Philosophy in Ancient Greece - 3782 Words

Brandon John ADP, SCS/1108/029 Question 2: Philosophy in Ancient Greece and its Influence on Western Culture â€Å"My advice to you is get married: if you find a good wife you ll be happy; if not, you ll become a philosopher.† – Socrates, Greek philosopher Socrates, like many of the greatest minds in history, was rather different from others in his time. In the quote above, we catch a glimpse of his genius in his likening of an unhappily married man to that of a philosopher. The implication is indirect but obvious enough: when life becomes rife with problems, it forces the common man(or woman) to sit down and think.†¦show more content†¦Today, the mere mention of â€Å"philosophy† evokes images of sagely old men stroking their beards ponderously as they debate seemingly rhetorical/redundant topics(eg.†Why am I stroking my beard? Is it a mechanism for reaching enlightenment? Is it itchy? Can beards get itchy? What was I thinking about again?†). This of course, is an unfair generalization and there are philosophers who ac tually debate relevant matters. Not convincing enough? Consider that philosophy, in its earliest form, was nearly indistinguishable from natural science. The first Greek philosopher(though he did not refer to himself as one) was Thales of Miletus. What separated philosophical thought from non-philosophical thought was that the former attempted to explain natural phenomena without reference to mythology, and in times of antiquity, the latter method of explaining was pretty much the trend. Thales decided that it was time we humans started finding logical explanations for all the freaky stuff that happens around us. As a result, Thales became the first person to define general principles and create rational hypotheses, allowing him to make some pretty exciting discoveries such as mathematics and electricity(bear in mind that he lived ca. 620-546 BC). 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