Presocratic doctrine of man. Philosophy of the Pre-Socratics. Main features and representatives. The concept of pre-Socratic philosophy, its place in the history of ancient philosophy

Presocratics - the conventional name for a group of figures in the initial period of ancient Greek philosophy (7th - early 4th century BC). Many of the most prominent Pre-Socratics acted after the life of Socrates. The pre-Socratics did not yet raise the question of the goal and purpose of the individual, of the relation of thought to being, of the immanent dialectic of thought, and limited themselves to the doctrine of nature, space, sensory-visual and objective reality.

The Presocratics are Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Heraclitus, Diogenes , Xenophanes, Pythagoras, Parmenides and his disciples from Elea, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Leucippus and Democritus .

The main subject of philosophizing - space. It seemed to them consisting of ordinary sensual elements: earth, water, air, fire and ether, mutually passing into each other as a result of condensation and rarefaction. Man and the sphere of the social, as a rule, were not singled out by the pre-Socratics from general cosmic life. The individual, society, the cosmos among the pre-Socratics obeyed the action of the same laws.

Initially, ancient philosophy developed in Asia Minor (Miletian school, Heraclitus), then in Italy (Pythagoreans, Eleatic school, Empedocles) and on mainland Greece ( Anaxagoras, atomists). The main theme of early Greek philosophy is the origin of the universe, its origin and structure. Philosophers of this period were mainly researchers of nature, astronomers, and mathematicians. Believing that the birth and death of natural things does not happen by chance and not from nothing, they were looking for a beginning, or a principle that explains the natural variability of the world. The first philosophers considered as such the beginning of a single primary substance: water ( Thales) or air ( Anaximenes), infinite ( Anaximander), the Pythagoreans considered the beginnings of the limit and the infinite, generating an ordered cosmos, cognizable through numbers. Subsequent authors ( Empedocles, Democritus) called not one, but several principles (four elements, an infinite number of atoms). Many of the early thinkers criticized traditional mythology and religion. Philosophers have thought about the causes of order in the world. Heraclitus, Anaxagoras taught about the rational beginning ruling the world (Logos, Mind). Parmenides formulated the doctrine of true being, accessible only to thought. All subsequent development of philosophy in Greece (from pluralist systems Empedocles and Democritus, to Platonism) to one degree or another demonstrates a response to the set Parmenides Problems.

The term "presocratics" was first introduced in 1903, when a German philologist Herman Diels collected in his book "Fragments of the Pre-Socratics" the texts of philosophers who lived before Socrates. The book included more than 400 names, along with fragments of Orphic and other pre-philosophical theocosmogony.

The most famous are the following presocratics: Thales of Miletus; Anaximander; Anaximenes; Heraclitus of Ephesus; Diogenes of Apollonia; Xenophanes; Pythagoras of Samos; Parmenides of Elea; Empedocles of Agrigentum; Anaxagoras of Clazomenes; Leucippus; Democritus; Cratyl.

Presocratics are traditionally divided into representatives Ionian philosophy(Miletian school, Heraclitus, Diogenes of Apollo), Italian philosophy(Pythagoreans, Eleatics) and atomists. Sometimes the sophists are mistakenly classified as presocratics, but this is not entirely correct, since most of the sophists were contemporaries of Socrates and he actively argued with them. In addition, the teaching of the Sophists is very different from the teaching of the pre-Socratics.

SOCRATES (c. 469 BC - 399 BC) - an ancient Greek philosopher, whose teaching marks a turn in philosophy - from the consideration of nature and the world to the consideration of man. Sentenced to death for "corrupting the youth" and "disrespecting the gods". With his method of analyzing concepts (maieutics, dialectics) and identifying virtue and knowledge, he directed the attention of philosophers to the unconditional significance of the human personality.

Socrates expressed his thoughts orally; We have received information about the content of these conversations in the writings of his students, Plato and Xenophon, and only in an insignificant proportion in the works of Plato's disciple, Aristotle.

Socrates had a peculiar approach to communicating with people. He chose a famous person and began to ask his famous questions. And at first Socrates unrestrainedly praised his interlocutor, said that he was so smart, a famous person in the city, and that it would not be difficult for him to answer such an elementary question. Socrates asked his really elementary question (but only at first glance). The interlocutor boldly and reluctantly answered him, Socrates, in turn, asked another question concerning the same question, the interlocutor answered again, Socrates asked, and it came to the point that the interlocutor, in the end, contradicted his first answer with his last answer. Then the enraged interlocutor asked Socrates, but he himself knows the answer to this question, Socrates quite calmly answered that he did not know and calmly retired.

Testing others for wisdom, Socrates himself by no means claims to be a sage, it, in his opinion, befits a god. If a person self-satisfiedly believes that he knows ready-made answers to everything, then such a person is dead for philosophy, there is no need for him to rack his brains in search of the most correct concepts, there is no need to move further along the endless labyrinths of thought.

"I only know that I know nothing" . This is a favorite expression, the creed of the Socratic position. "I know nothing" means that no matter how far I have advanced in the odysseys of thought, I do not rest on what has been achieved, I do not deceive myself with the illusion that I have caught the truth.

Socrates is a representative of an idealistic religious and moral worldview openly hostile to materialism. For the first time, it was Socrates who consciously set himself the task of substantiating idealism and opposed the ancient materialistic worldview, natural scientific knowledge and godlessness.

Socrates' way of life, moral and political collisions in his life, popular style of philosophizing, military prowess and courage, tragic ending - surrounded his name with an aura of legend. The glory that Socrates was awarded during his lifetime, easily survived entire eras and, without fading, has reached our days.

At the center of Socratic thought- the theme of man, the problems of life and death, good and evil, virtues and prophets, law and duty, freedom and responsibility, society.

Socrates is the principal enemy of the study of nature. The work of the human mind in this direction, he considers an impious and fruitless interference in the business of the gods. The world appears to Socrates as the creation of a deity, "so great and omnipotent that it sees and hears everything at once, and is present everywhere, and has care for everything." Divination is needed, not scientific research, to get the guidance of the gods as to their will. And in this respect Socrates was no different from any ignorant Athenian. He followed the instructions of the Delphic oracle and advised his students to do this. Socrates carefully made sacrifices to the gods and generally diligently performed all religious rites.

Socrates recognized the substantiation of the religious and moral worldview as the main task of philosophy, while the knowledge of nature, natural philosophy, was considered unnecessary and godless.

Doubt ("I know that I know nothing") was, according to the teachings of Socrates, to lead to self-knowledge ("know thyself"). Only in this way, he taught, can one come to an understanding of justice, right, law, piety, good and evil. Materialists, studying nature, came to the denial of the divine mind in the world, the sophists questioned and ridiculed all previous views - therefore, according to Socrates, it is necessary to turn to the knowledge of oneself, the human spirit, and in it to find the basis of religion and morality. Thus, Socrates solves the main philosophical question as an idealist: Spirit is primary, consciousness, while nature is something secondary and even insignificant, not worth the attention of a philosopher. Doubt served Socrates as a prerequisite for turning to his own Self, to the subjective spirit, for which the further path led to the objective spirit - to the divine mind. The idealistic ethics of Socrates develops into theology.

Developing his religious and moral teaching, Socrates, in contrast to the materialists, who call to "listen to nature", refer to a special inner voice that supposedly instructed him in the most important issues - the famous "demon" of Socrates. He believes that everything in the world has as its goal the benefit of man.

Teleology of Socrates appears in an extremely primitive form. The sense organs of a person, according to this doctrine, have as their goal the fulfillment of certain tasks: the goal of the eyes is to see, the ears are to listen, the nose is to smell, etc. In the same way, the gods send the light necessary for people to see, the night is intended by the gods for the rest of people, the light of the moon and stars has the purpose of helping to determine time. The gods take care that the earth produces food for man, for which the corresponding order of the seasons has been introduced; moreover, the movement of the sun occurs at such a distance from the earth that people do not suffer from excessive heat or excessive cold, etc. Socrates attached special importance to the knowledge of the essence of virtue. moral man should know what virtue is. Morality and knowledge coincide from this point of view; in order to be virtuous, it is necessary to know virtue as such, as the "universal" that serves as the basis of all particular virtues.

