SH1905

The Big Three

1. Socrates (c. 469 - 399 BC)

- "Athens' street-corner Philosopher"
- Born to a midwife and sculptor
- Studied under Pericles
- Influenced by Heraclitus and Parmenides
- Famous for creating the Socratic Method of Teaching
o The Socratic Method is a teaching method where a person digs deeper into a particular idea
by means of creating and using follow-up questions, which will eventually lead to the truth of
the matter.
o The Socratic Method is done by minimum of two (2) participants -- the one who inquires
(student) and the one who intrigues (teacher)
- Never wrote his own philosophies

2. Plato (c. 428/427 - 348/347 BC)

- "The Philosopher who would be King"
- Born as Aristocles from a wealthy family
o Plato was a nickname given to him by friends
- Won two (2) prizes as a champion wrestler
- Studied under Socrates
o Plato's writings reflect the teaching methods of Socrates
o His famous treatise, The Republic, stated that a philosopher should be a king
- Possibly dualistic because of his perception of life
o He believed that life is nothing more than the imprisonment of the soul in a physical body

3. Aristotle (c. 384 - 322 BC)

- "A Long walk to the Golden Mean"
- Plato's best student
- Became the well-paid tutor for Alexander the Great
- Started his own philosophical school at age 50
o Known as a peripatetic philosopher
▪ A peripatetic [Gk. peripateo = "to walk around"] philosopher is someone who lectures
while taking a stroll
- Wrote many books and pamphlets, but only a few survived
- Founded the school of Logical Theory
o He believed that the greatest human endeavor is the use of reason in theoretical activity
o One (1) of his best-known ideas is The Golden Mean, where one avoids extremes, effectively
making it a counsel of moderation in all things.

Predecessors of the Big Three

TOPIC : Pre-Socratic Western Philosophy

Origin : Ancient Greece
Period : about 6th century BC

Main Concerns:
• Trying to establish the single underlying substance the world is made of without resorting
to supernatural or mythological explanations
• The " Problem of Change," how things appear to change from one form to another

Timeline

1. Thales of Miletus (c. 624/623 - 548/545 BC)

- First proper philosopher

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- Proposed that the whole Universe was composed of different forms of water
2. Anaximanes of Miletus (c. 586 - c. 526 BC)
- Most of his works were not preserved; known only through comments done by Aristotle and other
writers
- Proposed that the whole Universe was made of air
3. Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 535 - c. 475 BC)
- Known as "The Obscure" or "The Weeping Philosopher" because of his allegedly paradoxical
philosophies
- Lauded by his viewpoint that change is a fundamental essence in the Universe; believed in an on-
going process of perpetual change, a constant interplay of opposites
- Proposed that the whole Universe was made of fire
4. Anaximander (c. 610 - c. 546 BC)
- Thales' student
- Taught Anaximanes and Pythagoras (debatable)
- Known in the historical documents as the first one to write down his teachings
- Proposed that the whole Universe was made from an unexplainable substance usually translated
as "the infinite" or "the boundless"
5. Pythagoras of Samos (c. 570 - c. 495 BC)
- Led a rather bizarre religious sect and essentially believed that all of reality was governed
by Mathematics
- Influenced the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle
o Basically, his teachings influenced Western Philosophy
6. Parmenides of Elea (Late 6th century - mid 5th century BC)
- Taught Zeno of Elea and Melissus of Samos
- Considered as the founder of the school of either Metaphysics or Ontology
- Argued that motion is an illusion
- Influenced Western Philosophy like Pythagoras did
- His poem, On Nature, was the last surviving evidence of his existence and it, too, survived through
fragments of the whole poem
- Used a complicated form of reasoning to deny the concept of change and argued that everything
that exists is permanent, indestructible, and unchanging
7. Zeno of Elea (c. 490 - c. 430 BC)
- Defended Parmenides' paradoxes
- Focused also on Metaphysics and Ontology
- Pointed out that the concept of infinity in divisibility is a problematical
- Inventor of the dialectic, as Aristotle said
- Bertrand Russell, another philosopher centuries later, noted on the subtlety and sheer
profoundness of Zeno's paradoxes, despite some of them being disproven by modern science
- Best known for his Ten Paradoxes, including the following motion paradoxes:
o Achilles and the Tortoise defined that a slow runner, when given a proper head start, will
always maintain the lead from the fast pursuer, provided that the pursuer must run towards
the point where the slow runner had been.
o Dichotomy paradox defined how dividing a task in half infinitely results in no tasks done
since the person has to do an infinite number of tasks before reaching the end.
o Arrow paradox defined that motion occurs when a moving object changes its position it
occupies over time, giving the impression that the arrow can't move towards existence nor
nonexistence if one (1) of its instance is frozen in time. In other words, if everything is
motionless at every instant in time, and time is made of infinite instances, then motion is
impossible.
▪ Traveling toward existence means that the arrow can't go to its current position
because it's already there.
▪ Traveling toward nonexistence means that the arrow can't go to its probable
destination because time is also nonexistent for it to even move.

