Founders of Western Philosophy Tales to Humes

Episode 9

THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY Founders of Western Philosophy: Thales to Hume Leonard Peikoff Lecture 1. The First Problem: Are There Any Absolutes? • The father of philosophy: Thales of Miletus. • The philosophy of flux: Heraclitus—“You cannot step into the same river twice”—change as the only absolute—Realityasaseriesof contradictions. • TheparadoxesofZeno. • The mind-body opposition begins: the mathematical mysticism of the Pythagoreans. Lecture 2. The First Answers and Their Climax: The Triumph of the Metaphysics of Two Worlds. • The birth of determinism: the materialism of Democritus. • The birth of“It seems to me . . .”: the skepticism of the Sophists—“Might makes right.” • The teachings of Socrates. • The first complete philosophy: Plato’s. • Platoand his metaphysicaldualism: TheSensible Worldandthe Worldof IdealForms. Lecture 3. The Results in This World. • Plato’s epistemology—knowledge as a mixture of logical deduction, reminiscence and mystical insight—the myth of the cave. • Plato’s ethics and politics: man as being torn by conflict of reason vs. emotion—the nature of justice—Platonic love—money as the root of all evil—the Philosopher-King—communism as the political ideal. Lectures 4–5. A Revolution: The Birth of Reason. • Aristotle. • Epistemology: sensory evidence as to the base of knowledge—the laws of logic—induction, and syllogism—the nature of truth—the rules of definition—the common fallacies. • Metaphysicsandpsychology: the relation of universals and particulars—potentiality and actuality—the Unmoved Mover—the nature and function of the soul. • Ethicsandpolitics: happiness as the moral goal—the place of reason in the good life—self -realization: the role of contemplation and of practical action—the Golden Mean—the GreatSouled Man—the ideal society. Lecture 6. Philosophy Loses Confidence. • Thephilosophyofpleasure: the hedonism of Epicurus—the quest for peace of mind—pleasure as the absence of pain. • Thephilosophyofduty: Stoicism—the metaphysics of pantheism—the quest for“apathy”— virtue as an end in itself. • The new Skepticism: Pyrrhoof Elis. • Neo-Platonism: Plotinus. Lectures 7–8. Philosophy Becomes Religious—and Recovers. • The rejection of reason and happiness: Thedevelopmentof Christianity. • The first major Christian philosopher: Augustine—faith as the basis of reason—the ethics of self-sacrificial love—man as a corrupt creature. • The Dark Ages. • The rediscovery of Aristotle. • Thomas Aquinas: the union of Aristotelianism and Christianity—the absolutism of reason and the new role of faith—the five arguments for the existence of God—the reality of this world. • The aftermath of Thomism: The Church loses its power—the Renaissance. • Martin Luther • The development of modern science: Copernicus, Bacon, Galileo. Lecture 9. The Attempt to Ground Reason Anew Leads to a New Breach Between the Mind and Reality • Materialism and determinism in the name of science,dictatorship in the name of harmony: Thomas Hobbes. • The father of modern philosophy and the first famous Continental Rationalist: René Descartes— the method of universal doubt—the cogito argument:“I think, therefore I am”—but is there an external world?—the theory of innate ideas. Lecture 10. The Breach Deepens . . . • The second famous Rationalist: Spinoza—pantheism—determinism—mind and body as attributes of God. • The third famous Rationalist: Leibnitz—the unreality of matter—the“windowless monads”— ”All is for the best of all possible worlds.” • The development of British empiricism: John Locke—the attack on innate ideas—the philosophy of experience. Lecture 11. . . . . and the Attempt Collapses. • Empiricism becomes subjectivist: Bishop Berkeley—“To be is to be perceived.” • Empiricism becomes bankrupt: the skepticism of David Hume—the attack on the external world, on the law of causality, and on the self—the breach between logic and fact—philosophy as a “matter of taste.” Lecture 12. Conclusion. The Objectivistanswer tokeyproblemsposedbyAncientand Modern Philosophy.

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Founders of Western Philosophy Tales to Humes