The "Socratic" method, which had as its task the discovery of "truth" through conversation, dispute, polemic, was the source of idealistic "dialectics". “In ancient times, dialectics was understood as the art of achieving truth by revealing contradictions in the opponent’s judgment and overcoming these contradictions. In ancient times, some.

Socrates considered the three main virtues: 1. Moderation (knowing how to curb passions), 2. Courage (knowing how to overcome dangers), 3. Justice (knowing how to keep the laws of divine and human).

Only noble people can claim knowledge. But farmers and other workers are very far from knowing themselves, because they know only what is related to the body and serves it. Therefore, if self-knowledge is a sign of rationality, none of these people can be rational by virtue of their craft alone. Worker, artisan, farmer, i.e. the entire demos (not to mention the slaves) is inaccessible to knowledge.

Word "SOPHIST" (in translation: sage, craftsman, inventor) in the second half of the 5th century. BC. the Greeks called teachers of eloquence and knowledge necessary for active participation in public life. It can be said that ancient Greek democracy gave rise to the sophists. The need to speak publicly in courts and popular assemblies, to get citizens to support their point of view and to adopt a favorable decision by voting, made general and political education extremely valuable. There is an urgent need to master the skill public speaking, arguing, proving your point of view. All this began to be taught by the sophists. Their task is to teach "to think, speak and do".

Before the advent of sophistry, the so-called natural philosophy prevailed in Greece, i.e. philosophy of nature ("nature" - nature). Sophists were the first to study not the outside world around us, but the inner world of a person - his thinking, interests and needs, value system, ways of influencing decision-making. One of the most famous sophists - Protagoras of Abder(c. 490–c. 420 BC) belongs to the aphorism: "Man is the measure of all things". The evaluation of the surrounding world was now given not only objectively, from the point of view of the laws of nature, but also subjectively - from the point of view of human interests. Knowledge of the Logos, the laws of nature, is in itself necessary and important; but just as important is the understanding of the meaning, value (or, conversely, indifference) of this or that phenomenon of the surrounding world for us.

The main task that the sophists set themselves- to teach your followers to convincingly justify any point of view that turns out to be beneficial for them, and to achieve from other people and public bodies the adoption of decisions that are beneficial to themselves. The art of debating, persuading and proving was directed by the sophists not for the truth, but for practical use, personal gain. This gave rise to doubts about the existence of objective truth in general (after all, everyone declares as true what is useful and convenient for him), objective values and human virtues (virtue is different for a man, woman, child, free, slave). There were also doubts about the existence of the gods.

Proceeding from the desire of a person for the benefit and benefit, the sophists were the first in the history of European civilization to propose to explain the emergence of the state social contract theory . According to this theory, the state was created by people consciously - they found it useful to agree and form an organization that would maintain order in society that would be beneficial for all citizens.

The role of the sophists in the history of European philosophy and culture as a whole is ambiguous. On the one hand, the great Greek philosophers Socrates and Plato the sophists were condemned and ridiculed for the fact that they did not seek to know the truth, like all real scientists and sages, but to achieve personal success, personal benefit and benefit. Socrates called the sophists fishers of young people, trying to get the maximum payment for their services. On the other hand, sophistry has brought a lot of new things to the art of argument and proof.

Sophists are characterized: - critical attitude to the surrounding reality; - the desire to check everything in practice, to logically prove the correctness or incorrectness of a particular thought; - rejection of the foundations of the old, traditional civilization; - denial of old traditions, habits, rules based on unproven knowledge; - the desire to prove the conditionality of the state and law, their imperfection; - the perception of moral norms not as an absolute given, but as a subject of criticism; - subjectivism in assessments and judgments, denial of objective existence and attempts to prove that reality exists only in human thoughts.

PRESOCRATICS(German Vorsokratiker; French Présocratiques; English Presocratics) is a new European term for the early Greek philosophers of the 6th–5th centuries. BC, as well as their closest successors in the 4th century. BC, unaffected by the influence of the Attic "Socratic" tradition. The term has become entrenched in international historical and philosophical practice Ch. O. thanks to the classic work of the German classical philologist G. Diels (1848–1922) “Fragments of the Pre-Socratics” (Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 1903), in which for the first time the fragments from the lost writings of the pre-Socratics, as well as doxographic (cf. Doxographers ) and biographical evidence about them. The Diels collection unites over 400 names (most of them remain only names), including sophists, who, however, are not customarily called “pre-Socratics” (therefore, some authors prefer to talk about “pre-socratic” rather than “pre-socratic” philosophy ), as well as fragments of pre-philosophical theocosmogony (cf. Orphism , Ferekid ).

Diels proceeded from the ancient, broad meaning of the term "philosophy", so "Fragments of the Pre-Socratics" includes a lot of material that relates to the history of mathematics, medicine, etc. (up to the culinary arts). The philosophy of the pre-Socratics developed in the East - in the Ionian cities of Asia Minor and in the West - in the Greek colonies of Southern Italy and Sicily; hence the ancient division into "Ionian" ( Milesian school and her followers) and "Italian" ( Pythagoreanism and eleian school ) branches. In general, the Eastern, Ionian, tradition is characterized by empiricism, sensationalism, interest in a particular variety sensory world, predominant orientation on the material aspect of the world, the pushing aside of anthropological and ethical issues (exception - Heraclitus with his pathos of a religious and moral reformer); for the Western, Italian, tradition - the primacy of the rational-logical principle over the sensual, the predominant interest in the formal, numerical and structural aspects of things in general, the first formulation of epistemological and ontological problems in their pure form, often religious-eschatological interests. The focus of the entire philosophy of the Pre-Socratics is the cosmos, understood - with the help of the method of analogy that dominates among the Pre-Socratics - or biomorphically (see. Hylozoism ), or technomorphically (cf. Demiurge ), either sociomorphically (Dicke), or - among the Pythagoreans - based on numerical models; The binary oppositions inherited from the pre-scientific picture of the world continue to play a significant role among the pre-Socratics. A unique place among the pre-Socratics in this sense is occupied by Parmenides and his school, which for the first time abandoned the folklore-mythological heritage - binary classifications and metaphorical analogy - and provided a model for the entire Western European "metaphysics" of a purely logical construction of being. Man and the sphere of the social in general, as a rule, do not stand out from the general cosmic life (the opposition of “nature and law” - nomos and fusis - was first developed by the sophists): the cosmos, society and the individual are subject to the action of the same laws and are often considered as isomorphic structures mirrored in each other (cf. Macrocosm and microcosm ). Characteristic of pre-Platonic philosophy is the lack of a clear distinction between "material" and "ideal".

The internal course of the development of the philosophy of the pre-Socratics can be represented in the following formula: the construction of cosmological systems among the early Ionian thinkers was put an end to by Parmenides and his school, who demanded a logical and theoretical substantiation of the possibility of the sensible world, and above all of movement and plurality; the old hylozoistic cosmos disintegrated, singling out the “motive cause” (as defined by Aristotle) as a special category; in response to the postulates of the Eleatic school, more mechanistic pluralistic systems arose in the 5th century. - Empedocles , Anaxagora and atomists (sometimes called "new-Ionian"), in which all the signs of the Eleatic unchanging and self-identical being were transferred to the deanimized "matter" (however, the law of conservation of matter was, apparently, even earlier formulated by Anaximander). There were almost no “professionals” among the pre-Socratics (the first exception was Anaxagoras): most of them were involved in the life of the policy and acted as statesmen, founders of colonies, legislators, naval commanders, etc. - the direct opposite of the Hellenistic ideal of the philosopher with his principle "live unnoticed."

