In these notes, I will briefly sketch the history of ancient Greek philosophy, which is divided into four parts, namely:
- The Problem of the World (cosmology),
- The Problem of Knowledge (epistemology),
- The Problem of Freedom, and
- The Problem of Religion
It must be noted, however, that I will only schematically trace the development of philosophy in these periods because the main concern here is just to know the origin of Western philosophy and its development. Thus, I will not discuss in great detail the specificity of each period of philosophy.
In the first part of these notes, I will focus on the problem of the world, which is the first problem that the ancient Greek philosophers attempted to address.
Part 1
The Problem of Cosmology:
From Thales to Anaxagoras
The first problem of Greek philosophy was about cosmology, that is, the explanation of the nature of the world as it was experienced by the perceiving mind. Thus, the first question being posed was:
What is the basic material of which the world is formed?
This question was answered by the three most illustrious philosophers of Ionia, namely: Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes.
| Thales (c. 620 BCE – c. 546 BCE), the acclaimed first philosopher of the Western world, claimed that the basic stuff or material of which the world is formed is water. Thus, for Thales, “all is water” and that everything comes from and arises out of water. Again, as I already mentioned, I will not present the details of Thales’s (and other philosophers discussed here) philosophy because my concern here is simply to trace the historical development of philosophy. For a detailed discussion on the life and works of Thales, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/thales/. |
| Anaximander (c. 610 BCE – 546 BCE), who was known to be one of Thales’s students, was not convinced that water is the basic stuff of the world. For this philosopher, thebasic material upon which the world is formed cannot be determined. Anaximander calls this Apeiron, the Greek word for that which is “unbounded” or “indefinite” or “infinite”. For more on Anaximander’s life and works, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/anaximan/. |
Anaximenes (d. 528 BCE), also known to be another student of Thales, disagreed with Anaximander and argued that the basic stuff of the world can be determined; yet it is not water, as Thales would have us believe. For Anaximenes, “all is air”, and that everything comes from and arises out of air. Anaximenes argued that the life of the universe resembled that of man, that air, the breadth of life which the human soul is made, is its principle. For more on Anaximenes’s life and works, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/.
As we can notice, the first question of philosophy deals with matter only, that is, again, the basic stuff of the world. It did not address the question concerning substance, that is, the principle upon which order or creation is based. Thus, the second question was posed:
In what consists its fundamental form, its principle of order?
This is where Pythagoras (c. 570 BCE – c. 495 BCE) came in. To be specific, this was the question that Pythagoras attempted to address and not simply the basic material upon which the world is formed. Again, this is what I meant when I said above that we need to know the intellectual history that surrounds a particular scholarship, that is, we need to know the historical development of philosophy so that we will know where to situate a particular philosopher in a specific context and time. In this way, we do not just lump philosophers together in discussing their philosophies in a specific historical period. To reiterate, all philosophers are addressing a specific problem or problems in a specific time and context.
For Pythagoras (and, of course, the Pythagoreans), the essential reality of things can be completely expressed in numerical terms. Thus, the formal order of the universe can be conceived mathematically. For Pythagoras, therefore, “all is number.” In other words, numbers are the principle of order (of the universe). Thus, for Pythagoras, everything can be explained in numbers. It is also important to note that the Ancient Egyptians also conceived numbers as the underlying principle of all things. For a detailed discussion on the life and works of Pythagoras, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/pythagor/.
Now, the combination of the first two questions in philosophy necessarily led to the third one:
How do things arise?
This question relates to world-process, that is, the origin of the world. This is a necessary question for the ancient Greek philosophers because when the principle and the real ground of all things are determined, the next question would be “How do things result
from their real ground and principle?”
This is precisely where Heraclitus and Parmenides entered in the scene. Heraclitus attempted to address this problem of world-process, while Parmenides (and the Eleatics, such as Xenophanes and Zeno) denied the idea of the world-process.
Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 500 BCE) argued that Logos-Fire, that is, fire or perpetual change, is the universal principle. Logos-Fire, therefore, is the cause of order, proportion, harmony, and rationality in the continual flow of things. As is well known, Heraclitus said that everything is change, that “we cannot step twice in the same river”. Thus, for Heraclitus, the world arises out of the Logos-Fire.
