Transcript Greek Philosophy and History

Greek Philosophy and History
Chapter 5, Section 2
Greek Philosophers
• Philosophy – “love of wisdom”.
• Led to the study of history, political
science, science, and math.
• Philosophers – believed the human mind
could understand everything.
• Many were teachers
Pythagoras
• taught his pupils that the
universe followed the same
laws that governed music
and numbers.
• Believed that all relationships
in the world could be
expressed in numbers.
• Pythagorean Theorem
– Determines the length of
the sides of a triangle
A2 + B2 = C2
The Sophists
• Professional teachers in ancient
Greece
• Believed students should use
their time to improve themselves
• Taught how to win an argument
and make good speeches
• Did not believe that
gods/goddesses influenced
people
• Rejected the idea of absolute
right and wrong
• Believed that what was right for
one person, may be wrong for
another
Socrates
• Critic of the Sophists
• Athenian sculptor – true
love was philosophy
• No writings left
• Learned from his
student’s writings
• Believed that an absolute
truth existed & all real
knowledge was within
each person
Socratic method
• Asked pointed questions to force his pupils to
use their reason and to see things for
themselves.
• Athenian leaders felt threatened by the Socratic
method
• 399 B.C. – Athenian leaders accused Socrates
of teaching young Athenians to rebel against the
state.
• Jury convicted him – sentenced to death
• Drank poison - died
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Student of Socrates
Republic- based on life in Athens
People divided into 3 social groups
Top – philosopher-kings – ruled using logic
and wisdom
• Middle- Warriors – defended the state
• Bottom – rest of the people – driven by
desire, not wisdom or courage.
• Plato believe women
should have equal rights –
same education and
chance to do the same jobs
• Plato also established a
school in Athens – the
Academy
• Plato’s best student
• Wrote more than 200 books – govt. planets.
stars.
• Lyceum – school opened in 335 B.C.
• Taught the “golden mean”
– Idea that a person should do nothing in excess
• Use your senses to make observations.
Politics
Government divided into 3 types:
• Govt. by 1 person
– monarch (king/queen), or a tyrant
• Govt. by a few people
– aristocracy or oligarchy
– Run by the rich
• Govt. by many people
– Democracy
– Run by the poor
Mixture of oligarchy and democracy
• Aristotle’s ideas shaped
European/American govts.
• US – tried to create a mixture of govt. that
balanced the different types Aristotle
identified.
Greek Historians
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History is the study of the human past
Herodotus – wrote the history of the Persian Wars.
Tried to separate fact from legend.
Thucydides – considered the greatest historian in
the ancient world
• Fought and wrote about the Peloponnesian War.
• Saw war and politics as the activities of human
beings, not gods.
• Also stressed the importance of having accurate
facts.