contribution of this early Greek philosopher,
as a philosophy of nature.
Locate the
essence of all things in a corporate substratum,
that is another attempt because see one
thing which differentiate this thinkers from
people like as a already mention Hussar or
any other contemporary or 20th century philosopher
is that, though all of them are
interested to locate essences, these Pre-Socratic
thinkers or this Ionians, they were not
just in interested essences, but they were
also under the impression that this essence
itself
would be something material in nature.
So, in one sense they have materialistic,
they were scientific, they were reductionist
all
this are contributes that can be given to
this original early thinkers.
Again everything in
the universe was made from a material substance.
So, that is the condition.
So, that is something very important because
there is an attempt to explain everything,
all phenomena by natural causes which is the
scientific approach to thinks, which is not
mythological, which is not religions, which
is not theological, which is not based on
faith, but based on reason, this is something
which the birth of rationale Endeavour’s
begin.
Here as a mention is not mythical accounts,
the question here is the question of
essence and the question of the basal substance,
what is the basal substance out of which
everything is come out and here normally for
such questions, that could be religious
explanation theological explanation, but here
there is an attempt to answer in terms of
sense perception, whatever experience sense
experience tells us.
So, that is why it is scientific, and this
philosopher have deference substances, their
identified different philosopher are identified
different substance, different material
substance as a primary object, the primary
essential substance, fundamental substance
out of which everything is come out, for one
philosopher Thales it is water, another it
is
air, another one it is fire, another one is
differentiated mask.
Whatever it is instead of all
such difference, they all focus on something
which is material; it is a cause the material
cause of everything.
So the notions of cause affect relationship,
which is so central to
scientific intervals.
And here will see the general features of
Ionian thinking, first of all here there is
something called the birth of philosophy as
a rational Endeavour.
As a mentioned we can
see the birth of philosophy as a rational
Endeavour at this point, because as already
mentioned there is a look out for reasons,
rational explanation for everything.
Again is
the birth of science as well, because identifying
the cause the material cause of
something, which is scientific approach.
The nature of the basic structure of things,
that is the again another very important
aspect.
Then again the question philosophical question
as being introduce, one of the
most important philosophy discuss in the history
of philosophy, the question of
appearance in reality.
The philosopher had assistant to believe what
is directly given to
session organs?
What appears is not real, that is a basic
skepticism about what appears?
What is directly given to us?
And there is look out for something which
is not given to
us, something which is underline the given,
something which is responsible for the
appearance that is real; Appearance reality
which is the central problem in philosophy,
almost in every civilization.
So, you can see that here there is the question
of substance.
What is that substance?
What
is immediately given to us or what we experiences
the world of diversity?
But the there
should be an underline substance.
So, appearance and reality, when it comes
to another
one change or permanent, everything in object
seems to be changing; everything in this
world every objectives motion, the entire
universe under motion, but whether motion
itself is real or not.
So, that is the question some philosopher
as due that motion is real, or
motion Ionians real, change Ionian real.
According to some it is Parmenides.
Again, abstract or concrete the world as we
experience is very concrete worth, but is
there anything which is underline that something
which abstract, something which
cannot be seen that is the question.
So, all such philosophical question was introduced
by
the early Greek thinkers themselves.
When you talk about the being of rational
thinking, early Greek thinkers where
influenced by as a already mentioned Babylonians
and Egyptians, Astronomy and
mathematics informed them about the precision
and accuracy the universe exhibit is.
See
it is let us except that the world around
us is in the motion, there is flux; there
is change,
but whether is changes are bitterly?
Whether this changes is blind or does it exhibit?
Does it follow some sort of low, some sort
of a principle?
So, this is the search for such principle
is scientific search, we have we can see this
classical example of the discovery of gravitation
principle by Isaac Newton, The
principle of gravity is allow which every
object in the universe follows.
So, that take
place this universe is not arbitrary free,
is not by is not chance to happened, but there
are
certain those there are certain principle.
