-!

F-

Introduction

The elory of WeeLern Vhiloeophy begine in Greece

I
 The Greek word "Logoe" is Lhe aource of Lhe Englieh word "loqic" I anc
ae well ae all Lhe "-loqieo" in terme like "biology)' "sociolo6yi' and "pey- Lo ma
chology, where"loqoo" mean6 Lhe lheory, or eLudy, or raNionalizaNion 52ClAt
of eomelhinq. "Loqoe" aleo means "word" in Greek, eo iL involvee lhe creaLi
acl of oVeaking, or se|ting forlh an idea in a clear manner. "Logoe," Nhe di:
lherefore, deeiqnatres a cerLain kind of Lhinkinq about Nhe world, a and, ft
kind of logical analyoio thal places lhings in lhe conLex|, of reaeon Vened
and explaine lhem wilh Nhe pure force of lhought, Such an int ellec- Nional
Lual exerciEe wae su??oeed lo lead lo wiedom (goVhia), and lhoee ou40el
who dedicahed themeelvee f,o Logoo were lhouqht of ae lovers of wie- vergior
dom (love = Vhilo), hence ae philoooVhere. take p

Whal was Nhere betore philoeophy, before Logoe? There wae philoer
Mythoe-a cerlain way of thinking Ihal placed the world in lhe con- SUmmt

NexN of iLa eupernaLural oriqino. Mfihos exVlained worldly lhinqe by by dee

tracing Lhem lo excepLional, oometimee eacred, evente thaN caueed qode)'
the world No be ae il ie now,ln lhe caee of lhe GreekE, Myl,hoe meanl Vlainec
lracing worldly Lhinqe No Nhe dra' "drean
malic acte of trhe godo of Lruy iz

l/tount O)ympus. The narra-

Livee describinq lheee ori Once,
theirs wat al
qine-myLhe-are nol 6alileo
only explanatory bul alea Th
Whaf'rbaseball? morally exemVlary and
rilu ali eLi c ally i n et ruc -

tive; lhal io,f,hey Vro-

Explaining Anaient Greek
vide Nhe rulee NhaN, if
followed by all, would
creatrethe foundaLion
of a qenuine communily
of togelherneob-
a"we" and an"ug"
inelead of a mere con-
gl o m er ati o n of i n divi d u-
Cuetoms ale who could only say

2 o Introduction
)ic" "1"and "me," Hence, mylhe are otNen conoerval,ive in nalure. They eeek
)5y- Lo mainLain lhe sf,at ue quo by reVlicaLing origine: "5o behaved the
an eacred anceeLors, eo musl we behave," Mythe had the advanLaqe of
)e creatinq a whole eocial world in which all acLs had meaninq.They had
Nhe dieadvant aqe ofcreatinq btatic eocieties, of reeiolinq innovation,
and, many would eay, of being f alse,Then, euddenly, philoooVhy haV-
I
Vened-Logoa broke uVon Nhe ocene, aN leaE| accordin4 to the Lradi-
Lional accounl. (There are other accounLg, however, accounls Nhat,
I
eu4geeL lhalWeelern Loqoe-VhiloeoVhy and ecience-ie jueN our
t5- version of myth,) DuL leN ue ou??ose Lhat, somelhinq difterent did
take Vlace in Greece abouLTOO o,c.r.1 Let'e euppoee thaf,lhe "firet;'
Vhiloeopher'e exVlanaNion of the ltoodinq of the Nile River d,urinq Nhe
1 oummet (moeL rivere tend t,o dry uV in Nhe eummer) ae being caueed
by deeerl windo (deaerb windo, not balLlee or love affaire amonq
,d
ryode) really does consNiluf,e novelty. Natural phenomena are ey.-
ni Vlained by other nalural phenomena, noLby supernatural evenf,s in
a "dream Lime"*Lhe time of lhe ancienL gode, ln thal caoe, Greece
f,ruly ie Lhe cradle of WesNern Vhiloeophy, :;

lir
Why Greece, and a
,,$
not,,for examVle,
m
Eqy?t or )udea? Well, m

o let'e be honesl here.

