Origins of Philosophy PDF

**ORIGEN OF PHILOSOPHY** The sense of existence and the phenomena of nature have always motivated in human beings concerns and questions that, initially, found explanations that appealed to the intervention of gods or supernatural intentions whose powers determined the movement of the stars, drough...

**ORIGEN OF PHILOSOPHY** The sense of existence and the phenomena of nature have always motivated in human beings concerns and questions that, initially, found explanations that appealed to the intervention of gods or supernatural intentions whose powers determined the movement of the stars, droughts, floods, storms, or the fate of newborns. 2500 years ago, in what is called classical Greece, a series of factors allowed a way of thinking to emerge that turned to reason to explain what had previously been explained by myths and magic. ***What are we going to learn?*** Origin of philosophy 1\. Origin of philosophical thought 2\. Critique of mythical thought in the origin of philosophical thought 3\. Explanation of natural phenomena from philosophical thought 4\. The productions of thought and the origin of philosophy. Musical harmony and cosmic harmony 5\. The thought of Hypatia within the neoplatonic school in 5th century Greece. - **Origin of philosophical thought** - **Explore** - For a long time in human history, questions regarding the workings of the world were answered through myths. We could say that myth provided a certain explanation for things they did not understand, so they were truths for them. - How would you explain a natural phenomenon like a rainbow, thunder, or the phases of the Moon from a mythical way of thinking? - **The Fall of the Hellenic Monarchies** - ***The Genesis of Citizenship*** - The word ***philosophy*** comes from the Greek roots ***philos*** \'love\' and ***sophos*** \'wisdom\'. It is recognized that Western philosophy originated in ancient Greece at the beginning of the 7th century BCE. - It was in this society where the first attempts to answer, using reason, questions concerning the relationship between various natural events and the position of humans in the universe, without resorting to explanations based on **myths**, became manifest. - This was possible because a socio-cultural, political, and economic context had been established in which the wise occupied a prominent position instead of the priests. - Moreover, life in the city, the availability of **leisure** time, and a merchant class that had established intense commercial contact with other Mediterranean peoples allowed for the development of an open mentality that facilitated the public dissemination of knowledge. The development of classical philosophy occurred between the 7th century BCE and 30 BCE, and it was divided into three periods: - **Cosmological or Presocratic period** - The philosophers of this period focused on the search, through reason (***logos***), for the objective causes or arche of the phenomena of the universe (***physis***). - Thus, Thales (Miletus, 624-548 BC) argued that everything has its origin in matter and that the arche was water. - Anaximander (Miletus, 611-547 BC) conceived the origin of everything in the apeiron (something material but eternal and indefinite) and said that nature transitions from the simplest to the most specific. - Anaximenes (Miletus, 590-524 BC) explained that the arche was water and that the world was a living entity. - Heraclitus (Ephesus, 535-484 BC) stated that it is fire and that change is the only permanent thing thanks to the confrontation of opposites that moves everything that exists. - Pythagoras (Samos, 569-495 BC) argued that nature is a structure where numerical law dominates everything that exists, in which the \"one\" is the absolute principle. However, the mythical occupied a place in the thought of the Presocratics. For example, Pythagoras had the idea of ​​the existence of the soul that, after the body died, would return to the world as long as, during its corporeal life, it had managed to purify itself. - **Anthropological period** - The primary interest of these philosophers was reflection regarding the human being. During this period, Athens had become the cultural, economic, and political center of Greece, experiencing the Age of Pericles. In this uninhibited environment, the Sophists emerged: philosophers whose main occupation was to disseminate their teachings and understandings; they debated pure sciences and provided a perspective for understanding the universe from the human dimension, therefore, for them, truths were \"relative\" from the human perspective. - They skillfully used rhetoric, as they considered the persuasive use of language fundamental to achieving political objectives. - The first Sophist was Protagoras (Abdera, 481-401 BC), to whom belongs the thesis: \"Man is the measure of all things.\" The most well-known philosopher of this period was Socrates (Athens, 470-399 BC), who argued regarding the Sophists that it is not enough to convince or persuade, but one must teach the truth. His method for approaching knowledge was the maieutic, which means \'giving birth to truth,\' and consisted of motivating a dialogue based on questions that ultimately led to the revelation of the truth within the mind. He also declared that right thinking cannot be separated from action, as knowledge and virtue are inseparable. In this sense, the wise person will always be just. - **Systematic Period** - During this period, the ideas of Plato (Athens, 427-347 BC) and Aristotle (Stagira, 384-322 BC) dominate. Plato speaks of two worlds: the sensible world, which is the one we perceive with our senses, and the intelligible world or the world of ideas, understood as the perfect principles or the original reality. Plato says that initially, ***chaos*** was ordered by the ***demiurge***, based on the models of ideas and with the matter that exists in the sensible world. - Thus, everything we perceive (the sensible world) are imperfect copies of the ideas. The meaning of human existence is to recover divinity through reason, which is the means by which we \"remember\" the journey of the ***soul***, before birth, through the world of ideas. Man will act justly and virtuously if he comes to understand his divine origin. - Aristotle, on the other hand, said that the essence of being should not be sought in an idealistic world but in things themselves, as these are matter and not a creation of the mind, therefore, humans should seek perfection on Earth. By giving greater importance to the knowledge of objects and seeking universal conclusions from there, Aristotle laid the foundations for scientific research. - Syllogisms are the core of his logical thinking; for him, every assertion must be logically proven, otherwise, it is not true. - **Activity:** - Interpret 1 Mention three factors that acted so that in ancient Greece the first attempts were made to respond, using reason and not myths, to questions about the cause of phenomena in the universe. 2 Explain why the previous factors also facilitated that, in Greece, knowledge was disseminated and openly discussed in society. 3 Summarize in two lines the main characteristics of the thought of the philosophers of each of the three periods of ancient Greek philosophy. - Cosmological Period or Presocratic - b\) Anthropological Period - c\) Systematic Period - **Interpret** - 4\. **Classify**, the words according to Plato\'s thinking: - **World of ideas or intelligible**. **Sensible world** - a\) Incorporeal b) Can only be apprehended by the intellect c\) Imperfect copy d) Is at the origin e) Corporeal and material f\) Changing g) Multiple h) Unique i) It is perceived with the senses j\) Appearance k) Essence l) Motionless and immutable - 5\. **Reflect and respond**: Does the universe we live in resemble more the one imagined by Plato or by Aristotle? - **Propose** 6. Investigate and explain what is called in Greek history the Age of Pericles. Discuss how this period affected the development of Greek thought. Draw conclusions and present them in class.