The Founders of Western Thought – The Presocratics (eBook)
XVI, 293 Seiten
Springer Netherland (Verlag)
978-1-4020-9791-1 (ISBN)
There can be little doubt that the Greek tradition of philosophical criticism had its main source in Ionia. . . It thus leads the tradition which created the rational or scienti?c attitude, and with it our Western civilization, the only civilization, which is based upon science (though, of course, not upon science alone). Karl Popper, Back to the Presocratics Harvard University physicist and historian of Science, Gerald Holton, coined the term "e;Ionian Enchantment"e;, an expression that links the idea back in the 6th c- tury B. C. to the ancient Ionians along the eastern Aegean coast, while capturing its fascination. Approximately within a seventy- ve year period (600-525 B. C. ) -a split second in the history of humanity- the three Milesian thinkers, Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes, without plain evidence, but with an unequalled power of critical abstraction and intuition, had achieved a true intellectual re- lution; they founded and bequeathed to future generations a new, unprecedented way of theorizing the world; it could be summarized in four statements: beneath the apparent disorder and multiplicity of the cosmos, there exists order, unity and stability; unity derives from the fundamental primary substratum from which the cosmos originated; this, and, consequently, the cosmic reality, is one, and is based not on supernatural, but on physical causes; they are such that man can - vestigate them rationally. These four statements are neither self-evident nor se- explanatory.
Preface 8
Contents 11
Introduction 17
The Juncture 19
Nature 20
Society 22
Religion 24
Myth and Epic Poetry 25
Hesiod – The First Cosmogonies 26
Personality – Lyric Poetry – Art 28
Foreign Influence 31
Introduction to the Presocratics 35
Thales of Miletus (ca. 625–546 b.c.) 44
Personality – Life 44
Cosmology – Mathematics 45
First ‘arche’: Water 45
Soul 47
The Divine 47
Overview 47
Anaximander of Miletus (ca. 610–546 b.c.) 49
The Extant Fragment 49
Personality – Life 49
First ‘arche’: The Boundless 50
The Divine 51
The Opposites 51
Justice – Necessity 52
Cosmogony 53
Cosmology 54
Meteorology 55
Overview 55
Anaximenes of Miletus (ca. 585–525 b.c.) 58
Introduction 58
First ‘arche’: Air 58
Soul 60
The Divine 60
Cosmogony – Cosmology – Meteorology 61
Overview 61
Epilogue: The Milesian 62
Pythagoras of Samos (ca. 570–496 b.c.) 65
Personality 65
Life 67
TheWay of Life 67
Immortality of the Soul 70
Homogeneity 71
Purification 71
Harmony of Soul 71
Ethics 72
Society 72
Education 73
Theology 73
Philosophy 74
Mathematics 75
Arithmetic 76
Geometry 77
Incommensurability 78
Geometrical Algebra 79
Music 80
Harmony 82
The opposites 83
Number 83
Cosmogony 84
Cosmology 86
Overview 87
Xenophanes of Colophon (ca. 570–470, b.c.) 97
Life 97
Personality 97
Cosmology 98
Biology 98
Physics 99
Theology 100
Anthropocentric Theory 101
Progress 101
Ethics 103
Community 104
Knowledge 104
The Tragic Element 105
Overview 107
Heraclitus of Ephesus (ca. 540–480 B.C.) 112
Introduction 112
Life 112
Writings 113
Union of Opposites 115
Perpetual Strife of Opposites 118
Becoming 118
Fire 120
Logos 121
Truth 123
Logos: Common-Private 123
Logos: Law-Measure 124
Logos: One-All 125
Wisdom 126
Knowledge 126
The Soul 127
Death 128
Cosmology-Physics 129
Ethics – Community – Law 130
The Divine 132
The Tragic Element 133
Overview 135
Epilogue 144
Parmenides of Elea (ca. 515–450 b.c.) 146
Being 146
Personality 147
Life 148
Writings 148
‘Prologue’ 149
Being–Non-being 149
Attributes of Being 152
The Opinions of Men 153
The Cosmology of Seeming 154
The Path of ‘Truth’ – The Track of ‘Opinion’ 156
What is ‘Being’? 156
The Eleatic School 161
Melissus of Samos 161
Zeno of Elea 162
The Paradoxes of Zeno 162
Heraclitus – Parmenides 168
Influence 170
Overview 173
Empedocles of Acragas (ca. 494–434 b.c.) 177
Personality 177
Writings 178
The Natural World 179
The ‘Roots’ 180
Becoming 181
Forces 181
The ‘Cosmic Cycle’ 182
Cosmogony – Cosmology 183
Creation of Life 185
Knowledge 186
‘Purifications’ 187
The Relationship of the Two Poems 191
Overview 192
Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (ca. 500–428 b.c.) 207
Personality 207
Life 207
Writings 208
Matter 208
Mind 209
Cosmogony 211
Cosmology 211
Creation of Life 212
Physiology 212
Overview 213
Democritus of Abdera (ca. 460–360 b.c.) 219
Personality – Life 219
Writings 220
Leucippus 220
The Roots of Atomic Theory 221
Atoms and Atomic Compounds 224
Motion 226
‘Necessity’ and ‘Chance’ 228
Cosmogony 229
Cosmology 230
Natural Phenomena 231
Biology – Medicine 231
Soul – Life – Death 232
Sensation 232
Thought 235
Knowledge 235
Other Sciences 236
Theology 237
Ethical Thought 238
Overview 243
Epilogue 259
Appendix: A Brief Historical Retrospect: On the Origins of the Greek People 265
Bibliography 270
Index of Names 279
Index of Subjects 284
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 28.5.2009 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science | Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science |
| Zusatzinfo | XVI, 293 p. |
| Verlagsort | Dordrecht |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Allgemeines / Lexika | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Erkenntnistheorie / Wissenschaftstheorie | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Geschichte der Philosophie | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Philosophie Altertum / Antike | |
| Naturwissenschaften | |
| Technik | |
| Schlagworte | Anaximander • Democritus • Evolution • Heraclitus • Natural Sciences • Parmenides • Philosophy • Presocratics • Pythagoras • Religion • Science • Society • Thales • Thales of Miletus • Time |
| ISBN-10 | 1-4020-9791-3 / 1402097913 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-4020-9791-1 / 9781402097911 |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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