phil 2002 wits_earlygreeks

PHIL 2002 ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY

John Ostrowickjohnostrowickcoza

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU

bull That about 2500 years ago a man named Herakleitos wrote about a concepthellip

bull and around the same time on the other side of the world a man named Lao Tzu wrote about the same concepthellip

λόγος

道

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU

bull And that this concept found its way into the Bible as one of the most famous verses of allhellip Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος

bull And that it came via an obscure cult called the Gnosticshellip

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU

bull And they spoke of a the concept manifest as a person called Wisdom who would come down to earth from God

σοφία

bull That about 2600 years ago a man named Anaximander said that we ultimately came from fish

bull That about 2550 years ago a man named Anaximenes said that the the moon is a rock and the sun is a hot rock

bull That about 2500 years ago a man named Democritus said that everything was made of atoms or void and that the strength of a substance was determined by bonds between the atoms

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU

NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION

Welcome to Phil 2002 Ancient Philosophy

bull Mathematics Geometry Physics Biology Philosophy

bull Democracy (wellhellip)

bull Of course other advanced civilisations had some of these and indeed gave them to the Greeks perhaps mathematics and astronomy at least But we owe them a lot itrsquos safe to say Western Civilisation is fundamentally from the Ancient Greeks

bull Remember that all sciences used to be called Philosophy

WHAT WE OWE THE GREEKS

bull Philosophers prior to Socrates (Sokratis)

bull Most we know through quotes biographies and myths or word of mouth which was ultimately transcribed

bull No original surviving materials

THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Thales

bull c 624 BC - c 546 BC Miletus on the west coast of Asia Minor what is now Aydin province in Turkey

bull Predicted solar eclipse of 585 BC

bull All things come from water

THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Anaximander c 611 BC - 546 BC Miletus

bull Student of Thales

bull Predicted earthquake

bull Drew a map of the known earth

bull Proposed a theory similar to evolution in which humans came from fish (missed a few steps though)

bull Proposed that the earth was a cylinder and tried to calculate the distance to the sun

bull Proposed that everything came from the Apeiron meaning the ldquolimitlessrdquo ldquoboundlessrdquo ldquoindefiniterdquo or ldquoeternalrdquo or ldquounlimitedrdquo

THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Anaximenes c 585 - c 528 BC Miletus

bull Student of Anaximander (make correction in your course notes)

bull All things come from air

bull Explained condensation from gas to liquid to solid

bull Earth is a disk stars are exhalations of the earth the sun is a burning stone and the earth just a rock Believed that both orbit the earth Remember at this time that most people thought the moon and sun were deities

bull Earthquakes due to the earthrsquos crust cracking

bull Rainbows caused by the sun on air of different density (Refraction correct)

THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Pythagoras c 570 BC - c 495 BC Samos

bull Pythagorasrsquo Theorem He is said to have been the first to prove it

bull Said to be the first to call himself ldquoPhilosopherrdquo

bull Believed to be a prophet of some sort and led an elite cabal in Croton Italy Influenced Plato eg in the idea of a closed circle of philosopher kings mystical origins and relationships as the basis of metaphysics

bull ldquoThe so-called Pythagoreans who were the first to take up mathematics not only advanced this subject but saturated with it they fancied that the principles of mathematics were the principles of all thingsrdquo mdashAristotle Metaphysics 1ndash5

bull Believed that musical notes and harmony represented mathematical ratios

THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Empedocles c 490 BC - c 430 BC Agrigentum Sicily

bull There are four elements earth air fire water

bull ldquoPowersrdquo bring the elements together and separate them The two ldquopowersrdquo are ldquoloverdquo (attraction) and ldquostriferdquo (clashing or separation) Compare to bonding in chemistry

bull Believed in cyclical universe which forms and re-forms compare to modern Wheeler universes model

bull Light comes out of our eyes and touches objects hence we see them

bull We have pores all over our body which permit respiration

THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Leucippus

bull Early 5th century BC died 5th century BC Abdera or Miletus

bull ldquoNothing occurs at random but everything for a reason and by necessityrdquo As such he was the first determinist

bull Originated atomic theory (Often mis-credited to his student Democritus next)

THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Democritus c 460 BC - c 370 BC Abdera Thrace

bull Considered the father of science

bull Everything is made of atoms (indivisible parts a-tomos) which themselves canrsquot be destroyed This idea most plausibly originated with his teacher Leucippus Between atoms is empty space the void

bull Solidity is a function of the strength of the bonds between atoms Density and materials strength relates to how close neatly arranged or interlocking the atoms are This description closely matches modern chemistry he envisaged bonds as hooks

bull Proposed a form of empiricist relativism about truth (we only know what we perceive from our own point of view) The best truths are a priori (known before observation) and come from the mind The least reliable truths are those which are observed This view agrees largely with Plato

