Introduction

Relevance of the Theme

Philosophy, the mother of all sciences, was born in Ancient Greece and continues to play a crucial role in our understanding of the world. The discipline emerged as a response to a set of fundamental questions about the nature of reality, knowledge, and morality. Understanding the Origin of Philosophy means, therefore, understanding the foundations on which all subsequent human thought was structured.

Contextualization

The study of the Origin of Philosophy begins the Philosophy curriculum, placing students at the beginning of human inquiry into the nature and processes of the universe. This study is fundamental for the development of argumentative and critical skills, skills that are at the heart of the philosophical discipline and that are transferable to other areas of knowledge. Moreover, understanding the Origin of Philosophy opens doors to the study of important philosophical currents that emerged from this origin, and is the basis for understanding many concepts and theories that followed throughout history.

Theoretical Development

Components

• Definition of Philosophy: The word "Philosophy" comes from Greek and can be literally translated as "love of knowledge". This definition already suggests one of the main components of philosophy - the desire to know, to question, to explore the world and oneself.
• Emerges as a replacement for mythical explanations: In Ancient Greece, until the 6th century BC, explanations about the world were all of a mythical-religious nature. Philosophy then emerged as an attempt to offer rational and rational explanations about the world.
• First Philosophers or Pre-Socratics: This group of thinkers includes names like Thales of Miletus, Anaximenes, Anaximander, and Heraclitus. They focused on questions about the origin and composition of the world, what is known as "Physics" (in the sense of 'study of nature' and not in the current sense 'study of physics').
• Importance of "cosmological" questions: The theories of the first pre-Socratic philosophers focused on explaining the 'physis', or the "ultimate reality" that underlies all things in the universe. These explanations were different from mythical explanations and introduced the notion that reality could be understood and explained through reason and observation.
• Creation of 'Logos': Reason - The introduction of the concept of 'logos' (reason) by the pre-Socratics is considered an important historical milestone, as it provided the basis for the later development of logic, science, and Western philosophy.

Key Terms

• Myth: Traditional narrative that seeks to explain the existence of the world, its origins, and natural or human events, usually involving gods or supernatural beings.
• Logos: Greek concept that refers to reason, logical discourse. For the first philosophers, 'logos' referred to the 'cosmic order' that was accessible to human understanding.
• Physis: The natural world, the universe itself. For the first philosophers, physis was the main focus of their investigations.

Examples and Cases

• Thales of Miletus: Considered the first philosopher in history, Thales believed that water was the origin of all things. This theory, although considered erroneous today, demonstrates the effort of the first philosophers to seek rational explanations about reality.
• Heraclitus: Heraclitus, in turn, argued that reality was constantly changing, and that change was the only true reality. For him, the world was 'fire', but 'fire' not in the literal sense, but as a metaphor for constant change and transformation.

Detailed Summary

Relevant Points:

• Definition and Context of Philosophy: Philosophy, as a discipline, arises to fill the void left by the old mythical explanations about the world, offering in its place a rational form of understanding. The very etymology of the word (love of knowledge) already indicates its questioning and investigative nature.

• The Pre-Socratics and Physics: The first philosophers, known as pre-Socratics, focused their efforts on understanding the origin and nature of the universe. The explanations developed by them, although often considered erroneous, demonstrate the attempt to understand the world through its own logic, separate from mythical conceptions.

• The Concept of 'Physis' and 'Logos': The introduction of the concepts of 'physis' (ultimate reality) and 'logos' (reason), marks a moment of rupture with mythical explanations and opens the doors to the emergence of a new form of thought. 'Physis' represented "the true reality" that underlies all things, while 'logos' represented the way in which this reality could be known and understood.

Conclusions:

• Philosophy arises as a response to the Greek men's need to find rational explanations for the world, breaking with the mythological tradition.

• The emergence of the concepts of 'physis' and 'logos' marks the transition from mythical thought to rational, paving the way for the development of science and logic.

• Although the theories of the pre-Socratics are often considered erroneous, their value lies in the fact that they were the first attempts to elaborate rational explanations for the origin and nature of the universe.

Exercises:

1. Define the concepts of 'physis' and 'logos', and explain the importance of each in the emergence of Philosophy.

2. Comment on the following statement: "The pre-Socratics, although often wrong in their explanations, are fundamental for the development of Philosophy and Science".

3. Analyze the theory of Thales of Miletus, who argued that water was the origin of all things. What were his main arguments? Why is this theory considered erroneous today?