Origins of Ancient Greece: Cosmology,
interconnected ancient world, polytheism to monotheism/monism, stack of
elements, Egypt and slavery, chemistry, Plato loves Egypt, Greece
between Persia and Egypt, Persian and Phoenician influence, Cyrus,
Zoroastrianism, Renaissance gives way to idea of the West, modern
mythology of reason/freedom/History/Science
Identity, Mythology & Tragedy:
Dogmatism vs. Skepticism, philosophy/wisdom as deep questioning,
Ionians and Dorians, Dorian invasion theory, Ionian rebellion, Miletus
as center, Delian League, political vs. personal freedom, poets Homer
and Hesiod, common Homeric culture, prose vs. lyrical poetry/song,
epiphany and theory, Archilochos and rhythm of life, Sappho and what one
loves, tragedy & hamartia, Agamemnon & Antigone
Thales:
Milesian school, trade center, falls into well, olive press monopoly,
easy travel to Egypt, all things are full of gods, teleological view,
magnets & amber, water as arche
Anaximander:
injustice & retribution, infinite/apeiron as arche, element arche
would have unbalanced cosmos, hot/cold & wet/dry, gnomon, steady
earth vs. Aristotle’s hungry/thirsty man, map of world with Med/Delphi
center, mythic snow/fire people, water cycle & life
Anaximenes: air as arche, dissipation and concentration, blowing on hand hot/cold, felt
Pythagoras:
theorem & pyramids, first ‘philosopher’, influenced Plato,
supposedly divine, reincarnation, secret society, mathematics as origin,
harmony of the spheres, the One & the tetractys, ratios/rational
& intervals, set of opposites, sayings w/ secret morals, pythagorean
y
Xenophanes:
ridicules fellow philosophers, critical of honoring athletes, Homeric
gods are immoral, incapable of cosmic order,
Ethiopians/Thracians/Horses/Oxen, gods unborn, no hierarchy, one
immobile infinite that shakes all things, no one will know the truth,
optimistic skepticism, figs & honey, water/earth & fossils
Heraclitus:
renounces throne, similar to Buddha, weeping philosopher, critical of
Ephesians/experts/poets/philosophers, wet vs. dry soul, never same river
twice, we are & are not, flux/becoming as being & nonbeing,
fire as arche, desire & satisfaction, thunderbolt, Logos, awake vs.
asleep, criticism of experts, wisdom as unity of mind, inquire within,
opposites work together, influence on Nietzsche, humans as apes
Parmenides:
Eleatic school, agrees with Xenophanes being doesn’t move, Plato
reveres, apocalyptic journey, ways of night/day, truth vs. opinion,
oneness shared by all, ex nihilo, time/motion/difference as illusion,
Einstein & block time
Zeno:
beloved of Parmenides, reductio ad absurdum, dialectic shows we can’t
understand without contradiction, paradox of nonbeing, paradox of place,
paradox of motion, Tortoise & Achilles, arrow in flight
Melissus: return to Xenophanes, source of Eleatics, One is full/eternal, Neoplatonic hyperousia, similarity with Buddhist thought
Anaxagoras:
sided with Persians, brought philosophy to Athens, heretical idea of
sun/moon as blazing stone, charged with impiety, everything contains
traces of everything, Parmenides is right about total difference as
relative illusion, arche as self-ruled nous/mind, no splits with an axe,
deus ex machina, parallel criticism of Euripides, mind/body problem
Empedocles:
champion of the poor, healing powers, god rebirth via volcano, fall of
souls from original pure state, Zeus/Hera - Hades/Persephone, four
classical elements, love & strife in cosmic cycles, pre-human pairs,
vegetarian, cycles of reincarnation, critical of animal sacrifice,
reason superior to perception as wisdom superior to knowledge, Badiou
vs. Dawkins
Democritus:
laughing philosopher, the mocker, atomism, infinite beings &
void/nonbeing, reaction to Eleatic challenge, mind as many fire atoms,
impressions as images/idols, critical of animal omens, man is what we
know, wisdom as medicine, much thought over much learning, balance and
moderation, improve rather than pray, skepticism, truth is in the
depths/opinion
Diogenes:
defacing the currency, Antisthenes after Socrates, cosmopolitan,
begging in tub at center of town, toughens self, smashes bowl, carries
lamp, practice over theory, cynics are ‘dog-like’, bites his friends,
courage/nature/reason over wealth/custom/passion, obscenity, criticism
of Plato’s idealism, criticism of Alexander, Christians &
shamelessness
Short Answers
Pick
four topics from the list below. For each of your choices, write a
third to a half page in each of the spaces provided below. You should
demonstrate that you 1) understand the meaning of the concept, 2) that
you can connect it to other material from the class, and 3) that you can
apply it to examples from your own experience or outside material
(print or video, fictional or nonfictional). If you demonstrate each of
these three things and complete the required page length, you will get
full points for your answer.
Stack of the Elements Dogmatism vs. Skepticism
Political vs. Personal Freedom Hamartia & Antigone
Anaximander vs. an Element as Arche Xenophanes’ Horses & Oxen
Heraclitus’ Being & Nonbeing Heraclitus vs. Experts who Separate
Parmenides Eleatic Challenge Parmenides Truth vs. Opinion
Parmenides vs. Heraclitus Zeno’s Paradoxes of Motion
Anaxagoras vs. Democritus Anaxagoras’ Deus Ex Machina
Empedocles’ 4 Elements/Gods Empedocles’ Cosmic Love & Strife
Empedocles’ Reason over Perception Atomists vs. Eleatics
Diogenes’ Live as a Dog Diogenes’ Criticism of Plato