Fragments:

1. DK, vol. I–III;

2. Collie G. La sapienza greca, v. 1–3. Mil., 1978–80;

3. Kirk G.S., Raven J.E., Schofield M. The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selection of Texts. Cambr., 1983;

4. Makovelsky A.O. Presocratics, ch. 1–3. Kazan, 1914–19;

5. Fragments of early Greek philosophers, prepared by A.V. Lebedev, part I: From epic theocosmogony to the emergence of atomism. M., 1989.

Bibliography:

1. The Presocratic Philosophers: An Annotated Bibliography, by Luis E. Navia, 1993.

Literature:

1. Losev A.F. History of ancient aesthetics. Early classic. M., 1963;

2. Cassidy F.X. From myth to logos. M., 1972;

3. Rozhansky I.D. The development of natural science in the era of antiquity. M., 1979;

4. Dobrokhotov A.L. Presocratic doctrine of being. M., 1980;

5. Bogomolov A.S. dialectical logos. M., 1982;

6. Zaitsev A.I. Cultural upheaval in Ancient Greece 8th–5th centuries BC. L., 1985;

7. Lloyd G.E.R. polarity and analogy. Two types of argumentation in early Greek thought. Cambr., 1966;

8. Frankel H. Wege und Formen frühgriechischen Denkens. Munch., 1968;

9. Um die Begriffswelt der Vorsokratiker, hrsg. v. H.-G. Gadamer. Darmstadt, 1968;

10. Studies in presocratic philosophy, ed. by D. J. Furley and R. E. Allen, v. 1–2. L., 1970;

11. Guthrie W.K.S. A history of Greek philosophy, v. 1–2. Cambr., 1971;

12. West M.L. Early Greek philosophy and the Orient. Oxf., 1971;

13. Fritz K.v. Grundprobleme der Geschichte der Antiken Wissenschaft. V.–N. Y., 1971;

14. Chernis H. Aristotle's criticism of presocratic philosophy. N. Y., 1971;

15. The Presocratics. A collection of critical essays, ed. A. P. D. Mourelatos. N.Y., 1974;

16. The Presocratics, ed. E. Hussey. L., 1972;

17. Barnes J. The presocratic philosophers. L., 1982;

18. Idem. The Presocratic Philosophers. L.–Boston, 1982;

19. Mansfeld J. Die Vorsokratiker. Stuttg., 1987;

20. Long A.A.(ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Early Greek Philosophy. Cambr. (Mass.), 1999.

Philosophers of the pre-Socratic period dealt with the problems of knowledge of nature, therefore the philosophy of this period is characterized as the philosophy of nature, or natural philosophy (600-370 BC). Natural philosophers were engaged in the search for the causes of the existence of all things and the study of the causes of the formation and change of the world. As an answer to the first question, they received a number of abstractions (distractions), namely: physical, answering the question: what does everything consist of?, mathematical, which answered the question: how does everything relate?, metaphysical, answering the question: what Is there a being at its core?

Milesian school (VI-V centuries BC) took the first step towards finding out what the world is built of. Thales(c. 624-545 BC) believed that water was the beginning of everything. Anaximander (c. 610-547 BC) argued that the beginning of everything is indefinite (from the Greek apeiron), Anaximenes(c. 588-524 BC) believed that the beginning of everything is air. Thus, by inquiring about the cause of beings, the Milesians reached physical abstraction.

Pythagoreans (VI-IV centuries BC) - ethical and religious union in southern Italy, founded by Pythagoras, explored the question of the relationship of things. Having defined the world as a cosmos (order = beauty), they were the first to talk about the harmony of the spheres. Seeing the essence of things in number, the Pythagoreans achieved mathematical abstraction. The world is based on a number. Each number is sacred, it symbolizes something. (1) geometric symbol ●(point) in philosophy - one, unity 2) geometric symbol (line) - difference, opposite 3) geometric symbol (plane) - unity of opposites (black + white = gray) 4) geometric body - developed opposite (i.e. there are more opposites in the world than 2 (seasons))

10 - the most sacred number, a symbol of the cosmos (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10) The totality of all points, lines, planes and bodies.

School of the Eleatics (VI-V centuries BC) discussed the problem of being itself. The main representative of this school, Parmenides, one of the greatest philosophers of the Western tradition, suggested that there is being, but there is no non-being. Parmenides believed that feelings deceive us, in fact, there is no formation and destruction, there is no set, there is only what is conceivable, that is, one. According to another Greek philosopher Melissa (c. 444 BC), being is eternal, infinite, one, motionless and does not suffer suffering. Thus, thinking about the essence of being allowed the Eleatic school to achieve metaphysical abstraction.

Heraclitus (5th century BC)

Everything changes, develops, flows: it is impossible to enter the same river twice. And being is and non-being is also there, those are the material and non-material worlds. There will be a constant transition between the mental (non-material) and material worlds.

He believed that everything is in constant motion. (Later, the expression “everything flows” (Greek pdnta rhei) was used to generalize his teachings.) Things arise due to opposition; over everything transient, the world law or world mind (from the Greek logos) dominates.

Anaxagoras (c. 499-428 BC) insisted on the infinite variety of primary matter, homogeneous, but qualitatively different. Reason is the principle of change, as evidenced by cosmic movement and order.

Atomists ( Democritus (c. 460 BC - ?) and others, argued that there is an infinite number of indivisible atoms, which differ from each other only in size, shape, position and arrangement. Atoms are immutable, their movement is eternal. Between them is emptiness, and there is no other organizing principle than gravity. Human perception is possible thanks to material images emanating from things.

Sophistic movement (450-350 BC) completed the evolution of pre-Socratic thinking and laid the foundation for the next stage in the development of Greek philosophy. The Sophists found the diverse teachings of their predecessors unsatisfactory and criticized them. The theoretical foundations of sophistry were developed by Protagoras. Based on the relativism (recognition of the relativity, convention and subjectivity of knowledge) of Heraclitus, Protagoras taught that things are as they seem to each of us; everything is truth; man is the measure of all things. Based on these provisions, a practical application of sophism to moral and social life was developed. The Sophists put forward the thesis of the relativity of the law and argued that everyone has the right to use any means to satisfy their desires.

Philosophy of Socrates

The source for studying the philosophical views of Socrates are the works of Plato and Aristotle, since Socrates himself did not write anything. For understanding the teachings of Socrates, the works of Plato "Feast", "Phaedo", "Apology of Socrates" are important. They can be found in Plato's Dialogues.

The main place in Socratic philosophy belonged to ethics, and Socrates paid great attention to knowledge and believed that correct knowledge should be determined using two methods:

1) the method of extracting the general from a number of special cases;

2) a method for highlighting features that were missed in the overall analysis.

Socrates' method was quite scientific in terms of revealing knowledge. It was subsequently called by Aristotle induction, or the technique of bringing out definitions for general concepts. Socrates taught the art of generalization, the art of finding correct definitions general concepts. This training was carried out in the form of dialogues, during which the students did not actually acquire new knowledge, but only clarified with the help of the teacher those that they knew. Socrates himself called his method of teaching maeutics - "midwifery", that is, the art of giving birth to the knowledge that a person already has, inherent in his soul before it was embodied in his body. Socrates himself said: "I only know that I know nothing."

The inductive method of Socrates is primarily focused on substantiating his ethical views. What was the ethics of Socrates?

Moral aspirations are inherent in every person, and in order to turn them into virtue, it is important for him to remember what good is. The knowledge of good is already contained in the immortal soul of every person.

A person should strive for knowledge, which for Socrates was identical to the pursuit of virtue.

Virtues can be taught through mental education.

Since good is inherent in the human soul from the very beginning, each person should take care of the soul and its improvement.

