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Raphael – The School of AthensYou are entitled to your ownopinions, but not your own

facts.

Hello Plato

That’s Sir Plato to you

424 – 348 BCE

Mosaic of Plato’s AcademyPompeii, 1st century CE

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A Couple Opposing Ideas• The more things

change, the morethey stay thesame…

• There is anunderlyingcommon naturethat all humansshare

• Over time,everythingchanges…– Consider a really,

REALLY long timespan

Change over Time

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Humans have not always acted human

• People started out as animals• We started out without any KNOWLEDGE

– MATH– SCIENCE– ART

• These are all INVENTIONS

• Our DNA evolved and so did our culture– We developed step by step from our simple beginnings– It started slow but only really got interesting in the last 5,000 years

• If it’s not written down, it’s not remembered, and it neverexisted.

Timeline

• Year Zero is the same date as when Christiansbelieve Jesus Christ was born

• But how are you supposed to measure the years if you’re not a Catholic Monk???

0Before Christ

Before Common Era

AnnoIn the Year ofDominiOur Lord

CommonEra

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The Ancient World

• Stone Age: 2.5 Millionyears ago

• Bronze Age– Early: 3300 BCE– Middle: 2000 BCE– Late: 1600 BCE

• Iron Age: 1200 BCE• Classical Period

Major Events

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Major Events

Imagine this area 5,000 years ago

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Imagine thisarea 5,000years ago

The Upper Sea

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Major Events

Primitive Man

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Human Migration

Human Migration

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Human Migration

The Ancient World

• Stone Age: 2.5 Millionyears ago

• Bronze Age– Early: 3300 BCE– Middle: 2000 BCE– Late: 1600 BCE

• Iron Age: 1200 BCE• Classical Period

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Mesopotamia

circa 5300 BCE – circa 600 BCE

Cuneiform

• Wedge-shape– Reed pressed into clay

• Developed around 3000BCE

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Gilgamesh!Gilgamesh and EnkiduThe Original Bromance

Cuneiform• Developed between 5000 to

3000 BCE– Began with pictographs– Slowly developed into words

and then letters• Most common form is

referred to as Akkadian• The oldest written text

– Two sheep God Inanna• The first known author:

– Enheduanna of Ur– 2285 – 2250 BCE– Priestess of the moon

goddess Inanna

• Used by major civilizationsof Mesopotamia– the Sumerians, Akkadians,

Babylonians, Elamites, Hatti,Hittites, Assyrians, Hurriansand others

• Major literary works– The Atrahasis– The Descent of Inanna– The Myth of Etana– The Enuma Elish– The Baal Cycle– The famous Epic of Gilgamesh

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Rosetta Stone

• Created in 196 BCE• The same text in three

languages– Egyptian hieroglyphics– Greek– Latin

• Without this, a lot ofancient literature wouldbe untranslatable

An Ancient World, Forgotten

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The Ancient World• Stone Age: 2.5 Million years ago• Bronze Age

– Early: 3300 BCE– Middle: 2000 BCE– Late: 1600 BCE

• Bronze Age Collapse– It’s like the end of an era– The world’s slate was wiped clean

• Iron Age: 1200 BCE• Classical Period

Europe Map

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Greece Map

Crete

Philosophy• The safest general

characterization of theEuropean philosophicaltradition is that it consists of aseries of footnotes to Plato.– Alfred North Whitehead

• The Meaning of Life or ThePurpose of Life– Different definitions, different

understandings of our purposeand why we are here

• Originally, philosophyconnected to all differentsubjects– The philosopher discussed

every part of the world– IT’s completely different now

• Important Names– Plato– Aristotle– Cicero– St. Augustine– St. Aquinas– Descartes– Hume– Rousseau– Locke– Kant– Hegel– Kierkegaard– Nietzsche

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Ancient Greece• circa 1100 BCE – 146 BCE

– Greek Dark Ages: 1100 BCE– Archaic Period: 750 BCE– Classical Period: 490 BCE– Hellenistic Period: 323 BCE

• Created the foundation ofWestern Cultures– Architecture– Art– Mathematics– Philosophy– Politics & Law– Science

2πrπr2

Raphael – The School of Athens

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Significant Greek Figures• Anaxagoras

