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INTRODUCING ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
Contributed by
RAJNANDY
on
Monday, 19th July 2010 @ 12:15:34 AM in AEST
Topic:
StoryPoetry
|
Friends , I present to you the very edifice of Western Philosophy
in Verse , dating back over two thousand five hundred years of History ! Based on my painstaking research work because of my love for Philosophy ! And while doing so , I tried to make the complex areas simple , as I tried to put it in rhyme , without sacrificing authenticity ; and also keeping in mind brevity !
The first part deals with Pre-Socrates Period commencing with
Thales , the Father of Philosophy , and ending with the age of The Sophists – which precedes the age of Socrates .
INTRODUCING ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
COMPOSED IN VERSE
BY
RAJ NANDY
(**ALL COPY RIGHTS ARE RESERVED BY THE AUTHOR**)
PRE – SOCRATIC PERIOD
INTRODUCTION
Man is born as a thinking being ,
With an inborn quest for knowledge
and its endless thirst ;
Which gave rise to his intuitive and
speculative thoughts ,
In an effort to quench his intellectual
lust !
Thus ‘philosophia’, – Greek for ‘love of
wisdom’, -
In ancient Greece took its birth !
To seek the real behind the apparent ,
The substance behind the shadow ;
For all things on this planet earth ,
Became the endeavor behind all his
thoughts and speculations ;
And those ancient Greeks led the way -
towards this noble deliberation !
THE IONIANS OR MILESIAN
PHILOSOPHERS
In the sixth century before Christ was born ,
Came the Ionian or Milesian philosophers , -
as they were called .
To delve at truth both simple and pure ,
And to find answers to questions that should
endure !
They were no longer satisfied with mythical
and superstitious explanations ;
And tried to delve into things using reasonable
speculations !
They all pondered on a single substance called
the ‘arche’ ,
From which all things derived , and was perhaps
the original reality !
They also deliberated on the problems of identity
and change ,
And how all things in nature rearranged !
THALES OF MILETUS
During sixth century BC , on the western coast
of present day Turkey ,
In the thriving Greek colony of Miletus ,
Was born the Father of Greek Philosophy !
He was Thales , regarded as one of the Seven
Wise Men of Greek History !
He broke the shackles of all mythical and
superstitious speculations ,
And liberated Greek minds for proper philosophic
deliberations !
He declared ‘water’ to be the ‘arche’ of all
creation !
Water was that single substance from which all
things derived ;
And with time , into which all things would
finally subside !
Thales :The First Philosopher Scientist :
Thales visited Egypt to study geometry ,
And also developed his unusual mathematical
ability !
Back in 585 BC he became very famous , -
By accurately predicting an eclipse of the sun !
Those early days of antiquity , had no clear
divisions between science and philosophy !
With philosophy , science , and mathematics , -
all were rolled into one ;
Thales became very renowned for his theorems !
One theorem stated that when you draw a triangle ,
Inside a semi-circle , it always had a right angle !
He was the first to introduce the process of
deduction , -
Deriving mathematical statements from logical
observations !
He was an exceptional man of antiquity ,
Much ahead of his time , - deserving publicity !
ANAXIMANDER (611-546 BC)
Had introduced the sun-dial into Greece .
His treaties ‘On Nature’ was the first
philosophical work in Greek prose , -
Which the people of Greece had ever known !
For him the ‘arche’ was the ‘Boundless or
the Infinite’;
A space filling animate mass , a kind of
mysterious mixture ,
From which all things arose through
separation ,
Whose true nature he never described , -
Specifically or otherwise , in all his
deliberations !
ANAXIMENES (588-524 BC)
A pupil of Anaximander - declared it was
air , mist or vapor ,
Which held the key to all reality forever !
From air all things arose through rarefaction
and condensation ;
Rarefied air into fire gets blown !
But when condensed it transformed into , -
Wind , cloud , water , earth and stone !
Man’s soul which is air , holds him together ,
So does the air which envelopes the earth -
sustaining all matter !
Since all changes are produced by motion ,
and motion being eternal ;
Further clarification he felt was not needed ,
and had nothing more to tell !
These Milesians with their innovative philosophy ,
Tried to seek a single explanation for the universe ,
and its multiplicity !
PYTHAGORAS OF SAMOS (580-500 BC)
Background :
Born in the Greek island of Samos in the Northen
Agean Sea , -
Off the coast of Asia Minor of modern day
Turkey ;
It was around late 6th century BC !
He settled in Croton , a Doric Greek colony -
Of southern Italy , in 529 BC .
Lectured mostly in philosophy and mathematics .
Started a secret society called the Order of the
Pythagorians ;
They followed rigid ascetic practices and were
strict vegetarians !
Pythagoras is said to have traveled extensively –
visiting foreign lands ;
And in him the traditional knowledge of other
classical civilizations blend ;
Wherein we can also find , a mystical trend !
He is said to have picked up geometry from
the Egyptians ;
Arithmetic from the Phonesians , and astronomy
from the Chadeans !
