Episode #002 - Italian Pre-Socratic Philosophy
Italian Pre-Socratic Philosophy
This episode introduces the beginnings of Western philosophy through the lives and ideas of Pythagoras, Parmenides, and Empedocles. Pythagoras believed numbers revealed the universe’s structure and led a strict spiritual community. Parmenides used logic to argue that change is impossible, while Empedocles offered a middle ground, saying all things are made of four elements shaped by love and strife. Together, their ideas helped move human thought from myth to reason.
Further Reading:
The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selection of Texts by G. S. Kirk, J. E. Raven, and M. Schofield (1983)
Presocratic Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction by Catherine Osborne (2004)
The Illustrated To Think Like God: Pythagoras and Parmenides—The Origins of Philosophy by Arnold Hermann (2004)
See the full transcript here.
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