Pre-Socratic Thought
"The ideas of the usually speculative ancient Greek cosmologists who mainly preceded Socrates (469–399 BC). The pre-Socratics range from Thales (640–546 BC) to Democritus (c. 460–361 BC). The school is defined more by an outlook and a range of interests than by any chronological limit. Unlike Socrates and the sophists, who were both primarily concerned with ethics and politics, the pre-Socratics were mainly concerned with the search for universal principles to explain the whole of nature, its origin, and human destiny." (The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide, Credo Reference)
- Pre-Socratic Philosophy: Credo ReferenceA Credo Reference landing page on pre-Socratic philosophy. This page includes links to articles, images, library resources, and a concept map.
Research and Reference
- Pre-Socratic Philosophy: PhilPapersPre-Socratic philosophy is the period of Greek philosophy up to the time of Socrates. It conventionally begins with the work of Thales (sixth century BC). Many discussions of the early period also consider the pre-philosophical background (religion, myth, epic poetry, popular ethical thought) and investigate the origins of philosophy and possible causes for its emergence in Greece at this time, as well as the question "what is philosophy?" and "Did they think of themselves as doing philosophy, and if so what kind?". The distinction between philosophy and science is an issue. All the texts are fragmentary (preserved mainly as quotations in later writers). Much of the literature is concerned with the task of reconstructing the lost views of these obscure philosophers from the fragments and using the third person testimonies of later writers. The Sophists (active around the time of Socrates) are generally included as Pre-Socratic in that their work is not influenced by Socrates.
- Presocratic Philosophy: Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyThe Presocratics were 6th and 5th century BCE Greek thinkers who introduced a new way of inquiring into the world and the place of human beings in it.
- Presocratics: Internet Encyclopedia of PhilosophyPresocratic philosophers are the Western thinkers preceding Socrates (c. 469-c. 399 B.C.E.) but including some thinkers who were roughly contemporary with Socrates, such as Protagoras (c. 490-c. 420 B.C.E.).
Streaming Media
- Classical Greek PhilosophyWhat is “the good,” and why is it that one can never step into the same river twice? This program featuring Princeton University’s Alexander Nehamas and Richard Sorabji, honorary fellow at Wolfson College, the University of Oxford, addresses core topics in ancient philosophy such as freedom and fate, permanence and change, happiness, the nature of the cosmos, and the immortality of the soul. Concepts as articulated by key figures including Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, and the Milesian and Eleatic philosophers—in combination with quotations drawn from Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Physics, and other influential sources—make this program an excellent tool for building a solid understanding of Western philosophy.
- From Greek Religion to Socratic PhilosophyHow did the Greeks begin moving from religious to more philosophical views of the world, and why did these views first arise in a particular part of the Greek world called Ionia? Who were the Sophists, what did they teach, and why did Socrates oppose them?
Perspectives
The Presocratics
This comprehensive account of the history of ancient Greek thought circa 600 to 400 B.C. offers an accessible, nontechnical introduction to Presocratic philosophy. Translations of the surviving fragments of Presocratic writings serve as a foundation from which the discussion proceeds. Also included are maps, notes, and an index of names and terms.
Presocratic Philosophy
This is a book about the invention of Western philosophy, and the first thinkers to explore ideas about the nature of reality, time, and the origin of the universe. It begins with the finding of the new papyrus fragment of Empedocles' poem, and uses the story of its discovery and interpretation to highlight the way our understanding of early philosophers is marked by their presentation in later sources.Generations of philosophers, both ancient and modern, have traced their inspiration back to the presocratics, even though we have very few of their writings left. In this book, Catherine Osborne invites her readers to dip their toes into the fragmentary remains of thinkers from Thales to Pythagoras, Heraclitus to Protagoras, to try to fill in the bits of a jigsaw that has been rejigged many times and in many different ways.
The Founders of Western Thought - the Presocratics
There can be little doubt that the Greek tradition of philosophical criticism had its main source in Ionia. . . It thus leads the tradition which created the rational or scienti?c attitude, and with it our Western civilization, the only civilization, which is based upon science (though, of course, not upon science alone). Karl Popper, Back to the Presocratics Harvard University physicist and historian of Science, Gerald Holton, coined the term "Ionian Enchantment", an expression that links the idea back in the 6th c- tury B. C. to the ancient Ionians along the eastern Aegean coast, while capturing its fascination. Approximately within a seventy- ve year period (600-525 B. C. ) -a split second in the history of humanity- the three Milesian thinkers, Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes, without plain evidence, but with an unequalled power of critical abstraction and intuition, had achieved a true intellectual re- lution; they founded and bequeathed to future generations a new, unprecedented way of theorizing the world; it could be summarized in four statements: beneath the apparent disorder and multiplicity of the cosmos, there exists order, unity and stability; unity derives from the fundamental primary substratum from which the cosmos originated; this, and, consequently, the cosmic reality, is one, and is based not on supernatural, but on physical causes; they are such that man can - vestigate them rationally. These four statements are neither self-evident nor se- explanatory.