ffi
Noboly knowe,1lill, rm

Tl
a number of hisLori- ril

',1

cal facLe are rele-

vant to the explana-
lion we seek, For one,
there wag a very
iy produclive conlacl
belween ancienf,
Oreece and the
( culNures of the easf,-
l- ern Mediterranean
A Modern Myth? reqion-?ereia,

lntroduction r 3
 Meoopolamia, Thoenicia, Cyprue, eoulhern llaly, and Eqy?N, amonq 5)me
of,here, The Greeke were a well-lraveled qroup and were exlremely neverl
adeVt aL borrowing ideae, convenLions, and artietic forme from the religior
cul|,ures Lhey encounf,ered and aVplyinq Lheee elemenLe crealively to
Lheir own need"r. There ie also a recenN conlrovereial Nheory Nhal
Greek cullure derivee qreaf,ly from African bourcee,'2 lt al leagl
ie
cerlain, ao one hietorian of Oreek ideae haa recenlly eaid, thal "Lhe
cultural achievemenLa of archaic and, claeeical Greece are unthinkable
wiLhout Near Eagtern regources Lo draw uVon,"3 and easLern North
Africa ftf,e inlo Lhio map,
Also, unlike the case in some of lhe eurrounding sociel,iee, there
wab no prieetly claee of cenooro in Greece. Thie obeervaLion doee nol
mean lhal Greek thinkera had no reet ricf,ione on whaN Nhey could
oay-we will eee LhaL eeveral chargea of imViety were brouqhl aqainoL

I
4

A
alwayo
I Hamer'
(
lhad, ln

t on the
I
Lrangn
inNellec
naLure

Vhiloao
A
the eoc

4 . lntroductiotl
 oome of lhem in lhe period under eludy-bul lhal lhey were able
neverLheleea to qeL away wilh quile a bil LhaL went aqainel Vrevailinq
reli1ioue opinion.
)

le

)U

Ir ()
o
0

,rl

;r
-i
tl

I,I
i

P
,i

,i
.
Another hietorical facl ie thalLhe Oreek imaqinaLion had
alwaye been ferl,ile in ile concern with intimale detail. For examVle,
I'amer's deecripl,ion of AchilleE' ehield LakeE up four ?aqe6 of the
lliad. ln addilion,lhe many generatrione of Greek children who qrew uV
on the ?oeme of Nomer and lleeioda-two of the main vehiclee that
Lransmilt ed Greek reliqion-recognized in them Nheir arqumenfaf,ive,
intellectually combative, and queetioning nalure. The polemical
naNure of Oreek drama and VoeNry wotld find a new home in Greek

Vhiloeophy,
A frnal com?onenl of the world inLo which philosophy wae born is
trhe eocioeconomic al,ruclure lhaL Vroduced a whole leisured claae of

Introduction r 5
?eo?le-moeNly male people-wibh Lime on Lheir hande Nhatthey
could epend meditatinq on Vhilooophical iesues,lt, ie alwaye joltinq No
remember f,haL during much of Greece'e hietory, a maior Vart of the
economic foundalion of ite eociely was slave labor and booly from
miliLary conqueat e. This f acI lakee eome of Lhe lueler from "the
Glory Lhat, was Oreece."
7Lill, for whalever reasono,the poeLry and drama of the Oreeks
demonetrale an inlense awareneoo of chanqe, of rhe war of lhe
oppoeiles-eummer t o winLer, hot, t o cold, liqhf, t o dark, and f,hal,
mosl dramatic change of all,lifeI,a deaLh.

ti

1uL Lhls eer=

one lhal wo-

qioue lrad\tic
an oVlimiem :
own devicea ie

\ but.lel -
made by Lhe (
Lhinkinq,ll'e '
ing all reli4ic -:
2 undersNand .
Ralher, Lheee
\j*! OJ puzzleo aboct'..
-X naf,ure raLAe'
lndeed,lhie sensitiviLy Lo lhe traneitory nalure of all Lhinqo Lo demof,e cot

eomeNimes led lhe Greeke Lo peeeimiem.lhe ?oelb lorner, Mimner- ?romof,e aoen
mue, and Simonides al expreeeed Nhe idea "Generalione of men fall This nev,

like Nhe leavee of the foceer."' lhatthe Gre:

6 a Introdr.rction ,-:-
:y

nq to
lhe
)m

"eeks

,v

but,lhie lefieitivity also led the Greeke lo demand an ex?lanaLion- I

I

wauld be obLained' and jaeLiFted noL by Lhe aulhoriLy of re)\'

I

one lhat I

qioue Nradi)ion buf, by lAe eheer power of haman reason' Aere we

find
i

human mind operalinq on ile

I

an opllmiom behlnd lhe Veooimiem-Nhe

own deviceeis able to dilcover alllmale t'rutrlp abou| realily'
bul leL ue noL overemphaeize Lhe radicalness of Lhe break
>-\ made by Lhe Oreek wilA Lhe eadier, myt'hical waye of
'{- Vhiloeophere
rrIQ>
vn ->\ Nhinkinq,lt'e noL ae if euddenly a bold new alheiem emerqed' relecl-
r- J- - ing all reliqioue explanaNione or conelrainLe' \n f acN' aLheiem ae we
).-J
) ">--
\-) -' underoland il Loday wae virf,ually unknown in f'he ancienN world'6
?t
J RaLher,f,heee early Greek philoooVherE reframed Lhe Verennial
puzzleo abouf, reallLy in euch a way aa Lo emphaeize t'he workingo
af
naf,ure raLher Lhan the work of Lhe qods. tor ineLance, t'hey tended
na t o d,emole aoomogony (rheodee aboul Lhe ortqine of the world) and
lner' ?romor,e coamoloqy (theoriee
aboul Nhe nature of t'he world)'

t fall Thie new d,irecLion reVreeente trhe beginninge of a way of Lhinking

thaL Lhe Greeke would' eoon call "philoeopAy"-I'he love of wiedom' We

Introduction c 7

t
 The
can discern in theee early efforLe whal we now Lake No be I,he main
1

fielde of lhe dieciVline lhaL we r,oo call Vhlloeophy: ontology (rheory of

tiont
beinq); eVietemoloqy (rheory of knowledge); axiology (theory of value),
which includes ethice, or moral philoeophy (rheory of riqhtbehavior),
and aeeLhetice (theory of beauLy, or Lheory of arl); and logio (theory
of correct inference). 1,?
o'
ln f acf,,the lheorieo 7ul torlh in ancienN Greece could be called
fr
f,he origine of Weelern science wilh ae much juetificalion ao lhey can e)

be calledthe origine of Weelern Vhi)oeophy, evenihough aNthat' early b,

period, no such distincf,ione could be made. Kou4hly, I would eay lhat L, 1

science deala wil,h probleme Lhat, can be addreesed exVeriment"ally by

eubeumingthe obeervable evenLe LhaL Vuzzle us under t'he dominion ?
ir
of naLural lawe and by ehowinq how lheee lawe are relahed caueally Lo
a
trhoee evente, ?hitooophy, on Lhe olher hand, deals wilh problemo that
require a eVeculaLive raLher than an experimenlal aVVroach' )uch
problemo of\en require conoeplual analyeia (the loqical etuliny ot
qeneral ideae) ralher Lhan obeervaLion or daLa gafherinq' Conoider
1. I

Nhese queelione, Vayinq epecial aNt ention to Nhe llalicized' wordE: a

D

Can we know why on rare occaEione the sun darkene al midday? \

le if, true thaV Nhe rnoon'e paoeinq between Ihe earbh and Nhe
t
t,
6un cauoeg such evenNg? lc

Can lhere be eucceeeful experimenle thaf, explain Nhie c

phenomenon? L. l)
T

These queelione are ecienf,ific quesf,ione. Now comVare Lheoe quee'

liono to the followinq anez, paying af,tention aqain lo lhe wordE in
F
l(
iNalice:
4. F
Whal ie knowled7e? c
V,'lhaL ie truth? T

E
Whal is caueality?
V"lhaL iE value?
6 i
1
What ie explanation? t
6. a
Theee queolione inviNe conceptual analyaie, which is Vart of philoeoVhy,
7ul we are movinq loo f ael and lookinq too f ar ahead, As I said,
such dietinctione ha* noL yef, been clearly drawn ln Lhe ancienL world.

8 o Itrtroduction
--
The t.hinkere there were saLisfied No have aeked Lhe kinds
of quee_
Lions that were foundational bolh lo and lo ecience,
Vhiloeophy

cQ