So, identifying those principles and locating
those principles, or finding a kind of
resemblance those principles, and the principle
that enables man to identifying them, that
is reason, rationality there is some sort
of connection between this two, this was makes
science in philosophy unique rational enterprise.
So, all this thinks we can see in the
contributions of these early thinkers, the
idea that everything can be rationally
understood.
So, there are thinks which we can defiantly
approach any phenomena in this
world from the theological prospector.
Why certain thinks happened?
Because God, God
as decided it happened.
So, there is no found further questioning
of the issue them, we say that everything
is
decided by God, but rationally approach cannot
be satisfied with such a reference to
faith.
So, you need a causal explanation model, which
as so central to scientific intervals
later.
The essence of things can be grasped, something
which human being capable of
understanding with the help of certain faculties
in our mind that is the rational ability.
Now, already given a very brief outlook, a
kind of feel about what are some of the
important characteristic features of Pre-Socratic
thinking.
Now let us see some of the
very important thinkers.
As a mentioned here, this is not an attempt
elaborately discuss
the individual contribution of each and every
philosopher in Pre-Socratic age.
See one
thing we have to keep in mind is that there
is no direct accounts of this Pre-Socratic
thinkers, they have not written anything,
till Socratic no one as written anything,
we have
information about their philosophy by second
recourses, primarily by several other
writers, one important information, we receive
from aerostatic himself who refers to
many of this contribution many of this thinkers
in this writers.
So, there as certain
limitation then when we approach their philosophical
contribution, but at same time
historian’s philosophy have arrived at reasonable
good accounts of these thinking the
philosophical contribution of these early
thinkers.
So, let us start with Thales of Miletus, and
he held’s as the celebrated father of western
philosophy Thales.
And he was one of the seven wise men of Greece,
he was born about
the year B.C 640, in Miletus, in Asia minor
and died at the age of 78 these are some of
the sensitive information about it is life
which we have, there is no unanimity about
the
this views, but raffle this are the thinks
which we understand about him.
Thales who had
some contacts with Babylonia, where astronomers
knew that is eclipses recur in cycle
about 19 years predicted an eclipse, which
took place in 585 B.C, this made him famous.
So, he was primarily known as recognized as
an astronomer, then later on this
philosophical thinking also developed.
He was as a mentioned earlier he was held
as one
of the 7 wise men of Asian Greece and the
learned from Egypt the science of geometry
as well.
He there are lot of issues when we call Thales
as the father of western philosophy, but of
course, it is reasonable because the whole
rational approach to problems, begin with
Thales we can assuming that though there could
be have been other thinkers before
Thales, at least Thales is the first major
name that occurs referred by many later
philosopher including Aristotle.
So, rational approach raised the question
of primitive
causes of things and avoided providing explanation
in a mythical language.
So, this is the most important contribution
of Thales; primitive causes of thinks and
explanation not mythical language, but in
the rational manner.
So, when the question is
about the fundamental substance, Thales answer
is interesting he says that water is the
most primitive ultimate substance that is
the fundamental substance.
Everything comes
out of water and returns to water, this is
the theorem.
And there are interesting details
about it, but one is the important aspects
to be noted here are number one it is the
materialistic approach.
So, in that way is very important, whether
it is water or air whatever it has it is the
materialistic approach it is reductionist,
reductionist in the sense is reducing everything
to one single principle, it is scientific
because it is look for causes fundamental
causes,
then it is rational it does not depend on
mythological or theological explanation and
after
on it is philosophical.
So, these are some of the very important features
to be noted then
we tried to understand Thales contribution.
So, in this sense we say that the Birth of
Philosophy as a Rational Endeavour took place
with Thales.
Now, the next important philosopher who we
are going to discuss is Anaximander, who
again a agreed a lot with his predacious Thales,
but the fundamental substance for him is
not one of the material substances like water,
but it must be a an eternal infinite
imperishable substance.
It need not be any particular substance, but
it should be an
eternal infinite imperishable substance, all
qualities are derived from this substance
for
him, and again water itself as a material
substance which we can observed comes out
of
such a primary substance according to an Anaximander.
