Western Philosophy Forged by Politics and Struggle

Professor Lee Jeong-woo explained, "It's wisdom. Now the age has come for the wise, not for the brave and fierce Achilles," and analyzed that this was not merely a personal change but the result of political shifts that transformed the human ideal and the demands placed on philosophy.

The change in warfare had a large ripple effect on ancient Greek society. The introduction of the phalanx formation made the coordination and rhythm of group members more important than individual martial excellence. Professor Lee noted, "From this point the phalanx appears. It's not about some strong individual, but about many people moving together in step that becomes what matters," pointing out that this tactical change promoted egalitarian thinking. In addition, as iron weapons spread, ordinary commoners were able to take part in war, and this became an important driving force for the spread of democracy.

At the same time, as the poleis founded colonies and carried on active trade, economic wealth began to flow in. Professor Lee explained, "It's painful and empty, yet economically, because the polis builds colonies and trades, wealth starts coming in," and held that this paradoxical situation laid the philosophical groundwork for exploring fundamental truth.

Professor Lee stressed that Western philosophy was fundamentally born to overcome emptiness. He said, "Philosophy was born to overcome emptiness. Overcoming nihilism, let's try to find what is eternal. This is exactly what determines the fundamental character of Western philosophy," and explained that this led to a metaphysical desire to find an absolute and unchanging essence beyond the constantly changing phenomena before us. Philosophy began as an attempt to overcome the suffering and emptiness that the age carried.

In ancient society, there were also critical voices that saw philosophy as detached from reality. A representative anecdote recalls Thales falling into a well while observing the stars. Professor Lee relayed the public reaction of the time: "Thales fell into a well while looking at the stars. When people pulled him out, they mocked him: 'Here's a man who gazes so loftily at the night sky, seeking the cosmos and its order, yet can't even see the well right in front of him?'" This story reveals the gap between intellectuals and the public and raises doubts about philosophy's practical usefulness, showing a shift in philosophy's standing.

Yet Thales himself also proved that philosophers are not wholly detached from reality. By observing the constellations, he predicted a great olive harvest, and on that basis he contracted in advance for the use of olive presses before winter arrived. Professor Lee commented, "Thales said, a philosopher can make money perfectly well if he sets his mind to it," explaining that this episode showed philosophers could accumulate wealth as well.

For a long time, philosophy as the mother of all disciplines encompassed a wide range of knowledge, including science. By the nineteenth century, however, the differentiation of academic fields began in earnest. Professor Lee explained, "In the nineteenth century, scholarship began to differentiate. Political science, economics, and sociology each split off," showing that within philosophy's domain, individual disciplines such as political science, economics, and sociology developed independently.

He held that only 'what is' and 'what is not' exist, and since 'what is not' cannot be thought or known, only 'what is' truly exists. Professor Lee explained, "Parmenides is the origin of ontology in Western philosophy. The world has only what is and what is not," noting that Parmenides logically concluded that change itself was impossible.

Unlike Parmenides' view that change is impossible, Plato proposed the concept of the 'Idea' (eidos) to explain the constant change of the real world. He argued that the world of appearances before us changes, but behind it exists a world of eternal and unchanging Ideas. Professor Lee explained, "Plato put forward exactly the Idea. But what's in front of us changes. So Plato's answer was: go to the Idea, and there the Idea is," and mentioned the background for why Plato's philosophy formed the bedrock of Western thought, such that all later Western philosophy came to be regarded as a footnote to Plato.

As an example of this extreme tendency, the story of a disciple who watched his master drown without helping was also cited as a form of heterodoxy. Western philosophy has thus developed with a frenzied attitude of pushing all the way to the extreme in search of answers to fundamental questions.