– 500 BCE – 428 BCE• Anaximander

– 610 BCE – 546 BCE• Aristotle

– 384 BCE – 322 BCE• Democritus

– 460 BCE – 370 BCE• Empedocles

– 490 BCE – 430 BCE• Epicurus

– 341 BCE – 270 BCE• Euclid

– 323 BCE – 283 BCE• Heraclitus

– 535 BCE – 475 BCE

• Lucretius– 99 BCE – 53 BCE

• Parmenides– 515 BCE – 450 BCE

• Plato– 427 BCE – 347 BCE

• Pythagoras– 570 BCE – 495 BCE

• Socrates– 469 BCE – 399 BCE

• Thales– 620 BCE – 546 BCE

• Xenophanes– 570 – 478 BCE

• Xenophon– 430 BCE – 354 BCE

• Zeno– 490 BCE – 430 BCE

Significant Greek Figures• Thales

– 620 BCE – 546 BCE• Anaximander

– 610 BCE – 546 BCE• Pythagoras

– 570 BCE – 495 BCE• Xenophanes

– 570 – 478 BCE• Heraclitus

– 535 BCE – 475 BCE• Parmenides

– 515 BCE – 450 BCE• Anaxagoras

– 500 BCE – 428 BCE• Empedocles

– 490 BCE – 430 BCE• Zeno

– 490 BCE – 430 BCE

• Socrates– 469 BCE – 399 BCE

• Democritus– 460 BCE – 370 BCE

• Xenophon– 430 BCE – 354 BCE

• Plato– 427 BCE – 347 BCE

• Aristotle– 384 BCE – 322 BCE

• Epicurus– 341 BCE – 270 BCE

• Euclid– 323 BCE – 283 BCE

• Lucretius– 99 BCE – 53 BCE

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Plato: 424 BCE – 348 BCE

• Student of Socrates» 469 BCE – 399 BCE

• Teacher of Aristotle» 384 BCE – 322 BCE

• Dialogues– Discussions of art, logic,

mathematics, philosophy,rhetoric, etc.

• Lived in Athens• Founded the Academy in

Athens

S-P-A

• Socrates – 469 BCE• Plato – 424 BCE• Aristotle – 384 BCE

• You cannot conceive themany without the one.

• Plato

• Antithetical Values orBeliefs

• Everyone is either aPLATONIST or anARISTOTILIAN

• Everyone either looksfor SIMILARITIES orlooks for DIFFERENCES

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Plato• Believed in the Ideal• Theory of Forms

– This world is not the real world– The True, Real world exists “above” our own

• For every thing we see-feel-taste-hear-smell-think there is a True Form of it

• Plato believed any rule or definition of a thing ismerely a description and not the thing itself.

• Everything is an interpretation• The law that tells you how to be a good person is not

really THE GOOD but merely our description of it.

Plato’s Work: The DialoguesStructure of the Dialogues

• “Phaedrus” – circa 370 BCE• “Gorgias”• The Republic – circa 380 BCE

• “Ion”• “Apology”

• Central character:– Socrates

• Counterparts/foils todiscuss the argument– Present the opposing

sides to Socrates’premises

– Often named after theimportant foil in thedialogue

• Glaucon

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Ideal Forms

• Describe a dog.

We Learn the Truth By:

Plato:• Thinking about the TRUE

FORM• Thinking about the IDEAL

FORM

Aristotle:• Looking at the physical

object• Studying the world around

us

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Philosophy

Aristotelian

Platonic

Plato’s Opponents

The Sophists• “Sophia”

– Greek for wisdom• A Sophist is a person who

would teach the young menof Greek society– teach them how to be

involved in society• Taught for money

– Often charged exorbitanttuition

• Did not believe in anabsolute Truth or Good

Aristotle• 384 – 322 BCE• Student of Plato• Rejected the idea of Ideal

Forms– Focused on the physical world– WE discover and create

knowledge• Mr. Definition

– Wrote extensively tocategorize knowledge:

– Biology, Astronomy, Ethics,Politics

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The Allegory of the Cave

Allegory• Story based on metaphor• Explains complex moral

concepts• Concrete image represents

abstract thought• Presents the difference

between the world of falseappearance and reality

Plato’s Republic• Circa 380 BCE• Describes the ideal “polis”

(city-state) and the idealperson

• Written as a series ofdialogues

• The Philosopher King as theideal ruler– The educated elite rule

society

The Allegory of the Cave