Thus, the teaching of Socrates was the beginning of logic and ethics. It was not systematic, since Socrates did not write anything, but only limited himself to conversations with students on ethical topics. Of all the disciples of Socrates, Plato fully understood and developed his teaching.

Philosophy of Plato

Plato is the first ancient Greek philosopher who left behind a number of fundamental philosophical works, the most important of which are the "Apology of Socrates", "Parmenides", "Gorgias", "Phaedo", "State", "Laws".

Most of Plato's works are written in the form of dialogues.

2. Plato is the founder of idealism. The main provisions of his idealistic teachings are as follows:

Material things are changeable, impermanent, and eventually cease to exist;

The surrounding world ("the world of things") is also temporary and changeable and does not really exist as an independent substance;

Really there are only pure (incorporeal) ideas (eidos);

Pure (incorporeal) ideas are true, eternal and permanent;

Any existing thing is just a material reflection of the original idea (eidos) of this thing (for example, horses are born and die, but they are only the embodiment of the idea of a horse, which is eternal and unchanging, etc.);

The whole world is a reflection of pure ideas (eidos).

3. Plato also puts forward the philosophical doctrine of the triad, according to which Everything that exists is made up of three things:

"single";

"Single":

Is the basis of all being;

It has no signs (no beginning, no end, no parts, no integrity, no form, no content, etc.);

There is nothing;

Above all being, above all thinking, above all sensation;

The origin of everything - all ideas, all things, all phenomena, all properties (both everything good from the point of view of a person, and everything bad).

Derived from "one";

Divided from "single";

Opposite of "one";

Is the essence of all things;

There is a generalization of all life on Earth. "Soul":

A mobile substance that unites and connects "one - nothing" and "mind - all living things", and also connects all things and all phenomena;

Also, according to Plato, the soul can be the world and the soul of an individual; with the hylozoic (animated) approach, things and inanimate nature can also have a soul;

The soul of a person (thing) is a part of the world soul;

The soul is immortal;

At the death of a person, only the body dies, while the soul, having answered in the underworld for its earthly deeds, acquires a new bodily shell;

The constancy of the soul and the change of bodily forms is a natural law of the Cosmos.

4. Concerning epistemology (the doctrine of knowledge), Plato proceeds from the idealistic picture of the world he created:

Since the material world is only a reflection of the "world of ideas", the subject of knowledge should be, first of all, "pure ideas";

"pure ideas" cannot be known with the help of sensory cognition (this type of cognition does not give reliable knowledge, but only an opinion - "doxa");

"pure ideas" can only be known by reason, thanks to higher spiritual activity (idealistic knowledge);

Only trained people can engage in higher spiritual activity - educated intellectuals, philosophers, therefore, only they are able to see and realize "pure ideas".

5. Plato paid a special role in his philosophy to the problem of the state (which was not typical for his predecessors - the "pre-Socratic" Thales, Heraclitus and others, who were searching for the origin of the world and explaining the phenomena of the surrounding nature, but not society).

Plato identifies seven types of state: the ideal "state of the future", which does not yet exist and in which there will be no need for state power and laws, and six types of currently existing states.

Among the six existing types by Plato are indicated:

Monarchy is the just power of one person;

Tyranny is the unjust power of one person;

Aristocracy - the just power of the minority;

Oligarchy is the unjust power of a minority;

Democracy is the just rule of the majority;

Timocracy - unfair rule of the majority, power

military leaders, armies.

Since tyranny, oligarchy and timocracy are unjust forms of the state, and democracy - the rule of the majority - is rarely fair and, as a rule, degenerates into tyranny, oligarchy or timocracy, only aristocracy and monarchy can be two stable and optimal forms of state.

6. Plato also puts forward his own plan for the state structure, according to this plan:

The entire population of the state (polis) is divided into three estates - philosophers, warriors, workers;

Workers (peasants and artisans) are engaged in rough physical labor, create material wealth, and can own private property to a limited extent;

Warriors do physical exercises, train, maintain order in the state, and, if necessary, take part in hostilities;

Philosophers (wise men) - develop philosophical theories,

cognize the world, teach, govern the state;

Philosophers and warriors should not have private property;

Residents of the state spend their free time together, eat together (have meals), relax together;

There is no marriage, all wives and children are common;

The labor of slaves is allowed and welcomed, as a rule, barbarians captured.

Later, Plato revised some of the ideas of his project, allowing small private property and personal property for all classes, but other provisions of this plan were retained.

7. The historical significance of Plato's philosophy is that:

For the first time a philosopher left a whole collection of fundamental works;

The beginning of idealism as a major philosophical trend was laid (the so-called "Plato's line" - the opposite of the materialistic "Democritus line");

For the first time, the problems of not only nature, but also society - the state, laws, etc. were deeply studied;

The foundations of conceptual thinking were laid, an attempt was made to single out philosophical categories (being - becoming, eternal - temporary, resting - moving, indivisible - divisible, etc.);

A philosophical school (Academy) was created, which existed for about 1000 years, where many prominent followers of Plato (Aristotle and others) grew up.

Philosophy of Aristotle

Aristotle (384 - 322, BC) - an ancient Greek philosopher of the classical period, a student of Plato, educator of Alexander the Great.

2. Aristotle divided philosophy into three types:

Theoretical, studying the problems of being, various spheres of being, the origin of everything that exists, the causes of various phenomena (it was called "primary philosophy");

Practical - about human activity, the structure of the state;

Poetic.

It is believed that in fact Aristotle singled out logic as the fourth part of philosophy.

3. Considering the problem of being, Aristotle criticized the philosophy of Plato, according to which the world was divided into the "world of things" and "the world of pure (incorporeal) ideas", and the "world of things" as a whole, like each thing separately, was only a material reflection of the corresponding "pure idea".

Plato's mistake, according to Aristotle, is that he tore the "world of ideas" from the real world and considered "pure ideas" without any connection with the surrounding reality, which also has its own characteristics - extension, rest, movement, etc.

Aristotle gives his interpretation of this problem:

There are no "pure ideas" that are not connected with the surrounding reality, the reflection of which is all things and objects of the material world;

There are only singular and specifically defined things;

These things are called individuals (in translation - "indivisible"), that is, there is only a specific horse in a specific place, and not the "idea of a horse", the embodiment of which this horse is, a specific chair located in a specific place and having its own signs, and not "idea of a chair", a specific house with precisely defined parameters, not an "idea of a house", etc.;

Individuals are the primary essence, and the species and genera of individuals (horses in general, houses in general, etc.) are secondary.

4. Since being is not "pure ideas" ("eidoses") and their material reflection ("things"), the question arises: what is being?

Aristotle tries to answer this question (what is being) through statements about being, that is, through categories (translated from ancient Greek - statements).

Aristotle identifies 10 categories that answer the question posed (about being), and one of the categories says what being is, and 9 others give its characteristics. These categories are:

Essence (substance);

Quantity;

Quality;

Attitude;

Position;

State;

Action;

Suffering.

In other words, according to Aristotle, being is an entity (substance) that has the properties of quantity, quality, place, time, relationship, position, state, action, suffering.

A person, as a rule, is able to perceive only the properties of being, but not its essence. Also, according to Aristotle, categories are the highest reflection and generalization of the surrounding reality, without which existence itself is unthinkable.

5. An important place in the philosophy of Aristotle is occupied by the problems of matter.

What is matter?

According to Aristotle, matter is a potency limited by form (for example, a copper ball is copper limited by sphericity, etc.).

Concerning this problem, the philosopher also comes to the conclusion that:

Everything that exists on Earth has a potency (actually matter) and a form;

A change in at least one of these qualities (either matter or form) leads to a change in the essence of the object itself;

Reality is a sequence of transition from matter to form and from form to matter;

Potency (material) is a passive principle, form is an active one;

The highest form of all things is God, who has being

outside the world.

