THE 4 MOST IMPORTANT PRESOCRATIC SCHOOLS - PHILOSOPHY - 2025

The pre-Socratic schools were those philosophical schools founded approximately in the 7th century BC in Greece. They are known by the name of presocratics since they are the schools of classical philosophy that existed before Socrates. Therefore, his approaches were not influenced by Socratic thought.

The first pre-Socratic school was the School of Miletus, founded by Thales of Miletus in the 7th century BC. After this came the Pythagorean schools (founded by Pythagoras), and the Eleatic (composed by Parmenides and Zeno).

Pre-Socratic philosophers

The pre-Socratic philosophy is born from the question about nature and it is Aristotle who indicates in his Metaphysical work that this philosophy begins when Thales of Miletus questions the nature or essence of all the subjects that make up the world.

All pre-Socratic schools were developed in the hometowns of their founders. On the other hand, all of them shared the characteristic of being rationalists, and their members presented an energetic spirit of search for true knowledge.

Presocratic schools, representatives and characteristics

School of Miletus or Ionic

Thales of Miletus

According to Aristotle in his treatise on Metaphysics, pre-Socratic philosophy was founded by Thales of Miletus around the 7th century BC. However, the approaches of this school were considered by later philosophers of the 6th and 5th centuries BC.

The Miletus school was founded in the Greek city of Miletus, on the shores of Ionia (today Asia Minor or Anatolia). Its main representatives were Thales of Mileto, Anaximenes and Anaximander.

These philosophers defended positions contrary to those held at the time on the way the world was organized.

The popular belief of this time indicated that the destiny of human beings was controlled by the will of higher entities with anthropomorphic features (gods). Therefore, every event that took place on earth was the responsibility of these figures.

The Milesians are beginning to debate these ideas, from a natural point of view. This is how they defend that nature is made up of entities that can be observed and that these entities are responsible for the changes that take place on earth.

The first scientific observations of nature are attributed to the Miletus school. This is how the Milesians begin to read natural phenomena and stars, being able to predict certain phenomena such as solstices and eclipses.

The Milesians were the first Greeks to use the stars as a navigation tool.

Pythagorean School

Pythagoras

The Pythagorean school was founded by one of the most representative philosophers of classical Greece: Pythagoras of Samos.

Pythagoras lived in the 6th century BC and was responsible for the founding of the Pythagorean current in the Greek city of Croton. This city was recognized for being widely religious, however, Pythagoras found his first disciples there.

For the Pythagoreans the universe had to be understood and studied as a whole or cosmos. On the other hand, matter had to be understood independently of its structure and form. In this way, the Pythagoreans were recognized for being both idealists and materialists.

However, with the passage of time, the Pythagoreans began to take a mainly idealistic cut. In this way, they pointed out that the body is the physical matter that is responsible for imprisoning the psyche.

For Pythagoras, the idea that there was life after death was indisputable. He thought that the soul could be eternal.

The studies of the Pythagoreans allowed the development of mathematical theories such as that of prime, even and odd numbers. Thus, Pythagorean theories are said to have laid the foundations for mathematics on a historical level.

The Pythagorean theorem on the value of the hypotenuse of a triangle and its approach to the translational motion of the earth are examples of Pythagorean concepts in force to date.

Eleatic School

Elea Parmenides

The Elea school or Eleatic school was founded by the Greek philosophers Parmenides and Zeno in the city of Elea, Italy. This school strongly influenced classical thought during the 6th and 5th centuries BC, having its greatest apogee during this time.

Those who belonged to the Elea school were not supporters of the materialistic philosophical approaches of the Miletus school, and were openly opposed to the "universal flow" approach proposed by the Greek philosopher Heraclitus.

According to the Eleatics, the universe is itself an immutable whole, infinite through time and space, which cannot be understood through human sense or knowledge.

The universe itself can only be understood by making use of philosophical reflection, which allows us to reach the only and ultimate truth.

Followers of Elea's school viewed sensory observations as limited and unfocused, preventing an accurate appreciation of reality.

In this way, it can be said that all the Eleatic doctrine raised by Parmenides was metaphysical.

Heraclitus

Heraclitus

Heraclitus of Ephesus, Heraclitus the dark or simply Heraclitus, is considered by some to be a follower of the school of Elea. However, his character was always arbitrary and his musings enigmatic, which is why he was nicknamed the "dark one."

Heraclitus lived in Ephesus during the 6th and 5th centuries BC. He came from an aristocratic family, however, he decided to renounce all his properties to live in solitude and dedicate himself to philosophy.

He is said to have been the creator of a unique pre-Socratic philosophical style known as "aphorisms." Aphorisms are short statements that seek to define or explain a topic clearly and punctually. These seek to deal with a subject without leaving room for doubt and in a closed way, without going around the bush.

Among his approaches is the consideration of fire as the matter from which all things in the world originate.

Heraclitus also pointed out that reason must be recognized as the only judge of truth and the senses must be considered as witnesses of truth whose judgments are doubtful until reason confirms them.

References

1. Bastidas, AC (June 1, 2012). Obtained from Presocratic Schools: Philosophy9610.blogspot.com
2. Kirk, GS, Raven, JE, & Schofield, M. (1983). The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selcetion of Texts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3. P., V. (October 20, 2012). Philosophy at hand. Obtained from PRESOCRATICS (VII): Heraclitus of Ephesus: philosophiaamano.blogspot.com
4. Mozo, MC (January 19, 2012). Obtained from Characteristics of pre-Socratic philosophy: elarlequindehielo.obolog.es
5. Patricia Curd, DW (2008). The Oxford Handbook of Presocratic Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford.