philosophy of Descartes

Pre-Socratic Philosophy

Pre-Socratic means before Socrates and was a time period from 469-399 B.C. Pre-Socratic philosophy was a time in history where the dominant concern was trying to explain world order (kosmos) or nature (phusis) in a unified and rational way. This is the beginning of where science and philosophers tried to explain the world and people weren’t just relying on the authority of traditional beliefs. There were two separate schools of thought during this time period; Ionian and Eleatic. During the Pre-Socratic era they believed that the Ionian school of thought was correct at first, then shifted to Eleatic, and through ideas from Democritus, back to Ionian.

The Ionian school of thought was where philosophers believed that everything was always changing and that there is a unity among opposites. It started in Miletus or present day Turkey. Thales was regarded as the founder of philosophy. He believed that water was the fundamental stuff of the universe. He stated that everything arose out of water. Another Ionian philosopher, Anaximander, was a man who believed in the unlimited or infinite. He believed that elements in the universe strived to dominate each other by changing into one another or in the mutual destruction of opposites. Furthermore, Anaximenes believed that air was what originated the universe. The last and arguably the most important philosopher of this time was Heraclitus. He pronounced that there is a single logos (word or reason) that everyone should listen to. He believed in flux and opposites, fire, and human life. Flux means flowing. Heraclitus believed that everything is always changing and that there is a unity among opposites. He also stated that fire is not the world but fire generates the world. Lastly, human life is composed of opposites with ideas such as young and old, peace and war, or day and night. Basically all of these philosophers believed that things are always changing and that opposites exist.

The Eleatics was a school of thought that strongly disagreed with the Ionian school of thought. Eleatics began in present day Italy. The Eleatics stated that the world contained no real diversity, plurality, change, or motion. The believed that nothing flows and there is no unity among opposites. They basically completely contradicted Heraclitus’ thoughts and ideas. Eleatics also differed from Ionian in the fact that it consisted of argument. Parmenides was probably the most important Eleatic philosopher for this school of thought. He is the one that marked the shift from Ionian to Eleatic thinking. He talked about what is and what is not. “Is” is what exists. Parmenides states that anything that you can think about exists so since you can think about God, then God exists. Melissus was a follower of Parmenides that made his ideas clearer. He stated that existence is ever lasting, reality is one single thing, and that there can be no motion. Another philosopher during this time was Zeno. He explained that there is no motion or plurality through paradoxes. An arrow for instance, has no motion because when you shoot it the arrow remains the same as it was. It doesn’t change, it’s still an arrow. He also described how if you chase after a turtle, once you get to where the turtle was, it has already moved forward so you can’t catch it. Basically, the Eleatic school of thought argued against the Ionian school of thought and also argued against plurality and change.

People ultimately switched back to Ionian thinking because of the ideas of Democritus and brought about more ideas from a man named Pythagoras. Democritus brought about the theory of atomism. This is where everything is made up of objects so small that you can’t really see them but they are moving and in motion. Atoms are one single object that is solid and contain absolutely no ‘non-being’. Basically, atoms exist eternally and are unchanging. They are constantly moving around in an infinite void. They also prove that motion exists because things can occupy a space and then move to fill another void. Pythagoras believed in incarnation of the soul. He thought that souls from one kind of animal body could go to another. He also believed that numbers are the source of everything and explain the world.

In conclusion, the Ionian school of thought where motion, plurality, and opposites truly could describe kosmos in a unified way. Atomism was the main source of how this is truly possible. Atomism totally defeated the thoughts of Parmenides and the rest of the Eleatic philosophers who thought that the world contained no motion, plurality, or unity among opposites. Atomism proved that there could be objects that are so small that are constantly changing and in motion. Many of the philosopher’s ideas were not correct in both the Ionian and Eleatic school of thoughts but each person contributed an idea that allowed for further questions and ideas that ultimately made philosophy what it is. If it weren’t for Thales and his idea that water generated the Earth, then maybe philosophy wouldn’t have become what it is today. All of these people are very important in the process of how philosophy grew and became more and more sophisticated. Pre-Socratic philosophy laid the ground work for modern philosophy by laying a foundation for Socratic philosophy.