Philosophy essay Essay

The nature of inquiry is not wizard that is uncommon to the human race. From the real generator of school of thought, the term for the love of wisdom, individuals have spent myriad hours contemplating the most essential and critical social functions before them. These individuals have made authentic attempts to explain reasoning behind the functioning of earthly matters, and by integrity of their study, they have come to be cognise as philosophers. While non-homogeneous philosophers have contri justed to significant revelations and theories, the main pre-socratic philosophical movements were of ancient Greek origin and be attri exclusivelyed to the following philosophersThales, Anaximander, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, and Parmenides. Born in Miletus, Thales was discontent with the customs dutyal stories of enchantment known as myths. Aristotle contributed the fact that he saw him as the actu whollyy first philosopher, which a very common printing in the unfermented-made world. His major contributions were his flavors that the bowel movement and element of every(prenominal) things is water, and that every things ar diligent with divinity fudges. The impressive matter is that Thales recognized that there is only one grouchy base for solely things and that it was a inseparablely occurring substance that was very actual and real.While there is not much information on Thales, it is speculated that he chose water because of its diversity and physical characteristics that allow for it to prevail in liquid, solid, and vaporish forms. As for his second contribution, the Greeks were firm believers of the immortality of the gods and their occupation in the lives of the humans and the natural world. Therefore, it would not be unusual for them to 2 reside in all things present on the earth. Thales very truly was the very first philosopher as he began the search for the answer to why things happen as they do.The Greek nature was not one to simply ac cept Thales propositions, but quite a they focused on refuting it and providing other alternatives. Anaximander provided his own input on the matter with a theoretical proposition. He claims, that a system is in place, in which the Boundless is the infinite source of all, and it is the beginning- there was definitively nothing before it. The tell apart feature of the Boundless is the immortality that it possesses, and further, it encompasses all things and steers all things. This concept of resolute envelopment is seen again in the New Testament, where it is reinforced that God is in all things.The Boundless is neither one thing, nor another, but rather, it keep abreasts its own distinctive persona, and from it came all other things. Anaximander contributed many more developments, but they were all later be incorrect. However, he does also state that existing things make reparation to one another for their injustice according to the ordinance of time. This suggests that a bal ance in nature must be properly observed. A hot summertime must be counteracted with a cold winter, and so the seasons encroach on the rights as a result of the others and serve them injustice, butreparation is seen at the turn of the seasons. The developments made by Anaximander contradict what was then the Homeric tradition and essentially spurred a cultural crisis as the Greeks were unable to choose amidst the side of logic or that of myth and legend. A man known as Xenophanes came to the scene of philosophical inquiry when he clearly state the religious implications of the new ideas of philosophy- a concept strictly avoided by most before him. He begins to critique the very nature of the gods, with the belief that it is calamitous to portray them as no better than humans.While Xenophanes was not a disbeliever, he firmly believed in the presence of one god that reigned to a higher place all and was very different from 3 mortals in both corpse and mind. Xenophanes denies asso ciation with the gods through inspiration (i. e. muses) and any proposed revelation does not inevitably guarantee truth. He does, however, push us to format out believes by constantly seeking, so far though he does not explain how. The belief is that over time, the continuous seeking will give to better opinions that may eventually be very near truth.He does not get over that there is the potential that some truth is known, butsimply that there is no such thing as certainty without definitive proof. He goes into the matter that there is a scale of truth, and unbeknownst to us, there is no way to tell on which side our supposed revelations lay. Xenophanes contributes a new direction for thought. The questioning that he provides, in fact, questions its very own self, which is the primer coat of epistemology, or the theory of knowledge. Lastly, he provides his belief that only the one god knows the absolute basis and value of the truth, and while we may seek it out, because we are inferior, we cannot know for sure.Known to the Romans as Heraclitus the obscure this philosopher often wrote in abstruse riddles. One of his famous thoughts is All things come into being through opposition, and that all are in flux, like a river. The major bit that he provides is that reality in itself is a flux. It is possible to step many generation into the equal river, but it will never exactly be the same as the waters will be different. He postulates that all things are then in flux and are ever-changing, even though they maintain a constant identity over the change. Further, the opposition is necessary to cause events to occur.A lyre will only play music if tension is pushed onto its strings. What makes a river is the force of the water that constantly runs through it, for without this force, there would be no river. It can be said that Heraclitus was an optimist as he believe that the changes in the world are not chaotic, but are structured by an order that is divine in nature, and therefore, it is good and beautiful. He stresses the presence of countersign, and his belief 4 that those who are intelligent listen to it, while many who do not and are foolish. The many miss this because they fail to recognize the logos that is present in everyday life.Unlike his predecessors in philosophy, Parmenides was not Ionian, but instead from Elea. He wrote a complicated metaphysical poem in which he decrees that the content was revealed to him by divine powers. In his poem, an list is provided, but rather than to accept it, it beckons one to judge it instead, which makes it philosophical in nature. His argument is divided between the Way of Truth and the Way of Opinion. Interestingly, he makes the bode that you cannot think nothing. When you think, you think of what is, so you cannot think of something that is not, since nothing cannot be something.Parmenides urges community to follow reason, and reason alone. Therefore, he holds the title of the very f irst rationalist philosopher. Additionally, he believes that all that exists, exists all at once. By existing at once, it evades the concept of being what is not, because that which is not is inconceivable and cannot be thought about. Since the fathering of philosophy by Thales, the developments and inquisitions made by astounding men grew strongly throughout the Pre-Socratic era, and then progressively even more into the more current era. The most significant early men that helped philosophy take its very grow were Thales, Anaximander, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, and Parmenides.Collectively, these men brought into question the very essential questions of philosophy that are even still argued and debated furiously over in the modern world. 5 Melchert, Norman. The groovy Conversation A Historical Introduction to Philosophy. New York Oxford UP, 2011. Print. Parmenides. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. . Presocratics. SparkNotes. SparkNotes. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. .