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The Beginnings
of Doing
Philosophy
Francine Daniella Olunan
Warren Abad
The Pre-Socratics
Western philosophy started
with the pre-socratics way
back to 630 B.C. in Miletus.
Miletus is a fishing village and
center of trade and commerce
that became the melting pot of
ideas from other cultures that
exposed the people to various
ideas and opinions.
 the Milesian Triumvirate

THALES Anaximander Anaximenes

Believed that the earth is Thinks the fundamental
Father of Western

cylindrical substance is air because

Philosophy
APEIRON - the it holds souls together and
He believed that the

fundamental substance of encompasses the world

earth is flat reality is infinite Believed that the earth are
He brought geometry
First philosopher to like saucers floating in the
to Ancient Greece attempt to draw a map air
 Other Pre-Socratics
Pythagoras
Believed that the primary
constituent of reality are
numbers
Coined the word
world is change
"philosophy"
Gave importance to
same river twice"
contemplation
Parmenides
Heraclitus
Proposed that the only
Believes that the only thing that is permanent in
thing permanent in the the world is being; change
is an illusion
"You cannot step on the inspired the concept of
phenomenology and
existentialism
 Empedocles
Proposed that the reality is made up of
four elements; earth, air, water, and fire
Believed that he was immortal and that
he had magical powers
He leaped into an active volcano to
prove his immortality but he died
Anaxagoras
Believes that matter becomes infinitely
divisible
Introduced the idea of nous or the mind.
He believed that the mind has the
greatest strength and power over all
things
 Achilles and
the Tortoise
In a racecourse, Achilles is
challenged by the tortoise to
race, with the tortoise given
a head start. According to
Zeno's paradox, in order to
Zeno of Elea
get from point A (starting
Student and loyal line) to point B (finish line),
follower of one has to travel an infinite
Parmenides amount of steps. In order for
Reiterated the idea Achilles to catch up to the
that reality is being tortoise, he must first cover
Proposed that there is the half way point, and the
no motion with four half of that half way point,
arguments. Two of of and so on.
his main ideas are:
A B C D E F
The arrow in
flight is at rest
Opposite to his idea of
infinite divisibility, he
proposed the idea of finite
divisibility. Zeno argued that
if matter is finite divisible,
then at any given point that
you can locate the arrow, it
occupies a certain portion of
space where it is situated.
The arrow is either in space
A, B, C, and so on.
Western Philosophy
Western Philosophy became revolutionary as it went
against tradition; focusing on man's rationality as the
key to explaining the order or logos in the universe
instead of depending on mythology. However crude the
methods of these philosophers, their speculations about
fundamental substance reality started the process of
searching for knowledge for its own sake, otherwise
known as philosophy. Philosophy paved the way for the
development of science and other disciplines such as
Leucippus and Democritus's idea of an Atom.
 Eastern Philosophy
Eastern Philosophy could be summarized as
philosophy being a way of life. In Western
philosophy, there is a separation between men
and the objective world. In Eastern Philosophy,
there is no separation between man and the
objective world. Thus, they look at man as being
one with the world. For Eastern philosophers,
philosophy and religion are one. Thus, their
being and oneness with the world could actually
be experienced by practicing their religion.