Editing Pre-Socratic philosophy (section)

== General features ==
{| class="wikitable floatright" style="text-align: right"
|+List of major pre-Socratic philosophers and when they flourished (<small>according to [[Catherine Rowett|Catherine Osborne]]</small>){{Sfn|Osborne|2004|p=13}}

!Philosophers

!Flourished (year BC)

|-

|[[Thales]]

|585

|-

|[[Anaximander]]

|550

|-

|[[Anaximenes of Miletus|Anaximenes]]

|545

|-

|[[Pythagoras]]

|530

|-

|[[Xenophanes]]

|530

|-

|[[Heraclitus]]

|500

|-

|[[Parmenides]]

|500

|-

|[[Zeno of Elea|Zenon]]

|450

|-

|[[Aspasia]]

|450

|-
|[[Anaxagoras]]

|450

|-

|[[Empedocles]]

|445

|-

|[[Melissus of Samos|Melissus]]

|440

|-

|[[Protagoras]]

|440

|-

|[[Leukippus]]

|435

|-

|[[Gorgias]]

|430

|-

|[[Antiphon (orator)|Antiphon]]

|430

|-

|[[Democritus]]

|420

|-

|[[Philolaus]]

|420

|-

|[[Socrates]]

|420

|-

|[[Plato]]

|380

|-

|[[Aristotle]]

|350

|}

The most important feature of pre-Socratic philosophy was the use of reason to explain the universe. The pre-Socratic philosophers shared the intuition that there was a single explanation that could explain both the plurality and the singularity of the whole – and that explanation would not be direct actions of the gods.{{sfn|Vamvacas|2009|pp=19-20}} The pre-Socratic philosophers rejected [[Religious cosmology|traditional mythological explanations of the phenomena]] they saw around them in favor of more rational explanations, initiating analytic and [[critical thinking|critical thought]]. Their efforts were directed at the investigation of the ultimate basis and essential nature of the external world. Many sought the material principle (''[[arche]]'') of things, and the method of their origin and disappearance.{{sfnm|1a1=Barnes|1y=1987|1pp=16-24|2a1=Vamvacas|2y=2009|2p=27}} They emphasized the rational unity of things and rejected supernatural explanations, seeking natural principles at work in the world and human society. The pre-Socratics saw the world as a ''cosmos'', an ordered arrangement that could be understood via rational inquiry.{{sfn|Curd|2020|loc=Introduction}} In their effort to make sense of the cosmos they coined new terms and concepts such as rhythm, symmetry, analogy, deductionism, reductionism, mathematization of nature and others.{{sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=27}}

An important term that is met in the thought of several pre-Socratic philosophers is ''arche''. Depending on the context, it can take various related meanings. It could mean the beginning or origin with the undertone that there is an effect on the things to follow. Also, it might mean a principle or a cause (especially in Aristotelian tradition).{{sfnm|1a1=Warren|1y=2014|1p=25|2a1=Sandywell|2y=1996|2p=38}}

A common feature of the pre-Socratics is the absence of empiricism and experimentation in order to prove their theories. This may have been because of a lack of instruments, or because of a tendency to view the world as a unity, undeconstructable, so it would be impossible for an external eye to observe tiny fractions of nature under experimental control.{{sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=20-21}}

According to [[Jonathan Barnes]], a professor of ancient philosophy, pre-Socratic philosophy exhibits three significant features: they were ''internal'', ''systematic'' and ''economical''. Internal meaning they tried to explain the world with characteristics found within this world. Systematic because they tried to universalize their findings. Economical because they tried to invoke only a few new terms. Based on these features, they reached their most significant achievement, they changed the course of human thought from myth to philosophy and science.{{sfn|Barnes|1987|pp=16-22}}

The pre-Socratics were not atheists; however, they minimized the extent of the gods' involvement in natural phenomena such as thunder or totally eliminated the gods from the natural world.{{sfn|Barnes|1987|pp=16-17}}

Pre-Socratic philosophy encompasses the first of the three phases of [[ancient Greek philosophy]], which spanned around a thousand years. The pre-Socratic phase itself is divided into three phases. The first phase of pre-Socratic philosophy, mainly the Milesians, Xenophanes, and Heraclitus, consisted of rejecting traditional cosmogony and attempting to explain nature based on empirical observations and interpretations.{{sfn|Barnes|1987|pp=36-39}} A second phase – that of the Eleatics – resisted the idea that change or motion can happen. Based on their radical monism, they believed that only one substance exists and forms Kosmos.{{sfn|Warren|2014|p=3}} The Eleatics were also [[monism|monists]] (believing that only one thing exists and everything else is just a transformation of it).{{sfn|Warren|2014|p=3}} In the third phase, the post-Eleatics (mainly Empedocles, Anaxagoras, and Democritus) opposed most Eleatic teaching and returned to the naturalism of the Milesians.{{sfnm|1a1=Barnes|1y=1987|1pp=39-42|2a1=Warren|2y=2014|2p=3}}

The pre-Socratics were succeeded by the second phase of ancient philosophy, where the philosophical movements of [[Platonism]], [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynicism]], [[Cyrenaics|Cyrenaicism]], [[Aristotelianism]], [[Pyrrhonism]], [[Epicureanism]], [[Academic skepticism]], and [[Stoicism]] rose to prominence until 100 BC. In the third phase, philosophers studied their predecessors.{{sfn|Barnes|1987|p=9}}