Pre-Socratic Approaches to Understanding Nature

Pre-Socratic Approaches to Understanding Nature

Pre-Socratic Approaches to Understanding Nature

The Pre-Socratic approach was developed during the fifth and sixth centuries by famous Greek philosophers who presented a fresh way of probing into the universe and the residence of mankind in it (Gill 3). The philosophers were the first to develop these ideas in the Western traditions. This paper aims at giving the pre-Socratic approach that is easy to accept if one lived in that period. This paper will evaluate Empedocles approach to understanding nature as well as Pythagoras approach. It will also highlight some of the criticisms in Pythagoras approach.

Approaches to understanding nature as proposed by different philosophers

The Empedocles Approach to Understanding Nature

This approach was invented by an Acragas Philosopher named Empedocles. Empedocles delineates the four basic elements of the world which include the Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

The Four Elements

Empedocles insisted that there existed no change in the real world. He stated that among these four elements, there was no generation and destruction-hence no change. The amount of each of the four elements remained constant and never changes qualitatively.

In my own thinking, Empedocles approach to understanding nature has firm and undoubted facts. However, the four different elements discussed by Empedocles can yield different substances when mixed. For instance, the elemental recipe for components of blood can be mixed to produce different kinds of blood with varying properties such as intelligence

The Pythagorean Tradition Approach to Understanding Nature

This approach was developed by the Greek re-known philosopher Pythagoras.He stressed on the order of the universe and its mathematical structure. He conceived nature as a structured system ordered by numbers. However, his approach held more complicated views about the relation between mathematics and cosmology. Recent philosophers have revealed that the evidence accrediting Pythagoras mathematical-based cosmology is convoluted and doubtful.

Criticismsof Pythagoras Tradition Approach

As a result of Pythagoras’ philosophical approach, critics have arisen to counter attack the idea to understanding nature. These criticisms include one that tangles with the traditional views and connects Pythagoras with political tyrants, and another one that acclaims him with discarding tyrannies for aristocracies that may not have been wedged in wealth (Hackett 46).

Conclusion

According to my understanding of the two pre-Socratic approaches, the former approach of Empedocles can easily be accepted hence could have been applied effectively.It contains more solid facts that can be proven beyond reasonable doubt. The latter approach of Pythagoras is filled with numerous criticisms that make it inadequate in understanding nature.

Works Cited

Hackett Cordero.Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans. Paris. 2006.

Gill Michael.Mind’s Knowledge and Powers of Control. Texas Press:Minnesota. 2001.