Greek philosophy is conventionally divided into the Pre-Socratic and Socratic periods. This division, however, seems arbitrary to the point that Anthony Gottleib sarcastically remarks, “The only fault with Philosophers we classify as Pre-Socratics is that they were born before Socrates”. The Pre-Socratics were metaphysicians in the real sense of the word and were interested in the investigation of Being/God Qua Being. Parmenides, Heraclitus, Pythagoras and other Pre-Socratics tried to understand the relationship between Being and Becoming; Body and Soul; Man and Universe; Eternal and Ephemeral; Transitory and Timeless. These philosophers were “God-intoxicated” and were committed to nothing short of establishing God/Being.
With Socrates, Greek Philosophy seems to have taken an ethical turn. Without compromising on the first principles, Socrates shifted his gaze from metaphysics to ethics. This transition could be attributed to the ethical decay in the Greek society, the condition captured by Bertrand Russell in his book A History of Western Philosophy. At times, Socrates seems to have had a prophetic character, though it must be noted that the Greeks had no well-defined concept of prophethood like the Semitic people. This prophetic character is visible from many of the Socratic statements, the most explicit being Socrates describing himself as a gadfly appointed…
Source: Why poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal believed Plato’s ideas contribute to intellectual stagnation
