Raphael The School of Athens You are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts. Hello Plato That s Sir Plato to you 424 348 BCE Mosaic of Plato s Academy Pompeii, 1st century CE 1
A Couple Opposing Ideas The more things change, the more they stay the same There is an underlying common nature that all humans share Over time, everything changes Consider a really, REALLY long time span Change over Time 2
Humans have not always acted human People started out as animals We started out without any KNOWLEDGE MATH SCIENCE ART These are all INVENTIONS Our DNA evolved and so did our culture We developed step by step from our simple beginnings It started slow but only really got interesting in the last 5,000 years If it s not written down, it s not remembered, and it never existed. Timeline Year Zero is the same date as when Christians believe Jesus Christ was born Anno Before Christ Before Common Era 0 In the Year of Domini Our Lord Common Era But how are you supposed to measure the years if you re not a Catholic Monk??? 3
The Ancient World Stone Age: 2.5 Million years ago Bronze Age Early: 3300 BCE Middle: 2000 BCE Late: 1600 BCE Iron Age: 1200 BCE Classical Period Major Events 4
Major Events Imagine this area 5,000 years ago 5
Imagine this area 5,000 years ago The Upper Sea 6
Major Events Primitive Man 7
Human Migration Human Migration 8
Human Migration The Ancient World Stone Age: 2.5 Million years ago Bronze Age Early: 3300 BCE Middle: 2000 BCE Late: 1600 BCE Iron Age: 1200 BCE Classical Period 9
Mesopotamia circa 5300 BCE circa 600 BCE Cuneiform Wedge-shape Reed pressed into clay Developed around 3000 BCE 10
Gilgamesh! Gilgamesh and Enkidu The Original Bromance Cuneiform Developed between 5000 to 3000 BCE Used by major civilizations of Mesopotamia Most common form is referred to as Akkadian The oldest written text Major literary works Began with pictographs Slowly developed into words and then letters Two sheep God Inanna The first known author: Enheduanna of Ur 2285 2250 BCE Priestess of the moon goddess Inanna the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Elamites, Hatti, Hittites, Assyrians, Hurrians and others The Atrahasis The Descent of Inanna The Myth of Etana The Enuma Elish The Baal Cycle The famous Epic of Gilgamesh 11
Rosetta Stone Created in 196 BCE The same text in three languages Egyptian hieroglyphics Greek Latin Without this, a lot of ancient literature would be untranslatable An Ancient World, Forgotten 12
The Ancient World Stone Age: 2.5 Million years ago Bronze Age Early: 3300 BCE Middle: 2000 BCE Late: 1600 BCE Bronze Age Collapse It s like the end of an era The world s slate was wiped clean Iron Age: 1200 BCE Classical Period Europe Map 13
Greece Map Crete Philosophy The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato. Alfred North Whitehead The Meaning of Life or The Purpose of Life Different definitions, different understandings of our purpose and why we are here Originally, philosophy connected to all different subjects The philosopher discussed every part of the world IT s completely different now Important Names Plato Aristotle Cicero St. Augustine St. Aquinas Descartes Hume Rousseau Locke Kant Hegel Kierkegaard Nietzsche 14
Ancient Greece circa 1100 BCE 146 BCE Greek Dark Ages: 1100 BCE Archaic Period: 750 BCE Classical Period: 490 BCE Hellenistic Period: 323 BCE Created the foundation of Western Cultures Architecture Art Mathematics Philosophy Politics & Law Science πr2 2πr Raphael The School of Athens 15
Significant Greek Figures Anaxagoras Lucretius Anaximander Parmenides Aristotle Plato Democritus Pythagoras Empedocles Socrates Epicurus Thales Euclid Xenophanes Heraclitus Xenophon Zeno 500 BCE 428 BCE 610 BCE 546 BCE 384 BCE 322 BCE 460 BCE 370 BCE 490 BCE 430 BCE 341 BCE 270 BCE 323 BCE 283 BCE 535 BCE 475 BCE 99 BCE 53 BCE 515 BCE 450 BCE 427 BCE 347 BCE 570 BCE 495 BCE 469 BCE 399 BCE 620 BCE 546 BCE 570 478 BCE 430 BCE 354 BCE 490 BCE 430 BCE Significant Greek Figures Thales Anaximander Pythagoras Xenophanes Heraclitus Parmenides Anaxagoras Empedocles Zeno 620 BCE 546 BCE Socrates 610 BCE 546 BCE Democritus 570 BCE 495 BCE Xenophon 570 478 BCE Plato 535 BCE 475 BCE Aristotle 515 BCE 450 BCE Epicurus 500 BCE 428 BCE Euclid 490 BCE 430 BCE Lucretius 469 BCE 399 BCE 460 BCE 370 BCE 430 BCE 354 BCE 427 BCE 347 BCE 384 BCE 322 BCE 341 BCE 270 BCE 323 BCE 283 BCE 99 BCE 53 BCE 490 BCE 430 BCE 16
Plato: 424 BCE 348 BCE Student of Socrates» 469 BCE 399 BCE Teacher of Aristotle» 384 BCE 322 BCE Dialogues Discussions of art, logic, mathematics, philosophy, rhetoric, etc. Lived in Athens Founded the Academy in Athens S-P-A Socrates 469 BCE Plato 424 BCE Aristotle 384 BCE You cannot conceive the many without the one. Plato Antithetical Values or Beliefs Everyone is either a PLATONIST or an ARISTOTILIAN Everyone either looks for SIMILARITIES or looks for DIFFERENCES 17
Plato Believed in the Ideal Theory of Forms This world is not the real world The True, Real world exists above our own For every thing we see-feel-taste-hear-smellthink there is a True Form of it Plato believed any rule or definition of a thing is merely a description and not the thing itself. Everything is an interpretation The law that tells you how to be a good person is not really THE GOOD but merely our description of it. Plato s Work: The Dialogues Structure of the Dialogues Phaedrus circa 370 BCE Central character: Socrates Gorgias The Republic circa 380 BCE Counterparts/foils to discuss the argument Ion Present the opposing Apology sides to Socrates premises Often named after the important foil in the dialogue Glaucon 18
Ideal Forms Describe a dog. We Learn the Truth By: Plato: Thinking about the TRUE FORM Thinking about the IDEAL FORM Aristotle: Looking at the physical object Studying the world around us 19
Philosophy Platonic Aristotelian Plato s Opponents The Sophists Sophia Greek for wisdom A Sophist is a person who would teach the young men of Greek society teach them how to be involved in society Taught for money Often charged exorbitant tuition Did not believe in an absolute Truth or Good Aristotle 384 322 BCE Student of Plato Rejected the idea of Ideal Forms Focused on the physical world WE discover and create knowledge Mr. Definition Wrote extensively to categorize knowledge: Biology, Astronomy, Ethics, Politics 20
The Allegory of the Cave Allegory Story based on metaphor Explains complex moral concepts Concrete image represents abstract thought Presents the difference between the world of false appearance and reality Plato s Republic Circa 380 BCE Describes the ideal polis (city-state) and the ideal person Written as a series of dialogues The Philosopher King as the ideal ruler The educated elite rule society The Allegory of the Cave 21