Some scholars would say that for Heraclitus, the basic stuff or material of which the world is formed is fire. I argue that this is a mistake because Heraclitus’s concern was not to determine the basic stuff of the world, but to determine the principle that could explain the arising of things, that is, world-process.
However, for Heraclitus, we cannot exactly know the specificity of the arising of things. He simply claimed that the world-process or the arising of things is governed by the principle of Logos-Fire. For more on Heraclitus’s life and works, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/heraclit/.
Parmenides of Elea (Late 6th century – to Mid 5th century BCE), unlike Heraclitus who claimed that everything is change, that nothing is permanent, argued that change is impossible. For Parmenides, reality is one. He said that “what is, is and it is impossible for it not to be.” This is is existing fully and completely; and if it is full and complete, it is impossible for it to change. Thus, for Parmenides, this is is the real One, which remains forever and immovable. Finally, for Parmenides, therefore, the idea of world-process is an illusion for nothing can come out of that which is. For a detailed discussion on Parmenides’s life and works, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,http://www.iep.utm.edu/parmenid/.
Heraclitus and Parmenides’s thoughts on the issue of world-process did not satisfy the inquiring mind. Hence, Heraclitus’s answer to the problem of world-process and Parmenides’s reaction did not suffice. The problem of philosophy after them was still occupied with the world-process as nature. Thus, for the inquiring mind, this problem must be solved: the world-process and the origin and formation of all things must be explained once and for all.
This is the reason why Empedocles, the Atomists, and Anaxagoras came to the fore. They insisted that the problem of the world-process needed to be pushed further. The basic contention of Empedocles, the Atomists, and Anaxagoras is that there is something that lies at the foundation of world-process, which has not and cannot become; something, therefore, that is original and unchangeable.
Empedocles (c. 492 BCE – c. 432 BCE) attempted to explain the world-process and its derivation. For Empedocles, the world-process is derived from the combination of the four basic elements, namely: fire, water, earth, and air. Empedocles calls these four elements as the Fundamental Materials of the world. Thus, for Empedocles, the world- process and the formation of things resulted from the combination of these four
elements. For more on Empedocles’s life and works, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/empedocl/.
The Atomists, particularly Leucippus (5th century BCE) and Democritus (460-370 BCE), found that the four elements of Empedocles are changeable and divisible. Therefore, they cannot be the primary beings that lie at the foundation of world-process. Hence, Leucippus and Democritus argued that atoms, which are numberless, are the primary beings that lie at the foundation of the world-process. In fact, for these philosophers, mechanical motion in the world-process resulted from the weight of the combined atoms. For more on the life and works of Leucippus, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/leucippu/. For the life and works of Democritus, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/democrit/.
Finally, if mechanical motion results from the weight of the combined atoms, the question of Anaxagoras (c. 500 BCE – 428 BCE) was: what is the explanation of the form and order of things? Thus, Anaxagoras argued that there must be a primordial being that is responsible for the form and order of things. For Anaxagoras, this primordial being is Nous or Mind. According to Anaxagoras, this Nous is the law-giving motion, without which motion in the universe is impossible. This is likened to Hegel’s notion of “Reason” as the driving force of history.
Now, it is important to note that with Anaxagoras, the first period of Greek philosophy naturally closes. This period, which is usually called as the period of natural philosophy―because it addresses the problem of world-material, that of the world- order, and world-process―has so far thought of the problem of the world, and from its answers, Mind necessarily resulted.
Just a final note. As we can notice, the ancient Greek philosophers did not ask the question as to who created the world, as we normally do today. The notion of a Creator, at least in the history of philosophy, was picked up later by the Medieval thinkers, particularly St. Augustine, the acclaimed philosopher of the Medieval period. This is exactly what makes this intellectual endeavor truly philosophical: it used reason in explaining reality.
Part 2
The Problem of Knowledge:
The Sophists, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
In Part 1 of this series of discussions about the history of Greek philosophy, we learned that for Parmenides and the Eleatics, there is no world-process. Now, if there is no world-process, then this means that there is no “process” or any “change” that actually happens in reality. The implication of this argument in epistemology is that there is no mental process and, for this reason, knowledge is impossible to attain.
If there is nothing but process or change, and nothing whatsoever is permanent, as Heraclitus would have us believe, then neither subject nor object continues. Hence, there is neither a knowing subject nor a thing to be known. If this is the case, then the same conclusion can be arrived at, that knowledge is impossible to attain.
