Greek Philosophy
Thales of Miletus
Thales of Miletus, one of the seven wise men of Greece, is said to have been the first philosopher. Thales started what is called the Ionic school of philosophy about 600 B.C. This school gave it's attention to the problem, what is the world really made of? Each member of the school sought his own and many different ones were arrived at. Thales himself said that the world was really made of water. Others said earth, air, fire, boundlessness and other things.
The answers were so numerous and so different that someone was sure to ask: how do you know? The philosophers who first raised this question came to be known as Sophists. They criticized and refined the ideas of earlier philosophers and extended them to the fields of human nature and human society.
Socrates ridiculed and denounced the Sophists. He believed that no answer could be found to the question, what is the world made of and that the question how do you know? He believed that at the same time man should ask, what is it good for? To Socrates this last question was the most important of all. He was a moral philosopher, trying to set up the rules for the best way of life. His pupils followed his lead and ethics the center of philosophy.
The greatest pupil of Socrates was Plato, who founded the Academy. Plato's greatest pupil was Aristotle who founded the Peripatetic school. To this day the works of Plato and Aristotle have a strong influence on philosophy. In ancient times apprenticeships were very long, Aristotle was Plato's student for twenty years.
The answers were so numerous and so different that someone was sure to ask: how do you know? The philosophers who first raised this question came to be known as Sophists. They criticized and refined the ideas of earlier philosophers and extended them to the fields of human nature and human society.
Socrates ridiculed and denounced the Sophists. He believed that no answer could be found to the question, what is the world made of and that the question how do you know? He believed that at the same time man should ask, what is it good for? To Socrates this last question was the most important of all. He was a moral philosopher, trying to set up the rules for the best way of life. His pupils followed his lead and ethics the center of philosophy.
The greatest pupil of Socrates was Plato, who founded the Academy. Plato's greatest pupil was Aristotle who founded the Peripatetic school. To this day the works of Plato and Aristotle have a strong influence on philosophy. In ancient times apprenticeships were very long, Aristotle was Plato's student for twenty years.