What was the pre-Socratic philosophy, and why is it relevant? That’s the topic of this essay.
The pre-Socratic philosophy developed in ancient Greece. The pre-Socratic philosophers had a train of thought that was more evidence-driven than their predecessors. Historically, Greek mythologies explained everything. Religion was the basis for everything. While the pre-Socratics didn’t disregard religion, they argued we should look for answers ourselves. In other words, the pre-Socratics possessed logic and were rational.
At the time, there was no distinction between science and philosophy. The two were the same. The pre-Socratics studied nature, mathematics, and philosophy.
On the scientific front, the pre-Socratic philosophers believed there was a “prime substance,” i.e., one element that was the building block for all creation. Many debates argued in favor and against various theories. Thales (624-546 B.C.) believed the “prime substance” was water. Since all life needs water, he thought it was the building block for everything. Another one of his theories was that the earth was a discus floating on water. Aristotle later disproved that theory, pointing out that something must hold the water.
Anazimander shut down the notion of a prime substance. His argument was so simple. How can something be the originator of its opposite? If everything has an opposite, and nothing can create its opposite, then there’s no “prime substance.” E.g., water can’t be the “prime substance” of fire. That is ludicrous.
The Pythagoreans were students of Pythagoras (the man that the Pythagorean Theorem is named after). It was their opinion that math and numbers were the foundation of the universe. Why? Because math is always unchanging.
Parmenides was a notable pre-Socratic philosopher that did, in fact, study philosophy. He believed change was impossible and coined, “Being is, and not-being is not.” His case against the concept of change was that anytime something changes, it goes from not-being to being, but being can’t result from not-being. If that makes no sense, you’re not the only person to think that. His point was that we can’t rely on our senses and popular opinion. Instead, we have to use logic. His other point was that nothing changes. In other words, change is just a feeling; it’s not reality.
Zeno of Elea was another philosopher, but he refuted Parmenides. He developed the idea of a spectrum. Change isn’t not-being. The process of changing has many stopping points and integers. To not be at the beginning or endpoint isn’t to not-be; it’s just to be somewhere in the middle. A motion was one of his examples. If something is moving—even if it’s not at the beginning or endpoint—it’s still somewhere. An object that moves is always somewhere, and it is always being.
I’ll abandon the being or not-being argument and move on to other philosophers. Anazagoras developed the discipline of meteorology. He also discovered that the sun reflected light on the moon. Historians don’t have any access to Anazagoras’ writings, but Aristotle said he constantly looked for natural explanations. Unfortunately, Athens convicted him of impiety for saying the sun was a star, not a god.
Finally, I’ll talk about the Sophists. They were around during the 5th century BC in Athens. The Sophists were masters of rhetoric and public speaking. In the Capitalist tradition, they taught that skill for a price. While they were masters of persuasion, their character was questionable at best. They argued there was no such thing as values, and we should do whatever benefits us. Unfortunately, that’s not hyperbole. Protagoras, a notable Sophist, said that everyone individually decides what’s right and wrong for himself, i.e., there is no common law. The people of Athens saw this as problematic and worried the Sophists might corrupt their children.
That is a brief synopsis of the pre-Socratic philosophers in Greece. While they had differences, all of them believed in fundamental rationalism. That concept was new to the world but left its mark on civilization for the rest of history.
Asher Sisneros 