If there is nothing but mechanical process, nothing but the union and separation of the four basic elements, as Empedocles and the Atomists believed, then there is also no mental process, and so, knowledge is also impossible to attain.
And if a mental process depends upon a being (Nous or Mind) outside the world, as Anaxagoras maintains, then there is no natural process of knowledge. For this reason, human knowledge is impossible to attain.
The overall implication of Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, the Atomists, and Anaxagoras’s philosophy in epistemology is that knowledge cannot be attained. More importantly, if there is no knowledge, then this implies that there is no truth.
And if there is no truth, then nothing whatsoever is “in itself”, that is, there is nothing that exists as universally valid being or truth, neither in science nor in philosophy. At the end of it all, nothing remains but subjective opinion; nothing but the individual as the measure of all things. This is precisely the theme of the Sophists, particularly Gorgias and Protagoras.
As is well known, the Sophists in general were convinced that knowledge is impossible to attain. As Protagoras claims: “Man is the measure of all things, of the reality of those which are, and the unreality of those which are not.” Another famous line of Protagoras reads: “As to the gods, I cannot know whether they exist or not; too many obstacles are in the way, the obscurity of the subject and the shortness of life.” For more on the life and works of Protagoras, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/protagor/.
It is important to note that Sophism as a philosophical movement (philosophical movement because it’s not a branch nor a sub-branch of philosophy) is partly an expansion of the philosophies of Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, the Atomists, and Anaxagoras, but in the realm of knowledge.
Now, with the contention of the Sophists that knowledge is impossible to attain, Socrates came into the fore, which gave way to Plato and, later, Aristotle. Needless to say, this is where Socrates, Plato and Aristotle entered the scene.
Socrates (469 BCE – 399 BCE), indeed, was the first to see the problem with Sophism. In fact, the primary question that preoccupied Socrates was nothing else than the genesis of knowledge, the passage of the mind from the stage of “not-knowing” into that of “knowing”, and the seeking of truth, with a factual refutation of the Sophists who declared that knowledge is impossible to attain.
One of the proofs why the Sophists believed that knowledge is impossible to attain is the continual contradiction of human opinions about anything. Thus, the Sophists believed that knowledge and truth are impossible to attain because people disagree on almost everything.
However, Socrates was convinced that “harmony” or “agreement” is inherent in any disagreement. Thus, Socrates believes that “harmony” or “agreement” can be produced out of the contradiction. This made Socrates conclude that truth and knowledge are possible, and that they can be found in intercourse with men, that is, in a dialogue with men. Thus, for Socrates, with dialogue, universal concepts―those in which all men agree―are made possible. For more on the life and works of Socrates, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/socrates/.
Plato (427 BCE – 347 BCE), as we know, was Socrates’s most brilliant student. Plato was a philosopher in his own right. However, Plato’s philosophy began with his attempt to write or record Socrates’s philosophy. As we know, Socrates never wrote his philosophy. Later, however, as he expands Socrates’s philosophy, Plato developed his own way of philosophizing and, eventually, his own philosophy.
Plato agreed with Socrates’s claim that universal concepts―those in which all men agree―are true concepts, which are the objects of knowledge. The strong proviso that Plato added is that everything that exists is just a copy of the real. Thus, the world of ideas (in contradistinction to the world of matter or the material world) is the only real world and, consequently, the only real knowledge. For sure, this is the step from Socrates to Plato.
Plato’s notion of the world of ideas and the world of matter laid down the notion of the dualism of matter and form. And this dualism implies the opposition of ideas and matter, that is, of the intelligible world and the material world. For more on Plato’s life and works, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/plato/.
But the question of the inquiring mind was: how does matter acquire form? In other words, how is the union of matter and form possible? This question gave way to the philosophy of Aristotle.
Aristotle (382 BCE – 322 BCE) got rid of Plato’s dualism. For Aristotle, form and matter are inseparable. This is because, according to Aristotle, we cannot think of anything without matter and form. Indeed, for Aristotle, something cannot exist if it does not have both matter and form, that is, if it is not complete. This is the reason why Aristotle argues that anything that exists is perfect, is complete, because it has matter and form. For example, a table cannot exist as a table in reality if it does not have a form of a table and matter of which it is made.
