Greek myth has been influenced by philosophy itself.
The anthropomorphization of gods was criticized by Xenophanes.
This led to the discovery of nature as an own force → no divine intervention is needed to explain what is going on in nature.
Logos: has a lot of connotations. Initially meant something like an utterance, ‘speech,’ ‘word,’ or even a monologue/dialogue. The bill at the pub could be called logos.
It is everything which involves your accountability.
In Greek this is epitomized, “logon didonae,” ‘to give a logos.’
One thing is not present yet: logic is not yet purely intelligent/intelligible. It will always be material [material conditions!????!] to some extent for now.
Plato is really important because he’s the first guy to say “everything gets so much easier if you accept that there’s an immaterial side to reality.”
logos as accountability ← results in systematic ordering, your account must be universally valid, and objectively intelligible.
If you’re explaining why an eclipse takes place, it can’t just explain this specific eclipse. It must explain any and every eclipse. Of course there are exceptions (such as small planets travelling in front of the sun). ← universal validity
It must appeal to principles of understanding that are shared by people. ← objective intelligibility
There is a certain elitist attitude in pre-Socratic philosophy, the ordinary people don’t understand a thing, I, the philosopher, do, and everyone else’s a fool.
Systematic ordering is that if you have an explanation of the world, there must be some coherence or cohesion between your statements. If you explain the rotation of planets around the Earth, then of course each planet must see the same explanation.
Logos will be getting loaded with more and more elaborations of its meaning as we go on.
It will be the main principle of stoic cosmology, albeit in an evolved sense.
Even in the Bible, in the Gospel of John, ‘first was Logos.’
A second term, is equally important, even though emphasis is usually placed on logos. The distinctive element in the Greek self-representation - theoria.
Thea - horao; thea meaning spectacle, and horao means viewing [i think?]. I.e. it’s just sightseeing.
Theoria is sightseeing. Looking at things which are there to be seen.
A theoros was someone sent to watch the spectacle in a foreign location as a friendly.
Someone who is not involved in the things themselves, a mere spectator.
Herodotus (the first historian) talks about Thales (the first Greek philosopher) going to Egypt ‘for the sake of theory.’ ← tourism, in a way.
What Thales discovers in Egypt, is that with the inundation of the Nile, all of the lots of the peasants are inundated, and they have to set the limits/boundaries between different lots again.
So there was a system of land measurement, which led the Egyptians to an enormous knowledge of Mathematics/Geometry.
Herodotus claims that Thales looks at this, but only finds it interesting once it is detached from its practical use.
So, they take mathematics from Egypt, and use it outside of practical things. Thus, theoria becomes viewing knowledge for the sake of itself.
The Greeks see themselves as superior in that respect; they did not invent Geometry or Mathematics, but they were the ones to detach it from quotidian matters and study it for itself.
The Babylonians had an age-long tradition of studying the skies. But this was mainly to advise the kind: when are the crops coming, when should we start a war, etc. This was knowledge for practical use.
The Greeks take the rather developed astronomy of the Babylonians and detach it from practical views.
The uninvolved, spectator’s view, of the cosmos (originally meaning a jewel/gem in Greek), a beautiful spectacle, and the attitude of theoria is then applied thereto.
It is not foreign to say that once we discover looking at the spectacle from a foreign perspective, we will apply it to the cosmos.
Cosmology is then, obviously, the combination of this discovery of a theoretical view on things that are beautiful with logos, it is not coincidence that this is speculation on the cosmos will become the first object of philosophical inquiry.
Philosophy started as a scientific project to explain the beauty of the cosmos.
The title for most of the Pre-Socratics’ works will be “On Nature,” “peri physeos.” This just means cosmology (= on nature).
[Was that a question? and then I’m sat there looking at “look at my beautiful beard” dawgggg]
Aristotle talks about physics and describes the criteria which make something a science. This is about the highest science, or the first philosophy, and philosophy being synonymous with science, that is going to be the case for many centuries to come. Philosophia Naturalis - Newton 1687.
What Aristotle is doing in his first book is talking about what makes first philosophy into a scientific endeavor, and why it is “first.” Because it displays the characteristics of science in a paradigmatic manner.
What does he say about these principles that make a science into a science: first - observation. Then, sense perception, but it is common to all and therefore is easy and no mark of wisdom. We need a precise knowledge of principles, what are the explanatory elements that explain this or that phenomenon. This is about principles, not about mathematics. Exactness will return in the discussion of the 15th-16th century where they see exactness as only being mathematics.
Reducing the universe to quantifiable elements is losing an enormous range of things, which is what happens when you focus on mathematics alone.
The third element is wisdom, meaning a knowledge that has a smaller amount of principles to explain more. A bit pyramidal, I guess.
We keep our perspective clean by not immediately applying it. [and by it,,, haha, well]
The reform of the view of nature has now lead to a proper framework for science.
Our friend Tales was one of Seven Sages [shonen type beat]. On the shores of Asia Minor this took place, this is what happened for the first time over there, the Ionian philosophers. At this point in history there is nothing going on in Athens (that has been recorder and relating to philosophy). The name of Thales is important as he did other things (math). He also predicted the eclipse of 585 BCE.
Ayyyy bruh chill out mannnnnn
for the next season oil production would be very profitable (god bless the united states) because he somehow predicted the climatic conditions. As philosophers should do, Thales bought a monopoly on oil presses.
The cosmos is explained in its order by applying the rational account to nature.
Ionian philosophers did this in a very specific way, first of all, like all Pre-Socratics they were materialists (not like Marx), rather they had no other perspective on nature other than it being a set of bodies. They just took to explaining the corporeal nature of things, they would reduce all order in the universe (all cosmos) to one single principle called arche. Arche meaning origin, it explains what happens in beginning and what happens afterwards.
Immanent residing in nature supernatural element to explain (two days ago) established view no thing that explains nature except from within nature.
Arche has to be a corporeal thing. They will reduce all nature to their specific view to what this material principle is.
In Thales it was Water.
Thales said everything is full of Gods.
Important to remember that these people were not atheists. Some were Agnostic (like Protagoras).
Heraclitus of Ephesus: was called “the Dark,” or “the Obscure” because he is obscure.
[I guess the Ancients didn’t use Chicago 17th]
he says that according to reason all things are one.
All things coincide. Have a look in your basement, if there is a mummy there, and it has a text written, it might be Heraclitus and we might get it right.
Everything is in constant flux (panta rhei).
Harmony is just fitting together. Dovetailing things.
The order of the world is only a thing as a temporary structure of things trying to tear apart from each other.
you can only experience sickness if you know health, and vice-versa.