Presocratic
Pre-Athenian thinkers era
Presocratic refers to the ancient Greek philosophers who preceded Socrates, active roughly from 600 to 400 BCE.
Thinkers like Anaximander, Pythagoras, and Democritus asked fundamental questions about the nature of reality, matter, and change.
The Presocratics were the first to seek rational explanations for natural phenomena.
Also spelled Pre-Socratic. (Lowercase presocratic is a less common variant.)
Ancient Athenian questioning philosopher
- PlatoGreek philosopher, academy founder
- AristotleGreek founder of formal logic
- AcademyElite scholarly institution
- LyceumAristotle's Athenian teaching grounds
dialectic · rationalism · materialism · atomism · determinism · natural philosophy · Western philosophy · inquiry
Orderly totality of existence
- elementsFundamental parts or substances
- fireCombustion with flames
- waterClear essential liquid
- airGaseous envelope surrounding Earth
earth · ether · logos · nous · vortex · seeds · opposites · boundless
Existing as something
- becomingAttractive or appropriate
- changeTo make different
- permanenceQuality of lasting indefinitely
- monismSingle-substance metaphysics
pluralism · substance · unity · reality · appearance · flux · stasis · generation
First Western philosopher
- DemocritusAncient atomism's founder
- ZenoGreek paradox thinker
- fragmentsIncomplete broken pieces
- testimoniesSworn statements by witnesses
Ancient Greek number mystics
Socrates
Ancient Athenian questioning philosopher
- PlatoGreek philosopher, academy founder
- AristotleGreek founder of formal logic
- AcademyElite scholarly institution
Lyceum · dialectic · rationalism · materialism · atomism · determinism · natural philosophy · Western philosophy · inquiry · speculation
cosmos
Orderly totality of existence
air · earth · ether · logos · nous · vortex · seeds · opposites · boundless · condensation
being
Existing as something
- becomingAttractive or appropriate
- changeTo make different
- permanenceQuality of lasting indefinitely
monism · pluralism · substance · unity · reality · appearance · flux · stasis · generation · destruction
Thales
First Western philosopher
- DemocritusAncient atomism's founder
- ZenoGreek paradox thinker
- fragmentsIncomplete broken pieces
Pythagoreans
Ancient Greek number mystics
PresocraticSocratic
Relating to elenctic inquiry
Platonic · Aristotelian · Hellenistic · dialectical · Stoic