In a moment of clarity this afternoon, I came to the conclusion that I don’t really know what the hell the Pre-Socratics are talking about. Does anyone? Even Aristotle has trouble with them. Worse, maybe we talk ourselves into believing some comfortable narrative which has little to do with the text that we’ve got. We say that Thales thinks all is water, that he was the first to attempt non-mythological explanations of natural phenomena. Some call him the first scientist. Well, no or at least not so fast. Of course, nothing he wrote survives. It’s possible that all we really have is this: a few intriguing lines from Plato, Aristotle and the musings of even later writers. He doesn’t say all is water, not exactly, anyway. It’s quite complicated. Some of it feels like Chinese whispers.
I lean towards the camp that says understanding concepts comes with understanding culture it was ingrained in. Can I possibly explain my time to someone in a future era... or the true test... a past one?
Although I was telling my wife the other day after our homeowners association meeting (and hearing the complaints about teenagers) how some things never change... people are born, people fight, teenagers annoy the neighborhood, people have sex, cheat, exploit, and people die. The sky isn't falling when any of these things happen... its just called being a social animal (i.e. human).
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