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ERROR IN HISTORY: GREECE IS NOT THE CRADLE OF PHILOSOPHY
1.0. INTRODUCTION
According to Oxford Dictionary, history is "the study of past events." It is important that the citizens of a country are aware of important events the past that have taken place in the country. In the same way every student of philosophy who are expected not only have knowledge of the history of philosophy, but a knowledge first class of the same, if he or she wants to become a leading philosopher. As a division of studies, the history of philosophy is to investigate the past of the wise men in his company. According to William Turner's History of Philosophy "exposure of the views and philosophy of systems and schools of philosophy. "History of philosophy not only refer to the positions, systems and schools of philosophy, but also gives life to the considerations of philosophers, the common bond systems and schools of thought, moreover, also makes an effort to track the path of progression and regression of philosophy.
The general conception, even among professional philosophers, is that Greece is the birthplace of philosophy. Therefore, almost all histories of philosophy available and philosophers agree that the so-called pre-Socratics were the first or early philosophers, at least in the Western world. Unlike the first thinkers of the India and China, the Presocratics not believe exegetically of ancient writings and poems, but spoke "as disrespectful of the greatest poets they did to them. "The most excellent reason for this popular conception is that first known philosophers in history among the Greeks lived. According to some authors in history of philosophy, the pre-Socratics were Greeks. In fact, nobody has succeeded in writing a complete history of philosophy, philosophy, like art, are intensely personal things. Our goal is to attempt a justification of why Greece can not necessarily be the birthplace of philosophy.
Now, to address ancient philosophy, which is limited to written records, which are often fragmentary and often unreliable and dubious second-hand information. Apart the lack of firsthand information, the biggest obstacle we must overcome is the mass of the explanations school and dogmas, which favor the Greek origin of philosophy on information available histories of philosophy. To clear away is perhaps the greatest service we can render to philosophy. However, all we intend to do is point the way and warn others off the track that has already been confirmed to lead nowhere.
The aim of this paper is therefore to determine the origin of philosophy. To achieve this goal, we proceed first by defining the term philosophy. So let's give an account of the origin of civilization and science. After that, we will highlight the positions of some philosophers who argued that philosophy began with the Greeks and that are of the opinion that philosophy that originated outside Greece. Thereafter, we proceed to evaluate our work and ultimately develop a conclusion.
2.0. THE MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
The word philosophy is believed to be of Greek origin (?), Is precisely a combination from two Greek words that is so, 'philo meaning "love and' Sophia meaning wisdom. Since it is almost generally accepted that philosophy Etymologically the word is of Greek origin, then it is easy for beginners in the study of philosophy to the conclusion that philosophy has its origin in Greece and began with the Greeks. In the study of philosophy, the beginners of this study, even before knowing what philosophy is, they are already familiar with the names of Greek philosophers like Thales, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. While some people maintain that Greece is the birthplace of philosophy, other no.
First, philosophy is not mythology. According to Pythagoras (0), whose scientific studies had an enormous influence on development of philosophy, the word philosophy means love of wisdom. To philosophize, then, is to seek wisdom through a constant effort of reflection, that the ethical requirements defined itself implies, for in reality no one can philosophize and enjoy these forms of life as incompatible with philosophical thinking. With the word "philosophy", we mean to be a critical science in general. This involves not only the initial knowledge of the existence, common to all men and early childhood, but a mature and professional knowledge, a method that surpass those of other sciences (mathematics, physics, chemistry and Biology) in the intensity and understanding. The philosophy is not only limited to the amount of people as in mathematics, or mass, and motions of beings as physics, or for life and nature as in the biological sciences, but a constant effort to acquire wisdom.
Let us see some of the many Attempts to define Philosophy. So let's look at philosophy in the broad sense and philosophy in the strict sense.
2.1. LA Philosophy in the ordinary sense or loose:
Here the philosophy is true that the belief of an individual or approach to the issues of life, therefore, various people have different philosophies of life based on how people see things. This definition is largely in line with the etymology of the term concept.