THE PRESOCRATICS


bull Sense information only becomes legitimate once reasoned about and its aetiologia or cause is discerned In reality all is atoms but we see things otherwise we see objects but actually itrsquos all just atoms and void This view also agrees largely with Plato

bull Atoms coming from objects give us vision Compare to modern waveparticle duality photons

bull Thought and dreams are atoms moving around in us Soul can be destroyed like anything else made of atoms (Disagrees with Plato)

bull Significant achievements in geometry cited by others

bull Earth is round and was formed by accretion of matter (atoms) (as per modern accretion disk theory) many worlds exist (planets) and they are not eternal (universe has a live span) All this agrees with modern cosmology

THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Useful to know in science and in this course as you will probably have to transliterate (not translate) some Ancient Greek phrases

bull Α α Β β Γ ɣ Δ δ Ε ε Ζ ζ Η η Θ θ Ι ɩ Κ κ Λ λ Μ μ Ν ν Ξ ξ Ο ο Π π Ρ ρ Σ σ or ς Τ τ Υ υ Φ φ Χ χ Ψ ψ Ω ωApproximately A V G D E Z E Th I K L M NX Ŏ P R S T U F Kh Ps Ō

THE GREEK ALPHABET

bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Heraclitus (Herakleitos) Parmenides and Lao Tzu all have similar views They differ primarily on the question of whether everything is always changing or whether change is an illusion

bull We can interpret them literally or as trying to make mystical claims that is claims about a non-observable reality or metaphysical reality

PRESOCRATIC GREEK AND CHINESE MYSTICISM

bull Heraclitus (Herakleitos) c 540-480 BC of Ephesus

bull The concept of the Logos (λόγος)

bull All that we have left of his work is a collection of about 130 sayings many extracted from citations in the works of other authors called The Cosmic Fragments

PRESOCRATIC GREEK AND CHINESE MYSTICISM HERACLITUS

bull (1) It is wise to hearken not to me but to my Word (Logos) and to confess that all things are one

bull (2) Though this Word is true evermore yet men are as unable to understand it when they hear it for the first time as before they have heard it at all For though all things come to pass in accordance with this Word men seem as if they had no experience of them when they make trial of words and deeds such as I set forth dividing each thing according to its kind and showing how it truly is But other men know not what they are doing when awake even as they forget what they do in sleep


bull (3) Fools when they do hear are like the deaf of them does the saying bear witness that they are absent when present

bull (4) Eyes and ears are bad witnesses to men if they have souls that understand not their language

bull (5) The many do not take heed of such things as those they meet with nor do they mark them when they are taught though they think they do

bull (6) Knowing not how to listen nor how to speak


bull (7) If you do not expect the unexpected you will not find it for it is hard to be sought out and difficult

bull (8) Those who seek for gold dig up much earth and find a little

bull (10) Nature loves to hide

bull (13) The things that can be seen heard and learned are what I prize the most

bull (15) The eyes are more exact witnesses than the ears


bull (16) The learning of many things teacheth not understanding else would it have taught Hesiod and Pythagoras and again Xenophanes and Hekataios

bull (17) Pythagoras son of Mnesarchos practised scientific inquiry beyond all other men and making a selection of these writings claimed for his own wisdom what was but a knowledge of many things and an imposture

bull (18) Of all whose discourses I have heard there is not one who attains to understanding that wisdom is apart from all


bull (19) Wisdom is one thing It is to know the thought by which all things are steered through all things

bull (20) This world which is the same for all no one of gods or men has made but it was ever is now and ever shall be an ever-living Fire with measures of it kindling and measures going out

bull (21) The transformations of Fire are first of all sea and half of the sea is earth half whirlwind


bull (23) It becomes liquid sea and is measured by the same tale as before it became earth

bull (24) Fire is want and surfeit

bull (25) Fire lives the death of air and air lives the death of fire water lives the death of earth earth that of water

bull (26) Fire in its advance will judge and convict all things


bull (27) How can one hide from that which never sets

bull (28) It is the thunderbolt that steers the course of all things

bull (31) If there were no sun it would be night for all the other stars could do

bull (35) Hesiod (cf Homer) is most mens teacher Men are sure he knew very many things a man who did not know day or night They are one


bull (36) God is day and night winter and summer war and peace surfeit and hunger but he takes various shapes just as fire when it is mingled with spices is named according to the savour of each

bull (39) Cold things become warm and what is warm cools what is wet dries and the parched is moistened

bull (40) It scatters and it gathers it advances and retires


bull (41 42) You cannot step twice into the same rivers for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you

bull (43) Homer was wrong in saying Would that strife might perish from among gods and men He did not see that he was praying for the destruction of the universe for if his prayer were heard all things would pass away

bull (45) Men do not know how what is at variance agrees with itself It is an attunement of opposite tensions like that of the bow and the lyre

bull (46) It is the opposite which is good for us

PRESOCRATIC GREEK AND CHINESE MYSTICISM HERACLITUSποταμοῖσι τοῖσιν αὐτοῖσιν ἐμβαίνουσιν ἕτερα καὶ ἕτερα ὕδατα ἐπιρρεῖ

bull (47) The hidden attunement is better than the open

bull (50) The straight and the crooked path of the fullers comb is one and the same

