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8-2 The Greek Mind

Aristotle

Golden Age, Philosophy, and Sophists

In ancient Greece, a "golden age" lasted from 500 B.C.E. to 350 B.C.E, in which art, architecture, and literature flourished. Basic needs were being met easily, allowing people to dedicate themselves to the art of "philosophy". Philosophy translates as "love of wisdom".

Many philosophers were known as the Sophists. They traveled from polis to polis, earning a living teaching (sounds crazy, I know). Sophists were known for teaching rhetoric, or the art of public speaking and debate.

  • Taught students about the "golden mean" or average, and that people should live in moderation.
  • Classified living beings into categories.
  • Divided government into three different categories:
  • Monarchy- Rule by one
  • Oligarchy- Rule by a few
  • Democracy- Rule by the many
  • Believed the best government would be a hybrid of these three

Sophists were known for not believing the gods influenced human actions, not believing any way of life was right or wrong, and eventually came to be disliked for teaching people how to debate, rather than focusing on the truth.

Socrates

History and Herodotus

  • Greeks tended to believe myths and legends were true, didn't bother analyzing the past to explain current events.

  • BOOM Herodotus shows up. Writes an account of the Persian Wars, carefully separated fact from fiction, did research, looked into claims.

  • Herodotus is sometimes called the "Father of History" because of his work.

  • Herodotus thinks gods interfere in mortal affairs, while another historian, Thucydides only reported eye witness accounts, and excluded gods from his writing.
  • Athens, born and raised
  • Thought Sophists were dweebs, believed in absolute truth.
  • Promoted the Socratic Method; didn't lecture, just asked questions of his students to guide their thinking.
  • This method encouraged questioning EVERYTHING.
  • Was charged for inspiring young people to rebel during the Peloponnesian War, sentenced to death.
  • Given a chance to leave, said he'd follow the law, gave a final speech, and drank poison to kill himself.

Science and Medicine

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

Plato

  • Student of Socrates, unlike his teacher he wrote his stuff down.
  • Wrote a work called The Republic, which depicted his ideal society
  • Philosopher kings on top, ruling with wisdom
  • Warriors next, fighting with courage and protecting society
  • Everyone else at the bottom, supplying goods and services (and apparently lacking courage or wisdom)

  • Actually disliked the common folk, thought philosopher-kings wouldn't be easily swayed if they were well educated.
  • Greeks were unusual in that they attempted to explain their world through logic and reason, rather than by just saying "the gods willed it".
  • Early Greek thinkers/scientists include:
  • Thales, who studied mathematics and astronomy, made discoveries by observing without the use of advanced tools.
  • Pythagoras, who developed the Pythagorean Theorem that you goons still use in math class to this day.
  • Archimedes, all around scientist who may or may not have made a solar death ray...

  • Greeks figured out that diseases were caused by natural causes, and not by evil spirits.
  • Hippocrates was a leading physician who helped cure sick people. He created what is known as the Hippocratic Oath.
  • The Oath states that doctors should do their best to help patients and to protect their privacy. Doctors today still follow this oath.

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