exam 1 philosophy Milesians, Presocratics, Sophists, Socrates & Plato (Vocabulary Style)

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering key terms and ideas from the Milesians, Presocratics, Zeno, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Leucippus & Democritus, the Sophists, Euthyphro, Socrates, and Plato's Republic. Each card defines a core concept or term to aid study for the upcoming exam.

Thales (Archē)

Archē is water; Earth rests on water; water as the source of life and motion; early natural philosophy.

Anaximander (Apeiron)

Archē is apeiron (the indefinite/infinite); cosmos from eternal motion and balance of opposites.

Anaximenes (Archē)

Archē is air (aēr); rarefaction → fire, condensation → wind, water, earth, stone.

Milesians—Core Idea

First Ionian philosophers seeking natural explanations (logos) for the world.

Thales—Key Idea

Earth rests on water; soul as principle of motion; practical astronomy and geometry.

Anaximander—Key Idea

Apeiron as indefinite principle; cosmos from balance of opposites; life from moisture.

Anaximenes—Key Idea

Air transformation explains all things; breath sustains life and cosmos.

Heraclitus (Logos)

Logos: universal reason/order governing change; flux of all things; fire as symbol of transformation.

Heraclitus—Flux

All things are in change; stability is an illusion under the Logos.

Heraclitus—Unity of Opposites

Opposites (war/peace, hot/cold) are interconnected and necessary.

Heraclitus—Fire

Fundamental cosmic element symbolizing ongoing transformation.

Parmenides (Being vs Non-Being)

What-is (Being) is eternal, unchanging, one; what-is-not cannot be thought or spoken.

Parmenides—Truth vs Opinion

Aletheia (Truth) vs Doxa (Opinion); thinking equals being; senses mislead.

Parmenides—Thinking & Being

Reasoning about what-is is necessary because thinking and being are the same.

Zeno’s Paradoxes—Purpose

Defend Parmenides by showing contradictions in motion and plurality.

Dichotomy (Zeno)

Motion requires crossing halves ad infinitum; motion appears impossible.

Achilles and the Tortoise (Zeno)

Faster cannot overtake slower due to infinite subdivisions.

Arrow Paradox (Zeno)

A moving arrow is at rest in each instant; motion seems impossible.

Stadium Paradox (Zeno)

Moving rows create measurement contradictions in time/speed.

Millet Seed Paradox

Problems of perception/divisibility used to question motion and measurement.

Empedocles—Four Roots

Earth, Air, Fire, Water; eternal elements in cosmic cycles.

Empedocles—Two Forces

Love (uniting) and Strife (separating) drive mixing and separation.

Empedocles—Cosmic Cycles

Cycles of dominance by Love and Strife produce all change.

Empedocles—Daimones

Souls (daimones) participate in cycles and undergo purification.

Empedocles—Ethics & Religion

Cosmology tied to moral purification and reincarnation.

Anaxagoras—Nous (Mind)

Nous is pure, unmixed Mind that initiates motion and orders the cosmos.

Anaxagoras—Seeds/Infinitely Divisible

Everything contains seeds (in everything); change is mixing and separation.

Anaxagoras—Original State

All things were together; no creation from nothing; order from Nous.

Anaxagoras—Appearance vs Reality

Appearances are appearances; Nous governs true order.

Leucippus & Democritus—Atomism

Reality consists of atoms and void; atoms are indivisible, eternal, and infinite.

Atomism—Motion & Void

Motion enabled by void; change = rearrangement of atoms.

Democritus—Perception & Reality

Sensory data are by convention; explanations come from atom arrangements.

Sophists—General Role

Traveling teachers of rhetoric, ethics, and public life; controversial for relativism.

Protagoras—Relativism

Man is the measure of all things; truth is perception-dependent.

Gorgias—Skepticism of Truth

Nothing exists; rhetoric prevails; logos can compel the soul.

Prodicus—Ethics & Language

Ethics and rhetoric; language distinctions; religion as invention.

Hippias—Law vs Nature

Conflict between nomos (human law) and physis (natural order).

Antiphon—Physis vs Nomos

Justice as natural self-interest vs social laws; nature stronger.

Critias—Law & Religion

Law and religion are human inventions for social control.

Anonymous Iamblichi—Eunomia vs Anomia

Eunomia: good order; Anomia: lawlessness; essential for peaceful life.

Euthyphro—Definition of Piety (3rd def.)

Piety is what all gods love; leads to the Euthyphro dilemma.

Euthyphro—Dilemma

Is pious because gods love it, or do gods love it because it is pious?

Euthyphro—Final Def. Issues

Dialogue ends inconclusively; piety remains debated.

Socrates—Oracle of Delphi

Oracle: no one wiser; motivates Socrates to question presumed wisdom.

Socrates—Gadfly Metaphor

He is a gadfly sent to prick Athens to spur reform and self-examination.

Socrates—Unexamined Life

The unexamined life is not worth living; true philosophy seeks virtue.

Socrates—Daimonion

Divine sign guiding his philosophical mission; not an atheist.

Socrates—Death & Virtue

Death not to be feared; injustice worse than death; divine mission upheld.

Socrates—Penalty Debate

Originally proposes free meals; later fines; philosophy valued over life.

Plato’s Republic—Justice (City)

Justice is each class doing its own work; harmony equals health.

Plato’s Republic—Three Parts of the City

Farmers, builders, merchants (producers); guardians; rulers (wisdom).

Plato’s Republic—Three Parts of the Soul

Reason, Spirit, Appetite; justice = reason rules, appetite submits.

Healthy vs Luxurious City

Healthy city: simple needs; Luxurious city: desires and arts, leads to war.

Guardian-Philosophers

Philosophical guardians who balance courage, strength, and wisdom.

Philosopher-King

Ruler who loves truth; philosopher’s governance ensures justice.

Sun Analogy (Form of the Good)

The Good illuminates and makes intelligible, like the sun enables sight.

Allegory of the Cave

Most live in shadows; enlightenment requires turning toward truth; duty to educate.

Republic Book VIII—Governments

Aristocracy → Timocracy → Oligarchy → Democracy → Tyranny; each mirrors a form of the soul.

Tyranny & Tyrant (Republic IX)

Tyrant embodies lawless desires; enslaved by passions; most miserable.

Mimesis in Poetry (Republic X)

Poetry imitates appearances; can corrupt rational soul; art influences belief.