bull (51) Asses would rather have straw than gold

bull (51a) Oxen are happy when they find bitter vetches to eat

bull (52) The sea is the purest and the impurest water Fish can drink it and it is good for them to men it is undrinkable and destructive

bull (53) Swine wash in the mire and barnyard fowls in dust


bull (57) Good and ill are one

bull (59) Couples are things whole and things not whole what is drawn together and what is drawn asunder the harmonious and the discordant The one is made up of all things and all things issue from the one

bull (61) To God all things are fair and good and right but men hold some things wrong and some right

bull (65) The wise is one only It is unwilling and willing to be called by the name of Zeus


bull (66) The bow (βιός) is called life (βίος) but its work is death

bull (67) Mortals are immortals and immortals are mortals the one living the others death and dying the others life

bull (68) For it is death to souls to become water and death to water to become earth But water comes from earth and from water soul

bull (69) The way up and the way down is one and the same


bull (70) In the circumference of a circle the beginning and end are common

bull (71) You will not find the boundaries of soul by travelling in any direction so deep is the measure of it

bull (78) And it is the same thing in us that is quick and dead awake and asleep young and old the former are shifted and become the latter and the latter in turn are shifted and become the former

bull (79) Time is a child playing draughts the kingly power is a childs


bull (80) I have sought for myself

bull (81) We step and do not step into the same rivers we are and are not (Compare 41 42)

bull (83) It rests by changing

bull (92) So we must follow the common yet though my Word is common the many live as if they had a wisdom of their own


bull (96) The way of man has no wisdom but that of God has

bull (97) Man is called a baby by God even as a child by a man

bull (104) It is not good for men to get all they wish to get It is sickness that makes health pleasant evil good hunger plenty weariness rest

bull (120) One day is like any other

bull (121) Mans character is his fate


bull It seems that Heraclitus is identifying God as ldquothe onerdquo ldquoItrdquo and ldquothe Logosrdquo sometimes accepting the term ldquoZeusrdquo (1 65)

bull He claims that metaphysically speaking subdivisions of existence are illusory everything is just an aspect or part of ldquothe onerdquo or ldquothe Logosrdquo which is eternal (1 2 20 27 35 36 65 67 68 69 70)

bull He believes all is balanced (and hence one 25 35 36 39 40 43 45 46 47 (ldquoattunementrdquo) 50 57 59 61 66 67 68 69 70 78 104) Combined with (2) above we see that everything is a single dynamic whole the One or Logos

bull Dispute about whether Heraclitus believed contradictions were permissible Heraclitus doesnrsquot say literally that a bow and a string are the same thing


bull One will see that there are many parallels between Heraclitus and (forthcoming Lao Tzursquos Tao Te Ching)

bull He claims like Lao Tzu (as we shall see eg TTC Ch 1) that the Logos is ineffable (2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 47 92)

bull While Heraclitus supports empiricism that is that we can learn from the senses (13 15) he also rejects such learning as true wisdom (16 17 18 19) In 96 he advocates for the divine Logos as true wisdom Compare this usage to the Gnostic usage of Wisdom and compare to Platorsquos Line analogy


bull The Logos or God controls everything 28 and 40 In 28 he refers to the Thunderbolt which is an allusion to Zeus or Jupiter (Divus Pater divine father) the bolt slinger See also 65

bull He speaks against greed (24 26 104) as it destroys everything Material goods are of low value (51 51a 52 53) This also agrees with Taoism What is valuable to some is not valuable to others (51 52 53)

bull Everything is in flux change is constant 41 42 80 81 Verse 80 in particular is interesting because it can be taken to imply that he didnrsquot find himself which presages Humersquos skepticism of a centralised self This view is supported by 71 Verse 83 ldquoIt rests by changingrdquo suggests that change is the nature of the Logos itself it is constantly changing


Πάντα ῥεῖ

bull The remaining verses and our interpretation of them

bull (31) If there were no sun it would be night for all the other stars could do This seems to suggest that he understood that day was caused by the sunrsquos visibility Metaphorically speaking it might mean that God is greatest or something similar

bull (79) Time is a child playing draughts the kingly power is a childs This presages the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam



bull (121) Mans character is his fateThese two verses seem to presage Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) In Nietzsche we find the doctrine of Eternal Recurrence that is that our lives and events in them keep repeating


bull Translations of ldquoLogosrdquo There are a number of conflicting translations of Logos (λόγος) Very few ancient Greek authors use it in the same way as Heraclitus For example reason logic consideration

cause (αιτία) ratio (αναλογία) speech oration word argument theory description gather collect count tally


bull Thank you


bull Parmenides c 515 - 450 BC of Elea (Modern Velia) originally of Samos

bull Parmenides and the Eleatic school are generally credited as being the first to introduce logical arguments rather than assertions as their modus operandi

