Parmenides, a pre-Socratic. Wrote On Nature in poem form, only have fragments. He disputes Heraclitus who said all things flow, rather nature is timeless and doesn’t change. Also thinks there cannot be non-existence, nothing comes from nothing (which is the basis the ontological argument for God).
Category: All
Elenchus
Elenchus, the Socratic method. Generally, questioning to draw out what the interlocutor already knows. Adjective, elenctic. Must have really ticked people off.
Anytus
Anytus. A bad dude, one of the accusers of Socrates. Supported democratic govt (Socrates opposed). Socrates taught Anytus’ son, who probably was a rotter. Anytus appears briefly in Meno, espousing the idea that virtue (arete…power, success) is best learned by associating with men of influence, but Socrates notes that this appear to produce only failures of virtue.
Arete
Arete, translated as virtue in Homer and Plato etc. Actually meant excellence, greatness, virtue in the sense of power and influence for the good. Sort of…there is no such thing as pure translation.
Meno
Meno, student of the sophist Gorgias. Meno asks Socrates if virtue can be taught. Actually arete, or excellence or greatness or power etc). Socrates reduces Meno to aporia (via the business of questioning him on nature of virtue). He demonstrates that there is innate knowledge (anamnesis) by the “Socratic Method” whereby he questions the “Boy”, one of Meno’s slaves, regarding the doubling of a square. Or some such—the Boy had more innate knowledge than I have because he lost me not that. He also goes into epistemology. There is true belief, but that is not knowledge. And then there is Meno’s paradox, you cannot search for what you know, because you know it, but you also cannot search for what you don’t know because you don’t know it and don’t know what you are looking for. This is resolved by explaining that you do not have to know something to search for it, you just have to have true beliefs to lead you to knowledge. Read Meno here.
Logos
Logos. In the beginning was the Word Logos as a principle was first used by the obtuse Heraclitus, but it has more meanings than a cat has lives. I like to view it as the Greek version of karma, not the only way in which Heraclitus resembles the thinkers in India. Still an item of debate and exposition but far above my pay grade. Look at logos on the Wiki or check the Stanford Encyc of Philosophy search logos
Heraclitus
Heraclitus, pre-Socratic. “The Puzzler.” We are all asleep, wake up and understand the logos (q.v.) which, of course he does not clearly explain. From Ephesus in Asia Minor. Did he meet up with Siddhartha, the Buddha? Well he did believe in an essential principle or or “harmonia‘ to the world. The ever changing reality. Famous for
You can’t step in the same river twice.
Here is some of the discussion on Coursera from Prof Susan S Meyer
Fragments
Fragments, partial actual writings of pre-Socratic philos. In pre-Socratic studies, are fragments are coded by Diels and Kranz with DKB plus the line number.
Testimonia
Testimonia, in pre-Socratic studies, are comments by other philos about the pre-Socs, coded by Diels and Kranz with DKA plus the line number
Xenophanes
Xenophanes, pre-Socratic. Sixth cent. Greek from Colophon. Explored epistemology-there was a deeper truth that we could not completely know. Posited there may be only one big god, almost pantheistic like Spinoza. Skeptic about religious belief, particularly anthropomorphism:
But if cattle or lions had hands, so as to paint with their hands and produce works of art as men do, they would paint their gods and give them bodies in form like their own—horses like horses, cattle like cattle.
Two Strikes 