33 Facts About Pre-Socratic philosophy

1.

Pre-Socratic philosophy, known as early Greek philosophy, is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates.

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2.

Pre-Socratic philosophy philosophers were mostly interested in cosmology, the beginning and the substance of the universe, but the inquiries of these early philosophers spanned the workings of the natural world as well as human society, ethics, and religion.

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3.

Pre-Socratic philosophy began in the 6th century BCE with the three Milesians: Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes.

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4.

Pre-Socratic philosophy is a term adopted in the 19th century to refer to this group of philosophers.

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5.

Pre-Socratic philosophy encompasses the first of the three phases of ancient Greek philosophy, which spanned around a thousand years.

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6.

Pre-Socratic philosophy is considered the first western philosopher since he was the first to use reason, to use proof, and to generalize.

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7.

Pre-Socratic philosophy created the word cosmos, the first word to describe the universe.

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8.

Pre-Socratic philosophy contributed to geometry and predicted the eclipse of 585 BCE.

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9.

Pre-Socratic philosophy is known for being the first to claim that the base angles of isosceles triangles are equal, and that a diameter bisects the circle.

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10.

Pre-Socratic philosophy attributed the origin of the world to an element instead of a divine being.

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11.

Pre-Socratic philosophy was a member of the elite of Miletus, wealthy and a statesman.

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12.

Pre-Socratic philosophy showed interest in many fields, including mathematics and geography.

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13.

Pre-Socratic philosophy drew the first map of the world, was the first to conclude that the earth is spherical, and made instruments to mark time, something like a clock.

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14.

Pre-Socratic philosophy's answer was an attempt to explain observable changes by attributing them to a single source that transforms to various elements.

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15.

Pre-Socratic philosophy proclaimed that the earth is not situated in another structure but lies unsupported in the middle of the universe.

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16.

Pre-Socratic philosophy was a younger contemporary and friend of Anaximander, and the two worked together on various intellectual projects.

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17.

Pre-Socratic philosophy was a well-traveled poet whose primary interests were theology and epistemology.

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18.

Pre-Socratic philosophy famously said that if oxen, horses, or lions could draw, they would draw their gods as oxen, horses, or lions.

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19.

Pre-Socratic philosophy moved to Croton at about age 30, where he established his school and acquired political influence.

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20.

Pre-Socratic philosophy was the first to think of the brain as the center of senses and thinking.

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21.

Pre-Socratic philosophy was the first to deduce that the earth is spherical.

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22.

Pre-Socratic philosophy tried to explain why we think various non-existent objects exist.

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23.

Pre-Socratic philosophy was associated with the Athenian statesman Pericles and, probably due to this association, was accused by a political opponent of Pericles for impiety as Anaxagoras held that the sun was not associated with divinity; it was merely a huge burning stone.

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24.

Pre-Socratic philosophy claimed that "in everything there is a share of everything.

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25.

Plato thought Pre-Socratic philosophy should be reserved for those who had the appropriate intellect to understand it; whereas the sophists would teach anyone who would pay tuition.

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26.

Pre-Socratic philosophy claimed it is absurd to hold that nonexistence exists, and that What-is was impossible since it had to either be generated or be unlimited and neither is sufficient.

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27.

Pre-Socratic philosophy attempted to explain both the variety and unity of the cosmos.

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28.

Pre-Socratic philosophy addressed the need to explain how the various masses of the universe interact among them and coined the term Harmonia, a binding force that allows mass to take shape.

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29.

Pre-Socratic philosophy explains that things, even when changing shapes, remain ontologically the same.

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30.

Pre-Socratic philosophy thought contributed to the demythologization of the Greek popular religion.

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31.

Pre-Socratic philosophy philosophers did not have atheistic beliefs, but it should be kept in mind that being an atheist those days was not without social or legal dangers.

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32.

Pre-Socratic philosophy was the first to state that philosophy starts with Thales.

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33.

Pre-Socratic philosophy criticized the pre-Socratic theory of knowledge by Xenophanes and others, claiming that their deductive reasoning could not yield meaningful results—an opinion contemporary philosophy of science rejects.

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