Greek Philosophers Philosophy Ethics Greek Philosophers Socrates Plato

Greek Philosophers

• Philosophy- • Ethics-

Greek Philosophers Socrates Plato Aristotle • Education was the key to personal growth • Insisted that students be trained to think for themselves • Known for his questioning techniques that forces students to test their own values and ideas- Socratic Method • Criticized Democracy • Mocked the Sophists, a group of Athenian teachers. They falsely accused him of denying the existence of the Greek gods. Socrates was forced to commit suicide as punishment. • Student of Socrates and wrote down many of his teachings. • Founded The Academy, a school for teaching philosophy • Wrote imaginary dialogues dealing with religion, education, justice, and government • Known for “The Theory of Forms” in which he professed that all material things were imperfect expressions of perfect ideas, or forms. • Also known for The Republic, in which Plato discusses the perfect society. • Believed every field of knowledge had to be studied logically • Known for his book, Ethics, in which Aristotle tried to learn what brings people to happiness • In his book Poetics he examined Greek drama to show what makes a good or bad play. • He believed that monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy were equally good forms of government, however he felt they could all be easily corrupted. • He wanted a limited democracy, combining the best of all three types of government.