I heard that philosophy began when man started to search for a rational explanation for things. Is this true?

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Curt Hayashida
member, Community Bible Church (Non-denominational)
Vallejo, CA

Ungodly philosophy started in the garden of Eden..."has God said"..."you shall be as God...knowing good and evil."

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Daniel Ritchie
Saintfield, Northern Ireland - Queen's University, Belfast:History/Politics
Member of Dromara Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland (Covenanter)

Philosophy began when individuals began to take a look at the world around them and see "patterns" or "laws" at work. To say that they were "looking" for a rational explanation is probably not the best way to put it since the first philosophers had no idea what reason or logic was. Rather, it was by the observance of things around them that led to the idea that something like rationality existed.

The first western philosopher was a Greek living in Miletus on the western coast of Asia Minor. His name was Thales. He supposedly predicted an eclipse in 585 BC, but the importance of his work goes further than Astronomy. He began to draw particulars from generals. After physical phenomena, things such as history (laws of the way history works), medicine (laws governing the physical body), and finally ethics (laws about how one should live) were studied.

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Davidius
Husband of Emilia
Member: First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Durham (RPCNA) - Durham, NC
Student: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, German Literature and Classics

This may explain the old adage about Baptists being Methodists with shoes, and Presbyterians being Baptists who can read. To round out the adage, Lutherans might qualify as Presbyterians who drink to excess, and Episcopalians as Lutherans who know when to say when. - D.G. Hart

"Greek philosophy began on May 28, 585 B.C., at 6:13 in the evening."

Opening sentence to Thales to Dewey, A History of Philosophy, Gordon H. Clark.

One of the coolest opening sentences to a textbook I've ever seen.

(BTW, he is referring to an eclipse of the Sun that had been predicted by Thales).

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R.Vic Bottomly
Providence Reformed Baptist Church, Tacoma, WA