Greek PhilosophyChapter 11

I. Greeks placed great importance on intellect, and/or the ability to reason

A. Studying the laws of nature and loving wisdom was called Philosophia

B. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language

II. The greatest Greek philosophers were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle

A. Socrates1. Purpose of his life: to seek the truth

2. Asked questions to find the trutha. This was known as the Socratic Methodb. Examples: What is man? How can man lead a good life?

3. The “good life” was wisdom, not riches or fame

4. Socrates asked people to examine their own beliefs and think things outa. He became very annoying!

5. He made enemies, who accused him of:a. Corrupting the youth of Athens

b. Denying the Godsc. Trying to overthrow the

government

6. Socrates was put on trial and found guilty

7. He said he would not change his beliefs to save his own life! He would rather die for his ideas!

8. He drank Hemlock Juice, a poison, rather than change his mind

9. With the death of Socrates, Athens went downhill! In killing Socrates, they also killed freedom of thought and speech

B. Plato1. Plato was a student of Socrates

a. He recorded all of Socrates’ lessons

b. These writings were turned into a book called The Dialogues, which included all of Socrates’ teachings

2. He set up a school in an olive grovea. Called the Academy

b. Taught there for 40 yearsc. The school itself lasted for 900 years

3. His quest (search) was for the truth also

4. He believed in an ideal (perfect) state (government)

a. Government should be ruled by philosophers

b. Foundation of the state would be the Greek virtues of courage, temperance, wisdom, and justice

c. He wrote a book about these ideas called The Republic- this was the first book about political science ever written

d. Plato did not like democracy- he believed there were too many ignorant people who should not have a say in the government!

C. Aristotle1. Aristotle was one of Plato’s students

2. He came to the Academy at age 17 and stayed for 20 years

3. He set up his own school called the Lyceum

4. He wrote over 200 books5. He improved the

Scientific Method by adding the third step of experimentation

a. Collect datab. Form

hypothesis(These first two steps were formed by Thales of Miletus

c. Test hypothesis(This was added by Aristotle)

6. Aristotle also developed the science of reasoning called logic

a. He developed the syllogism, which consists of three related statements

b. The first two statements must be true

c. The third statement is a conclusion based on the information given in the first two statements

d. Examples:Athenians are GreeksSocrates is an AthenianTherefore, Socrates is a Greek

Upper Dublin is in PennsylvaniaPennsylvania is in the U.S.A.Therefore, _____ ______ is in the ____________

7. Aristotle was also the first scientist to classify things in nature

a. Classified plants and animals by similarities

b. System of classification still used today

8. Aristotle promoted the “Golden Mean”, which meant moderation in everything

9. He was the tutor of

Alexander theGreat

III. Famous Greek ScientistsA. Thales of Miletus

1. First two steps of Scientific Method

2. Predicted first eclipse of the sun

B. Hippocrates- father of scientific medicine

1. Believed diseases came from natural causes, not evil spirits

2. Hippocratic Oath- rules how doctors should treat their patients

C. Eratosthenes1. Figured Earth’s circumference within 200 miles2. Made map that had latitude and longitude of Asia, Europe, and Africa forming a single landmass