The etymology of the word belongs to the philosophy of its conception in the broad sense. Most philosophers of the view that the word philosophy is of Greek origin, ie, from two Greek words that go like this: "edge" which means love, and "Sophia" meaning wisdom. From this we can infer that philosophy is love of wisdom. According to its classic definition, "the Wisdom is the knowledge of first principles and first causes. Includes knowledge of many other things too. However, to the extent that one is using His wisdom, a philosopher knows all the rest, or at least the knowledge of things related to the first principles and first causes. Thus, whenever one has success in replacing some of the principles and causes of knowledge for knowledge itself, one is on its way to the pursuit of wisdom, at least in part. The first known philosophers are philosophers in this regard. Philosophy as love of wisdom is a reflective activity that seeks answers basic questions that arise in the hearts of men in their reflections on human experience or reality in general. Philosophy, therefore, as Aristotle conceived it, starts of wonder, admiration is the feeling of philosophers. When, for instance, the man looks at himself or the world he lives in is full of wonder and many questions arise in your mind. When we reflect on these issues in an attempt to find rational answers to them, which is said to philosophize. In this sense, we can infer that philosophizing begins and is inherent in our daily activities or experiences like eating or drinking; birth or growth, and death or decay, to mention only some. An experience like drinking enough to make us philosophize. For example, one may ask the following questions in the course of drinking, what should I take? What amount of beverage should I take? Irrational beings are not capable of asking such questions. Perhaps these questions are asked, because what we drink and the amount of drinking that we can affect the pleasure derived from drinking. For example, if you drink to the point of inebriation, the purpose of drinking (happiness) will be defeated. Philosophize as shown in the case of alcohol consumption above is not limited to drinking, it is also true of other realities. In the illustration above we can infer that all human beings are philosophers in the loose sense, as a matter of fact, there is an age without philosophy, even before the development of Greek thought, since philosophy started from the wonder and the man has always wondered about the things around him and the human experience.
2.2. Philosophy in the strict sense (professional):
Strictly speaking, philosophy is not a generally accepted definition. There are many definitions of the term, since many philosophers. A novice you can ask the question, "What is philosophy?" was first struck with astonishment to find that the definition of philosophy is not even agreed by those specializing in the discipline. For example, if one is to collect ten different philosophers ten different schools of philosophy and ask them what philosophy is, one can have a record of ten different answers. The following definitions are conceptions of what philosophy is, different philosophers:
Jacques Maritain conceives philosophy as a wisdom that is characterized by knowledge, this knowledge must be known with certainty. However, he said, must give reasons that states that something is this and nothing else. However, these reasons must obtain the assent of the intellect.
Meanwhile, Aristotle refers to philosophy and awareness of the truth
See Epicurus on the term philosophy is that it is an occupation that guarantees happiness through the means conversation and exchange of views.
Although philosophy has no universally accepted definition, however, must be "critical rigorous, open to criticism and as the truth should be acceptable only provisional and based on clear evidence. "For a philosopher, which means your position Criticism should be rationalized. A philosopher is to be rigorous position must be careful and well thought out. No matter how wonderful philosophical thinking is, a thought should only be considered temporary and only on the basis of the testimony clear, ie to be seen only during the time not There is evidence of denial of the opposite position. This shows that the criterion of a philosopher particular position is always open to criticism. All criteria necessarily above must be met before anything can happen as philosophical in the technical sense of the word.
3.0. Who is a philosopher?
A philosopher then it is not necessarily someone who has been able to resolve problems and questions in the universe, but one who is able to reflect critically on them with the aim of finding solutions for them. So a philosopher can do nothing more than to philosophize. It should also be logically consistent skill endowed rational, critical, rigorous and analytical. And you should use arguments and explanations to provide insightful solutions to a fundamental question for the betterment of society and a better understanding of the world.
Many people like to say, occasionally, they are also philosophers. Obviously, we know that not everyone is a philosopher. Homer and Hesiod, the first mythopoets not even regarded as philosophers, because their works are based on the stories of the gods and their relationship with humans. I hope not to scare you or sound impertinent, scandalous, and ridicule or rebel if I say that even some teachers of philosophy are not philosophers, to teach philosophy and philosophy is far from being the same thing. Today, philosophy is not possible without a critical reflection of knowledge, ie, a critique whose function is to show that certain experiences and knowledge may not always be sustainable. You use these features in our debate.
