Brief History of Philosophy

Brief History of Philosophy

• Philosophy has a rich history, tracing through periods.
• Ancient philosophy (600-300 AD) was cosmo-centric, focusing on the universe.
• Key figures include Thales, Pythagoras, and Socrates.
• Medieval philosophy (300-1400 AD) was theocentric, centered on God.
• Key figures include St. Anselm, Aquinas, and Augustine.
• Modern philosophy (500-1800 AD) was anthropocentric, focusing on human beings.
• Key figures include Descartes, Locke, and Marx.
• Contemporary philosophy (1900-present) focuses on analytic philosophy, language, and natural sciences
• Key figures include Tolstoy, Nietzsche, and Husserl.

Periods in Western Philosophy

• Ancient period (600-300 AD) - Cosmo-centric
• Medieval period (300-1400 AD) - Theo-centric
• Modern period (500-1800 AD) - Anthropocentric
• Contemporary period (1900-Present) - Analytic philosophy, language, natural sciences

Ancient Philosophy

• Pre-Socratic Period - Thales, Pythagoras, Anaximander
• Socratic Period - Socrates, Aristotle, Plato
• Hellenistic Period - Stoicism (Zeno), Cynicism, Epicureanism

What I can control and what I can’t

• Focuses on the concept of control in human life
• The past, the future, actions of others, opinions of others: are outside of personal control
• Personal thoughts, actions, setting goals, speech to self, handling challenges – are within personal control.
• Understanding your sphere of influence helps with personal development.

Ancient Greece

• Geography: Greece is a mountainous, rather barren country.
• Coastal colonies: in the 6th century BC, a vast network of coastal colonies extended from Asia Minor through Africa to Spain and southern Italy.

City of Miletus

• The Ionian philosophers, active in Miletus, Asia Minor, profoundly shaped the development of philosophy.
• Key figures: Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes.
• They questioned the fundamental substance of reality (or Primary Substance).

The First 3 Western Philosophers

• Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes, from Miletus, initiated Western philosophy by pondering the primary substance of the universe.
• They sought fundamental principles and causes of existence, pushing philosophy towards its core questions.

Thales (625-545 BC)

• Thales proposed water as the primary substance.
• He believed that water is the fundamental element of all things, and that other elements were formed from it through transformations.

Anaximander (610-547 BC)

• Anaximander identified an unknown, boundless, and undefined primary substance.

Anaximenes (585-525 BC)

• Anaximenes proposed air as the primary substance.
• He believed that air undergoes transformations through condensation and rarefaction.

Heraclitus (540-480 BC)

• Heraclitus emphasized the importance of change.
• He famously stated, "You cannot step in the same river twice"
• He proposed fire as the fundamental element of the universe.

Pythagoras

• Pythagoras emphasized the importance of numbers.
• He believed that numbers underlie everything in the universe, including space and measure.
• He thought that the soul was immortal, divine and subject to metempsychosis (reincarnation).
• The soul is imprisoned within a body until it is purified and thus reunited with the divine.

Leucippus & Democritus

• Leucippus and Democritus, the atomists.
• They argued that all matter is composed of tiny, indivisible particles called atoms.
• These atoms were indestructible, indivisible, eternal, and uncreated.
• Their interactions explain forms and types of matter.

Ancient Greek Philosophy - Key Questions

• What is man?
• What is the implication (values)?
• Man is seen as a microcosm, a miniature universe mirroring larger principles.