And he says all things in this
world come from this great mass of undifferentiated
matter.
So, what is the substance for him?
It is a great mass of undifferentiated mater,
we cannot
be differentiated, we can not determined what
is it is in determined, it is imperishable,
it
is infinite and it is internal.
Tendency towards an abstract mode of think,
this is
something which is so striking about an Anaximander.
Thales was referring to substance
which is material, which is convent.
But here we can see there is a tendency towards
a
mode abstract mode of thinking, which is very
important for philosophical conversation
because philosophy in a very important sense
deals with abstract in entities.
The doctrine
of the indestructibility of matter is again
content in an Anaximander view; matter is
indestructible, which is the scientific principle
which is also containing in Anaximander
view.
Now another philosopher who is the pupil of
Anaximander an Anaximenes; here we can
come we can see trick his goes back, the fundamental
substance is infinite, but it is not
indeterminate this is what an Anaximenes.
It is air or vapor or mist.
It is air, for
Anaximenes the fundamental substance is air
because there is reason for that, because
air
is the life giving element, both in organisms
as well as in the universe, the principle
of
the universe, without air nothing happens
in this universe.
So, he considered air as the most primitive
substance and it is animate as well.
It extends
infinitely through space, something extends
infinitely in the infinite space is nothing
but
air, the air must be the fundamental substance.
And now we come to one of the most important
and interesting thinkers of entire human
history Pythagoras; I already give a very
brief introduction about him, where the focus
is
on abstract form and relations.
The entities like air or water cannot
be the realities, but this entire universe
which is perceived, which is sends through
our
sense organs cannot be ultimate reality, then
what is it?
Pythagoras founds that
everything in this world can be explained
it in terms of numbers, abstract numbers.
Everything concrete in this world can be explained
explicated and describe in terms of
abstract numbers.
So, numbers are more fundamental and real
than concrete objects and entities in this
world.
The measure, order, proportion and uniform
recurrence in this world, in this
universe can be expressed in numbers and numbers
are the only true realities and this
conception, this pre occupation numbers has
ultimately furthered the study of astronomy
and various other disciplines associated with
that.
So, now you come to another important thinkers
Heraclitus.
So, this is one important
think one interesting features about Greek
philosophy.
Every generation you will find
innovative thinkers, and original thinker,
who comes up with something very
substantially different from predacious.
So, this is something which we can understand
as a tradition of critical discourse.
A traditional of critical discourse where
there is continuity from Thales to and
Anaximander, there is continuity but at the
same time Anaximander does not repeat what
Thales is said, it not just repeating what
it is predecessor it is contributing substantial
by
critically evaluating the contribution of
your predecessor.
So, this is what later on people
particularly call proper interestingly calls
as the terms as the tradition of critical
discourse, which existed in the west, each
generation and new thinks.
So, Heraclitus another very important thinker
will find a question at different question,
though he written some of the important original
issue he now raise to different question,
whether change or permanence is real?
Because we see thinks changing in this world,
but
whether change of permanence is real?
Because you own the one hand there is the
condition that everything comes out of a primary
substance.
So, everything in this world
is nothing but transformation of this primary
substance.
So, primary substance as such the then what
about changes?
So, this
is the question and change constitutes the
very life of the universe, this is contention.
He
says that it is change not permanence, whatever
permanence we observed as illusion; it is
change Ionian real permanence is an illusion.
And he says that one cannot step into the
same river twice, the famous Heraclitus
statement, which in India we could see the
Buddha also have stated something where
similar to this.
One cannot step into the same river twice,
because both oneself who try
into step down into the river as well as the
river will would have under gone change by
the time because everything is movement.
The entire universe is in state of ceaseless
change, ceaseless flux, and reality is an
endless process of becoming, there is no being
as
such which is ecstatic, which is instant,
but everything is an endless process of becoming
process change, fire is the vital principle
in the organism and the essence of the soul.
Now, he comes back he written the question
of the original substance which is predicts
have raised and comes with an answer fire
is most primary fundamental substance and
it
is the vital principle of the organism and
also the universe.