6. The bearer of consciousness, according to Aristotle, is the soul.

The philosopher identifies three levels of the soul:

vegetable soul;

animal soul;

Intelligent soul.

Being the carrier of consciousness, the soul also controls the functions of the body.

The vegetable soul is responsible for the functions of nutrition, growth and reproduction. The same functions (nutrition, growth, reproduction) are also handled by the animal soul, but thanks to it, the body is supplemented by the functions of sensation and desire. And only the reasonable (human) soul, covering all the above functions, also knows the functions of reasoning and thinking. This is what distinguishes a person from the whole world around him.

Aristotle takes a materialistic approach to the problem of man. He believes that a person:

According to its biological essence, it is one of the types of highly organized animals;

Differs from animals in the presence of thinking and reason;

Has an innate tendency to live together with his own kind (that is, live in a team).

It is the last quality - the need to live in a team - that leads to the emergence of a society - a large team of people engaged in the production of material goods and their distribution, living in the same territory and united by language, kinship and cultural ties.

The regulating mechanism of society (protection from enemies, maintenance of internal order, assistance to the economy, etc.) is the state.

7. Aristotle identifies six types of state:

Monarchy;

Tyranny;

Aristocracy;

Extreme oligarchy;

Ochlocracy (mob power, extreme democracy);

Politia (a mixture of moderate oligarchy and moderate democracy).

Like Plato, Aristotle separates the "bad" forms of the state (tyranny, extreme oligarchy and ochlocracy) and the "good" ones (monarchy, aristocracy and polity).

The best form of state, according to Aristotle, is polity - a combination of moderate oligarchy and moderate democracy, the state of the "middle class" (Aristotle's ideal).

8. The historical significance of Aristotle's philosophy is that he:

He made significant adjustments to a number of provisions of Plato's philosophy, criticizing the doctrine of "pure ideas";

He gave a materialistic interpretation of the origin of the world and man;

He singled out 10 philosophical categories;

He gave the definition of being through categories;

Determined the essence of matter;

He singled out six types of state and gave the concept of an ideal type - polity;

He made a significant contribution to the development of logic (he gave the concept of the deductive method - from the particular to the general, substantiated the system of syllogisms - the conclusion from two or more premises of the conclusion).

Ethical teachings of the Epicureans, Cynics,

Epicureanism- philosophy founded by Epicurus. Created a school in Athens called the "Garden of Epicurus".

The Epicureans believed that for a happy life a person needs: 1. Absence of bodily suffering; 2. Equanimity of the soul; 3. Friendship. The largest representative of Greek Hellenistic Epicureanism is, first of all, Epicurus himself. Roman Epicureanism was represented by Lucretius and Catius; this trend also influenced Roman eclecticism. Cynic cynicism - one of the most significant Socratic philosophical schools. At the beginning of the IV century. BC e. philosophical schools were founded by some students of Socrates. One of these schools was cynicism. The founder of the school Antisthenes of Athens, developing the principles of the teacher, began to argue that the best life is not just naturalness, getting rid of conventions and artificialities, freedom from possessing superfluous and useless things - Antisthenes began to argue that in order to achieve good, one should live “like a dog ", that is, combining: the simplicity of life, following one's own nature, contempt for conventions; the ability to firmly defend their way of life, stand up for themselves; loyalty, courage, gratitude. Thus he strove to live on his own and called himself aplocuon (ἁπλοκύων, true dog). From this word comes the name of the school, cynicism. (According to another version, the name of the school comes from the name of the place where the gymnasium was located, in which Antisthenes had conversations with students - Kinosarg, Κῠνόσαργες, "Sharp Dog".) This program of Antisthenes served as the basis for the program of the entire school, and on the grave of Diogenes of Sinop was installed monument of Parian marble with a sculpture of a dog. The founder of the school, Antisthenes, opposed the division of the world, traditional since the time of the Eleatic school, into intelligible (“in truth”) and sensual (“according to opinion”) being, and so on. against the teachings of Plato about the incorporeal "types" or "ideas" comprehended by the mind (which anticipated the Aristotelian criticism of Plato's ideas). The reality of the general does not exist, but only individual things exist; a concept is only a word that explains what a thing is or is. Therefore, the application of general concepts to individual objects is impossible; neither the combination of different concepts [in the unity of judgment], nor the definition of concepts, nor even a contradiction is possible - since only a judgment of identity can be expressed about a thing (a horse is a horse, a table is a table). Plato's doctrine of intelligible "species" is untenable, since a single, sensually perceived instance of a species is available to perception, but not the "view" or "idea" itself. In this position lies the principle of wisdom as the practical knowledge of the good. Wisdom does not consist in theoretical knowledge inaccessible to man. Only practical reason is recognized, integrated with worldly wisdom; "correct" science is considered one of the most harmful phenomena. The true good can only be the property of each individual, but by no means common to many; and the goal of a virtuous life can accordingly be not wealth, which can be divided, but health (calmness, peace, etc.). P.). The absence of common "kinds" posits the good as detachment from everything that makes a person dependent on the [illusory] common; from possessions, from pleasures, from artificial and conventional concepts. The main task of philosophy, Antisthenes argued, is the study of the inner world of man, the understanding of what is the [true] good for man. Therefore, cynicism does not create abstract theories; in abstraction from the abstract, it tends to the limit and, as a system, is a complex of practical ideals. Thus, the ethical ideal of cynicism is formed as: extreme simplicity, bordering on a pre-cultural state; contempt for all but the basic needs, without which life itself would be impossible; [mocking] mockery of all conventions; [almost] demonstrative naturalness and unconditionality of personal freedom. As a sum, at the center of Cynic philosophy is man with his natural concerns. Cynic is looking for a norm in the nature of man as a species and an individual, and does not wait for divine instructions to decide his own life. Thus, the denial of the Cynics was not empty and meaningless nihilism. Stoic teachings The Stoics consider logic, physics and ethics to be parts of philosophy. Their comparison of philosophy with an orchard is well known: logic corresponds to the fence that protects it, ethics is a growing tree, and physics is the fruit. Also, the Stoics compared their classification system with both an animal and an egg. In the first case: bones - logic, meat - ethics, the soul of an animal - physics; in the second: the shell is logic, the protein is ethics, and the yolk of the egg is physics. Logic Along with formal logical theory, Stoic logic contains the study of epistemological and linguistic problems. Stoics supplement syllogistic with 5 hypothetical, or rather disjunctive, forms of inference, from which all correct conclusions should consist. In this case, not concepts, but statements are replaced by variables: Physics In their physics, the Stoics recognize as “existing” only that which acts or undergoes, that is, the body. Matter (hüle) corresponds to the passive principle, while logos corresponds to the active principle. The Logos is the world mind that permeates qualityless matter with breath (pneuma) and thus expediently directs its development. All things contain "seed logos", in which their planned development is laid down. The primary element is fire. Other elements (earth, water, air) and the concrete world develop from fire. It permeates everything with its warmth, forming the vital breath of every thing. Thus, he also acts as a soul and a force that intelligently sets everything in motion. The Stoics teach about the cyclical nature of the cosmos: the world was born from the first fire, and in it it will perish. After this world conflagration, the world of concrete individual things will develop again. Logos is at the center of Stoic theology. God is regarded as the creative primary force, the first cause of all being. He is the logos that carries the intelligent seed energies of all things. For the Stoics, the cosmos, which gives rise to all life and thinking, is itself a living being, whose soul is divine. The expedient and planned order of things and events is connected with the rationality of the logos. The interconnection of everything with everything is understood as a meaningful order implemented by the divine will. The Stoics call this order fate, and the purpose predetermined by it - providence. It is impossible to evade the necessity that reigns in the world. The main idea of Stoic ethics is the causally and teleologically predetermined course of world events. Man's goal is to live "in harmony with nature." This is the only way to achieve harmony. Happiness is achievable only if the peace of the soul is not disturbed by any affect that is not considered as an excessively increased attraction. It is, by its very nature, based on a notion that is given false significance. Acting, he becomes pathos, passion. Since a person rarely masters its object completely, he experiences dissatisfaction. The Stoic ideal is apathy, freedom from such affects. There are four types of affects: pleasure, aversion, lust and fear. They must be avoided by right judgment (orthos logos), since the attraction becomes an affect only when the mind approves the value of its object. Understanding the true value of things prevents the pursuit of false benefits or extinguishes the fear of imaginary troubles. The understanding is characterized by the knowledge that no external goods have value from the point of view of a happy life. Stoics divide all things into good, evil, indifference (adiaphora). The virtues are good, the opposite of them is evil. All other things are indifferent, because they mean nothing to achieve happiness. They are either completely indifferent, or "preferred" or "unpreferred". Preference should be given to things that are in harmony with nature. The Stoics draw the same distinction between actions. There are bad and good deeds, average deeds are called "proper" if a natural predisposition is realized in them. Virtue is the most important thing for happiness. It lies mainly in the moral understanding of the significance of things. From this virtue others follow (justice, courage, etc.). Virtues can be learned, then it becomes inalienable. There is nothing in between virtue and vice, since one can act either with or without understanding. Right judgment is the basis of right attitude towards things and towards inclinations. Achieved harmony - this is happiness.

