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Ancient Philosophy: fun facts and quiz
The essentials in 7 ideas, with fun facts, an illustrated story and a quiz to see how much you know.
The essentials
The First Philosophers
Around 600 BCE, Greek thinkers like Thales asked what the world is made of and looked for natural answers rather than myths. Thales thought everything came from water.
Key fact
Thales is said to have predicted a solar eclipse in 585 BCE.
Plato’s Cave
Plato imagined prisoners in a cave who only ever see shadows on a wall, and think they’re reality. Philosophy, he said, is escaping into the sunlight of truth.
Key fact
Plato founded his Academy in Athens around 387 BCE.
Aristotle
Aristotle, Plato’s student, wrote on almost everything: logic, biology, politics, ethics and more. He also tutored the young Alexander the Great.
Key fact
He studied hundreds of animal species.
Confucius
In China around 500 BCE, Confucius taught that a good society rests on respect, family duty, honesty and learning. His sayings were gathered in the Analects.
Key fact
A version of the golden rule appears in the Analects.
Laozi & the Tao
Laozi, traditionally the author of the Tao Te Ching, taught living in harmony with the Tao, the natural way of things, through simplicity and calm.
Key fact
“Tao” means “the way”.
Epicurus
Epicurus taught that a happy life comes from simple pleasures, friendship and freedom from fear, not luxury. His school met in a garden in Athens.
Key fact
“Epicurean” now often means loving fine food, not quite what he taught.
Diogenes the Cynic
Diogenes rejected wealth and custom, reportedly living in a large clay jar in Athens. He mocked pretension to show how little we really need.
Key fact
Legend says he told Alexander the Great to stop blocking his sunlight.
Fun facts
Thales supposedly got rich by renting out olive presses after predicting a big harvest.
“Plato” may have been a nickname meaning “broad”. His real name may have been Aristocles.
Aristotle thought the heart, not the brain, was where thinking happened.
Confucius’s family tree is the longest recorded, spanning over 80 generations and millions of people.
Legend says Laozi wrote the Tao Te Ching at a border gate, at a guard’s request, before leaving forever.
Unusually for ancient Athens, Epicurus welcomed women and enslaved people into his school.
Diogenes supposedly walked through Athens in daylight carrying a lamp, “looking for an honest man”.
Story: The Sage at the Gate
The Sage at the Gate
Ancient China, so the legend goes. Tired of a crumbling kingdom, the old sage Laozi rides off to the west on an ox, to leave the world behind.
At the mountain pass, the gatekeeper Yinxi recognises him, and won’t let him through until he writes down his wisdom.
Laozi writes about 5,000 characters, the Tao Te Ching. Then he rides on through the gate and is never seen again.
True or false?
Tap your answer to see if you got it, and why.
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Question 1 of 10
Thales thought everything came from water.
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True. Water, he argued, was the basic stuff of the world.
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Question 2 of 10
Plato’s cave is about mistaking shadows for reality.
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True. And the struggle to see more clearly.
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Question 3 of 10
Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great.
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True. When Alexander was a teenager.
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Question 4 of 10
Confucius’s sayings were gathered in the Analects.
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True. Collected by his followers.
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Question 5 of 10
“Tao” means “the way”.
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True. The natural way of the universe.
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Question 6 of 10
Epicurus valued friendship and simple pleasures.
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True. Bread, water and good company.
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Question 7 of 10
Diogenes reportedly lived in a large jar.
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True. On purpose, to live simply.
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Question 8 of 10
The first Greek philosophers relied only on myths.
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False. They looked for natural explanations.
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Question 9 of 10
Plato’s Academy was in Rome.
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False. It was in Athens.
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Question 10 of 10
Aristotle was Socrates’ teacher.
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False. It went Socrates, then Plato, then Aristotle.
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KnowSoda learns what you know and brings back what you’re about to forget. Ancient Philosophy has 6 more ideas at the Advanced and Expert levels.
Sources
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Thales, Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Laozi, Epicurus, Diogenes
- Plato, Republic, Book VII (the allegory of the cave)
- Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Confucianism, Taoism
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Heraclitus, Democritus, Mohism, Hypatia, Nyaya, Pyrrho
- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