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8. Empedocles (c. 494 - c. 434 BC)

- Proposed that everything is made up of the four (4) classical elements which influenced almost
anything for almost 2,000 years
9. Democritus
- Proposed the theory of the atomos, which became one of the foundations for modern-day Chemistry
o The concept of atomos became the foundation of the school of Atomism, which stated that
all of reality is actually composed of tiny, indivisible, and indestructible building blocks
known as atoms, which form different combinations and shapes within the
surrounding void.
- Developed the study of Aetiology
o Aetiology is the study of causation or origination.

Legacy
Although these ideas might seem to us rather simplistic and unconvincing today, we should bear in mind that,
at that time, there was really no scientific knowledge, and even the most common of phenomena (e.g. lightning,
water freezing to ice, etc.) would have appeared miraculous. Their attempts were, therefore, important initial
steps in the development of philosophical thought.

Western Philosophy Versus Eastern Philosophy

DIFFERENCES
WESTERN PHILOSOPHY
School of thought based mainly from Greece
- Basically referred as the school of thought
from Greek philosophy that influenced the
greater part of Western civilization
- Stems from Rome and Christianity, specifically
Judeo-Christianity
Laws Govern the Universe
- Widely believed that there are laws that govern
the behavior of the universe
Individualistic
- Tries to find the meaning of life here and now
with self at the center, as it is already given
and part of the divine.
- Based on self-dedication to be of service to
others
- People who are different are received
positively
Linear Journey of Life
- Life is service to God, money, community, etc.
- Due to its Christian influence, there must be a
beginning and end to find meaning
- Life is logical, scientific, and rational
EASTERN PHILOSOPHY
School of thought based mainly from China
- Based mainly in Asia, more specifically the
Chinese philosophy
- Stems from Confucianism, Mahayana
Buddhism, and Taoism
The Universe Exists as is
- The natural world does not follow laws, it
simply “is”
Collectivistic
- Drawn into groups or society or people’s
actions and thoughts as one to find meaning in
life, as they try to get rid of the false “me”
concept and find meaning in discovering the
true “me” in relation to everything around them,
or as part of a bigger scheme
- Unity is the main principle
- People who are different are received
negatively
Cyclical Journey of Life
- Proposes that life is round, and the recurrence
with everything around it is important
- Ethics is based on behavior
- Dependence goes from the inside to the
outside
- The inner self must be freed first in accordance
to the world around to be liberated
- Life is eternal and recurring

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Ethical Emphasis Virtual Emphasis

- One must do what is supposed to be done
without causing ill to others
- Success is based on how much one walks his
path without hurting others
Realistic and hand-on
- Focuses with the selfless approach to life
- Satisfaction with what one has
Spiritual and theoretical

SIMILARITIES
Study of Reality is Possible
- Both the Western and the Eastern approach share a concept that a deeper understanding of reality is
possible than is normally available in everyday experience
- Methods differ on how to achieve this
o Western philosophy's approach to a deeper understanding involves the application of symbolic
thought such as words and mathematics -- the nature of reality can be discovered by thinking about
it the right way
▪ Science relies upon a specific thinking process (logic) while faith relies upon specific thoughts
(dogma)
o Eastern philosophy's approach, thinking moves us away from understanding reality -- when we
think we transfer our attention away from reality to the world of symbols, an irreversible difference
lies between the symbol and what it represents
▪ The nature of reality is discovered by experiencing it directly, without thoughts -- accomplished
through a variety of meditative processes
A Supreme Being Exists
- Both philosophies believe a supreme deity exists who guides the humankind and provides for all the
created beings
o Western philosophy gradually shifts from Creationism into Science as predictor of all the events
occurring in the universe
o Eastern philosophy still puts great emphasis on the existence of a Supreme Being although the
concepts of science are not totally rejected

References:
A quick history of philosophy (n.d.). In The basics of philosophy. Lifted and modified from
http://www.philosophybasics.com/general_quick_history.html
Denault, L. (n.d.). Philosophy: The Athenian philosophers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. In The Glory That was
Greece. Retrieved from http://www.watson.org/~leigh/philo.html
Eastern Philosophy (n.d.). Lifted and modified from http://www.philosophybasics.com/general_eastern.html
Greek thought: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. (n.d.). In The History Guide. Retrieved from
http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture8b.html
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle: The big three in Greek philosophy. (n.d.). In Dummies. Retrieved from
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/socrates-plato-and-aristotle-the-big-three-in-gree.html
Western Philosophy (n.d.). Lifted and modified from http://www.philosophybasics.com/general_western.html

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