Philosophy of the Middle Ages

The era of the Middle Ages begins in 476 - the year of the fall of the Roman Empire. In medieval philosophy, the source of all being, goodness and beauty is God. Medieval thinking is theocentric. God is the reality that creates and defines all things. Christian thinking is based on two most important principles that cannot be reduced to mythological consciousness - the idea of creation (creationism - the doctrine of the creation of the world by God from nothing, an act of free will) and the idea of revelation (apocalypse). These two ideas can be likened to the ontological (the doctrine of the world) and epistemological (the doctrine of knowledge) aspects of philosophy.

According to the Christian dogma (Bible), God created the world out of nothing, created it by the influence of his will, thanks to his omnipotence, which at every moment preserves and supports the existence of the world. The doctrine of creation shifts the center of gravity from the natural to the supernatural (supernatural) principle. If the ancient gods were akin to nature, the God of Christianity stands above nature, on the other side of it, and therefore is transcendental, located outside this world, outside consciousness. Consequently, God is not accessible to ordinary knowledge, since he is transcendent, located outside the world of nature and man. However, God himself reveals himself to people who believe in his existence. The result of his revelation is the Bible. By comprehending its content, one can understand what God is. As for the world created by God, its knowledge with the help of reason is possible.

In medieval philosophy, the problem of man was discussed. Two main essential characteristics of a person were used:

1) man is “the image and likeness of God”;

2) man is a "reasonable animal".

In the evolution of medieval philosophy, it is customary to distinguish two periods - patristics and scholasticism.

Philosophy of patristics

The period of patristics covers the 1st-6th centuries. Patristics is a set of theological, philosophical and political-social doctrines of Christian thinkers. Patristics is the teaching of the "fathers of the church", that is, spiritual mentors, who are characterized by the holiness of life, high authority. There are three stages in patristics:

- apologetics that played important role in the formation and defense of the Christian worldview. Representatives of apologetics were Tertullian, Clement, Origen, and others;

- classical patristics, which formulated the philosophical principles and foundations of Christian doctrine. Representatives: Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Aurelius Augustine and others;

- the final period that stabilized Christian dogma. Mention should be made here of Boethius, Eriugena, etc.

Features of patristics: unity of principles; corporate truth; reliance on tradition and the consent of the fathers; the authority of Scripture. Representatives of patristics discussed the problems of the essence of God, the movement of history towards a certain final goal, the relationship between free will and the salvation of the soul, raised questions about the relationship between faith and reason.

Particular attention is drawn to the teachings of the most prominent representative of patristics, Aurelius Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo, Christian theologian, philosopher and church leader. A. Augustine went the way to Christianity through paganism and Manichaeism. He described his path to God in his essay "Confession". A. Augustine's work "On the City of God" outlines the Christian concept of world history, understood as the result of divine predestination. Here we see a systematic restructuring of the theoretical heritage of Antiquity in the spirit of theocentrism.

The religious and philosophical doctrine of A. Augustine consists of three parts: physics, logic and ethics. In physics, A. Augustine develops the doctrine not of nature, but of the creation of nature by God from nothing by an act of his free will.

In the field of logic and epistemology, Aurelius Augustine proceeds from the fact that sensory knowledge cannot lead us to the truth, since sensibility is doubtful, unstable. Plunging into the knowledge of his soul, a person discovers in it a stable, eternal content, the source of this is God. God endows the human soul with natural light, illuminates it, and therefore opens up the possibility of cognition. The human soul, according to A. Augustine, is the creation of God. It has three parts: mind, will and memory. Faith is the highest act of the will. Will precedes knowledge, for a person must first believe in God, and then try to know him. Reason without faith cannot be the means and measure of truth.

In ethics, Aurelius Augustine develops the doctrine of good and evil. Good in A. Augustine is the highest good - God. Evil is a lack of good, it manifests itself in the free will of a person, in his pride, passions. Evil makes a person dependent on sin. A person can become free only when he realizes the presence of God in the world and begins to live, comprehending the teachings of God.

Aurelius Augustine is considered the founder of the Christian philosophy of history.

A. Augustine proposed a fundamentally new, linear scheme of world history, which differs from the ancient (cyclic) model of the historical process. The main characteristic feature of A. Augustine's philosophy of history is providentialism, the doctrine of predestination. God not only creates the world, but also supports it with his grace, and also directs everything in the world towards a specific goal, for the better. Human history, in his understanding, is a struggle between two hostile kingdoms. To the "earthly city" - the "sinful" secular state - Aurelius Augustine contrasts the "city of God" - the universal domination of the church. Thus, in A. Augustine we see the first model of world history, based on linear time, going from the fall to the end of the world and the Last Judgment.

Scholastic period (IX–XV)

Scholasticism is a “school” direction in the development of science, philosophy, and theology, that is, a type of religious philosophy characterized by the fundamental subordination of theology, the combination of dogmatic premises with rationalistic methods, and a special interest in formal logical problems. The scholastic period includes:

- early scholasticism, still standing on the basis of the indivisibility and interpenetration of science, philosophy, theology, characterized by the design of the scholastic method in connection with the understanding of the specific value and results of the activity of the mind and in connection with the dispute about universals. Representatives: P. Abelard, Anselm of Canterbury and others;

- middle scholasticism, characterized by the final separation of science and philosophy (especially natural philosophy) from theology, as well as the introduction of the teachings of Aristotle into Western philosophical thinking. Representatives: Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas;

- late scholasticism, characterized by rationalistic systematization, the further formation of natural-scientific and natural-philosophical thinking, the development of logic and metaphysics of the irrationalist direction, and, finally, the final dissociation of mysticism from theology. Representatives: Nicholas of Cusa, Duns Scott, William of Ockham, Dante and others.

The highest phase in the development of medieval philosophy is scholasticism, which begins in the ninth century. and continues until the end of the 15th century. The world, according to the ideas of the scholastics, does not even have an independent existence, everything exists only in relation to God.

One of the most prominent representatives of mature scholasticism was the theologian, the monk Thomas Aquinas (1225/26–1274). The main works of F. Aquinas are "The Sum of Theology" and "The Sum Against the Gentiles". In these works, he delimits the scope of philosophy and theology on the subject (philosophy is aimed at being; religion - at salvation), source (philosophy comes from reason; theology - from faith), goal (philosophy seeks knowledge for the sake of knowledge; theology - to knowledge for salvation). The essence of the teachings of F. Aquinas is a statement of the principle of the unity of faith and reason. Thomas Aquinas argued that faith and reason can be in harmony, believed that the mind is able to rationally prove the existence of God, reject objections to the truths of faith. F. Aquinas gives five proofs of the existence of God.

