This volume takes us back to the beginnings of western philosophy - to the time from the 7th century until the 4th century BC, introducing the philosophers before Socrates and the sophists, some of whom were contemporaries of the great Greek himself.
Thales of Miletus is the principle figure associated with Thalesian natural philosophy, which investigated the primary essence of all being. Next came the Pythagoreans, who examined the significance of numbers in the order of the universe, then the Eleatics with their theory of the unity of being. They were followed by Heraclitus , who saw everything as being »in transition«, the later natural philosophers, as well as the atomists and the sophists, those masters of eloquence.
The texts are handed down to us only in fragments and it takes an expert guide to unravel the scraps and clues we are left with, to make sense of the fascinating, but incredibly complex origins of philosophy.
Ralf Ludwig, the spiritual father of this small dtv series, provides both great pleasure and deep insight to the interested reader in this, the fourth of his introductory volumes.
The editor, Ralf Ludwig, Ph.D., studied theology and philosophy, did his doctorate on Kant, was a minister and taught at grammar school. For the past few years he has been living as a freelance author in Munich.
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