His mystical trends and religious practices came
from the Orient !
These mystical believes include the belief in the
transmigration of the soul ;
While his pupils carried on his noble traditions !
He had taught verbally , and is quoted by Plato
and Aristotle frequently !
And alluded to by Neoplatonist philosophers of
later history !
His Theory of Numbers and Musical Ratios :
His number theory was rather unique and exotic ,
His mystical thoughts blending with mathematics !
Even numbers were said to be feminine ,
And odd numbers stronger and masculine !
Since even plus odd always gives odd ,
While two evens could never produce an odd !
But the numbers that impressed him the most ,
Were found by him in the Musical Ratios -
as we can see ,
As I had mentioned in my poem “Pythagoras and
his Music of the Spheres” already ;
From which I now proceed to quote liberally !
Pythagoras is generally known for his famous
theorem of geometry ,
Had a scientific bent of mind which did blend
with his philosophy !
He is the first Greek philosopher credited to
have heard , -
Cosmic music of the heavenly bodies in their
diurnal orbit round the sun !
The Book of Job speaks of a time when the stars
of the morning sang together while afloat !
And in his ‘The Merchant of Venice’ , Act V,
Shakespeare wrote :-
“There is not the smallest orb that thou beholdest
But in their motion like an angle sings ,
Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins ,
Such harmony is in the mortal souls ,
But whilst this worldly vesture of decay
Doth grossly close it in , we cannot hear it !”
Pythagoras while playing the Lyre one day ,
Formulated his musical theory as historians say !
Just as distinct notes were produced by the varying
lengths of the Lyre strings ,
So did the planets , revolving in there divinely fixed
frequency ratios ;
And combined to form God’s philharmonic orchestra , -
His grand cosmic show !
Thus in his Theory of Music the mystic Pythagoras ,
Related it all to mathematical ratio of numbers !
He tried to resolve through numbers the relation
of all things , -
As the underlying principle of all living beings !
Our modern day popular science of Numerology ,
Owes much to Pythagoras and his mystical number
philosophy !
Since Numbers never lied and always told the truth ,
They were considered Humanity’s ultimate good !
THE PROBLEM OF TRANSFORMATION
AND CHANGE !
So far in the opening verses we have seen ,
The Ionian philosophers all delved in , -
The substantial nature of all things !
While the Pythagoreans dealt with quantitative
relations , -
Of order , harmony , and number unifications ,
Blending their thoughts with mystical traditions !
The next philosophical issue with which the
Greek’s dealt , -
Was the problem of becoming , transformation ,
and change !
A name which now features from the past , -
is Hera*****us of Ephesus !
Hera*****us of Ephesus (540-480 BC) :
Born in the Greek island of Ephesus in the Agean
Sea ,
In an aristocrat family , he displayed contempt
for democracy !
For Thales , if my readers recall , everything was
made of ‘water’ !
Anaximenes thought ‘air’ was the primitive element ;
While Pythagoras had reduced everything to his
‘exotic numbers’ !
For Hera*****us the primary world-stuff was ‘fire’ !
Fire with its heat , light and combustion , was an
animate thing , -
The very soul of all creation and living being !
The ever living fire was never at rest ,
And Pythagoras at times called it vapor or breath !
The soul was a mixture of fire and water ,
Where fire was noble and water ignoble !
A soul that had most fire was deemed to be the
best ,
Since a dry soul was always the wisest !
All things were in a state of flux he had said ;
For you cannot step into the same water twice ,
As water keeps flowing past your feet all the
while !
All things change to merging with time’s flow ,
A process so gradual , one hardly perceives or
come to know !
“Nothing ever is - everything is becoming” ,
Thus rose the philosophy of ‘being’ and ‘becoming’ ;
That distinguished Hera*****us from Parmenides !
The world continues to be in a state of flux ,
Where strife (Nekos) and love (Philia) ,
Are the dividing and uniting forces in control ,
To ensure the balance and unity of the whole !
Harmony is the union of opposites ;
Just as the high and low musical notes combine ,
To create music and melody in our life !
The principle of the universe is becoming and
change ,
And with his dynamic metaphysics Hera*****us
tried to delve ,
The ultimate reality behind all things as he had
felt !
Next we move on to Parmenides and his
philosophy of ‘being’ ;
Directly opposed to Hera*****us’ notion of
‘becoming’ !
PARMENIDES (515 BC – 450 BC) :
Born in Elea a city south of present-day
Napels ,
At the age of 65 years visited Athens ,
And was interviewed by the youthful Socretes , -
as Plato says !
He was the founder of the Elactic School ;
Declared all changes to be mere illusory , -
and not to be fooled !
In reality it was only changelessness , -
only a state of ‘being’ ;
Far removed from Hera*****us’ change and flux ,
and ‘becoming’ !
Since for ‘being’ to change and ‘become’ , it
must have come , -
From a being , or non-being , or nothing !
To come from a ‘non-being’ or ‘nothing’ was
impossible !
