1. Greek Philosophy and History Ch. 5.2

2. Greek Philosophers What does philosophy mean? Pythagoras taught that the universe followed the same laws as music and math Sophists – professional teachers  Did not believe in the gods influence on people  Did not believe in absolute right Socrates – philosopher that believed in absolute truth and all knowledge was within each person  Leaders did not trust him  Accused of teaching young Athenians to rebel  Sentenced to death

3. Socratic Method  A form of teaching that uses questions to lead the students to discover truth for themselves. Plato – one of Socrates best students  Republic describes the ideal gov’t Philosopher kings Warriors All others Aristotle – one of Plato’s students who started his own school  Helped advance science and gov’t  Helped shape European and American gov’ts  “Golden Mean” – do nothing in excess

4. Greek Historians Herodotus  “father of history”  History of the Persian Wars Thucydides  Considered the greatest historian of the ancient world  History of the Peloponnesian Wars