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/lit/ - Literature

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11362485 No.11362485 [Reply] [Original]

Thales of Miletus is the best ancient Greek philosopher.


prove me wrong.
Protip : you can't

>> No.11362499
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11362499

>not Kierkegaard

>> No.11362508

>>11362499
you’re right, Kierkegaard was a pretty great Ancient Greek philosopher

>> No.11362513

Heraclitus > Parmenides > Democritus > Thales

>> No.11362532

>>11362513
Not only did he disagree with you OP but he also put Thales at last, he's basically calling you a cuck, a slapdick and that he will fuck both your parents in the ass, what are you going to do about it?

>> No.11362538

>>11362532
>fuck both your parents in the ass
jokes on him one of my parent's is a girl
not OP btw

>> No.11362546

>>11362485
im going to start learning ancient greek at my uni next year, will i be able to read greek philosophy in about a year? the program at my school seems pretty intensive.

>> No.11362550

>>11362546
1 year is not enough

>> No.11362578

>>11362550
it's a really fucking intensive program though

>> No.11362608

>>11362578
It might help to purchase Loeb translations of some Greek philosophy, they come with original texts alongside dry literal translations which will help you get a feel for the language in a philosophical capacity faster

>> No.11362674

has someone ever explained why the pre-socratics were better than the 3 big boys? without invoking ancient aliens tv magic.

>> No.11362772

>>11362674
>formalized philosophical inquiry
>applied said inquiry more deeply to their observations of the world even if the results were abjectly ridiculous
that's about it

>> No.11363131

>>11362485
Socrates is. and before him Heraclitus

>> No.11363164

>>11362499
Based Kierkegaard drone.

>> No.11363189

>>11362485
how could he have thought thoughts if thoughts are water? hows a nigga gunna write a book using a scroll of water and a quill of water dippin it in water in an inkwell made of water dumb ass nigga never seen a rock or something? shakin my damn head

>> No.11363273

>>11362674
Nietzche

>> No.11363289

I never read his philosophy, but didn't he end up advancing the age old science of mathmatics? He created one or two equations, didn't he?

>> No.11364110

Thales was Turkish

>> No.11364124

>>11362674
basically “haha dude Plato was a fuckin nerd just talk about water and shit”

>> No.11364125

>>11362485
I'll take some stoics please.

>> No.11364139

might as well ask this question here:

i'm starting greek philosophy with plato and heraclitus. will i have to learn greek at some point to truly study, or are good english translations enough?

>> No.11364193

>>11364139

You should learn Greek as translations, especially of ancient Greek texts, are never enough. Knowing Greek helps you getting out of your mindset and truly engage with the philosophical vocabulary used by these authors. Here are some examples from Plato and Aristotle.
If in a translation from Plato you find "Idea" you are going to think about something very specific (e.g. ideas as something "in the mind") - while the Greek "eidos" also means "form" or "shape", therefore giving you the idea that Plato is referring to something like the formal structure of the world rather than just perfect thoughts of things as the basis for things you see.
In Aristotle you will find a lot of time the term "substance", which is the translation of the greek "ousia" (literally "essence") mediated through the latin and medieval philosophical tradition. On the actual meaning of "ousia" you could spend countless time reflecting.
You can make similar reflections on almost any other technical term out of these two philosophers alone. You need to engage with the philosophical vocabulary in the original language, or you will miss many things.

>> No.11364195

>>11364139

Also, if by "truly studying" you mean follow an academic career focused on Greek philosophy, you will need Greek, Latin, and at least two languages between French, German and Italian - because most of the literature up until recently was in those languages.

>> No.11364218

>>11364193
>>11364195

i see. you're confirming what i already thought. i'm a few chapters into havelock's preface on plato, and the amount of detailed explanation that the author uses to describe what plato means by 'poetry' feels ridiculous.

my biggest concern is getting the proper learning resource if i'm going to dedicate a lot of time to greek. i don't have a lot of money and by the time i'm out the door at work my brain ends up being mush.

>> No.11364613

Pretty impressive that he predicted a solar eclipse in 585 BC

>> No.11364617

>>11362499
This is a psyop

>> No.11364629

Epicurus and Plato