PRESOCRATIC GREEK AND CHINESE MYSTICISM PARMENIDES

bull Chief claims

bull That there is no coming-to-be or annihilation no change or motion despite appearances to the contrary

bull That everything is one and the parts (and later argues that) properties of things create the thing

bull That only one idea makes sense namely that ldquoit isrdquo

bull That our senses are unreliable and misleading


bull THE WAY OF TRUTH

bull (2) Look steadfastly with thy mind at things though afar as if they were at hand Thou canst not cut off what is from holding fast to what is neither scattering itself abroad in order nor coming together

bull (3) It is all one to me where I begin for I shall come back again there

bull (4 5) Come now I will tell theemdashand do thou hearken to my saying and carry it awaymdashthe only two ways of search that can be thought of The first namely that It is and that it is impossible for it not to be is the way of belief for truth is its companion The other namely that It is not and that it must needs not bemdashthat I tell thee is a path that none can learn of at all For thou canst not know what is notmdashthat is impossiblemdashnor utter it for it is the same thing that can be thought and that can be



bull (6) It needs must be that what can be spoken and thought is for it is possible for it to be and it is not possible for what is nothing to be This is what I bid thee ponder I hold thee back from this first way of inquiry and from this other also upon which mortals knowing naught wander two-faced for helplessness guides the wandering thought in their breasts [mindschests] so that they are borne along stupefied like men deaf and blind Undiscerning crowds who hold that it is and is not[] the same and not the same and all things travel in opposite directions



bull (7) For this shall never be proved that the things that are not are and do thou restrain thy thought from this way of inquiry



bull (8) One path only is left for us to speak of namely that It is In this path are very many tokens that what is[] is uncreated and indestructible for it is complete immovable and without end Nor was it ever nor will it be for now it is all at once a continuous one For what kind of origin for it wilt thou look for In what way and from what source could it have drawn its increase I shall not let thee say nor think that it came from what is not for it can neither be thought nor uttered that anything is not And if it came from nothing what need could have made it arise later rather than sooner Therefore must it either be altogether or be not at all Nor will the force of truth suffer aught to arise besides itself from that which is not Wherefore justice doth not loose her fetters and let anything come into being or pass away but holds it fast Our judgment thereon depends on this Is it or is it not Surely it is adjudged as it needs must be that we are to set aside the one way as unthinkable and nameless (for it is no true way) and that the other path is real and true How then can what is be going to be in the future



bull (8 contd) Or how could it come into being If it came into being it is not nor is it if it is going to be in the future Thus [] becoming extinguished and passing away [is] not to be heard ofNor is it divisible since it is all alike and there is no more of it in one place than in another to hinder it from holding together nor less of it but everything is full of what is Wherefore it is wholly continuous for what is is in contact with what is



bull (8 contd) Moreover it is immovable in the bonds of mighty chains without beginning and without end since coming into being and passing away have been driven afar and true belief has cast them away It is the same and it rests in the self-same place abiding in itself And thus it remaineth constant in its place for hard necessity keeps it in the bonds of the limit that holds it fast on every side Wherefore it is not permitted to what is to be infinite for it is in need of nothing while if it were infinite it would stand in need of everything



bull (8 contd) The thing that can be thought and that for the sake of which the thought exists[] is the same for you cannot find thought without something that is as to which it is uttered And there is not and never shall be anything besides what is since fate has chained it so as to be whole and immovable Wherefore all these things are but names which mortals have given believing them to be truemdashcoming into being and passing away being and not being change of place and alteration of bright colour



bull (8 contd) Since then it has a furthest limit it is complete on every side like the mass of a rounded sphere equally poised from the centre in every direction for it cannot be greater or smaller in one place than in another For there is no nothing that could keep it from reaching out equally nor can aught [anything] that is [] more here and less there than what is since it is all inviolable For the point from which it is equal in every direction tends equally to the limits


bull THE WAY OF BELIEF

bull (d) Mortals have made up their minds to name two forms one of which they should not name and that is where they go astray from the truth They have distinguished them as opposite in form and have assigned to them marks distinct from one another To the one they allot the fire of heaven gentle very light in every direction the same as itself but not the same as the other The other is just the opposite to it dark night a compact and heavy body



bull (9) Now that all things have been named light and night and the names which belong to the power of each have been assigned to these things and to those everything is full at once of light and dark night both equal since neither has aught to do with the other



bull (10 11) And thou shalt know the substance of the sky and all the signs in the sky and the resplendent works of the glowing suns pure torch and whence they arose And thou shalt learn likewise of the wandering deeds of the round-faced moon and of her substance Thou shalt know too the heavens that surround us whence they arose and how Necessity took them and bound them to keep the limits of the stars how the earth and the sun and the moon and the sky that is common to all and the Milky Way and the outermost Olympos and the burning might of the stars arose



bull (12) The narrower bands were filled with unmixed fire and those next them with night and in the midst of these rushes their portion of fire In the midst of these is the divinity that directs the course of all things for she is the beginner of all painful birth and all begetting driving the female to the embrace of the male and the male to that of the female



bull (16) For just as thought stands at any time to the mixture of its erring organs so does it come to men for that which thinks is the same namely the substance of the limbs in each and every man for their thought is that of which there is more in them

bull (19) Thus according to mens opinions did things come into being and thus they are now In time they will grow up and pass away To each of these things men have assigned a fixed name


