Wonder, Time, and Idealization -On the Greek Beginning of Philosophy-

Abstract

Today the spirit of science is extending itself over the entire globe. Technology, the most significant result of that scientific spirit, has brought about an incomparable improvement of the quality of life enjoyed by advanced industrial societies. It has, however, also produced the environmental problems that have made obvious to everyone the deep crisis in which humanity finds itself. In a historical crisis, it is prudent to consider the beginnings of the development that led to such a crisis, for only in light of its beginning can what the crisis truly consists of be seen. Therefore, contemporary philosophy is presented with the urgent task of making present the beginning of science - its emergence with the Greeks - and of thinking through this beginning critically. At its inception, science was still one with philosophy. On the emergence of the philosophical-scientific spirit, the Greeks themselves offer a relevant formulation. Namely, in Platos Theaetetus and in Aristotles Metaphysics. Both classical thinkers claim that wonder, thaumázein, motivated the emergence of this spirit.