GRST 205 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Sophist, Socratic Method, Isocrates

• School: University of Calgary
• Department: Greek and Roman Studies
• Course: GRST 205
• Professor: Colin Ash

Document Summary

Pre-socratic philosophy is ancient greek philosophy before socrates and schools" contemporary to socrates that were not influenced by him. In classical antiquity, the pre-socratic philosophers were called physiologoi (in english: physical or natural philosophers) It may sometimes be difficult to determine the actual line of argument some pre-socratics used in supporting their particular views. None of these texts have survived their full form. The pre-socratic philosophers rejected traditional mythological explanations of the phenomena they saw around them in favour of more rational explanations. These philosophers asked questions about the essence of things . Later philosophers rejected many of the answers the early greek philosophers provided, but continued to place importance on their questions. Important because it makes us answer the questions that are essential for life. The first pre-socratic philosophers from miletus on the western coast of anatolia. Thales of miletus (624-546bce) is reputedly the father of greek philosophy. Next came anaximander (610-545 bce), the first writer on philosophy.