With these preliminary remarks, we have represented the most ancient Greek philosophical thought, which is the last product of civilization ancient Ionian. But we must always remember that Ionia was a meeting point of east and west, so the question can be asked whether or not Greek philosophy due to Eastern influences, if, for example, is taken from the Babylonians or the Egyptians. This vision has been maintained, but we can not leave as suggested by Frederick Copleston and his colleagues. Second, have tried to explain what we mean by philosophy and philosophers in order to avoid misunderstandings.
Without doubt, the many questions that have been generated by what we have been discussing: Is Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes philosophers in the true sense of the word? And if not, what good is saying that the philosophy was born in Greece. Even if you are a philosopher in the sense that we now use the term "philosopher" are the first to philosophize in the entire universe? Are These earliest known Greek Greek philosophers truly indigenous or foreign?
Since philosophy is associated with civilization, Greece was the first city in the world to be civilized? If there is no answer to our question goes a long way to show that the popular conception that philosophy originated in Greece is mendacious. Finally, since, as we have noted that all of the first generation of Greek philosophers from Thales (which measures the pyramid) Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Plato traveled to Egypt to expand their knowledge 13in mathematics, geometry, surgery and ethics, then how could what is called "Greek philosophy" be original Greek? In other words, it was because of East influences? To reach a clear and reasonable response that is capable of addressing this misnomer, we delve into the pages of history, the chronology of world history and civilization while at the same time trying to reflect on our question.
3.1. Can we say that Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes are philosophers?
Dario Compost, in his History of Ancient Philosophy (1988), says, "three Ionic were undoubtedly the philosophers, "given the fact that Aristotle, who although not a reliable historian of the pre-Socratic philosophy, Thales called an" initiator of Philosophy "in the following of his metaphysics.
The majority of those who philosophize before thought that the principles of all things were just materials … However, these philosophers disagree on the number and species of these principles (goalkeeper). Thales, the originator (archegos) of this type of philosophy, states that the principle is water.
This school of philosophy must have originated from Thales. Activated for about fifty years, about 7-5 century BC C., Miletus, and not devoid of religious influences. This religion does not imply strict adherence to the myths of Homer or Orphic sense, but a rational interpretation and criticism of myth that emerges from a historical analysis of reality. This analysis is transfigured into the cosmogony through either explanations.Their theogony a scientific or philosophical philosophy grew up in prosperous times in the history of Miletus.
Although some contemporary philosophers and historians consider the "Milesians" as the first "thinkers who hold that matter (Hyle) is life (zoe), or that the universe (PAN) is encouraged (psyche)" and Sargis Aristotle called "physiologoi" or students of nature, ie, physical scientists, with the nature of being understood in the sense as the sum total of being, our belief that philosophers are based on the fact that prevalence are interested in scientific research and their desire reveal that the divine intent.The credibility of the testimony of Aristotle's philosophy is the support of other arguments. First and foremost, Thales is listed first as one of the seven sages by the "father of history" Herodotus, Solon when he referred to as a "lover of wisdom". Another fact confirms is that while it is true that Thales was of Phoenician blood beside her mother, according to Diogenes Laertius in his Lives of the Philosophers. And if he was willing to seafaring adventure empirical research, it means that your answer does not come from theologies such as Hesiod, but the investigation of a primary element that lies at the base each being.However, originator of the phrase "of this kind of philosophy", in reference to Thales as a philosopher Aristotle, at least indicates that some other forms of philosophical thought may have existed before that of these first "known" philosophers of Miletus. It is true and undeniable that the Greeks left, an imperishable legacy of literature and art world of Europe "due to the sudden rise of civilization in Greece, and of course, philosophical speculations that gave rise to philosophy.
Our task now is, even if these "known" are the Greek philosophers, as has been justified by some scholars, really are the first in philosophy in the entire universe? And if not, why should we believe that Greece as the birthplace of philosophy? We will critically examine this question.
4.0. Civilization and SCIENNCE:
After examining the philosophy and its various senses, we will treat critically distinguish science of civilization. "Civilization is social order promoting cultural creation.