But if from a ‘being’ , then it has come from
itself ;
And has always been an ‘identical being’, -
Parmenides strongly felt !
It was evident then , that from being only being
can come ,
Hence there was only one eternal , indivisible
being , which was continuous !
Moreover , he declared ‘being’ and ‘thought’ were
one !
For what cannot be thought cannot be ,
And what cannot be , that is ‘non-being’, -
cannot be thought !
‘Thought’ and ‘being’ for him were identical !
All change for Permanides being inconceivable , -
The world of sense he declared was an illusion !
Sense perception reveals a world of plurality
and change ;
An illusory world of opinion and appearance !
Later , Bertrand Russell in his ‘History of Western
Philosophy’,
Suggested Parmanides was a victim of linguistic
Fallacy !
Yet he gives him credit for the ‘invention of
Metaphysics based on logic!’
Both Melissus and Zeno as pupils of Permanides ,
Continued his traditions in his Electic School of
Philosophy !
Zeno’s through his four paradox on movement
tried to demonstrate ,
The indivisibility and unchanging reality without
change !
Zeno with his words of magic, is reputed to have
laid the foundation of Logic !
THE PLURALISTS : Empedocles & Anaxagoras
That single primary substance the ‘arche’ of
the Ionian philosophers ,
Was challenged by Emphedocles (b.495BC)
and Anaxagoras(b.500BC) !
Emphedocles spoke of four qualitative elements
of Nature ;
As Earth , Air , Fire and Water !
And also of two mythical beings - love and hate ;
Which caused all elements to unite , or to
separate and break !
Therefore they were called ‘Pluralists’, -
Since for them only a single primary substance , -
did not exist .
This above position was refuted by Anaxagoras ,
Who claimed these elements were not merely
four ,
But they were countless in number and many
more !
It was neither love or hate but ‘nous’ , -
a spontaneous active mind ;
Was the source of all movements and life
of Mankind !
THE ATOMISTS :
Little is known about the Father of the
School of Atomist called Leucippus ,
He was made famous by his pupil Democritus !
For him Parminedes’ non-being void did never
exist ;
And Democritus spoke of atoms as indivisible
spatial entities ;
Moving in a void or empty space , as the building
stones of reality , -
Which led to the formation of different objects
and its multiplicity !
Just like the comedies and tragedies of those
days , -
Were composed of the same letters of the alphabets , -
Democritus had said .
He was a rationalist and maintained , all genuine
way of knowledge began , -
When sense perception ends !
For sense perception was obscure knowledge ;
And thoughts which transcends sense perception
and appearance ,
Reaching the very atoms in our being ,
Becomes the only genuine knowledge of human
beings !
But these philosophical thoughts only marked
a beginning !
THE SOPHISTS (481- 411BC) :
They were wise and skilful men of Greek history,
Lectured on art, rhetoric and oratory .
Also trained young men for political life ,
Were like intellectual mercenaries of their time ;
For all their teaching came at a price !
Beyond the reach of ordinary men ,
Which made Socrates later criticize them !
There chief exponent was Protagoras ,
Who had emphasized amongst all other things , -
‘Man as the measure of all things !’
But those Sophist had failed to see, the forest
for the trees !
They failed to recognize ‘man’ from ‘men’ ,
While exaggerating the differences in human
judgments ;
Ignoring the common areas of agreements !
Sophistry soon degenerated into selfish and
fallacious reasoning ;
And was rejected by many thinking beings !
CONCLUDING PART-I :
With this my readers I come to the end of
Part-I of Ancient Greek Philosophy in Verse .
I had aimed at simplicity for easy understanding ,
Without sacrificing authenticity ;
Being a true lover of Philosophy !
The second part would cover the Age of Socrates ,
The Cynics , and The Cyrenaic ;
Stopping short of Plato and his ideal World of
Forms .
Thanks for reading !
Author : Raj Nandy
New Delhi
***ALL COPY RIGHTS RESERVED BY THE
AUTHOR***
Copyright ©
RAJNANDY
... [
2010-07-19 00:15:34]
(Date/Time posted on
site)
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Re: INTRODUCING ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
(User Rating: 1 )
by RAJNANDY on
Tuesday, 20th July 2010 @ 03:10:46 AM AEST
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a Message)
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I CAN ALWAYS COPY RIGHT MY OWN WORKS TO PROTECT IT AGAINST PIRACY !
THAT IS HOW IT HAS BEEN PUBLISHED ON OTHER SITE TOO !
BUT NOW I FIND THAT THE GREATEST PIRATE AND THE DUFFER IS THE SO CALLED GREAT' MODERATER' !
WATCH OUT YOU FAT HEAD , YOUR NUMBERED DAYS ARE COMING TO AN END !
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Re: INTRODUCING ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
(User Rating: 1 )
by Voyager on
Friday, 14th January 2011 @ 01:38:52 AM AEST
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| Very informative indeed. I like that fact that you are bent on illuminating and liberating people's minds. |
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