Chapter 5

ANCIENT
PHILOSOPHERS 1
(THE PRE-SOCRATICS)
PRE-SOCRATICS
Pre-socratic philosophers are the Western thinkers preceding Socrates (c.
469-c. 399 B.C.E.) but including some thinkers who were roughly contemporary
with Socrates, such as Protagoras (c. 490-c. 420 B.C.E.). The application of the
term “philosophy” to the Pre-socratics is somewhat anachronistic, but is
certainly different from how many people currently think of philosophy. The Pre-
socratics were interested in a wide variety of topics, especially in what we now
think of as natural science rather than philosophy. These early thinkers often
sought naturalistic explanations and causes for physical phenomena. For
example, the earliest group of Pre-socratics, the Milesians, each proposed some
material element ¾ water, air, the “boundless,” as the basic stuff either
forming the foundation of, or constituting, everything in the cosmos.
 Such an emphasis on physical explanations marked a break with
more traditional ways of thinking that indicated the gods as primary
causes. The Presocratics, in most cases, did not entirely abandon
theistic or religious notions, but they characteristically posed
challenges to traditional ways of thinking. Xenophanes of Colophon,
for example, thought that most concepts of the gods were superficial,
since they often amount to mere anthropomorphizing. Heraclitus
understood sets of contraries, such as day-night, winter-summer, and
war-peace to be gods (or God), while Protagoras claimed not to be
able to know whether or not the gods exist. The foundation of
Presocratic thought is the preference and esteem given to rational
thought and argumentation over mythologizing. This movement
towards rationality and argumentation would pave the way for the
course Western thought.
I. MILESIAN SCHOOL
The pre-socratic philosophers were from Miletus on
the western coast of Anatolia. Also referred as the
early Oinian philosophers.
THALES
 The first philosopher in history of
ancient Greece, in the cradle of
Western philosophy was a man by
the name of Thales of Miletus (c.
640-546 B.C). He was one of the
legendary Seven Wise Men of
Ancient Greecer.
 Thales believes that the primary
element of reality is water.
ANAXIMANDER
 Anaximander (c.610-545 B.C) is said
to have written about nature, the
fixed stars, the earth’s sphere and
other matters.
 Produced something like map,
showing the boundary of land and
sea, and was responsible for a
number of mathematical inventions,
including a sun dial and an
astronomical chart.
 ANAXIMENES (D. 528 B.C.E)
 According to the surviving sources on his life,
Anaximenes flourished in the mid 6th century B.C.E.
and died about 528. He is the third philosopher of
the Milesian School of philosophy, so named
because like Thales and Anaximander, Anaximenes
was an inhabitant of Miletus, in Ionia (ancient
Greece).
 Anaximenes seems to have held that at one time
everything was air. Air can be thought of as a kind of
neutral stuff that is found everywhere, and is
available to participate in physical processes.
Natural forces constantly act on the air and
transform it into other materials, which came
together to form the organized world. In early Greek
literature, air is associated with the soul (the breath
of life) and Anaximenes may have thought of air as
 II. PYTHAGOREAN SOCIETY
PYTHAGORAS
 The theorem which bares his name was well-known in
Egypt long before his birth. It was known that if a right
angled triangle had sides of lengths 3 and 4 then the
hypotenuse would have a length of 5. What probably
happened is that Pythagoras took this special case and
worked out a theory which worked on all right angled
triangles. As well as this he worked out the relationships
between musical notes, figured out all regular solids, and
was the first to study irrational numbers. Apart from these
scientific discoveries he also did much work on mystical
beliefs such as reincarnation. He formed a community of
followers who adhered to somewhat eccentric rules. It was
against their rules to eat beans, unload a wagon on the
street, and never stir a fire with an iron tool. Modern
opinion is that Pythagoras may have gathered around him
a group of learned individuals and all of their discoveries
became linked to his name. Of the stories regarding
Pythagoras’ death most include stories of him being
 III. EPHESIAN SCHOOL
HERACLITUS
 Heraclitus, also known as Heraclitus the
Black, the Obscure, and the Weeping
Philosopher for his negative outlook and
mysterious sayings. What little we have of
Heraclitus’ work exists in short sayings open
to multiple interpretation. He is famous for
the saying ‘You cannot step in the same river
twice.’ Is this because the river will have
changed between steps, or you will have?
Another of his sayings was ‘Everything flows.’
Little of his work survives today but he was
well-known in antiquity and was influential on
later philosophers. In his later days he
suffered from dropsy, accumulation of fluid
under the skin. In an effort to cure this he
IV. ELEATIC SCHOOL
The Eleatic school, called after the town of Elea,
(modern name in south Italy), emphasized the doctrine
of the One. The Eleatics defended the unity and
stability of the universe.
XENOPHANES
 Xenophanes of Colophon was a traveling poet and sage
with philosophical leanings who lived in ancient Greece
during the sixth and the beginning of the fifth centuries
B.C.E. There are a significant number of surviving
fragments for such an early figure, and the poetic verses
available to us indicate a broad range of issues. These
include comments on religion, knowledge, the natural
world, the proper comportment at a banquet, as well as
other social teachings and commentary.
 He is most commonly remembered for his critiques of
popular religion, particularly false conceptions of the
divine that are a byproduct of the human propensity to
anthropomorphize deities. According to Xenophanes,
humans have been severely mislead by this tendency, as
well as the scriptures of the day, and he seemed intent on
leading his audience toward a perspective on religion that
is based more on rationality and less on traditionally held
beliefs. 
 PARMENIDES (LATE 6TH CN.-MID

5TH CN.
Parmenides of
B.C.E.)
