Important Philosophers
Socrates
- unlike most people at the time he turned to science and logic, instead of mythological gods, for explanations on how the world worked
- socratic method fostered critical thinking ("The unexamined life is not worth living")
- charged with serious crimes of impiety (disrespecting gods) and corruption of Athen's youth
- did not deny what he did, sentenced to death by jury and had to drink hemlock poisoning
Plato
- was a student and follower of Socrates
- wrote out Socrates's teachings and described his trial in Apology (which at the time meant explanation)
- another famous book was Republic, which discussed justice and an ideal state
- it is one of the most influential books ever written
- all 3 Philosophers thought they should rule the government
Aristotle
- a student of Plato
- helped to foster the idea of Athens as an intellectual destination
- his school (The Lyceum), focused on cooperative research, building on knowledge gathered from all over the world
- he dreamed of having the sum of mankind knowledge all in one location (internet)
- he wrote extensive on topics such as logic, physics, biology, ethics, politics, rhetoric, motion, poetry, theatre, metaphysics, psychology, dreams, etc.
- tutored Alexander the Great
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