Philosophy- the presocratic sophos
Sophos - answerSage or wise man; term applied to the first philosophers; from the
Greek word for "wise."
How did society see the sophos ? - answerAs a bunch of odd balls, the early western
culture was not very accepting of the philosophers,
Presocratics - answerbefore socratics
Who is said to be the first western philosopher ? - answerThales
Who is awarded for developing the greek culture from strictly following mythology to
focusing more on philosophy and show the difference between proto-scientists and
philosophers (this used to be by subject but is now by method) - answerthe presocratics
What were the sophists roles ? - answerThey acted more as sages because there
wasn't enough scientific discovery yet for them to truly rationalize everything they were
saying. The people following them were more like disciples than paying students. The
sophos set up the way that philosophers should be thinking and asking questions about
and the later philosophers studied these questions deeper.
Monism - answerthe general name for the belief that everything consists of only one,
ultimate, unique substance, such as matter or spirit.
Rational discourse - answerThe interplay of carefully argued ideas; the use of reason to
order, clarify, and identify reality and truth according to agreed-upon standards of
verification.
How was Thales a monist ? - answerHe believed everything came from water. This
shows monism because it's focusing on one source. Thales was one of the first that
developed a process for thinking, rationalizing, and coming up with a process backed by
evidence and a strong argument.
Principle of Sufficient Reason - answerThe principle that nothing happens without a
reason; consequently, no adequate theory or explanation can contain any brute, crude,
unexplained facts. First specifically encountered in the work of the medieval philosopher
Peter Abelard (1079-1142), it is usually associated with the rationalist philosopher
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716), who used it in his famous "best of all possible
worlds" argument.
Apeiron - answeraccording to Anaximander, the first principle from which all existing
things develop; a vast Definite-Indefinite. The apeiron is an infinite mass of forces with
no specific qualities.
Sophos - answerSage or wise man; term applied to the first philosophers; from the
Greek word for "wise."
How did society see the sophos ? - answerAs a bunch of odd balls, the early western
culture was not very accepting of the philosophers,
Presocratics - answerbefore socratics
Who is said to be the first western philosopher ? - answerThales
Who is awarded for developing the greek culture from strictly following mythology to
focusing more on philosophy and show the difference between proto-scientists and
philosophers (this used to be by subject but is now by method) - answerthe presocratics
What were the sophists roles ? - answerThey acted more as sages because there
wasn't enough scientific discovery yet for them to truly rationalize everything they were
saying. The people following them were more like disciples than paying students. The
sophos set up the way that philosophers should be thinking and asking questions about
and the later philosophers studied these questions deeper.
Monism - answerthe general name for the belief that everything consists of only one,
ultimate, unique substance, such as matter or spirit.
Rational discourse - answerThe interplay of carefully argued ideas; the use of reason to
order, clarify, and identify reality and truth according to agreed-upon standards of
verification.
How was Thales a monist ? - answerHe believed everything came from water. This
shows monism because it's focusing on one source. Thales was one of the first that
developed a process for thinking, rationalizing, and coming up with a process backed by
evidence and a strong argument.
Principle of Sufficient Reason - answerThe principle that nothing happens without a
reason; consequently, no adequate theory or explanation can contain any brute, crude,
unexplained facts. First specifically encountered in the work of the medieval philosopher
Peter Abelard (1079-1142), it is usually associated with the rationalist philosopher
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716), who used it in his famous "best of all possible
worlds" argument.
Apeiron - answeraccording to Anaximander, the first principle from which all existing
things develop; a vast Definite-Indefinite. The apeiron is an infinite mass of forces with
no specific qualities.