Elea was a Presocratic Greek
philosopher. As the first philosopher to inquire into the
nature of existence itself, he is incontrovertibly
credited as the “Father of Metaphysics.” As the first to
employ deductive, a priori arguments to justify his
claims, he competes with Aristotle for the title “Father
of Logic.” He is also commonly thought of as the
founder of the “Eleatic School” of thought—a
philosophical label ascribed to Presocratics who
purportedly argued that reality is in some sense a
unified and unchanging singular entity. This has often
been understood to mean there is just one thing in all
of existence. In light of this questionable
interpretation, Parmenides has traditionally been
viewed as a pivotal figure in the history of philosophy:
one who challenged the physical systems of his
predecessors and set forth for his successors the
ZENO
 Zeno was the student of another philosopher on this list, Parmenides.
We know of Zeno because his writings were discussed by Aristotle
and he features in a dialogue of Plato. Despite his description in Plato
we know very little of Zeno himself. What we know of Zeno is his
staunch support for the theories of his teacher.
 Zeno is well-known today for his paradoxes which sought to
demonstrate the falseness of sensory information and the
impossibility of change. Using a tale of a race between Achilles and a
slow runner (sometimes given as a tortoise) Zeno proves the
impossibility of motion. In the paradox Achilles gives a runner half as
fast as himself a head start. Who would we expect to win? If such a
race were really held we would see Achilles overtake the slower
runner. However we can reason that Achilles should never pass the
slower runner, or in fact move at all. If the slow runner is given a
head start then by the time Achilles reaches where the slower man
was the slower man should have moved on half the distance Achilles
had traveled himself. Then by the time Achilles reaches that point
the runner would have moved on and so on, thus he will never
overtake the slower man.
V. PLURALISTS SCHOOL
EMPEDOCIES
 A Greekpre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of Akragas,
a Greek city in Sicily. Empedocles' philosophy is best
known for originating the cosmogenic theory of the four 
classical elements. He also proposed forces he called Love
and Strife which would mix and separate the elements,
respectively. These physical speculations were part of a
history of the universe which also dealt with the origin
and development of life.
 Influenced by the Pythagoreans, Empedocles was a 
vegetarian who supported the doctrine of reincarnation.
He is generally considered the last Greek philosopher to
have recorded his ideas in verse. Some of his work
survives, more than is the case for any other pre-Socratic
philosopher. Empedocles' death was mythologized by
ancient writers, and has been the subject of a number of
literary treatments.
ANAXAGORAS
 Anaxagoras was the favorite philosopher
of the Athenian leader Pericles. The age of
Pericles is considered the golden age of
Athens and it was in this age that scientific
philosophy flourished. Anaxagoras treated
all events as scientifically explicable
instead of being caused by supernatural
agents. Famously he declared that the sun
was an enormous, hot rock in the sky and
not the chariot of Apollo. This remarkably
modern view of the world was his downfall.
The enemies of Pericles sought to discredit
him by attacking Anaxagoras. They
accused him of impiety towards the gods
VI. ATOMISTS SCHOOL
LEUCIPPUS AND
DEMOCRITUS
 Leucippus and Democritus were the
earliest Greek atomists. The originator of
the atomic theory, Leucippus (fifth century
BCE), must be considered a speculative
thinker of the first order, but to Democritus
(c. 460–c. 370 BCE) must go the credit for
working out the detailed application of the
theory and supporting it with a subtle
epistemology. Moreover, the range of
Democritus's researches surpassed that of
any earlier philosopher, and he appears to
have been an original and, for his day,
advanced ethical thinker.
VII. THE SOPHISTS
 A sophist (Greek: σοφιστής, sophistes) was a specific kind of
teacher in ancient Greece, in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Many
sophists specialized in using the tools of philosophy and rhetoric,
though other sophists taught subjects such as music, athletics, and
mathematics. In general, they claimed to teach arete("excellence" or
"virtue", applied to various subject areas), predominantly to young
statesmen and nobility.
 The term originated from Greek σόφισμα, sophisma, from
σοφίζω, sophizo "I am wise"; confer σοφιστής, sophistēs, meaning
"wise-ist, one who does wisdom," and σοφός, sophós means "wise
man".
 PROTAGORAS
 Protagoras of Abdera (c.485-415 BCE) is considered the
greatest of the Sophists of ancient Greece and the first to
promote the philosophy of Subjectivism, arguing that
interpretation of reality is relative to the individual. This same
view was earlier promoted by the Chinese philosopher Teng
Shih (6th century BCE) but Protagoras was the first to teach
this view in Greece through his position as a Sophist.  A
Sophist was a teacher of rhetoric, politics, and logic who
served as a private tutor to the youth of the upper classes.
 He also is believed to have created a major controversy
during ancient times through his statement that, "Man is the
measure of all things", interpreted by Plato to mean that there
is no absolute truth, but that which individuals deem to be the
truth. Although there is reason to question the extent of the
interpretation of his arguments that has followed, that
concept of individual relativity was revolutionary for the time,
and contrasted with other philosophical doctrines that claimed
the universe was based on something objective, outside
human influence or perceptions.
GORGIAS
 Gorgias is perhaps the most amusing of the pre-
Socratic philosophers. Clearly a clever and
persuasive man, if Plato is to be believed, Gorgias
believed in nothing. He was the first known Nihilist.
He tried to prove that nothing exists at all. In his
work, now lost, On Not-Being, Gorgias used the
following line of argument: Nothing exists, or if it
does exist we cannot know it, or if we can know it it
is impossible to communicate it. You get the sense
that Gorgias was thumbing his nose at other
thinkers and displaying his logical proficiency. To
get a sense of Gorgias’ style we must also consider
that he wrote a speech in defense of Helen of Troy,
the most hated woman in ancient Greek mythology.