1. Evidence from the chain of sources of movement (the prime mover).

2. Evidence from the chain of causes (original cause).

3. Proof from necessity.

4. Proof from degrees of perfection (absolute perfection).

5. Proof from expediency.

Thomas Aquinas shared the idea of the creation of the world from nothing, as well as the idea of the immortality of the soul, which is a "pure form" and cannot be destroyed. However, it does not exist before earthly life, but is created by God. Consequently, essence and existence are inseparable, merged only in God. The soul acquires knowledge through sensory perception and intellect. Thomas Aquinas believed that the mind is the highest of human abilities. The mind is above the will. Like Aristotle, he saw practical reason in the will, that is, reason aimed at guiding human actions. However, he makes the reservation that in everyday life the love of God is more important than the knowledge of God.

Nominalism and realism

The problem runs through the whole of scholasticism: do universals really exist or not? This problem is rooted in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle: what is the relationship between the world of ideas and the world of things?

Nominalism and realism are historical and philosophical tendencies that exaggerate and absolutize either the general (universal) or the individual (individual), tearing these dialectical opposites apart. Nominalism is the assertion that universals exist after things, while realism is before things. The concept of "realism" in modern philosophy is often used in a completely different sense - materialistic. And medieval realism is the purest idealism of the objective variety. Conversely, nominalism expresses a materialistic tendency. Nominalism and realism have their own types: moderate and extreme.

Extreme (conceptual) realism: common names express general concepts that exist before the world of things and outside it. This position is taken by Anselm of Canterbury and William.

Moderate realism: the general does not exist outside individual things and independently of them, but in the things themselves as their essence. This position is represented by F. Aquinas.

The opposite trend was associated with emphasizing the priority of will over reason and was called nominalism. The name in Latin is nomen, hence the name of the philosophical position is nominalism.

Compositions

FRAGMENTS OF THE PRE-SOCRATICS (the doctrine of man)

Anaximander

Plutarch Strom. 2 (from Theophrastus) (A 10) 3 ... Initially, man descended from animals of a different species, since other animals soon begin to independently obtain food, while man alone needs prolonged breastfeeding. As a result, the first man, being such, could not possibly have survived.

Aetius V 19.4 (A 30). Anaximander says that the first animals were born in moisture and were covered with prickly scales; upon reaching a certain age, they began to go out onto land and (there), when the scales began to burst, they soon changed their way of life (translated by G. Tsereteli).

Simplicius phyc. 24, 13 (from Theophrastus "Opinions of Physicists and Cossacks") (B I). From those (elements) from which all things (things) are born, into the same (elements) they are destroyed by necessity. All of them give each other just retribution for the injustice done in a certain order of time (transl. mine. - F.K.).

Xenophanes

Athenaeus X 413 F (B 2)... Our wisdom is much better than the strength of men and horses. But it is a completely senseless and unjust custom to give preference to bodily strength over useful wisdom.

Clement Strom. V 110 (B 15). But if bulls, horses and lions had hands and could draw and create works (arts) with them, like people, then horses would depict gods like horses, bulls like bulls, and would give (them) bodies of this kind, what is the bodily image of themselves (each in his own way).

Stobey Ecl. I 8 (B 18). Not from the beginning, the gods revealed everything to mortals, but gradually, searching, (people) find the best.

Aetius (Theodorite) IV 5 (B 27). For from the earth everything (has arisen) and everything will turn into the earth in the end.

Sextus adv. math. VII 49 (B 34). So, as far as the truth is concerned, there has not been and will not be a single person who would know it regarding the gods and regarding all that I am talking about. For if, even by chance, someone had expressed the true truth, then he himself, however, would not have known (about this). For only opinion is the lot of all.

Parmenides

Diogen IX 22 (A 1, 22). He said that there are two philosophies: one - in accordance with the truth, the other - in accordance with the opinion ... He recognized reason as the criterion of truth. And the sensations are not accurate in his opinion.

Clement Strom. VI23 (B 3). Thinking and being are one and the same. Symplicius phys. 144:29 (B 8:11). Existing ("that which is") must be always or never.

Symplicius phys. 144, 29 (B 8:34-35). Same

Thought and what she thinks about. Thought cannot be found without being.

Alcmaeon

Aetius IV 17, 1 (A 8). Alcmaeon: The primary part of the soul is in the brain.

Aetius IV 2, 2 (A 12). Alcmaeon considers the soul to be self-moving by nature and possessing perpetual motion; therefore, in his opinion, she is immortal and god-like.

Theophrastus de sens. 25 (In la). Namely, he says that man differs from other animals in that only he thinks, while other animals feel, but do not think.

Aetius V 30, 1 (B 4). Maintains health balance (isonomia) in the body of the forces of wet, dry, cold, warm, bitter, sweet and others; domination (monarchy) in them alone is the cause of the disease. For the domination of one opposite acts disastrously.

Empedocles

89. Know: from everything that was born, the subtlest currents emanate.

90. Sweet to sweet, bitter to bitter began to strive, Sour to sour converged, warmth combined with warmth.

91. Water readily forms a mixture with wine, but not with oil.

102. So everything that lives has a sense of smell and breath.

103. The will of Fate is such that rationality is inherent in all creatures.

105. In the stormy waves of running blood the heart is nourished;

It also contains what we so often call thinking: The thought of a person is the blood that washes around the heart.

106. The mind grows in people in accordance with the knowledge of the world.

109. We see earth with earth, and we see water with water, Ether is wonderful ether, fire is fire

merciless, also by love love and strife by poisonous strife.

110. ... For know that in everything there is a share of rationality and thoughts.

Anthology of world philosophy. In 4 vols. M., 1969. T. 1. Part I. S. 307

SOPHISTS

Protagoras

Sextus adv. math. VII 60 (B 1). Man is the measure of all things: those that exist, that they exist, and those that do not exist, that they do not exist.

Evsevy Rgaer. evang. XIV 3, 7 (B 4). Of the gods, I can neither know that they exist, nor that they do not exist, nor what they look like. For many things hinder to know [this]: both the vagueness [of the question] and the brevity of human life.

Diogenes IX 51 (B 6a). There are two opposite opinions about every thing.

Prodic

Cicero de nat. deor. I 37, 118. Prodicus ... said that those objects that were useful for people's lives were listed among the gods.

Sextus adv. math. IX 18. But Prodicus of Ceos says: "The sun, the moon, rivers, springs, and in general everything that is useful for our life, the ancients recognized as gods because of the benefits received from them, just as the Egyptians deified the Nile"; for this reason, bread was recognized by Demeter, wine by Dionysus, water by Poseidon, fire by Hephaestus, and in general, every thing used for the benefit of people [was similarly deified].

Themistius Or. 30. [Prodicus] puts all sacred action in man, and mysteries, and sacraments, in connection with the benefits of agriculture, believing that from here appeared in people both the [very] idea of the gods, and all kinds of piety.

Thrasymachus

Plato Polit. I 338 C-344 A. So listen, he said (Frazimach): I call fair nothing other than what is useful to the strongest ... Every power gives laws consistent with its benefit ... Having given laws that are useful for themselves , she declares them fair for the subjects and punishes the violator of these laws as a lawless person and an opponent of the truth ... In all cities, the fair is the same: this is the benefit of the established power ... Sheepdogs or boletes take care of the welfare of sheep or bulls, feed them and they follow them, bearing in mind ... the good of the masters and their own ... the same thoughts in relation to the subordinates of the rulers of the societies themselves ... how to extract their benefit from this ...

