Why Was Philosophy Born in Ancient Greece?
comparative history and Greek philosophy
The discovery of nature is one of the greatest achievements of the human mind. But like all other achievements, this success is the work of only a few people with extraordinary talents. So why are these people the Ionians of the sixth century? What did ancient Greece have that Eastern civilizations did not?
Pure Curiosity
In the 600s BC, scientific activities were quite advanced in Egypt. Mathematics and geometry were developed in Egypt to solve some problems caused by natural events (Here, I would like to emphasize that this is not why mathematics and geometry developed, but that these events contributed significantly to the development of these sciences). Because after the Nile River overflowed and receded every year, the agricultural lands became swamps. Geometry was required to rearrange these swampy agricultural lands.
However, information was only as valuable as you could use it. For this reason, it is not appropriate to call any intellectual activity in Egypt philosophy. Because in ancient Egypt, science was aimed at supporting the religious imagination of the period or society or meeting some needs related to daily life. On the other hand, we see pure curiosity in ancient Greek philosophers. They do not aim to meet a social need, they are directly trying to understand the universe.
Ancient Greek philosophers tried to learn the knowledge that the ancient Egyptians developed to meet some of their needs in daily life, just with the pleasure of “knowing”.
Multiculturalism
The civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia lacked many of the advantages that ancient Greece had for creating an environment of free thinking.
The majority of Egypt’s geography consisted of deserts. This restricted Egypt’s communication with other civilizations. For this reason, Egyptians were deprived of multiculturalism and exchange of thoughts and ideas. The beliefs and cultures of these societies, which had such a geographical disadvantage, could neither be fed from outside nor spread abroad. On the other hand, the geographical features of the Greeks were truly perfect for developing an environment of free thought and communication with other civilizations. The intellectual superiority of ancient Greece is an advantage brought by its geopolitical location.
Wealth and Leisure
In fact, it was not the Greeks who started philosophy, but the aristocratic class of Ionia. The class of aristocrats who dare to say what they think, feel powerful, and have free time. So why is free time so important?
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, basic needs are at the bottom.If a person spends all his time meeting his basic needs, he can never develop himself intellectually and culturally. If you work 10 hours a day, you never have time to think about the universe, the truths or your own existence. It is enough to take a look at a few countries in today’s world to understand the truth of this proposition.
Structure of State
Unlike other civilizations, ancient Greece had an independent state structure. It is difficult to talk about a national identity consciousness, except for the periods when they came together and fought against the Persian invasions. The ancient Greeks had a structure in the form of polis, or city-states, which were governed in a dispersed manner. Each city-state was responsible for its own administration.
The existence of a democratic regime led to people coming together in the popular assembly to talk and discuss both ethnic and ideological differences. Both the struggle and interaction between these dispersed city-states led to the formation of a more pluralistic understanding.
Belief System
The pharaohs, the rulers of Egypt, were god kings. For this reason, Egypt did not have a legal system that was dynamic, open to change and discussion. This made Egypt a civilization closed to development. Besides Egypt, other civilizations have not been able to separate themselves from religion or completely isolate themselves. But in ancient Greece, the separation of theology from cosmogony was achieved.
Ancient Greece’s unreasonable, epic mythological past also has an impact on this. Because at that time the supernatural powers took such well-defined human forms that a Greek could recognize any god on sight. With the gods transformed into fully human figures, it was inevitable that some skeptics would refuse to believe them. The ancient Greeks would eventually discover that such mythological gods did not exist.
The main reason why philosophy was born in ancient Greece is as a result of individuality and curiosity for learning. The combination of the 5 factors I have described has created a free environment that allows the development of philosophical thought.
You can support my work by buying me a coffee
More from Mythology Journal:
