The First Philosophers cover art

The First Philosophers

The Presocratics and Sophists

 Preview

Get 30 days of Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30-day free trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

Aristotle said that philosophy begins with wonder, and the first Western philosophers developed theories of the world which express simultaneously their sense of wonder and their intuition that the world should be comprehensible. But their enterprise was by no means limited to this proto-scientific task. Through, for instance, Heraclitus's enigmatic sayings, the poetry of Parmenides and Empedocles, and Zeno's paradoxes, the Western world was introduced to metaphysics, rationalist theology, ethics, and logic, by thinkers who often seem to be mystics or shamans as much as philosophers or scientists in the modern mold. And out of the Sophists' reflections on human beings and their place in the world arose and interest in language, and in political, moral, and social philosophy.

This volume contains a translation of all the most important fragments of the Presocratics and Sophists, and of the most informative testimonia from ancient sources, supplemented by lucid commentary.

©2000 Robin Waterfield (P)2023 Tantor Greek & Roman History Philosophers Philosophy Professionals & Academics Metaphysical
All stars
Most relevant
This is a fantastic overview of the Presocratics and Sophists that includes both primary and secondary sources. If one is going to read Plato and Aristotle then this is a must as it acts as a necessary reference point (and sometimes correction) to those philosophers. However, I would also recommend getting the paperback copy as the constant alpha-numerical pretexts to the quotes interrupts the audio flow.

Fantastic overview

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.