Part 1: The Little Three

M. C. Escher

There are only two places for things to exist…

In our minds

Or

Outside our minds

METAPHYSICS the branch of

philosophy that addresses what is real

ontology: what iscosmology: how

it came into being

The Pre-Socratic Materialists…Their primary questions were:

What is the world made of?What does it mean for something to exist?What happens to things when they change?

What came first?Prior to philosophy all phenomena were

explained by mythsPhilosophy developed in the Greek colony of

Miletus (present day Turkey)Philosophy was an attempt to explain the

world using reason

Why did philosophy start in Miletus?Miletus was a trading center and open to

many ideas and influencesBasic Geometry came from the EgyptiansStar Lore and Calendar skills came from AsiaExposed to many religious myths

Why did philosophy start in Miletus?Greeks were developing the idea of

democracyGreeks valued imagination and attention to

detail in literatureGreeks believed nature was consistent and

could be understood through close examination

Greek poets, Homer and Hesiod, suggested that complex matter had developed from a primitive state of water, air, fire and earth

Was something in the air?Between 800 B.C. and 200 B.C. philosophy

startedConfucius and Lao-Tse in ChinaHindu Upanishads and Buddha in IndiaZoroaster in PersiaHebrew Prophets in IsraelHomer and the birth of drama in Greece

ThalesBorn around 640 B.C. in MiletusAttempted to use logic and observation to

answer questions about the nature of the universe (logos)

Considered the 1st philosopherUsed scientific knowledge borrowed from

the Babylonians to predict a solar eclipseConverted Egyptian geometry from

engineering to math1st to study magnetism

ThalesWorked as an engineerActive in politicsBecame impoverished due to his study of

philosophy, but used astrology to make a fortune

Thales’ Nature of the UniverseThales abandoned the myth that everything

was made up of earth, air, fire and waterHe believed everything was made of water

since water could be observed in 3 state (solid, liquid and gas)

Believed that humans were also made up of water and returned back after death

This meant that nature was supreme and mankind was a mere part of the universe

AnaximanderBorn in 610 B.C. in

MiletusConsidered the

successor to ThalesHe disagreed with

Thales philosophy, but continued his science

Made the 1st star map, sun dial and model of the universe

Anaximander’s Nature of the UniverseBelieved that everything in the Universe

came from apeiron (the infinite)Orginially the infinite was whole, but motion

with in it caused it to break into the four elements

Eventually the elements would fit back together and the inifinite would be whole again.

AnaximinesDied around 528

B.C.1st to distinguish

between planets and stars

Believed that rainbows were a natural phenomenon not a goddess

Anaximines’ Nature of the UniverseDid not believe in apeiron, because

something that was not specific could not create specific elements

Believed that everything was made of air because air was essential to life

Hard objects were simply more air crammed into smaller spaces (states of matter)

Anaximines’ Nature of the UniverseBelieved that the soul was made of extremely

thin pure airThe soul held the body togetherWhen humans died their soul disintegrated