The emergence of western science through pre-socratic philosophy: the belief in the intelligibility of the kosmos

Abstract

What is the foundation that gives rise to Western science? What is the relationship between contemporary science and pre-Socratic philosophy? Why study pre-Socratic philosophers? Human beings, in order to avoid extinction from this world, find fulfillment in nature. Therefore, confronting, understanding, and theorizing physis was the starting point in this human endeavor that has spanned prehistory to the present day—this is what science is all about. The first to seek this understanding and, at the same time, theorize about this epistemological mission of finding fulfillment in nature were the Greeks in pre-Socratic philosophy. The main objective of this article, therefore, is to demonstrate that Western philosophy and science are all grounded in the pre-Socratic belief that the world we see is kosmos, not chaos. All pre-Socratic schools presuppose the idea that the world is something fully knowable and, therefore, capable of being interpreted by human intelligence. The methodology used was a bibliographic review of the fragments of the main pre-Socratic thinkers themselves, in addition to reading renowned authors in the study of this philosophy and published articles on the topic studied. The conclusion reached is that studying physics never ceases to be a timely study, as the works of these thinkers, even with the passing of centuries, continue to engage with and bring meaning to contemporary philosophy and science.