#pre socratics

[ikant-even]

| on the mid-term grind |

[pink-lemonade-rose]

The Muses were goddesses of poetry, but poetry itself encompassed a very wide domain. Many of the pre-Socratic philosophers (Parmenides, Xenophanes, Empedocles) expressed their thoughts in poetry, and Empedocles, at least, invokes the Muses for their aid. [...] Empedocles' use of the figure of the Muse should remind us of the range of the Muses' functions in the culture of early Greece: not only are they givers of pleasure who soothe cares and immortalize the deeds of men in song, as daughters of Mnemosyne they know everything about the past and the unseen world of the gods, and they are also authorities on ethical matters and wisdom generally.

Penelope Murray, “The Muses and their Arts”

[existentialistbastard-blog]

The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself.

Thales

[coldalbion]

Grump

Grumpy Philosophical moment: Why is the phenomenon of the tetralemma forgotten as existing in Ancient Greek philosophy? The Western/Eastern split in Philosophy is far less of a division than is perpetually mentioned. Those dead Greeks have more in common with their Eastern brethren than most think. Specifically Pyrrho and the Eleatics. Basically, I hate what's been done to a bunch of folks who were interested in poking the nature of Reality by the Academy. I hate that I was never taught about the pre-Socratics except as interestingly quaint ideas too. Zeno, Parmenides, Herakleitos. Right up there with Nietzsche, Hegel, Schopenhauer IMO.

[notaristotelian]

"So you want the great warrior Achilles to race a tortoise? Well, OK. You go right ahead and ask him." --Parmenides to Zeno of Elea.