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ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY: THE EARLIEST
BEGINNINGS
For
the class meeting on October 11, we will cover "the Birth
of Philosophy," including both the early philosophy of
nature and the sophistic movement (roughly 585 to 400 BC,
from the first recognized philosophers through Socrates' lifetime).
Our purpose, of course, is not just historical but philosophical;
we will trace the emergence of philosophy in ancient Greece
in order to begin to participate ourselves in the philosophical
tradition it inaugurated – that is, in order to philosophize.
So we will not just try to formulate the theories of past
thinkers, but to come to terms with these theories by discerning,
and so sharing, the questions and problems to which these
theories were formulated as answers.
RECOMMENDED READINGS
THE PRESOCRATICS
A
collection of fragments of early ("Presocratic")
Greek philosophy is available here:
http://kr.geocities.com/hyun_sinnayo/presoc.htm
There are many passages on this webpage, but you can single
out for your attention especially:
Anaximander, fragments (1) and (6)
Anaximines, (1), (3), (4), and (6)
Xenophanes, (11), (12), (14), (15), (18), (23), (24), (25),
(26)
Heraclitus, (2), (19), (20), (22), (24), (81)
Parmenides, (2)-(8) ("The Way of Truth")
Empedocles, (8), (9), (17)
Anaxagoras, (12), (13) ("Nous" is Greek for "Mind")
Zeno, (1), (2)
Melissos, (1)-(10)
THE SOPHISTS
On
sophistry or the sophistic movement, a brief and accessible
summary is Ralph McInerny's own chapter on the Sophists from
his History of Western Philosophy, vol. 1 (ch. 7),
which can be viewed here:
http://www2.nd.edu/Departments//Maritain/etext/hwp107.htm |
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