In this assignment you will meet Pythagoras and Plato. The assignment also
combines primary sources
(ones written at the time) with secondary
sources (modern writings about the primary sources). First you will read
a secondary source about each of them to obtain some general background knowledge,
and then you will dive in and read some primary sources, that is, some of their
very own words as they have come down to us. As you read the primary sources,
think about how they reinforce the general descriptions provided by the secondary
sources. The study questions below will help you assess your knowledge; print
them out and complete them as you read.
Plato is absolutely central to the history of western philosophy. Not many
people today, however, realize that Plato was also an important scientist in
his day. Even more than that, his influence upon science proved far greater
than his own direct contributions, lasting for thousands of years up to the
present day. Plato is also the most readable of ancient scientists, for he wrote
in dramatic, entertaining dialogues. As one reads Plato's dialogues one may
be drawn into the conversation almost as if one were there. Imagine that you
are a contemporary of Plato, and today you will talk with him about Pythagoras
and Socrates, music, the good, the beautiful and the true, about knowledge versus
opinion, and about the universe and the Earth. Enjoy!
-
T
or F? Pythagoras
founded a religious community in southern Italy that advocated reincarnation,
or the "transmigration of the soul."
Note:
Osborne appears to be unaware of the Plimpton
322 cuneiform tablet, and of previous Babylonian
understanding of the Pythagorean relationship between the sides and hypoteneuse
of a right triangle.
-
T
or F? Pythagoreans
defined the “fourth” as a musical interval produced when one string is three-fourths
the length of the other.
-
T or F? The Pythagoreans
conceived of numbers spatially so that, for example, the number 4 is "square"
because four pebbles can be arranged in a square, and the number 10 is "triangular."
- T or F?
The Pythagoreans
regarded the number 10 as divine.
-
T
or F? Pythagoreans
believed that the heavens are made of numbers; that is, that numbers are
the first principles of all things.
-
T
or F? Later
Pythagoreans believed that the Earth moves through the heavens, revolving
around the center of the universe.
-
T
or F ? According
to Lindberg, Socrates represented a shift from the ethical concerns of the
Presocratics toward a greater emphasis on natural science.
-
T
or F? Plato
founded the Academy in Athens.
-
T
or F? Aristotle
founded the Lyceum in Athens.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato’s parable of the Cave, physical things are shadows or copies of
the real nonphysical forms.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, the Demiurgos brings order to the physical world by imposing forms
upon chaotic matter.
-
T
or F? Plato’s
cosmology may be described as a geometrical atomism, which incorporated
elements of Pythagorean thinking.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, the Earth is flat.
-
T
or F? Plato
distinguished between the ecliptic (the path of the Sun) and the celestial
equator.
-
T
or F? Plato
challenged astronomers to explain all apparent motions of heavenly bodies
as resulting from combinations of various uniform circular motions.
-
T
or F? Pythagoreans
believed that the planets, Moon and Sun move with utter silence through
the heavens.
-
T
or F? Pythagoreans
believed that the heavens are made of numbers; that is, that numbers are
the first principles of all things.
-
T
or F ? According
to Plato’s allegory of the cave, the only thing we can observe are shadows,
not realities.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, it is painful to look at the light of reality.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, the soul can ascend to knowledge of reality instantaneously.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, the wise man can expect to be laughed at by those who emphasize
common sense.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, general forms are real, and particular things are copies or
shadows.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, sense experience is a chain that ties us down, preventing us
from attaining knowledge of the truth.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, one should study astronomy because it can awaken the soul to apprehend
the Forms through the exercise of reason.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, the universal ideal “Dog“ is more real than any particular dog.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, the Demiurge is all-powerful and created the world from nothing.
-
T
or F? Plato
argued that the five regular solids are the fundamental particles from which
the universe and its elements are composed; therefore, the universe is built
up from mathematical principles rather than merely physical entities.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, mathematics is essential to comprehend the universe.
-
T
or F? Plato
suggested that the Demiurge, the universe, the world soul, the planets and
the stars were divine.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, the creator made the universe from nothing.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, the universe is a living being.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, there may be more than one world or universe.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, the elements that make up the universe are harmoniously related
according to geometrical proportions.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, the shape of the Earth is roughly spherical (perhaps like a soccer
ball).
-
T
or F? Platonic
theories of the Earth are characterized by microcosm-macrocosm analogies
between the Earth and the universe or the human body.
-
T
or F? Platonic
theories of changes on the Earth's surface are characterized by gradual
changes, like slowly shifting shorelines, rather than sudden catastrophic
events.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, the Earth's interior consists of subterranean passageways for
the circulation of water.
-
T
or F? According
to Plato, entrances to the interior of the Earth are located at the Earth's
poles.
