The “Classical” Philosophers:

Socrates (470-399 B.C.E.) Rationalist: Athens

·        Socrates never wrote anything down, what we know of him is from the writings of his pupil, Plato and because of this people aren’t too sure if Socrates actually said what he does in Plato’s dialogs or if he is only Plato’s mouthpiece.

·        Socrates never lectured, only discussed. He asked questions that seemed stupid, within the discussion he would make the other person realize how weak their answer was and in that why make them grasp the right side of the issue. Socrates coaxed them to understand and get insight from within, using common sense. He would pretend to be dumber than he really was so he could point out the flaws in people’s statements; this is called now Socratic irony.

·        Socrates was more interested in human beings more than nature.

·        He didn’t think he was wise and it troubled him that he knew so little; “One thing only know and that is I know nothing” A story goes that the oracle at Delphi was asked who was the wisest man is Athens, she said Socrates. When Socrates heard about it he was surprised and went to ask the man that everyone thought was wise, but when the wise man couldn’t answer Socrates’ questions Socrates decided that the oracle must be right.

·        Socrates believed that he had a divine inner voice that told him what to do, “He who knows what good is will do good”; if you have the right insight to yourself you will know when to do good and what is good, you can’t be happy if you know you are doing wrong.

·        In 399 B.C.E. he was accused of introducing new gods and corrupting the young – found guilty with the majority of 500 –he could have saved his life if he had left Athens, but he stayed and was condemned to drink hemlock and died.

·        Socrates thought that he had some great thing to do, or purpose and valued the truth more than he valued living; he wouldn’t say that he was wrong to save his life, for he believed that he was right. His traumatic death is part of what makes Socrates, Socrates.

Plato (428-347 B.C.E.) Rationalist: Athens

·        Plato founded the first academy where philosophy, math and gymnastics were taught and discussed

·        Plato said that everything in material world can dissolve and disappear, but there are eternal, perfect forms or ideas for everything in the material world that reside in the idea world; the particles that make up life cannot form a being without a form to go by.

·        Since nothing in the material world lasts: everything flows, Plato said we cannot have true understanding of anything that isn’t everlasting, we can only have true understanding of what our reason tells us, the idea world.

·        Plato believed that man has a body and senses that only preserve the material world which flows with everything else-therefore the body can perish – but man also has an immortal soul that can perceive the world of ideas.

o       The immortal soul exists; in the world of ideas before coming into a human body, when there it forgets the perfect forms, but as the human grows up the soul sees the beings that the perfect forms were of and begins to long to go back to the world of ideas

·        There are three parts of the soul which belong to three parts of the body: Reason (wisdom) in the head, will (courage) in the chest and appetite (tolerance) in the stomach. A person who has mastered all three is a virtuous person.

·        A perfect state is like a virtuous person. The leaders down to the laborers. Everyone must know their place in a perfect state and be content.

·        In his book The Republic Plato says that the government should be ruled by a group of philosophers called “The Guardians” who have complete control over the state, he believed that people would better off if ruled by the wisest people in the land. Plato didn’t like democracy because he believed that the majority of people weren’t qualified to make political decisions.

·        Plato believed that women have the same reason as men, if they get the same training and don’t raise children. Plato thought that children should be raised by the state.

Aristotle (384-324 B.C.E.) - Athens

·        Aristotle was a pupil in Plato’s academy for twenty three years

·        Aristotle was very interested in natural processes and became Europe’s first biologist, though he was a scientist in all fields, not just biology. He gave name and organized the different fields of science.

·        Aristotle said that Plato’s “idea” beings were formed in the human mind after many similar beings were seen; the “idea” being consisted of all the characteristics that all of the beings in that particular species had in common. He didn’t believe that there were any “forms” or “ideas” outside of the material world like Plato did.

·        Nature is the real world, Aristotle thought, and our senses gives us a true perception of the world.

·        Our knowledge comes from what we have seen, heard and felt, there are no innate ideas reason is part of what makes man, man, but one cannot have reason without having sensed something first

·        Substance is what makes the being, the form is it’s characteristics that that species is defined by – when it dies it no longer has that form and is only the substance. The form of things also applies to inanimate objects; it is it’s form to fall back down once it is thrown up – it is it’s nature. What it is: form, What it’s made of: matter.

·        Aristotle said that plants and animals have souls. Plants’ souls aren’t rational or immortal, he calls them nutritive souls and animals (excluding humans) have locomotive souls (which include nutritive qualities). Humans have souls that are nutritive and locomotive, they also have reason that sets them apart from animals, their souls he calls rational souls

·        Causality of natural processes, the potential to the actual – the material cause (that the substance was there at that time) The efficient cause (what happens, i.e. parents), The formal cause (the form) and then the final cause (the purpose; the end for the sake of which something happens – i.e. it rains so that plants can grow). Everything in nature has a purpose, the world moves toward a purpose.

·        Classification – all the time we put everything in categories; there are higher and higher categories for each thing

·        The Science of Logic – clarifications: all beings are mortal, humans are beings; therefore a human is mortal.

·        Two main categories: Non-living and living; then living can be divided between plants and animals, and so on. – Things can be categorized by their characteristics.

·        The First mover is the formal cause of the movements of the heavenly bodies – in other words, God.

·        Man can be happy only when he uses all of his abilities – Three states of happiness: A pleasurable and comfortable life, a free life, to be a thinker (philosopher). Man cannot live a happy life just by living off his head.

·        In Politics Aristotle disagrees with Plato by saying that people would not be happy being ruled by a group of wise people with full power. The power of the state occurs in the middle class. Aristotle’s states: Monarchy that is kept in check from becoming a tyranny and dictator, Aristocracy that doesn’t have only a few people running the state, Democracy that isn’t a mob rule.

·        Man needs a society. The point of laws are to help make people into more virtuous people

·        In his book Ethics Aristotle asks: What is the good for humans? After asking that he says he must ask: What is our “end”, our aim? His answer: happiness or success.

o       What goal is built into human nature? Virtue/excellence, good at being human

o       Happiness – the activity of the rational soul in accordance with virtue

o       Virtue – habit of soul; well doing acquired by practice. Virtues: Courage, temperance, justice giving people what they deserve) and practical wisdom. All need to be a mean between two extremes; one can’t be virtuous if one is foolish.

·        Aristotle is very set on the idea of the mean between two extremes, in his politics and his ethics: his middle class and with virtue (being courageous without being foolish)

·        Women are incomplete – Man’s sperm has everything to produce a child, a complete seed, the woman is the “soil” – the child only inherits the man’s characteristics