history project

1. Foundations of western
civilization

2. Socrates
- Socrates left no literary legacy of his own because he could not read or write, we are dependent
upon other writers like Aristophanes and Xenophon for information about his life and work.
During socrates childhood he showed a great desire in the scientific theories of Anaxagoras.
- Socrates was a very important person who left his mark on how to analyze the world around them,
and his ideas still shape the educational philosophy and logical thought today.
-Socrates looked for an unending truth while engaging in questioning his students. He looked for the
foundations of his students and colleagues view by asking continuous questions until a contradiction
exposed, proving the fallacy of the assumption. what this was known as was the Socratic Method,
and may be Socrates enduring contribution to philosophy.
Socrates taught Plato, in exchange for making sure socrates was taken care of.

3. Plato
●
Plato was the prized student of Socrates.
●
Plato once said “wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have
to say something.”
●
When plato got out of prison his friends bought him a small property called the the Academus to
start a school- the academy was founded in 386. The Academy was like a community- kind of
like a religious fraternity, where rich men studied math, astronomy, law, and philosophy. His
prized student was a man names Aristotle.

4. Plato continued
● The allegory of the cave plato drew a cave and said in this cave there are three levels. On the first
level there is fire with logs on it. On the second level there are people with shadow puppets. On
the third level represents most people in the world; the people are chained to chairs staring at the
wall(at the shadow puppets). All they see is the real truth. The philosophers are the ones who
realize the true reality and get outside.
● If philosophers become kings in their countries or those who are known as rulers or kings come to
be inspired with a genuine desire for wisdom; unless that is to say, philosophy and power meet,
there can't be rest from troubles.
● Plato wrote the republic.

5. Aristotle
●
“man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is
either beneath our notice or more that human.”
●
Aristotle wrote Politics
●
“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.”

6. Monarchy
● A monarchy is where people are ruled by one ruler.
● Absolute monarchy is where the king or queen's in charge then total control, then divine right,
appointed by God- his or her powers are not limited by the state.
● Constitutional monarchy is where the kings in charge then the written law then Great Britain- is a
limited monarchy.
● The United Kingdom has a constitutional monarchy and an elected government and a
constitutional government.
● The ruler of the Oligarchy is the powerful/influential/ military rule, is a form of of power structure in
which power rests with a small number of people in charge.
● The ruler of the Aristocracy is the wealthy nobles, and they get it by their heretics. Aristocracy is
usually seen by a privileged group.

7. Greece
● The world's first recognized democracy was in Athens.
● Direct democracy is a democracy where people vote for policy initiatives directly, in which people
vote for representatives who then vote for representatives who then vote on policy representatives.

8. Rome
●
A republic is a state in which supreme power is held by people and the representatives(are
elected), and has an elected president.
●
The world's first recognized republic was in Vaishali, India.
●
The written law of the romans is known as “The Twelve Tables”after a battle with their last king,
Tarquin the Proud, the people of Rome vowed never to be ruled by a kind again. The citizens
wanted to vote on who would rule and what laws they had, this was called the “The Twelve
Tables.”
●
A rule of law is where decisions are made by applying known legal principles.

9. Judeo christian vs. greco Roman
● Focuses more on politics than religion.
● Judeo christians believe in one God(monotheism) and they believe in heaven and hell.
● Greco Romans believe in many gods(polytheism) and goddesses.
● The greco Roman(religion) was focused more on politics than Judeo christian's because the greco
Romans religion was where they focused on obeying the law and if not you would get punished by
the gods and goddesses. Where judeo christians believe in one God and try to obey him but its
not the government law.

10. ● Modern democratic style governments were influenced by all of these factors. These influences
were mainly on the importance of the individual and their right to choice.