Explaining the cosmos : the Ionian tradition of scientific philosophy / Daniel W. Graham.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Graham, Daniel W.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Philosophy, Ancient.

Pre-Socratic philosophers.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (363 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Explaining the Cosmos is a major reinterpretation of Greek scientific thought before Socrates. Focusing on the scientific tradition of philosophy, Daniel Graham argues that Presocratic philosophy is not a mere patchwork of different schools and styles of thought. Rather, there is a discernible and unified Ionian tradition that dominates Presocratic debates. Graham rejects the common interpretation of the early Ionians as "material monists" and also the view of the later Ionians as desperately trying to save scientific philosophy from Parmenides' criticisms. In Graham's view, Parmenides plays a constructive role in shaping the scientific debates of the fifth century BC. Accordingly, the history of Presocratic philosophy can be seen not as a series of dialectical failures, but rather as a series of theoretical advances that led to empirical discoveries. Indeed, the Ionian tradition can be seen as the origin of the scientific conception of the world that we still hold today.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations and Brief References

1. The Ionian Program

2. Anaximander's Principles

3. Anaximenes' Theory of Change

4. The Generating Substance Theory as an Explanatory Hypothesis

5. Heraclitus's Criticism of Ionian Philosophy

6. Parmenides' Criticism of Ionian Philosophy

7. Anaxagoras and Empedocles: Eleatic Pluralists

8. The Elemental Substance Theory as an Explanatory Hypothesis

9. The Atomist Reform

10. Diogenes of Apollonia and Material Monism

11. The Ionian Legacy

References

Index Locorum

General Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [309]-325) and indexes.

ISBN:

9786612458286

9781282458284

1282458280

9781400827459

1400827450

OCLC:

609855977