笔记：A Little History of Philosophy

A Little History of Philosophy, by Nigel Wurbuton (2011). Under progress.

Socrates (c. 469—399 BC)
Elenchus, contradicting questions; what’s ‘courage’, ‘immoral’? -> wisest man in Athens; taken to court for corrupting youth -> insisted on drinking hemlock.

Plato (c. 424—347 BC)
Socrates pupil; wrote Platonic Dialogues for Socrates; Plato’s cave -> Theory of Forms, reality beyond appearance, all learning is a recollection of what we already know -> philosophers know better -> The Republic, philosophers rule, 3 classes.

Aristotle (384—322 BC)
Plato’s pupil; ‘interested in everything’ in real world, rejecting Theory of Forms, believe in particular examples; tutor of Alexander the Great; set up school ‘Lyceum’; ‘why live?’: seek happiness (eudaimonia, flourishing), use power of reason to achieve long term happiness, ‘One swallow doesn’t make a summer’ – The Nicomachean Ethics; to develop the right kind of character, virtue and behaviour, in a society, the Golden Mean; becomes long-time intellectual authority, prevented progress.
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