bull Two interpretations of Parmenides

bull Parmenides is disputing that what we perceive is the reality

bull Necessary for subsequent empiricists such as Democritus to postulate a physicalist theory (atomism) that could explain how it is that we see a physical world in which things change yet why this could be an illusion

bull The familiar answers that we now know are (a) that everything is made of atoms which consist mostly of empty space versus (b) the Cartesian Skepticrsquos view that all is an illusion created by [an evil demon a Matrix Supercomputer etc]


bull Recall earlier that we said that Parmenides held the following Next to each proposition we have the verses or paragraphs that support this view

bull That there is no coming-to-be or annihilation no change or motion (2 4 5 6 8) despite appearances to the contrary

bull That everything is one and the parts (and he later argues) properties of things create the thing (d ie the paragraph before 9 19)

bull That only one idea makes sense namely that ldquoit isrdquo (8)


bull Parmenidesrsquo view summarised (contd)

bull That our senses are unreliable and misleading (a b c 6 but this is also a logical a consequence of the propositions above)

bull The contingent is unreliable and the a priori is reliable (a b c 4 5 8) In particular in 8 he says ldquoWherefore all these things are but names which mortals have given believing them to be truemdashcoming into being and passing away being and not being change of place and alteration of bright colourrdquo


bull ldquoWhen you think you think of something when you use a name it must be the name of something Therefore both thought and language require objects outside of themselves And since you can never think of a thing or speak of it at one time or another whatever can be thought of or spoken must exist at all times Consequently there can be no change since change consists in things coming into being or ceasing to berdquo (Russell B History of Western Philosophy Ch 5 p67)


bull Russell argues that this position depends on a theory of reference in which the meaning of words has to refer to extant physical objects (ibid)

bull And since we might refer to entities that do not exist anymore eg George Washington it must be that either Parmenides is simply wrong or that therersquos something that wersquore missing in the argument (ibid)

bull One way around this is to argue that the statements are true for objects that have ceased to exist if the referrents themselves are just words (noises) eg ldquoa cow has two hornsrdquo does refer to an existing object but ldquoa unicorn has one hornrdquo refers just to the word ldquounicornrdquo (p68)

bull Or wersquore not really speaking about the man who happened to have that name since our words may refer to a memory of him or an idea of him that we got from a book etc and these things continue to exist


bull Or Words do not have a constant meaning (ibid) and therefore cannot refer indefinitely to the same thing Likewise a recollection of a past event is not the same as the past event itself yet we can refer to both by the same term (multiple similar references for one word) What we know is our recollection of the past What still exists is our recollection not the events to which they referred (ibid p69)

bull All Parmenides has achieved is persuade us that substance cannot be created or destroyed (p70) which is the conservation of matter-energy in modern science


bull If we take it that ldquoitrdquo means ldquoany physical objectrdquo as Russell does it seems to make the entire philosophy obviously false since it is clear that physical objects do get destroyed broken into parts change etc and there does seem to be a past and future Without explaining why or how this impression we have is an illusion qv the atomists Parmenides makes no sense


bull It seems that the easiest way to make sense of Parmenides is to assume that the ldquoitrdquo or ldquowhat isrdquo in his poem is in fact the same thing as Heraclitusrsquo Logos

bull Agreements It (the Logos or What Is) does not change and is One Thing multiplicity is an illusion The universe is balanced and stable (in a sense)

bull Disagreements It (the Logos or What Is) is constant because it is always in flux Things come and go into being and this is the balance of the universe (Heraclitus says this Parmenides disagrees)


bull (3) It is all one to me where I begin for I shall come back again thereHere we see Parmenides echo Heraclitus JB120121 Things repeat

bull (4 5) Come now I will tell theemdashand do thou hearken to my saying and carry it awaymdashthe only two ways of search that can be thought of The first namely that It is and that it is impossible for it not to be is the way of belief for truth is its companion In other words a priori truth is to be preferred it is not possible but that ldquoItrdquo exists

bull The other namely that It is not and that it must needs not bemdashthat I tell thee is a path that none can learn of at allIn other words contingent truths (that things can cease to be) are impossible or on a Heraclitan interpretation the Logos is eternal (JB2)


bull For thou canst not know what is notmdashthat is impossiblemdashnor utter it for it is the same thing that can be thought and that can be(7) For this shall never be proved that the things that are not arehellip You cannot know anything about the non-existent Therefore only presently-existing things are knowable And here again ldquoItrdquo is the thing that can be known and which can exist

bull (6) It needs must be that what can be spoken and thought is for it is possible for it to be and it is not possible for what is nothing to be mortals knowing naught wander two-faced Undiscerning crowds who hold that it is and is not[] the same and not the same and all things travel in opposite directions


bull People are ignorant and think that things are made of opposites but ldquoItrdquo necessarily exists because it is possible for it to exist and it is not possible for that which is nothing to exist If this is correct like Heraclitus it sounds like Parmenides is denying that contradiction is possible in regards to the properties of existence or ldquoItrdquo

