Taylor Bennett

Philosophy 1000-010
Prof. Israelsen
09/29/2016
Paper #1
In Ancient Greece, society believed in many concepts that lacked proof of evidence.
People believed that there were many gods who were ruling different realms and controlling
people as if they were game pieces. This was the only explanation they had for why bad things
happened to good people. The people of Greece also allowed their Democracy to make decisions
for them without question. Anyone who thought or suggested different ideas were accused of
conspiracy, and sentenced to death. Though there were such strong views among the community,
a few Philosophers challenged those beliefs, and taught their ideas to others, this was known as
the Philosophical revolution. But their ideas and teachings came with a cost. (Soccio)
With such narrow beliefs it was not easy to have different ideas, until Xenophanes
proposed the idea that there were not multiple gods. Nor did they look anything or do anything
that Greek people believed, beginning the philosophical revolution. Greeks thought the gods to
be unkind, cruel, and careless. They believed that the gods were bigger, more powerful versions
of themselves. They thought these powerful beings would meddle in the lives of humans, like a
cruel child playing with toys. Xenophanes thought otherwise, and faced many challenges for
thinking differently. He believed there to be only one God who looked nothing like humans,
rather to look like nothing at all. He thought this God to be everywhere all the time, and not
bound to a body. This God, would not interfere in the lives of humans and was not cruel.

Xenophanes God was completely different than what people believed in, if they were to agree
with his God then they would no longer have an explanation for why bad things happened.
(Soccio)(Graham)
Another Philosopher who challenged popular beliefs was Parmenides. He thought that
nothing was real, that everything was an illusion. He thought that simply being was all tied
together, one way of existence. How he best described this, was that there is a path of What is
and there is a path of What is Not. The path of What is Not did not matter because it holds
no truth, explanations or reason. That path was the lie or falsehood of real objects or things.
What was left was the path of What is, which is everything, humans, animals, truth, what we
see, hear or taste. Since this path meant everything, it meant that even having a thought or idea
had as much existing value as being. For example, thinking of a unicorn gave it as much reality
as the person who thought it. This is why he thought everything to be an illusion, if a thought
was real, how real could our world be. He doubted lifes reality and overall existence.
(Parmenides)
Socrates was a Philosopher who gained many young followers, unlike Xenophanes and
Parmenides. Though he taught many people, he himself, did not believe that he knew anything.
Socrates would mainly help others develop their own ideas, encouraging them to pose their own
philosophies, rather than posing his own. He faced much criticism for this, because it went
against the majoritys way of thinking and threatened their democracy. If Socrates continued to
help others pose their own ideas, it could change the way the government was ran. Socrates also
had restraint when it came to material things, and never accepted money for his teachings, rather
he practiced self-control and focused on the knowledge. Socrates was obsessed with terms and
consistency, and focused on those things when talking with citizens. He would ask people

questions about things they claimed to know. He was interested in their knowledge or lack of.
Socrates realized that people claimed to know things, but truly knew nothing. They were unable
to provide proof or even reasons to the things they knew. Socrates was the only Philosopher of
his time to admit that he knew nothing, because he did not have evidence. (Soccio)
Finally Plato, Socrates most famous student, contributed his theory of Forms. Platos
theory was the idea of something could be more real than an actual object. He thought this
because the idea of something could last longer than an actual version of it. For example, the
idea of Tree had more reality because the idea could not die, there would always be the idea of
tree even if human thought came to an end. A version of tree like an apple tree, which would
eventually die. (Soccio)(Plato)
Many of these philosophers shared ideas and philosophies. Xenophanes, Parmenides and
Plato all thought that knowledge was divine but attainable. Those who sought knowledge would
gain it. Plato used the Allegory of the Cave to explain how people were hidden from truth or
discovering knowledge for themselves. His allegory had three levels of peoples awareness or
truth. The lowest level was people with no imagination or erg to know more. The second level
was the informed level. These people were informed but did not know all. The third level was the
highest level which were people whose soul has no need for perception or interpretation.
(Soccio Ch5, page 156) (Parmenides)(Plato)
Socrates and Plato both thought the government to be corrupt and sided in the politicians
favor. Plato thought their democracy to be corrupt the most after Socrates was charged with
creating false gods and sentenced to death. Socrates also believed in justice, beauty and goodness
which is another topic they both agreed on. They were both concerned with goodness and moral
questions. Socrates was curious as to what was good or piety. Socrates had a conversation with

Euthyphro when they were both awaiting a court sentence. Like Socrates regular conversations
with citizens, he questioned Euthyphros knowledge of piety, after he claimed to know exactly
what it was. After being questioned about every explanation Euthyphro had, they finally came to
an idea that piety or goodness was what is approved by the gods. (Plato)(Soccio)
Though Socrates and Plato shared the same views on government and goodness, Socrates
did not share the same views on knowledge. Where Xenophanes and Parmenides had ideas about
gods, God, or reality, Socrates disagreed with the idea of knowing all. He knew that there was a
lot of knowledge in the world, and found that those who claimed to know everything about a
subject, truly knew nothing. Xenophanes and Parmenides posed ideas and philosophies without
having real proof. This was what Socrates studied the most, was what people truly knew and hot
they knew it. (Graham)(Soccio)
These four philosophers knew there was more to life than what was told to them by
someone else. They questioned things, and went out find answers, pose new ideas, and teach
others. Though they did not all agree on all of the same concepts, they never accepted something
just because. They encouraged others to question, and search for more. They faced many
challenges when it came to new ideas. The world was not ready to change their way of thinking,
and this created obstacles for philosophers and their new ideas. Some were sentenced to death, or
forced to escape before they were sentenced. These four philosophers posed new ideas causing
the philosophical revolution, changing the world forever.

Works Cited
Graham, Daniel W. The Texts of Early Greek Philosophy: The Complete Fragments and Selected
Testimonies of the Major Presocratics. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010. Print.
Parmenides Poem, Parmenides of Elea, File in Canvas. PDF.
Plato, and Harold Fowler North. Apology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1977. Print.
Soccio, Douglas J. Archetypes of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy. 9th ed. Boston:
Cengage Learning, 2015. Print.