Fire is the symbol of the
ceaseless activity for him.
And one thing which is interesting about Heraclitus
that has already mentioned here and
substantially new thinks, new inventory ideas
to his thoughts of a predacious.
Everything
is change into it is opposites.
So, this is the dialectical aspects is introduced,
everything
changes to it is opposites, this something
which will find in modern western philosophy
as well.
No thing has permanent qualities; every object
is a union of opposite qualities
otherwise the world would have stagnated;
this is the very interesting very innovatory
assumption that there is change in this universe,
the changes possible because every
object is a union of opposite conductor qualities,
otherwise the world stagnated and died
off, but the world is vibrant that is because
there is every objective in this world is
a
union of opposite qualities.
Everything is both is and is not.
harmony is the result of the union of opposites,
he says
that harmony whatever harmony is universe
exhibits is nothing, but a result of union
of
opposites the change is not arbitrary, but
is law governed it is a rational process,
this is
another very significant contribution by Heraclitus.
The changes which we perceive
which we expression is not a blind arbitrary
change the universe is not rule by chance,
but it is law governed.
I already mentioned it earlier there is a
consumption law governed
activity and what is process it must be a
law governed process it must be rational process
human mind is capable of finding out the law
reason enables as to do that.
So, philosophy becomes much more matured in
Heraclitus.
The logos or reason in things
is permanent, there is something is permanent
what is it?
The logos or reason in things
hence a life based on reason is superior than
a sensuous life.
So, you can see the ethical
view as well here how do you leave how should
one leave in this world one should not
base one life or emotion or sensual life it
should be based on reason.
Now another
important thinker who comes with an entirely
different prospective view is Parmenides,
how can a thing both be and not be?
This is a question to Heraclitus in one sense
Heraclitus advocated change.
Here Parmenides raises some very significant
objection to this Heraclitus conception.
How can a thing both be not be?
How can a thing possess contradicting qualities?
How
can one quality become another quality?
Something cannot come out of nothing and
something cannot become nothing.
These are all contradiction Parmenides remises
an
object cannot possess contradictory qualities.
So, he refused change, the conception of the
philosophy change advocated by Heraclitus
and followers are vehemently oppose by Parmenides
saying that, this the interesting
argument, if being is a process of becoming
this is what Heraclitus said, then it must
either have come out of not being or being.
If from not being, then it has come from
nothing which is impossible.
Something cannot come out of nothing that
is the
contradiction that is impossible.
Then it should come from something.
If from being then it has comes from itself
and
hence is identical with itself, which means
that there is no change.
So, change is refuted
philosophically and theoretically, from being
only been can come out.
No think or
nothing can become anything else.
There is only one eternal underived, unchangeable
being.
So, the concept of being which is become very
important in later philosophy later
western philosophy introduced by Parmenides
here, is not find that in 20th century, many
philosopher including some of the thinkers
like Heidegger, Gadamer all this people were
tremendously influence by Parmenides.
Heidegger even has written a book, title
Parmenides.
Because is also preoccupied with the concept
of being, the question being
which is introduced by Parmenides.
It is immovable and is identical with thought:
what
cannot be thought cannot be and what cannot
be, not being cannot be thought this is the
interesting statement by Parmenides.
Now, we come to another important group of
thinkers the atomists.
The natural-scientific
views of the universe developed by Empedocles
and Anaxagoras found their culmination
in atomic theory.
I am not going into explain here because of
positive of time, the
contribution of thinkers like Empedocles and
Anaxagoras, but in a since we can say that
there thinking, there philosophical perspectives
culminated in atomism, what is termed as
atomism, atomic theory.
Atomism is one of the most influential theories
in western intellectual history, even
today very interestingly significant; conceived
the universe as constituted of
fundamental, changeless, eternal substances
called atoms.
Atoms are simple, indivisible,
impenetrable, spatial entities.
So, they are in that simple, they cannot be
separated into
two entities, they differ from each other
only in form weight and size are and are
separated from one another by empty space.