bull (8) One path only is left for us to speak of namely that It is In this path are very many tokens that what is[] is uncreated and indestructible for it is complete immovable and without end

bull ldquoItrdquo exists (eternally we assume) Existence never ceases The contingent thing of the world are just tokens or representations of the one thing that exists (ldquoItrdquo) ldquoItrdquo however is uncreated indestructible and eternal (Wersquoll see more about Platorsquos Forms later)


bull Nor was it ever nor will it be for now it is all at once a continuous one ldquoItrdquo is just one thing

bull If it came into being it is not nor is it if it is going to be in the future Thus [] becoming extinguished and passing away [is] not to be heard of Nor is it divisible since it is all alike and there is no more of it in one place than in another to hinder it from holding together nor less of it but everything is full of what is Wherefore it is wholly continuous for what is is in contact with what is


bull If ldquoItrdquo exists it could not have ceased to exist at any stage since nothing comes out of nothing Ex nihilo nihil fit The conservation of matter-energy He seems to be saying that ldquoItrdquo cannot be contingent since nothing comes out of nothing Likewise it cannot be destroyed for existence cannot be destroyed

bull What he is saying makes no empirical sense So either he does mean matter or stuff in general in which case he is right that it canrsquot be destroyed but wrong that it canrsquot be changed moved or transmuted (See Russellrsquos critique)

bull On the assumption that hersquos able to see that material objects do change and move it seems to follow that ldquoItrdquo in Parmenides does not crudely mean ldquomatterrdquo or ldquostuff rdquo


bull Moreover it is immovable in the bonds of mighty chains for hard necessity keeps it in the bonds of the limit that holds it fast on every side since fate has chained it (see also 10 11 for more on necessity) Here he seems to be presaging the Ontological Argument from St Anselm (Existence is a form of perfection the most perfect thing could not fail to exist God is the most perfect thing therefore God exists) Here Parmenides is saying that ldquoItrdquo necessarily exists Which is the same thing as claiming it is an ontologically necessary being


bull Wherefore it is not permitted to what is to be infinite for it is in need of nothing while if it were infinite it would stand in need of everythingHere he denies that ldquoItrdquo is infinite yet elsewhere he talks of it existing forever That certainly means that ldquoItrdquo is infinite Odd Later on he talks of ldquoitrdquo reaching everything which suggests the divine property of Omnipresence

bull Since then it has a furthest limit it is complete on every side like the mass of a rounded sphere equally poised from the centre in every direction it is equal in every direction to the limitsThis passage only makes sense in the context of mysticism


bull The Way of Belief seems incoherent with the first part In the first part hersquos talking about existence or ldquoItrdquo being one eternal all-encompassing never being created or destroyed etc In the second part he talks about contingent truths or contingent entities Once this is clear it no longer seems incoherent(d) Mortals have made up their minds to name two forms one of which they should not name and that is where they go astray from the truth They have distinguished them as opposite in form and have assigned to them marks distinct from one another


bull In the midst of these is the divinity that directs the course of all things for she is the beginner of all painful birth and all begetting driving the female to the embrace of the male and the male to that of the female

bull (19) Thus according to mens opinions did things come into being and thus they are now In time they will grow up and pass away To each of these things men have assigned a fixed name These do not make sense if ldquoItrdquo is considered to be ldquoall existencerdquo or ldquoall matterrdquo or ldquoall substancerdquo since here he clearly talks about a female deity creating matter and that it is distinguishable into opposite forms ldquoaccording to menrsquos opinionsrdquo

bull This suggests that the first part of the poem (1-8) deals with ldquoItrdquo or ultimate or ontologically necessary reality the Logos perhaps whereas (9-19) deals with material or contingent reality


bull Thank you


bull Lao Tzu 老子 is said to be the founder of the religion or philosophy of Taoism one of the largest religious systems of China

bull Ssu-ma Chrsquoien (145-86 BC) says a number of similar personages variously called Li Erh or Li Tan may claim the title of being the ldquorealrdquo Lao Tzu The name itself means something like ldquoold manrdquo ldquoold childrdquo or ldquovenerable teacherrdquo

bull Li ErhLi Tan was a historian in the city of Loyang and a contemporary of the more famous Kung Fu Tze more commonly known in the West as Confucius (551-479 BC)

bull Penned his book only on the final demand of a gatekeeper whilst leaving Loyang in disgust in order to go into seclusion

bull Most likely a multi-author compilation of sayings that were circulating at the time

PRESOCRATIC GREEK AND CHINESE MYSTICISM LAO TZU

bull The Tao Te Ching The Classic Book (ching) of the Way (Tao) and its Virtue (Te) or possibly lsquothe Path to Virtue Bookrsquo

bull The basic principles include

bull Rejection of sophistication complexity involvement fame fortune glamour mdash detachment

bull Passivity and peacefulness ldquoWu Weirdquo mdash do without doing do not fuss things will come to their own of their own accord

bull Becoming one with or becoming like the Way of the universe or nature

bull That everything is balanced and truly one

bull ldquoTaordquo is translated as ldquowayrdquo or ldquoroadrdquo or ldquopath to reasonrdquo but it means more or less the same as Anaximanderrsquos Apeiron or Heraclitusrsquo Logos (λόγος) Or ldquoThe way the universe isrdquo


bull As the book is quite lengthy we will only give a few sample verses Please see your course handout for the full required verses (chapters) or simply search online


