Presocratics Exercise
Background:
The work of Plato and Aristotle drew on the theories and debates on those who
came before them. In the tradition, they were called the "philosophers"[1]
(literally, lovers/pursuers of wisdom). Today they are called "Presocratic
Philosophers" because they were before Socrates, and he marks a
significant development in the history of the enterprise. The following
exercise is designed to get the uninitiated into the spirit of what they were
up to.
A. Using only your own observations and
reasonings about them (i.e., without using any body of scientific tradition),
give an account which explains each of the following cycles:
1. Day/Night
2. Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter
3. Life/
Death
Provide illustrations (draw a picture).
B. Using only your own observations of
events in the world, human actions and interactions, and your reasonings about
them (i.e., without using any moral or religious tradition), answer the
following questions:
1. Why
do bad things happen to bad people?
2. Why
do bad things happen to good people?
3. Why
do good things happen to good people?
4. Why
do good things happen to bad people?
C. Combine with other group(s) and create a
single model to account for both A and B and present to the class. Use the board for your illustrations.
Out of Class Follow-Up Exercise (for
make-up)
Now look up some of the Pre-Socratic
Philosophers and explain
1. Their
divergence from mythological explanations
2. their
preoccupation with fundamental principles (the archē)
3. their
tendency to criticize (sometimes ferociously) their fellow inquirers