The Origins of Western Philosophy

 




I.
Pythagoras and the Word "Philosophy"




II.
The Geographic Origins of Philosophy and Science

A.
A New Set of Questions

B.
New Methods

C.
Debt to the Past




III.
A Chronology of Early Thinkers and the Questions They Asked





A.
Thales of Miletos (c. 580 BCE)





B.
The Nature of Being


1.
Thales (640?-546 BCE)


2.
Anaximander (610-546 BCE)


3.
Anaximenes (585-524 BCE)


4.
Pythagoras (c. 572-500 BCE), Theano, Myia, Damo, and Arignote





C.
The Nature of Change


1.
Heraclitus (540-470 BCE)


2.
Parmenides (c. 515-440 BCE)


3.
Atomism




IV.
The Fifth Century BCE and the Reorientation of Western Thought (the Mythos/Logos Distinction)










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