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Philosophy: Consequences of Ideas

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  1. Introduction

    First Steps
    6 Steps
  2. Greek Philosophy
    1. Pre-Socratic Philosophers
    7 Steps
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    1 Quiz
  3. 2. Socrates
    6 Steps
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    1 Quiz
  4. 3. Plato
    7 Steps
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    1 Quiz
  5. 4. Aristotle
    7 Steps
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    1 Quiz
  6. Medieval Christian Philosophy
    5. Plotinus & Augustine
    7 Steps
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    1 Quiz
  7. 6. Anselm & Aquinas
    9 Steps
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    1 Quiz
  8. Early Modern Philosophy
    7. Renaissance & Descartes
    8 Steps
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    1 Quiz
  9. 8. Leibniz & Pascal
    9 Steps
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    1 Quiz
  10. 9. Locke
    8 Steps
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    1 Quiz
  11. 10. Berkeley & Hume
    10 Steps
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    1 Quiz
  12. Modern Philosophy
    11. Kant
    7 Steps
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    1 Quiz
  13. 12. The Enlightenment
    6 Steps
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    1 Quiz
  14. 13. Hegel & Marx
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    1 Quiz
  15. 14. Nietzsche & Kierkegaard
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    1 Quiz
  16. 15. Sartre & Heidegger
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    1 Quiz
  17. 16. Russell & Modern Philosophers
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    1 Quiz
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Key People & Ideas

Thales

  • The ultimate reality is Water
  • It explains ontology or being
  • It explains the relationship of solids, liquids, or gases
  • It explains motion

Anaximenes

  • Air is the answer to the three questions of being, essence and motion

Anaximander

  • No definite substance is “the” answer, so it must be indefinite

Heraclitus of Ephesus

  • Everything that exists is in a state of flux—whatever  is, is changing
  • “You cannot step into the same river twice” was his motto
  • He was a Monist, but saw whatever was the “one” as being dynamic

Parmenides of Elea

  • “Whatever is, is”, or, that which truly exists is not in flux
  • This was counter to Heraclitus by saying that if objects are truly in constant flux, they cannot be said to “be” anything
  • Even if they were once “something”, they are not now because the object changed to something  different 

Zeno of Elea

  • A pupil of Parmenides
  • He made the reductio ad absurdum argument famous
  • His main opponents were the pluralistic Pythag oreans
  • His four arguments against motion were the stories of Achilles and the tortoise, stadium (half-way argument), flying arrow, and moving rows 

Key Concepts

The One and the Many: Explores the relationship between unity and diversity.

Monists: All reality is one (pantheism). God is “the One”

Pluralists: All reality is various, like a multitude of “seeds.” Democritus best summed up this position with his belief that all reality was made up of tiny particles, also called atoms.

Corporeal and Incorporeal Monists: Either one substance or one spiritual entity make up reality.

Corporeal and Incorporeal Pluralists: Either many particles or many spiritual particles make up reality.

Apeiron: A boundless, ageless and infinite material, also known as the “5th Essence”; the being conceived was not personal, but purely transcendent