Nietzsche on Thales

Nietzsche has got to be, hands down, one of my favorite philosophers. I enjoyed reading him in an existential context, and seeing him handle the ancient Greek philosophers is a real treat.

Nietzsche puts the Greeks in a whole new context, one that makes them seem a better fit in the realm of philosophy rather than that of literature. Like we discussed in class, it is often easier to read into a work than it is to take it for what it is, and people have made this mistake with countless other texts (the Bible, anyone?); Nietzsche does a great job of putting Thales and other Greek philosophers in their appropriate place within the philosophical timeline.
It is quite possible that Nietzsche is right when he says that Thales may not have known exactly where his thought of "everything is water" was taking him, or what it implied about philosophy of the world during his time. I love that Nietzsche connects this to a larger context of the nature of things and what is important when considering the connection between events and physical things in the world.

Thales, Anaximenes, and Anaximander

These three philosophers are different from those we have studied in several ways. Where Homer, Hesiod, and Sappho were primarily involved in literature, Thales, Anaximenes, and Anaximander are philosophers. In class, we talked about the way we extract meaning from the works of Homer and Hesiod. This section is more about men that were concerned with the world around them; they wanted to understand the nature of the world, and the many ways that affects the human experience.
These six thinkers are all part of the same timeline of human curiosity about the world. They are the perfect examples of how everyone delves into philosophy in some way or another, each through their own medium. Some people, like Homer, expressed their questions and reflections about the world through his writing, and Sappho did it through her poems.
This is no different than someone who writes music to express a certain set of feelings or someone who paints to express a view of the world. These people are all using their talents and interests to explore philosophy and the questions it poses.

Homer and an intro to Classical Philosophy (my first post)

My name is Estefania Rodriguez, and I will make this the best possible place to document my reactions and reflections on the writings of some of the most influential thinkers in history. This will be my blog for Classical Philosophy, as a companion to the readings for the class. For this week’s authors, Hesiod and Homer, I have only a couple of things to say. The experience I have with Homer and philosophy is in the context of Greek mythology and the teachings they had about morality and philosophy for the Greeks. 

The kinds of teachings that one can get from Homer are those related to loyalty and bravery, seeing as the Greeks have nothing more important to protect than their lineage and their culture. Honor was the highest goal the Greeks can accomplish, and the defense of that was of the utmost importance.