Pre-Socratic PhilosophyIt is important to be able to distinguish between scientific, philosophical, religious and speculative explanations and causes. To be able to distinguish the four, we must first understand what they are and what their purpose is. The first type of pre-Socratic thinking of explanation is scientific, although the Pre-Socratics did not begin to think scientifically until much later in their lives. the quest for truth, due to the fact that the pre-Socratics often did not use their senses; as in observation. For an explanation to be scientific, a person must draw conclusions from the observation and be able to test whether it is true or false. Philosophical explanation is similar to scientific explanations because they also have subdivisions to explain different things in the universe, for example physics in the scientific world and metaphysics in the world of philosophy. The most important part of philosophical explanation is how philosophers develop their ideas through logic and reason and then find evidence to support their claims. Philosophical explanations differ from scientific explanation in that philosophy does not always seek their truths through observation. Many philosophers discover knowledge of the world through logical deduction and what is known as rationalism. Religious explanation is very different from scientific and philosophical explanation and, when misunderstood, can give rise to great conflict. The religious explanation does not come from observation or logical deduction, but from the belief that there is knowledge that we do not know of higher being(s) who make and sometimes control us, the humans and the universe in which we live. Religious explanation is the origin of some of the first philosophical assertions...... middle of paper ... fish. This is empiricism due to Anaximander's observation and reasoning that infants are helpless and cannot survive on their own, so young infants would need something to protect them until 'to their development. A modern example of empiricism would be the scientific method. Where hypotheses are derived from reasoning, then experimented and tested through observation. Free will is an example of determinism with which pre-Socratic philosophers faced great difficulty in their time. What characterizes free will as determinism is the sense of what controls our actions; us human beings or a higher force. A modern example of determinism would be the cause and effect relationship of sleep. Fatigue makes us sleep and our body and mind are rejuvenated. Empiricism and determinism play an important role in how we understand what we see around us.