The first civilization grew in the valleys of some major rivers, large rivers, the Nile, Euphrates, Tigris, Indus and Yellow River … Europe needs more to those around the Nile and the Tigris and Euphrates … these two civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia were developing at the same time.
Scholars may disagree on the location of the cradle of human race, but in the cradle of their civilization, there is no disagreement. It is in the area, in this study, is called the Near East and Iraq is composed of the Fertile Crescent – with its two horns of Mesopotamia (modern), Syria and Palestine – Egypt, Anatolia (Asia Minor, Turkey) and Persia or Iran. The "Near East", originally a European geographical term freely used to describe the southeastern part of Western Asia, more close in Europe, was taken by the United States, parts of which are closer to the Far East. This was the predominant use until World War II, when the Government British established a military province extends from Iran to Libya and called the Middle East, a term hitherto traditionally applied to India and adjacent territory. A supply center for the Middle East then settled in Cairo and later became an Anglo-American project, thus the penalty to the new terminology.
Meanwhile, Egypt is often described as the gift of West Nile. The Nile, with its floods at the beginning of the land along the left bank to reach behind the alluvial soils. Areas close to the pain of flooding became attractive as a source of food and water. Over time, climate change, including periods of aridity also served to confine human habitation in the Nile Valley, although this was not always true.
4.1. SCIENCE
The plant and animal domestication, metallurgy, ceramics, and other material objects are not the only gifts the Near East. Our seven-day week is derived from the creation story recorded in Genesis, and a early Semitic system of numbering in which the number of seven figures. The Babylonians considered seven celestial bodies to be planets. For the first of which was devoted the first day of the week, therefore, our Sunday, the second, the moon, the second day was devoted, hence our Monday. The seventh, Saturn gave us Saturday. From the Mesopotamian one we have inherited the hexadecimal system is represented today by our division of time in sixty minutes, minutes in sixty seconds and the circle into three hundred and sixty (a multiple of sixty) degrees. The division into twelve hours of the day comes from Egypt. From Egypt also came the solar calendar introduced by Julius Caesar and reformed by Pope Gregory.
"Maybe science, and civilization in general began with agriculture." If science general as civilization began with agriculture as conjectured by Will Durant, then we can infer that science has its origins in Egypt since Egypt was described as the gift of West Nile. This illustrated that Egypt can not be bypassed when a debate on the origin of science. Therefore of great importance for us on this at this point to talk briefly about Egyptian science.
Egypt, as history shows, was a privileged place for God. It has reached a level civilization of at least two thousand years before even Crete, which is the first Greek to exist. During this time, Greece was a colony of Egypt for centuries. At this time also, Egypt had a university called "The Mystery System" where all disciplines, were taught by the Egyptian priests. As in the reign of "Mystery System", the different types of disciplines such as mathematics, astronomy, medicine, philosophy, and so on, were taught which were merged under the umbrella of the so-called science. It was only recently dropped that philosophy through its separation from other disciplines with which it melts.
Students of Egypt were mostly priests, enjoy, away from the bustle of life, comfort and security of temples and it was these priests who, despite all their superstitions, laid the foundations of Egyptian science. According to their own legends of science was invented about 1800 BC by Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom, during his three thousand year reign on the earth, and the oldest books in each science are among the two thousand volumes, composed of this deity learned … In this first moment of the recorded history of Egypt is highly developed in mathematics, design and construction of the Pyramids involving a measurement accuracy impossible without considerable mathematical tradition. The dependence of Egyptian life to fluctuations in the Nile gave lead to careful records and calculations of the rise and recession of the river, experts and scribes were continually re-measure the land whose boundaries had been destroyed by the flood, and this measure of the land was obviously the origin of geometry. Almost all former agree in attributing the invention of the science the Egyptians.
"Zoser, who ruled from 3000 BC, was the first pharaoh to become famous as the builder of the pyramid. In Sakkara, south of Memphis, Great Pyramid built the first known in history. It is "step" or "the formation of terraces'…." As medicine was the glory Egyptian science. It began with the priests and in it are evidence of their magical origin.Meanwhile, many people in Greece, Asia Minor and other parts of Africa became in the students of these priests. Among these students are Thales, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Plato, Aristotle and other distinguished philosophers, some of them are which some Western historians classified as the first philosophers.