In atomism also will find the materialistic
reductionism of their predacious.
So, but question is how do a call for motion?
Because we change, we find or we
experience to change, we experience to motion.
Here the atomists says that motion is
inherited atoms, they do not comes from outside.
So, there is no external agency require
to for the atoms to move, that is inherent.
Hence no need from external mythical entity
in
order to explain change and absolute change
is impossible as atom do not changed.
So,
that is another thing, though the universe
exhibit is motion, there is motion there is
change in the universe, there is absolute
change because atoms themselves, the primary
constitute of universe would not change.
Things in the world are in motion, and plurality
is real, these are some of the contention
of atomist.
Atom has extension and is physically indivisible.
They are compact physical
units, they are not mathematical entities,
they are not metaphysical entities, they have
physical units and there qualitatively alike,
but has I mentioned earlier there deferred
from each other in terms of size, weight and
so on so that.
Atoms and the world they say that, they are
building stones of reality.
Everything in this
world, every object in this world is made
up of atoms; everything in this world is a
combination of atoms and spaces.
Motion is inherent as already mentioned in
atoms and
there always in motion, everything is explained
in terms of atoms their motion and
combinations.
So, you can see that the scientific attempt
to explain the world is substantial by the
atomist with the theory of atomism, which
is very interesting.
Now, we wind up this lecture on Pre-Socratic
philosophy, very important face in the
history of western philosophy with brief summary.
The general features ones again PreSocratic
philosophy with Socrates dialectical and ethical
enquiries began, and physical
enquires were discontinued, this is what Aristotle
says.
It is Socrates who as introduced
in a new era in philosophy, the whole of Pre-Socratic
philosophy according to Zeller is in
it is aim and content a philosophy of nature.
These thinkers, the Pre-Socratic thinkers
who we have already examined, confined their
enquiry to the problem of the origin and
laws of the physical universe.
And they was physical in nature, focus was
on the material world, and looked for the
first constituent of things.
These are the things which we have already
examined and
Aristotle I already mentioned earlier, called
them the first physiologists or students of
nature then.
And now we have seen that there are older
earlier Ionian and later Ionians.
The three oldest schools of Ionian Pythagorian
and Eleatic schools, though differs
significantly in their approach, do agree
with each other a lot.
Because some of
fundamental questions are the same though
each generation add 2 dimension to the
philosophical approach, they are much alike
in scientific character approach they are
much alike in scientific character.
Again there is attempt to explain everything
with the help of rational principles, I have
already mentioned.
Attempt to provide a unified view of the universe
this again a
scientific philosophical approach.
Fascination for abstract thinking, we could
see that
from Anaximander law words it is beings, and
then reluctance accepting a
commonsensical outlook which is so characteristic
of philosophical enquire.
Philosophy
one since is denial commonsense, in that sense
we can see that the introduction approach
in this early Greek period, suspecting the
sensible world so that introducing the problem
of appearance and reality which shows central
philosophical enquiry.
So, this are in nutshell this is what is happened.
The sensible natural philosophical world
is problematizes in the initial period here
and when we come further, we can see the
abstract mathematical issues becoming central
like, people like Pythagoras where so
seminal contribution here, and together this
give birth to what we can call as a rationally
speculative and contemplative world.
So, this is scientific rationality, this is
deductive
reasoning.
The initial period as contributed scientific
rationality and later on deductive
reasoning by mathematical abstraction which
together let to the birth of philosophy.
Let us now wind up our discussion, and have
a look at summary of topics which we
discussed, we had an overview of Greek civilization
and history an overview of PreSocratic philosophy,
the nature of philosophical approach in the
early period is examine,
the birth of philosophy and science as rational
endeavors is also examine in this lecture.
In the following lectures will have a more
interesting discussions about the initial
philosophical issues discuss by early Greek
thinkers, particularly Sophist, Socratics
and
other Greek philosopher.
So, this are the references used from preparing
this lecture.
We will wind up this lecture.
Thank you.