However, Aristotle argues that it is form that actualizes the potentialities of matter. This explains exactly Aristotle’s principle of act and potency. Furthermore, Aristotle introduces the idea of a Prime Matter. According to Aristotle, Prime Matter is the source of everything, and this Prime Matter has the possibility of becoming something. For more on Aristotle’s life and works, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/aristotl/.
Lastly, but most importantly, it must be noted that with Aristotle, the classic period of Greek philosophy ends.
Part 3
The Problem of Freedom:
Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism
In Part 2 of this series of discussions about the history of the development of Greek philosophy, I have traced the development of Greek philosophy from the Sophists to Aristotle, with emphasis on the problem of knowledge. In this post, I will present the development of Greek philosophy, particularly ancient Greek philosophy, from the Stoics to the Skeptics, with emphasis on the problem of freedom.
To reiterate, the classic period of ancient Greek philosophy ends with Aristotle. Now, after Aristotle, philosophy took a different direction. Here, the problem of philosophy was no longer on cosmology, that is, the problem of the world-stuff, world-order, and world-process, but on the person’s freedom from the world. This desire for freedom from the world, which came after Aristotle, was viewed as the restoration of the divine perfection of the human person―an inner perfection which approximate divinity. It is important to note that the human person was conceived in antiquity as an entity that can approximate divinity. It is also important to note that the background here is that the world is full of evil, of debaucheries, of wickedness, which had corrupted the human soul―thus, the need to free oneself from the world.
Those who attempted to free the human person from the world, at least in the context of ancient Greek philosophy, were represented by the Stoics, Epicureans, and the Skeptics. Let me briefly sketch the key concepts in Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Skepticism.
According to The Basics of Philosophy, “Stoicism is an ancient Greek philosophy (developed by Zeno of Citium around 300 B.C. as a refinement of Cynicism) which teaches the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming destructive emotions. It does not seek to extinguish emotions completely, but rather seeks to transform them by a resolute Asceticism (a voluntary abstinence from worldly pleasures), which enables a person to develop clear judgment, inner calm and freedom from suffering (which it considers the ultimate goal).” See The Basics of Philosophy, http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_stoicism.html.
Thus, according to the virtue of the Stoics, to free oneself from the world, one must cease to desire, to suffer, to struggle, i.e., to strive for the solution of the problems of the world. In a sense, one must put herself in a condition in which there is nothing worthy of desire, in which the will is affected and influenced by nothing. For more on nature, meaning and dynamics of Stoicism, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/stoicism/#H1.
On the other hand, Epicurus (341 BCE – 271 BCE) suggests that in order for one to protect herself against the world, one must lead a life that is free from suffering. One way of doing this is not to ask too much from nature. In this way, one suffers a little and enjoy as much as possible.
However, it is a mistake to equate Epicureanism with hedonism. As we know, hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure, sensual pleasure so to speak. Thus, the famous hedonist motto: eat now, drink now, be merry for tomorrow you will die. On the contrary, Epicureanism urges one to seek modest pleasure in order to attain the greatest good, which is the attainment of tranquility and freedom from fear (ataraxia), as well as the absence of bodily pain (aponia). For more on Epicurus and Epicureanism, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/epicur/.
Lastly, we have the doubt of the ancient Greek Skeptics. Ancient Greek Skepticism “is generally applied either to a member of Plato’s Academy during its skeptical period (c. 273 B.C.E to 1st century B.C.E.) or to a follower of Pyrrho (c. 365 to 270 B.C.E.).
Pyrrhonian skepticism flourished from Aenesidemus’ revival (1st century B.C.E.) to Sextus Empiricus, who lived sometime in the 2nd or 3rd centuries C.E. Thus the two main varieties of ancient skepticism: Academic and Pyrrhonian.” See Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/skepanci/.
It is known that almost every form of ancient Greek skepticism has something to do with the claim that humans have the inability to gain knowledge of the world, and so the need to suspend judgment. In the case of Pyrrho, who was overwhelmed by his inability to determine rationally which competing schools of thoughts during his time was correct, doubt then is the key to attaining peace of mind (ataraxia). In fact, after admitting to himself that indeed he could not attain absolute truth, Pyrrho gained peace of mind. For more on the life and works of the Skeptic Pyrrho, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/pyrrho/.
