THE ORIGIN OF PHILOSOPHY: HOW AND WHEN DID IT TAKE PLACE? - PHILOSOPHY - 2025

The origin of philosophy takes place in Ancient Greece, with the pre-Socratic philosophers. Philosophy is the discipline that is responsible for studying and reflecting on fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, reason, the human being, and life. Although the term was coined by Pythagoras around the 6th century BC, it is likely that the practice of philosophy itself appeared earlier.

At first, philosophers used methods such as critical reasoning, systematic questions, and reflection to study fundamental questions such as the origin of knowledge, the nature of reality, and what was the best way to know it. They were also dedicated to more practical issues such as what is the best way to live.

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However, from the time of Aristotle to the beginning of the 19th century, philosophy also largely fulfilled the role that science plays today. Thus, "natural philosophy" was responsible for studying fields such as physics, medicine or astronomy. From the 19th century on, the development of the scientific method played down this discipline.

It is generally considered that our modern philosophy appeared in Ancient Greece, especially in the region of Athens. Although Eastern philosophy has also been very important throughout history, in this article we will focus on the origins of Western philosophy.

The Origin of Philosophy: The "Pre-Socratic" Philosophers

Western philosophy had its origin in Ancient Greece, around the 6th century BC. The first philosophers are known today as the "Presocratics", because they were the ones who emerged before the appearance of Socrates, considered the first philosopher " modern 'of history.

The Presocratics came from both the eastern and western regions of the Greek Empire, as opposed to the next generation, which arose mainly in Athens. His main focus was knowledge of the natural world, so many of his questions had to do with subjects such as physics, astronomy, mathematics, and biology.

At first, philosophy emerged as an attempt to reject mythological explanations of how the world works and to try to understand nature in a rational way. Because of this, the philosopher Pythagoras of Samos coined the name of this new discipline, which literally means "love of knowledge."

Pythagoras

Despite being encompassed under the same label, the pre-Socratic philosophers had very different views of reality and were engaged in research on completely different topics. Next we will see some of the most important trends of this period.

School of Miletus

Thales of Miletus

It is generally considered that the first philosopher in history was Thales of Miletus. His greatest efforts were directed at determining what is the fundamental component of matter. In his opinion, the entire Universe was made up of water, thus rejecting the mythological explanations that had been accepted so far.

One of Thales' followers, Anaximander, believed that the fundamental component of matter (which he called arché) could not be water, or any of the four traditional elements, but that it should be an infinite and unlimited element which he called apeiron.

Anaximander's theory was based on the existence of opposites in nature. A single element could not create both hot and cold materials, for example; so for this philosopher, the opposites would have to be two different manifestations of the same arché. For Anaximander, the fundamental component of matter was ether.

Pythagoras school

Pythagoras was the creator of a current of thought known as the Pythagorean School. However, none of his writings have survived to this day, so we do not really know what he personally stood for and which of his ideas were developed by his disciples.

Pythagoras was a disciple of Anaximander, so he also believed that the ether is the arché of all things. However, he also thought that the Universe was made up of spheres, and that it was infinite. In addition, he believed that the soul of human beings was reincarnated in other beings when they died, thus promoting respect for animals.

Finally, the Pythagoreans thought that the Universe had mathematics at its base, so they did a lot of research in this field.

Heraclitus

Heraclitus

Heraclitus was one of the main philosophers of the 5th century BC His thinking was opposite to that of the School of Miletus, in the sense that he defended that reality is not stable and that there is not a single element or arché that is at the base of all things. On the contrary, his philosophy is based on the fact that everything is constantly flowing and changing.

Heraclitus defended that reality is constantly changing based on a plan or formula that he called Logos. In addition, he also believed that opposites were actually manifestations of a single common base, which by being in harmony created the illusion of stability that we see in our daily lives.

Eleatic School

Elea Parmenides

The Eleatic School took its name from the philosopher Parmenides of Elea, who argued that the ideas of reality of philosophers like Heraclitus or Thales of Miletus were totally wrong. For this thinker, reality was indivisible, and does not change at all: all reality exists in a perfect and immutable state.

One of the most controversial points defended by the Eleatic School is its defense that the movement does not really exist, and is just an illusion. One of the best known disciples of Parmenides, Zeno of Elea, created a series of paradoxes that tried to demonstrate this idea. The best known is that of Achilles and the tortoise.

Sophism

The Sophist School was the last major current to appear before the arrival of Socrates. His main idea was the belief that reality is radically different from what we can perceive through the senses. Because of this, humans are unable to understand the world we live in, and therefore we have tried to create our own.

The first sophist was Protagoras, who said that virtue and morality are simple human inventions. His most famous phrase, "Man is the measure of all things," was interpreted by later philosophers as a sign of radical perspectivism. For the sophists, each person has a reality, none of which is more valid than the others.

The sophists were mainly concerned with the teaching of rhetoric, the art of debating and convincing, to show other people that there is no single reality.

Classical Greek Philosophy

The most important period of Greek philosophy was the one that occurred with the appearance of three great thinkers: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Unlike the pre-Socratic philosophers, these three scholars lived in Athens, which became the intellectual capital of the time.

Socrates

Socrates, born in Athens in the 5th century BC, marked a before and after in the history of classical philosophy. Prior to its appearance, this discipline was mainly dedicated to trying to understand nature and the world. However, Socrates (and the philosophers who came after) tried to apply philosophy to human life itself.

In this way, Socrates is believed to have been the founder of two of the most important branches of philosophy on a historical level: ethics and politics. The first was to examine how best to live your life; and the second, to apply the discoveries of the first to the government of cities and nations.

Possibly the best known contribution of this thinker was that of the Socratic debate. The philosopher tried to help people realize their knowledge and what they did not know by asking questions, to which they did not give answers. In this way, he tried to make them reflect on the world and his own life.

Socrates' ideas are at the base of a large number of later philosophical currents, and they continue to influence our modern thought.

Plato

Plato was a disciple of Socrates, and one of the main people responsible for the fact that his ideas have survived to this day. He is one of the most influential figures in the entire history of philosophy, but also one of the most controversial. He was famous mainly for his theory on the nature of reality, and his ideas on politics.

On the first subject, Plato believed that there is a perfect form for each element of the world (the "ideas"), and that what we can perceive with the senses are only shadows of these. Only through knowledge and reason can we come to know reality.

As for politics, Plato believed that the best way to run a country would be through a dictatorship in which the philosophers were in command. However, to avoid the corruption of power, these philosophers could not have personal possessions, family or partner.

Aristotle

Aristotle, recognized as the father of logic.

The last major thinker in classical philosophy was Aristotle, a disciple of Plato who disagreed with most of his teacher's ideas. He believed that his theory of ideas was nothing more than "empty words and poetic metaphors," and he believed that the political regime described by his professor should never be carried out.

On the contrary, Aristotle was especially concerned with knowing reality empirically. His work gave rise to disciplines such as botany and zoology, in addition to talking about other subjects such as logic, physics, politics, metaphysics and rhetoric.

Probably his most important contributions were those he made in the field of ethics. Aristotle believed that the purpose of human life was happiness, and that the only way to achieve it was through virtue and knowledge. His ideas have had great importance in all subsequent Western civilizations.

References

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