The Big 3 Early Greek Philosophers Socrates Plato

The Big 3 Early Greek Philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle

Socrates

Socrates Was born 470 B. C. and he died in 399 B. C. He is known as being the father of moral philosophy. He believed in 1. Care for your soul, 2. Knowledge is necessary to become virtuous and virtue is the key to happiness, 3. All evil acts are committed out of ignorance and that made them involuntary, and lastly, 4. Committing an injustice is more worse than suffering an injustice. Socratic Method- A great for way of questioning. Used in law and English classes, evolved into the scientific method. He was very critical of the democratic government and he believed that the wisest people weren’t serving it. He was charged for being an atheist and was sentenced to death

“KNOW THYSELF” What does this quote by Socrates actually mean? How do you know yourself?

“To move the world we must move ourselves” What does Socrates mean when he says this?

Plato

Plato Was born in 427 B. C. and died in 347 B. C. He was a student of Socrates He wanted people to reach eudemonia aka fulfillment. He wrote 36 scripts, some of his best work was The Republic, The Symposium, The Apology, The Meno, and The Laws. His big ideas were to 1. Think more, 2. Let your lover change you, 3. Decode the message of beauty, 4. Reform society. Started the Academy in Athens which lasted for 300 years. It taught the values of being good and kind as well as spelling and math. Plato Video

What is Plato’s Cave Allegory? Cave Allegory

“Love is a serious mental illness” What does Plato mean by this quote?

Aristotle

Aristotle Born in 384 B. C. died 322 B. C. He was a student of Plato Believed that ether, water, fire, and air would make up the planets and stars. Father of Zoology, meaning he researched and studied living creatures. Nicomachean Ethics was his key work, it taught how man should live a moral life. He was also known for Rhetoric, Metaphysics, The Poetics, Posterior Analytics, and many others. He believed in 4 big questions (See next slide)

Aristotle’s 4 Big Questions 1. What makes people happy? His answer to this question was by looking at people with great virtues. 2. What is art for? Success and Tragedy. 3. What are friends for? Pleasure, Strategy, and true friends. 4. How can ideas cut through a busy world? Rhetoric.

”Quality is not an act, it is a habit”- Aristotle What does he mean by this quote?

Reflection/Activity- In your notebook Please individually write down the philosopher we learned today that you most associate with and why. Out of Aristotle’s 4 questions, which one means the most to you and why?