Thus, doubt for the Skeptics is the key to freeing oneself from the wicked world. In fact, the Skeptics claim that in order for one to get rid of the “unrest of mind”, one must cease to strive, and must give up the solution of the problems of the world, being convinced that these problems cannot be solved.
To reiterate, the Stoics, Epicureans, and Skeptics have one common goal: freedom from the world. The Stoics seek to become free from the world through “virtue”, the Epicureans through “happiness”, and the Skeptics through “doubt”.
Part 4
The Problem of Religion:
Plotinus to Jesus Christ
In Part 3 of this series of discussions about the history of ancient Greek philosophy, I have presented the development of Greek philosophy from the Stoics to the Skeptics, with emphasis on the problem of freedom. In this concluding part, I will discuss briefly the last problem of ancient Greek philosophy, namely: the problem of religion.
As we have seen, the means of the Stoics, the Epicureans, and the Skeptics in attaining freedom from the world seemed to have failed. It is for this reason that the problem of the world, that is, the evil it contains, requires a deeper solution: religion.
It is important to note, therefore, that after the Stoics, the Epicureans, and the Skeptics, the desire for freedom from the world took another direction, and this is now religious in nature. It is now viewed as the desire for salvation. Grecian philosophy soon met with Christianity, which broke through the limits of Judaism. For this reason, the desire for freedom now seeks union with God. Here, God must be conceived in such a way that the human person can say that if she were with Him, she would be happy―that in God’s presence, there is nothing that disturbs and oppresses. For this reason, it is only through God that salvation is possible.
The idea of salvation in late ancient Greek philosophy was introduced by the Ascetics, the Neo-Platonists, and Jewish Philosophy.
The Ascetics, such as the monks, want to attain divine illumination through a continued renunciation of the world and control of their natural desires, even to the extremist abstinence. Thus, the Ascetics normally withdraw from the world and voluntarily renounced worldly pleasures in the pursuit of spiritual goals. According to The Basics on Philosophy, http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_asceticism.html, “The justification behind Asceticism is usually that spiritual and religious goals are impeded by indulgence in pleasures of the flesh, although it does not necessarily hold that the enjoyment of life is bad in itself. Thus, ascetic practices are not usually regarded as virtuous as such, but merely a means towards a mind-body transformation, or a purification of the body which enables connection with the Divine and the cultivation of inner peace. It aims to achieve freedom from compulsions and temptations, bringing about peacefulness of mind and an increase in clarity and power of thought.”
The Neo-Platonists, such as Ammonius Saccas (175 CE – 242 CE) and Plotinus (204 CE – 270 CE) believed that the doctrine of the order of the world can be conceived as thoughts of God. For one, Plotinus believes that the rational soul participates in the divine eternal world; thus, the rational soul directly originates from the divine essence. Plotinus believes that the rational soul is in constant communion with the One, and for this reason, the rational soul continually receives from the One. Thus, for Plotinus, salvation is possible only if the rational soul is connected to the One (or God). For more on the life and works of Plotinus, see “Plotinus,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plotinus/.
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy has a spiritual kinship with Neo-Platonism. This is because its chief problem was the salvation of the world. The fundamental thought in which its solution is sought is that of a world-saving principle, that is, the Logos. The Logos, which was regarded by the ancient Greek philosophers as the principle of world-order, is now viewed as the Mediator between God and the human person. Indeed, the Logos was viewed by the Jewish thinkers as the creative word of God.
Indeed, when Jewish philosophy met Grecian philosophy, the idea of the Logos of the latter, which was understood as the principle of world-order, was now understood by the Jews as Messiah. Thus, the Logos-Messiah becomes the Mediator and Savior of the world.
Now, the problem of salvation demands a personal solution. This solution is possible only if a man appears who can actually overcome the world in himself, and who is truly free from the world. This man should then be the Savior of the world. Thus, the Logos has to become a flesh, that is, God the Savior has to become a man. And only though faith in this man can the person’s desire for salvation be satisfied. Thus, Jesus Christ has come into the fore. Indeed, it is precisely in this late period of Greek philosophy that Jesus Christ emerged.
What comes after this late stage of Greek philosophy was the development of philosophy in the Medieval period. But I will not discuss this part because this is no longer our main concern here. It is enough that we now know the origin and development of Western philosophy, particularly Greek philosophy.