道可道非常道名可名非常名

bull Chapter 1The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal TaoThe name that can be named is not the eternal name The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth The named is the mother of myriad things Thus constantly without desire one observes its essence Constantly with desire one observes its manifestationsThese two emerge together but differ in name The unity is said to be the mystery Mystery of mysteries the door to all wonders


bull Chapter 2When the world knows beauty as beauty ugliness arises When it knows good as good evil arisesThus being and non-being produce each other Difficult and easy bring about each otherLong and short reveal each other High and low support each otherhellip Therefore the sagesManage the work of detached actionsConduct the teaching of no words They work with myriad things but do not control They create but do not possess They act but do not presume They succeed but do not dwell on success It is because they do not dwell on success that it never goes away


bull Chapter 25There is something formlessly createdBorn before Heaven and Earth So silent So etherealIndependent and changelessCirculating and ceaselessIt can be regarded as the mother of the worldI do not know its name Identifying it I call it Tao


bull Chapter 29Those who wish to take the world and control itI see that they cannot succeedThe world is a sacred instrumentOne cannot control itThe one who controls it will fail The one who grasps it will lose


bull Chapter 37The Tao is constant in non-action Yet there is nothing it does not do If the sovereign can hold on to this All things shall transform themselvesTransformed yet wishing to achieveI shall restrain them with the simplicity of the nameless The simplicity of the nameless They shall be without desire Without desire using stillnessThe world shall steady itself


bull Chapter 40The returning is the movement of the Tao The weak is the utilization of the TaoThe myriad things of the world are born of beingBeing is born of non-being


bull Chapter 42Tao produces oneOne produces two Two produce three Three produce myriad thingsMyriad things backed by yin and embracing yangAchieve harmony by integrating their energy


bull Chapter 64Act on it when it has not yet begun Treat it when it is not yet chaoticA tree thick enough to embraceGrows from the tiny saplingA tower of nine levels Starts from the dirt heapA journey of a thousand miles Begins beneath the feetThe one who meddles will failThe one who grasps will loseTherefore sages do not meddle and thus do not fail hellip


bull Chapter 77The Tao of Heaven Is like drawing a bowLower that which is high Raise that which is low Reduce that which has excess Add to that which is lackingThe Tao of heaven Reduces the excessive And adds to the lackinghellip


bull Common themes

bull Wu Wei mdash inaction mdash ldquodo without doingrdquo mdash passivity mdash not making a fuss or ldquocontendingrdquo or ldquostrivingrdquo (competing) 2 3 8 9 12 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 29 31 37 47 48 57 63 64 66 71 81

bull The Tao is ineffable 1 4 14 25 41

bull The Tao is universal or omnipresent or inevitableunavoidable 14 25

bull Everything is One opposites are illusory in a sense or come together in One Yin and Yang 1 2 11 20 22 36 41 42 77

bull The Tao returns upon itself is cyclic 16 22 25 40 Compare to Logos in Theaetetus 179c later on

bull Tao Te Ching seems to argue that Wu Wei is a necessary consequence of the Tao

bull Note the similarities to Heraclitus and Parmenides everything is one the Logos is ineffable everything is one in the Logos distinctions are illusory the Logos or Tao is universal and cyclic


bull Thank you


bull ldquoIn the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was Godrdquo

bull ldquoWordrdquo here is ldquoLogosrdquo in the Ancient Greek and ldquoTaordquo in the Chinese

bull Possibly sneaked in via Gnosticism (Letrsquos see why)

bull Another interesting Christian parallel between Parmenides Heraclitus and Lao Tzu about their claims that all things are one that the one truth or ldquoItrdquo or ldquoLogosrdquo or ldquoTaordquo is undifferentiated as a whole is the doctrine of Divine Simplicity (hellip)


INFLUENCES ON CHRISTIANITY

bull Gnosticism

bull That there is a greater God than Yahweh namely the Bythos or Monad (The Deep or The One) and this God lives in a transcendent place known as the ldquoPleromardquo

bull The world as we know it was created by opposing lower deities or forces specifically the Demiurge (δημιουργός) meaning the peoplesrsquo labourer or the craftsman

bull That the true God periodically sends a messenger namely its feminine aspect Σοφiacuteα (Sophia Wisdom) as the Logos down to earth to provide γνῶσις (Gnosis knowledge)

bull Since the world is an inferior copy of the True World (cf Platorsquos ldquoFormsrdquo which we will see later) it follows that the world and the Demiurge are inferior and even evil

bull The goal of life is to become one again or atone with the true God



bull Criticisms

bull Nothing changes vs everything changes Obvious contradiction So one has to do a lot of work in order to make any sense of it at all

