Greek+Philosophy

Throughout Ancient Greece history there were many philosophers who taught their love of wisdom and beliefs in different areas of knowledge. Philosophers taught their beliefs for causes of events. They used reason to support their individual ideas. Many schools based their teachings off of the beliefs of philosophers. There were many great philosophers in Greece. Socrates was a stonemason and philosopher. He wrote no books but asked people about their beliefs. He would pose a serious of questions that would challenge the people to examine the implications to their answers. He was put on trial at 70 years old. His enemies accused him of corrupting the city's youth and failing to respect the gods. He was condemned to death. Another philosopher was Plato. He was one of Socrates most notable students. Socrates death left Plato with a lifelong distrust of democracy. He left Athens for ten years and when he came back he built a school called the Academy. He emphasized the importance of reason. He also divided his ideal society into three parts, workers to produce necessities, soldiers to protect the land, and philosophers to rule. Aristotle was Plato's most famous student. Aristotle developed his own ideas of government. He analyzed all forms of government and he found good and bad forms of each. He was suspicious of democracy and favored rule by one strong and virtuous leader. In his view good conduct meant pursing the "golden mean" (a moderate course between the extremes). He promoted reason as a guiding force for learning. He also set up a school and he called it Lyceum, it was for the study of all branches on knowledge. The first European universities courses were based ideas of Aristotle. While all three men focused on their individual ideas they all emphasized the importance of reason. Through this they were able to achieve the title of Greece's greatest philosophers and influence their communities.

-Darby Hobbs, Merrill Hermann, Max Platin, and Joe Goley