We continue our philosophical journey and then embark on our theological journey back in the time of The Exile. The Greek philosophers developed about the same time as the return of the exiles to Jerusalem. this was during the Medo-Persian empire. Biblical books from the era are Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. Here is the outline from class:
Protagoras
- "man is the measure of all things" (who does that sound like?)
- he was first to call himself 'philosopher'
the Sophists
- taught for pay
- taught what students wanted
- were opposed by S. & P.
- relativist
Socrates
- meaning
- value
- cosmological speculation
- 'Socratic Method' - - 'guiding students to understanding through questioning
- universal values: goodness, truth, beauty, justice
- there are no writings
Plato
- universals
- the myth of the cave
- 'forms'
C.S.Lewis: 'the shadowlands'
Aristotle
- particulars (stuff)
- taught Alexander the Great
- wrote on biology, physics, metaphysics, ontology, ethics
Epicurius
- "to enable us to live well"
- eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die
- allows for gods, but they are uninvolved in universe
which local figures would have liked his philosophy (from class lecture)?
before moving on the the categories of philosophy, consider the ideas of Paul on philosophy, click here