Fairness and fairness ... is someone else's good, that is, the benefit of the strongest person and the ruler, but, in fact, for the one who obeys and serves, this is harm. A just person wins less everywhere than an unjust person... But you will most easily recognize this when you reach the most perfect injustice, which makes the offender the happiest, and those offended and unwilling to offend the most unhappy. Such is tyranny (translated by V. N. Karpov).

Antiphon

Oxyrh. Pap. XI No. 1364. (1) Justice [consists in] not violating the laws of the state in which one is a citizen. Thus, a person will derive the greatest benefit for himself from the application of justice if, in the presence of witnesses, he begins to observe the laws, honoring them highly, while remaining alone, without witnesses, [will follow] the laws of nature. For the prescriptions of laws are arbitrary (artificial), [the decrees of] nature are necessary. And [moreover], the prescriptions of the laws are the result of an agreement (contract of people), and not arising by themselves [creations of nature]; the decrees of nature are self-arisen (innate beginnings), and not the product of an agreement [of people among themselves]. (2) So, he who breaks the laws, if this remains secret from the [other] parties to the agreement, is free from shame and punishment; if [his illegal act] is revealed, then shame and punishment befall him. But if someone tries to forcibly violate something of the [requirements] rooted in nature itself, going against the [natural possibility], then, if this remains hidden from all people, the disaster [from this for himself] will be no less and no more than if everyone sees it. For [in this case] harm is done not because of the opinion [of people], but in truth. In general, consideration of these [questions] leads to the conclusion that many [prescriptions recognized] as just by law are hostile to [human] nature ... (4) As for useful [things], then those of them that are established [in as useful] laws, are the shackles [for human] nature, the same ones that are determined by nature, bring [man] freedom ... (5) [In actions contrary to nature] lies [the reason] that people suffer more, when it would be possible to suffer less, and experience less pleasure, when it would be possible to enjoy more, and [feel] unhappy, when it is possible not to be so. fr. B. (1) Those who come from noble parents, (2) we respect and honor, but those who are not from a noble house, we do not respect and do not honor. In this we act towards each other as barbarians, because by nature we are all equal in every respect, moreover [equally] both barbarians and Hellenes. [Here] it is appropriate to pay attention to the fact that all people have the same needs by nature ... And in fact, we all [equally] breathe air - through the mouth and nose, and we all [equally] eat - with the help of hands.

Anthology of world philosophy. M., 1969. T. 1. Part 1. S. 319-321

Cradle of Western philosophy - Greek colonies on the coast mediterranean sea, in Asia Minor and southern Italy. Lively trade with other civilizational centers of that time not only brought prosperity to the Greek colonial cities, but also contributed to the assimilation of knowledge accumulated by other peoples. The emergence on the basis of this knowledge of philosophy as a special type of thinking is associated with the policy, a special form of organization of society, which is characterized by decision-making as a result of a free and equal discussion of common problems. The democratic structure of society and the skills of a dialogue of equals contributed to the formation of an idea of the integrity and autonomy of a person and the development of a rationalistic nature of thinking.

The basis of ancient philosophizing was a spiritual revolution, characterized by the transition from myth to logos. The structure of the world began to be explained not by the actions of the gods, but by rational principles on which the order of the world and the position of man in it are based. Ancient philosophers were in search of the root cause and the primary law of the world (the themes of the search for the foundations of unity are associated with this), in the search for truth (the themes of being are associated with this), in the search for true knowledge. A specific view of a person led to the installation of the study of his nature, his moral destiny and the properties of his soul, the definition of goodness, virtue and the achievement of happiness.

Greek philosophy is characterized, on the one hand, by a certain unity, on the other hand, by a change in thinking styles, the so-called "paradigms". More than a thousand years of Greek philosophy can be divided into four periods: pre-Socratic philosophy (7th-4th centuries BC); classical philosophy (450-320 BC); Hellenistic philosophy (320 BC - 200 AD); neoplatonic philosophy (c. 250-600).

Pre-Socratic philosophy is characterized by reflections on the cosmos or nature, classical thought puts man at the forefront; Hellenistic comprehends the position of a person in society, Neoplatonic philosophy is theosophical (religious) thinking, the development of mysticism and a new myth.

Pre-Socratic philosophy

The Milesian school (VI-V centuries BC) took the first step towards finding out what the world is built of. Thales (c. 624-545 BC) believed that water was the beginning of everything. Anaximander (c. 610-547 BC) argued that the beginning of everything is indefinite (from the Greek apeiron), Anaximenes (c. 588-524 BC) believed that the beginning of everything is air. Thus, by inquiring about the cause of beings, the Milesians reached physical abstraction. The Pythagoreans (VI-IV centuries BC) - an ethical and religious union in southern Italy, founded by Pythagoras, explored the question of the relationship of things. Having defined the world as a cosmos, they were the first to speak about the harmony of the spheres. Seeing the essence of things in number, the Pythagoreans achieved mathematical abstraction. The Eleatic school (VI-V centuries BC) discussed the problem of being in itself. The main representative of this school, Parmenides, one of the greatest philosophers of the Western tradition, suggested that there is being, but there is no non-being. Parmenides believed that feelings deceive us, in fact, there is no formation and destruction, there is no set, there is only what is conceivable, that is, one. According to another Greek philosopher Melissa (c. 444 BC), being is eternal, infinite, one, motionless and does not suffer suffering. Thus, thinking about the essence of being allowed the Eleatic school to achieve metaphysical abstraction.

As an answer to the second question: what are the reasons for the formation and change of the world? a number of statements were also received. Along with a dynamic explanation of the causes of change, a mechanistic explanation was proposed, and then the so-called atomism.

Heraclitus was one of the first to try to find out the internal causes of the change in things, asserting the qualitative difference between the elements. He believed that everything is in constant motion. (Later, the expression “everything flows” (Greek pdnta rhei) was used to generalize his teachings.) Things arise due to opposition; over everything transient, the world law or world mind (from the Greek logos) dominates. Heraclitus' explanation was of a dynamic (mechanical) nature. The mechanical explanation addressed the external causes of changes and, along with the qualitative difference of the elements, increasingly resorted to their quantitative difference. Empedocles (c. 483-423 BC) proceeded from the existence of qualitatively different elements. Unlike Heraclitus, he argued that substances are unchanging, unlike ele-ats - that they are diverse. Everything, including the soul, arises from a mixture of elements. Sense perception is carried out due to bodily outflow. Anaxagoras (c. 499-428 BC) insisted on the infinite variety of primary matter, homogeneous, but qualitatively different. Reason is the principle of change, as evidenced by cosmic movement and order. In contrast, atomism insisted on an infinite number of quantitative elements. Atomists (Democritus (c. 460 BC -?) and others, argued that there is an infinite number of indivisible atoms that differ from each other only in size, shape, position and location. Atoms are unchanged, their movement is eternal. Between they are emptiness, and there is no other organizing principle than gravity.Human perception is possible thanks to the material images emanating from things.

The Sophistic movement (450-350 BC) completed the evolution of pre-Socratic thinking and laid the foundation for the next stage in the development of Greek philosophy. The Sophists found the diverse teachings of their predecessors unsatisfactory and criticized them. The theoretical foundations of sophistry were developed by Protagoras. Based on the relativism (recognition of the relativity, convention and subjectivity of knowledge) of Heraclitus, Protagoras taught that things are as they seem to each of us; everything is truth; man is the measure of all things. Based on these provisions, a practical application of sophism to moral and social life was developed. The Sophists put forward the thesis of the relativity of the law and argued that everyone has the right to use any means to satisfy their desires.

The period of activity of the sophists, who disenchanted mythical models and questioned traditional ideas about morality, is sometimes referred to as the Greek Enlightenment. Sophists, who are interested in man and society, act as the forerunners of a new paradigm of Greek thinking, in which the center of research is no longer nature, but man.