The Greek Mind, Chp 8 Les 2

The Greek Mind

Chapter 8, Lesson 2

Greek Thinkers

●Greeks believed the mind was capable of great understanding

●Golden Age of Greece lasted from 500 BCE to 350 BCE

○During this time great philosophers, scientists, mathematicians,
artists, and writers emerged

●Philosophy

○Means “love of wisdom”

○Helped to develop the study of history, political science, biology,
logic, reasoning

Open Ended

What is the name of the time period in Ancient Greece that lasted from 500 BCE to 350 BCE?

The Sophists

●Traveled from polis to polis

●Taught subjects like math, science, and history

●Best known for teaching art of public speaking

●Reject absolute right or wrong

●Challenged Greek traditions

●Did not believe Gods influenced life

Open Ended

What were the Sophists best known for?

Socrates

●Harsh critic of the Sophists

●Absolute truth

●Socratic method

○A new way of questioning

○Used to this day in colleges

○Encouraged students to ask questions to seek knowledge

●Athenian government feared him as his students would
question government

○Sentenced to death

Multiple Choice

If you are a student of Socrates, which of the following questions would he ask you to help you when questioning your world?

• Why?

• Who?

• What?

• When?

Open Ended

What did Socrates believe in that the Sophists rejected?

Plato

●

Student of Socrates

●

Wrote The Republic

○Plan for ideal society and government

○Organized society into 3 groups

■Philosopher Kings

●At the top

●Ruled through logic and wisdom

■Warriors

●Defended society

■Regular People

○Just and reasonable government

○Equal rights for women

Open Ended

What did Plato believe in that was not common at this time (especially in Athenian government)?

Open Ended

Plato's plan that has Philosopher Kings at the top of society, followed by warriors, then regular people is an example of what aspect of a civilization?

Aristotle

●Wrote 200 works on government, astronomy, and
political science

●Golden Mean

○Middle position between two extremes

○Live moderately

●Helped to develop modern science

●Wrote of 3 governments

○Monarchy

■Rule by one person

○Oligarchy

■Rule by a few people

○Democracy

■Rule by many

○Said the best government has features of all 3

○Influenced United States Constitution

Multiple Choice

Aristotle believed the best government is...

• Monarchy

• Democracy

• Oligarchy

• Has features of Monarchy, Democracy, and Oligarchy

Historians

●Herodotus wrote a history of the Persian Wars

○Wrote gods influence events

○Separated fact from fictions

○“Father of history”

●Thucydides

○Wrote History of the Peloponnesian Wars

○Rejected idea that gods impact history

○Only accepted eyewitness accounts

Open Ended

Which historian rejected that gods impacted human events?

Scientists

●Believed natural events could be explained with logic

●Thales of Miletus

○Studied astronomy

●Pythagoras

○Relationships could be explained through numbers

○Pythagorean Theorem to find length of sides of triangle

●Hippocrates

○“Father of Medicine”

○Disease caused naturally

○Hippocratic Oath

■Doctors should do their best to help their patients

■Keep their patients information private

Multiple Choice

Which of the following greek scientists would you most likely hear about in a math class?

• Thales of Miletus

• Hippocrates

• Pythagoras

• Herodotus

Multiple Choice

Who would agree with the following statement, "it is best to live moderately and not think in the extreme."

• Herodotus

• Pythagoras

• Aristotle

• Socrates

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is the "love of wisdom"

• Biology

• Criminology

• Psychology

• Philosophy