Ancient Philosophy

Episode Synopsis

In lecture two, we discover the Eleatic school of thought, which emerged in Elea on the western coast of Italy, and its focus on the concept of Being as opposed to the world of Becoming. The lecture examines key figures such as Parmenides, who argued that Being is the ultimate reality and that the world of Becoming is an illusion. We also learn about Empedocles and Anaxagoras, who attempted to reconcile Parmenides' ideas with the observable world. The lecture concludes with a discussion of Pythagoras and his belief in the fundamental role of mathematics and harmony in understanding the cosmos.