Week 2 Course Material

Course Slides and Readings

Before the second session, please read:

• The following sections from the article "Presocratic Philosophy" in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Link here.

  • Introduction

  • 1. Who Were the Presocratic Philosophers?

  • 4. Parmenides of Elea

  • 7. The Pluralists: Anaxagoras of Clazomenae and Empedocles of Acragas

  • 8. Presocratic Atomism

Further Reading

Optional reading:

• Parmenides' poem, "On Nature," especially section (8) or VIII. The text can be found here or here. We will read this together in class if there is time.

• Fragments of Heraclitus for those interested can be found here.

Assignment

After the second session, please write 300 words in response to one of the following:

1. Explain the problem which Parmenides is wrestling with in his poem, and the nature of his solution.

2. What features characterise Parmenides' understanding of being?

3. What features characterise Heraclitus' understanding of being?

4. Contrast Parmenides' and Heraclitus' understanding of being.

5. Compare Empedocles' doctrine of the four elements with a modern understanding of matter.

6. Contrast Democritus' understanding of matter with that of Empedocles.

7. Compare and contrast the different notions of cause present in Empedocles (Love and Strife), Anaxagoras (Nous), and Democritus (Chance).