The first philosophers paved the way for the work of Plato and Aristotle - and hence for the whole of Western thought.

Aristotle said that philosophy begins with wonder, and the first Western philosophers developed theories of the world which express simultaneously their sense of wonder and their intuition that the world should be comprehensible. But their enterprise was by no means limited to this proto-scientific task. Through, for instance, Heraclitus' enigmatic sayings, the poetry of Parmenides and Empedocles, and Zeno's paradoxes, the Western world was introduced to metaphysics, rationalist theology, ethics, and logic, by thinkers who often seem to be mystics or shamans as much as philosophers or scientists in the modern mould. And out of the Sophists' reflections on human beings and their place in the world arose and interest in language, and in political, moral, and social philosophy.

This volume contains a translation of all the most important fragments of the Presocratics and Sophists, and of the most informative testimonia from ancient sources, supplemented by lucid commentary.
ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

• We started tracking this book on December 28, 2012.
• This book was £6.55 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 117 times in the past 4,355 days.
• The current price of this book is £4.16 last checked 22 hours ago.
• The lowest price to date was £4.16 last reached on November 26, 2024.
• This book has been £4.16 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was £9.02 last reached on January 3, 2017.
• This book has been £9.02 2 times since we started tracking it.
• This book is currently at its lowest price since we started tracking it.

• Politics & Social SciencesPhilosophyGreek & Roman
• Politics & Social SciencesPhilosophyHistory & Schools of Thought

• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 400 Pages
• File Size: 3,367 KB