In our Second Module we are studying the earliest attempts by the ancient Greeks to articulate the nature of ultimate reality. This intellectual project had never been done in the Western world before, and it is quite audacious. In fact, it might even be beyond the limits of human intellectual capacity, as some later philosophers have argued. Can we have some sense of the ultimate principles of reality? The Pre-Socratic Greeks prepared the way for the great systematic speculations of Plato and Aristotle in a number of ways, which we will consider in this Module. Your assignment is to focus on one of the following sub-topics: summarize the discussion and explain its philosophical importance.
a) Ancient Materialism: The first Greek philosophers attempted to identify a single source of all reality, and they gave competing answers. As R.E. Allen explains in his article “Pre-Socratic Cosmology” (pp. 3-16), this attempt is very important, for a number of reasons. Explain what these early thinkers are doing here. What is the fundamental question they all assume, and what lies beneath this question (according to Allen)? How does this inquiry develop?
b) Permanence and Change: An important debate in the Pre-Socratic studies focuses on the question of permanence and change, with Heraclitus asserting that all things are in flux and Parmenides responding that nothing is in flux and nothing could ever change. This is an obscure discussion but each thinker contributes something of fundamental importance. Discuss this argument and note whatever strikes you about the claims.
c) Sophistry and Truth: You might remember from your PHI 1000c studies that the great intellectual enemies of Socrates were the Sophists. In fact, one could even say he gave his life to prove that Sophistry was incorrect. What impresses you (positively or negatively) about the Sophist approach? What is the relevance of the Sophist school for the contemporary world? Why did Socrates (and Plato) despise them so?