5.0. Where is the origin of philosophy?
Long before the curtain rose on written records, the Middle East had developed urban life ordained governments, religions, and institutions social and economic. Even earlier, those who occupied the arc of the Fertile Crescent and the territory was discovered near metal, he realized his potential, and worked on tools and weapons to replace the more primitive stone tools of previous generations. In these crude stone tools and copper there was a decrease sight of the gigantic machines and engines so vital to our modern life. Even before then, and probably in the same area, primitive man learned through experience long and sustained, started by chance that certain wild plants could be cultivated and some wild animals could be tamed. Then he rose from the situation a gatherer of food – wandering from one place to another in search of livelihood – for a food producer, with a reliable food store that made possible a sedentary lifestyle, with its accumulation of wealth, a growing population and some free time which could be devoted to the cultivation of the higher things of life. First civilization developed where it did because it was the only region that provides the climate, vegetation, fauna and necessary for the transition from a life of nomadic pastoralism and hunting to settled.
For most people, philosophy began in Miletus, Greece and the Greeks were the first philosophers. To give a justification their arguments quickly recite the Litany of the Greek philosophers, such as those mentioned above, and their exact periods of existence, thus, are capable to defeat the shallow-minded types who may try to involve them in the debate over the birthplace of philosophy. The question is: Why the Greeks? What was so special about the Greeks that led to the origin of philosophy with them? For many years, the simple answer to this question is that the Greeks were different, had a special genius that allowed them to think about things in new and different. This answer, of course, is unsatisfactory because it does not know that the Greeks were blessed with this genetic endowment, but only some of them as the Milesians and the Athenians, while the Spartans are excluded. Some philosophers and historians have tried to locate the birthplace of philosophy and for them, especially the Westerners in their writings have shown that the birthplace of philosophy is Greece.
Samuel Enoch Stumpf is of the opinion that "the birthplace of philosophy was the port city of Miletus, located across the Aegean Sea in Athens western coasts of any of Miletus and Aeolus.
Giovanni Reale, in his book entitled From the Origins to Socrates is of the opinion that:
"Philosophy" both its semantic meaning, as well as conceptual content itself is a creation of the Greeks. In fact, in all other respects, virtually every other Greek civilization components found in other Eastern peoples, which reached a certain level of achievement before the Greeks. When, with respect to philosophy, no corresponding progress, or even something like what is found in … the question of philosophy, we find that a new phenomenon that there is no counterpart identical in the Eastern peoples, nothing to compare with the Greek philosophy or the philosophy that prefigures an unambiguous way.
Hegel, German historian and philosopher, associated with the philosophy of freedom and self-knowledge. For him, the Greeks were the first to find freedom, Hence the philosophy in the strict sense began in Greece.He insisted that despite this freedom was limited, because slavery still existed at this time in somewhere in Greece.
Bertrand Russell also traces the birth place of philosophy in Greece. According to him, "Philosophy begins with Thales, which, fortunately, can be dated by the fact that he predicted an eclipse which, according to astronomers, occurred in the year 585 BC C. "
George Henry Lewes (1817-1878), a famous philosopher, published his History of Philosophy in 1845. In his book mentioned above, Lewes was of the view that philosophy began in Greece for the following reason:
This is most likely that Thales, both by birth and education, would be encouraged to stay there (Miletus), he would travel to Egypt and Crete to the prosecution of their studies, as some argue, although no sufficient authority. The only reason for the conjecture Thales is the fact that they have acquired knowledge of mathematics, and since ancient times, as we see in Herodotus, that was the way to deduct. Consistency is so little yet in this account of his travels, which is said to have astonished the Egyptians, showing them how to measure the heights of the pyramids of their shadows. A nation so easily surprised by one of the simplest mathematical problems might have had something to teach. Perhaps the strongest evidence that he never traveled to Egypt – or if he traveled there, I never heard of priests – is the absence of any trace, however slight, of any doctrine of Egypt in his philosophy, which About the Author
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