bull 1 The claims made by all three authors seem to largely be statements of belief or declarations bald assertions (except for Parmenides who does have some arguments but whom Russell already criticises above) These authors generally do not argue for their claims and prima facie their claims disagree with empirical experience and only have some intuitive appeal rather than standing alone as credible arguments Thus anyone who is sympathetic to these authors needs to first provide evidence and an argument in support of their views


bull Criticisms

bull 2 The claim made by all three authors that distinctions are illusory and all things are in fact one or unity is either trivially true or plain false It is trivially true in the sense that it is obvious that black and white are the same (in both being shades or colours) and it is obvious that pain and pleasure are the same (in both being sensation states) But that is not an interesting claim to make The stronger claim that they are really the same is obviously false If however the claim that they are needed by each other in order to exist for example as the Tao Te Ching argues and that they are therefore one is actually an epistemic demand not an ontological demand Because if you read these passages again yoursquoll see that the differences between things are differences as knowable ie epistemic differences and yet the author claims that the differences do not in fact exist (ontological claim) To make this claim plausible theyrsquod have to convincingly argue for a breakdown in the causal chain between the physical (ontological) and then empirical (observed differences) and hence the epistemological (belief) states about observed differences One way to do this is skepticism


bull Criticisms

bull In other words yes we donrsquot know what really distinguishes white until we see black (or vice versa) but it doesnrsquot mean that we canrsquot see white at all till we see black or worse that white or black is not real

bull Consider this We can experience say strawberries without first experiencing the smell of burning sulphur These smells might be taken as opposites but they arenrsquot needed in order for us to know the difference or for there to be a difference in fact or for just to simply be able to smell strawberries de facto There is no opposite of strawberries Hence we do not need to first smell burning sulphur before we can smell strawberries (or vice versa) so the claim that all things which appear different are in fact one would be false since these arenrsquot even required epistemically to demarcate differences in some cases Many other belief states (eg that I am sick that I can hear you that 2+2=4) do not require contrasting belief states much less contrasting and illusory ontological states


bull Thank you



WHAT IF I TOLD YOU

bull That about 2500 years ago a man named Herakleitos wrote about a concepthellip

bull and around the same time on the other side of the world a man named Lao Tzu wrote about the same concepthellip

λόγος

道

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU



WHAT IF I TOLD YOU


σοφία




WHAT IF I TOLD YOU











THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Thales




THE PRESOCRATICS








THE PRESOCRATICS








THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Leucippus




THE PRESOCRATICS






THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS



THE GREEK ALPHABET

bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you



WHAT IF I TOLD YOU



WHAT IF I TOLD YOU


σοφία




WHAT IF I TOLD YOU











THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Thales




THE PRESOCRATICS








THE PRESOCRATICS








THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Leucippus




THE PRESOCRATICS






THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS



THE GREEK ALPHABET

bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you



WHAT IF I TOLD YOU


σοφία




WHAT IF I TOLD YOU











THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Thales




THE PRESOCRATICS








THE PRESOCRATICS








THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Leucippus




THE PRESOCRATICS






THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS



THE GREEK ALPHABET

bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you






WHAT IF I TOLD YOU











THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Thales




THE PRESOCRATICS








THE PRESOCRATICS








THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Leucippus




THE PRESOCRATICS






THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS



THE GREEK ALPHABET

bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you













THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Thales




THE PRESOCRATICS








THE PRESOCRATICS








THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Leucippus




THE PRESOCRATICS






THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS



THE GREEK ALPHABET

bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you



bull Thales




THE PRESOCRATICS








THE PRESOCRATICS








THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Leucippus




THE PRESOCRATICS






THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS



THE GREEK ALPHABET

bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you










THE PRESOCRATICS








THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Leucippus




THE PRESOCRATICS






THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS



THE GREEK ALPHABET

bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you










THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Leucippus




THE PRESOCRATICS






THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS



THE GREEK ALPHABET

bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you









THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Leucippus




THE PRESOCRATICS






THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS



THE GREEK ALPHABET

bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you









THE PRESOCRATICS

bull Leucippus




THE PRESOCRATICS






THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS



THE GREEK ALPHABET

bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you



bull Leucippus




THE PRESOCRATICS






THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS



THE GREEK ALPHABET

bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you








THE PRESOCRATICS







THE PRESOCRATICS



THE GREEK ALPHABET

bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you









THE PRESOCRATICS



THE GREEK ALPHABET

bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you





THE GREEK ALPHABET

bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you



bull Thank you

THE PRESOCRATICS































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you

































































































Πάντα ῥεῖ











bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you













bull Thank you





bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you






bull Chief claims











































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you








































































































bull Thank you





































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you






































bull Common themes









bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you



bull Thank you








bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you









bull Gnosticism








bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you



bull Criticisms




bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you



bull Criticisms



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you



bull Criticisms




bull Thank you



bull Thank you



phil 2002 wits_earlygreeks

Education

presocratics anaximander

known earth

presocratics anaximenes

presocratics thales

ancient greeks

student of anaximander

greeks philosophers

concept manifest