Greek

Philosopher
s
(Greek Wisdom of Human
Person)

ANCIENT
GREEK
PHILOSOPHY
o The Greeks have one of the
oldest cultures in the world
(not to mention thefirst
known democracy)
o Arose in the 6th century BCE
and continued throughout

The famous Greek philosophers were among the most

influential people in history because they invented both
philosophy and science.
By asking questions about themselves and the world
around them, these philosophers helped create modern
civilization.
Interestingly enough, the Greek philosophers thought of
themselves as scientists rather than thinkers. They
called themselves seekers and lovers of wisdom and
often studied a wide variety of subjects, including
history, physics, law, sociology, politics, mathematics,
and biology. The famous philosophers were also
teachers, educating wealthy children and operating

GREEK
PHILOSOPHERS

Pythagoras of Samos
(570-495 BCE)
As long as man continues to be the
ruthless destroyer of lower living
beings he will never know health or
peace,for as long as men massacre
animals, they will kill each other.
Pythagoras is a famous
mathematician who is credited with
inventing the Pythagorean Theorem,
one of the key computations in
geometry. He was also one of the
first people to express musical notes
through mathematics.

Some sources indicate that

Pythagoras was the first
person to call himself a
philosopher and to organize
a school of philosophy. He
was also a mystic and a
religious thinker who
founded a sect called the
Pythagoreans. The
Pythagoreans were
reputedly vegetarians and
pacifists who believed in
reincarnation. Little is
known of Pythagoras, but
some legends indicate that
he was the first to teach
that the Earth was round.

Zeno of Elea (c. 490-430 BCE)

In a race, the quickest runner can never overtake the slowest,
since the pursuer must first reach the point whence the pursued
started, so that the slower must always hold a lead.

Comes from other famous Greek philosophers, such as

Plato and Aristotle. Aristotle regarded Zeno as the
Aparadoxis a statement that apparently
inventor of the dialectic or dialectical method of
contradicts itself and yet might be true (or wrong at
argument, which is considered one of the key
the same time).Some logical paradoxes
are known
to
Dialecticordialectics
also known
as
methodologies in Western and Islamic philosophy. He
beinvalidarguments
but
are
still valuable in two or
thedialectical
method,
is
adiscoursebetween
was also regarded as the
promotingcritical
thinking.
more
people
holding
differentpoints
of viewabout a
inventor of rhetoric and
the father of debate.
subject but wishing to establish thetruththrough
reasonedarguments.
Zeno
is famous for his paradoxes and for attempting to
kill a tyrant named Demylus but failed. Demylus then
The term
dialectics
is Zeno.
not synonymous with the term
might
have
murdered
debate.

Democritus (c.
460-370 BCE)
o Democritus was one of the first advocates of
democracy, equality, and liberty.
o First person to advance the hypothesis that all
matter is composed of small invisible particles
called atoms, anticipating the discoveries of
modern physics.
o One of the first known critics and a proponent of
the just theorythe idea that people should take
up arms to defend themselves from tyrants.
o One of the first people to advance the idea that
there are worlds besides the Earth.

Socrates (c. 469399 BCE)

o He was a master stonemason and social critic.
o Socrates became famous for encouraging people to
critically question everything.
o His greatest contribution to philosophy was the
Socratic Method in which discussion, argument, and
dialogue are used to discern the truth.
o Socrates' most famous student was Plato.
o Socrates eventually gave his life for liberty.
o He was tried and convicted for criticizing the
government and religion.
o Socrates then chose death by suicide over exile
from his homeland of Athens.

Plato (428-327 BCE)

o Laws are made to instruct the good, and in the hope

that there may be no need of them; also to control
the bad, whose hardness of heart will not be
hindered from crime.
o Plato is regarded as the father of political science
and the founder of one of the world's first known
institutions of higher learning, the Academy in
Athens. The Academy created formal philosophy by
teaching students the Socratic Method.

Plato wrote widely on many

subjects, including philosophy,
ethics, religion, and
mathematics. He created an
influential school of philosophy
called Platonism, which
influenced Christianity. Plato
wrote one of the first and most
influential works on
politics,The Republic,which
described an ideal or Utopian
society. Like his mentor
Socrates, Plato was a critic of
democracy.

Aristotle (c. 384-322

BCE)
It is the mark of an educated mind to be
able to entertain a thought without
accepting it.

Aristotle is famous as one of the

three founding fathers of Greek
philosophy along with Plato and
Socrates. He is also known as the
teacher of Alexander the Great.
Aristotle studied a wide variety of
subjects, including science,
ethics, government, physics, and
politics, and wrote extensively on
them.

Aristotle's ideas on
science were widely
believed for centuries
and had a profound
influence on Islamic
thinkers. Aristotle was
one of the first people to
try to classify animals
and to study psychology.

Diogenes of Sinope
(c. 412-323 BCE)
Dogs and philosophers do the greatest good and get
the fewest rewards.
Diogenes was known as Diogenes the cynic because
he was one of the founders of the Cynic school of
philosophy. Diogenes rejected society as corrupt and
hypocritical and lived a simple lifestyle instead.
Legend has it that he lived in a barrel and mocked
authority figures, including Alexander the Great and
Plato.
Diogenes used stunts such as carrying a lamp in the
daytime to express his philosophy and refused to
write. Diogenes was a radical who rejected all political
and social organizations and even the idea of private
property. Instead, he believed that simplicity was the

Pyrrho (c. 360-270 BCE)

By suspending judgment, by confining oneself to phenomena or
objects as they appear, and by asserting nothing definite as to
how they really are, one can escape the perplexities of life and
attain an imperturbable peace of mind.

Pyrrho was known as the first skeptical philosopher

because he believed that humans can never know the
truth; instead, they can only grasp the appearance of
things.
Pyrrho rejected education and regarded knowledge as
impossible because everything is unmeasurable.
Among other things, Pyrrho believed that people were
incapable of telling the truth.
There are no known writings of Pyrrho, but he inspired
a school of philosophy called Pyrrhonism or
skepticism that taught happiness could achieved by
rejecting the search for knowledge.

Epicurus (c. 341-270 BCE)

It is folly for a man to pray to the gods
for that which he has the power to
obtain by himself.
Epicurus might be the most
misunderstood Greek philosopher. Even
though he thought that a simple lifestyle
was the key to happiness, in the modern
world, the term Epicurean is known as a
lover of fine things.
Epicurus founded a school that is based
in the garden of his house and thus
called: "The Garden", which taught an
opinion that a peaceful life free of pain
was the path to happiness.

Epicurus believed in atoms

and taught that the humans
had no control over fate. He
also refused to believe in the
gods and taught that the
universe had no purpose.
Epicurus believed in equality:
he educated slaves and
women in his school when
most Greeks believed they
were incapable of learning.
Even though Epicurus is
believed to have written 300
works, none of his writings are
known to have survived.

Zeno of Citium (c.334262 BCE)

Fate is the endless chain of causation,
whereby things are; the reason or formula by
which the world goes on.

Zeno of Citium was the founder of

one of the most influential schools
of Greek and Roman philosophy:
the Stoics. Zeno's major belief
was logic, which he believed
existed to help people avoid
deception. He was also deeply
interested in ethics. The purpose
of ethics was to achieve
happiness by living according to
nature, Zeno believed.

Zeno's most interesting

belief was his physics or
theology: he believed
that the universe itself
was god and conforming
to its will was the
ultimate goal of human
life. Zeno also believed
that human beings
lacked free will; instead,
the universe directed
their behavior.