ERAS OF PHILOSOPHY (HISTORY)
(HOW ONE PHILOSOPHICAL ERA SHIFTED TO ANOTHER
ERA)
4 PHILOSOPHICAL ERA
 ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
When we speak of philosophy we would always go back
to the times of early Greeks-
Sometimes we refer them to as an “Ancient Greeks”
 In many books of philosophical history when we
open them, you read them they will always begin
with THALES OF MELITUS – earliest recorded Greek
philosopher his philosophy “ claimed everything
came from water” and philosophers in his era has
different claims like
 Alexander, Anaximenes, Heraclitus etc.- claimed
everything came from fire, air.
 Later on we have another philosopher who claimed
everything is boundless.
 Heraclitus – who would say that everything is in the
constant state of flux- this mean everything is in
constant motion.
 but they never called themselves as philosopher
because the first philosopher who coined the world
philosophy is PYTHAGORAS- what makes this guys a
philosophers EVEN THEY DON’T KNOW what they
are doing is philosophy, the answer to the question
would be because they ask a question the very
FIRST PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTION and that is WHERE
DID EVERYTHING COME FROM?
WHAT MAKES UP EVERYTHING?
(Have you notice there answer that according to THALES
everything came from water, fire, air, and if you going
to observe their answers there is one thing that is avid,
one thing is very obvious that is THEY SEEK ANSWERS
FROM THE THINGS AROUND THEM
- from the universe
- from the COSMOS
That is why this philosophical era describes as ANCIENT
ERA= COSMOCENTIC- COSMOS-MEANING= UNIVERSE
Therefore THE UNIVERSE IS THE PROVIDER OF TRUTH
AND MEANING for them. So when they ask question
they would always look into the universe, they would
always look for answers in to the things they see around
them.
THE TRUTH THAT THEY KNOW WA PROVIDED BY THE
UNIVERSE and this is Cosmo centrism, Cosmo centric or
the ancient philosophical era.
ANCIENT ERA IS FROM 600 B.C TO 600 A.D
Other thing is I do have considered 3 greatest
philosophers in the ancient era this are:
- Socrates
- Plato ( his student Plato)
- Aristotle ( student of Plato)
(This 3 are the best philosopher in this era.)
The end of the ancient philosophical era marked the
beginning of another philosophical era and this is
referring to the medieval philosophical era or medieval
era.
 MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
(There’s a difference in this two eras if in the ancient
era the provider of truth and meaning was the
universe – the cosmos that is why we describe it as
cosmocen) in medieval era- THE PROVIDER OF
TRUTH AND MEANING IS GOD.
MEDIEVAL ERA= THEOCENTRIC
THEO= GOD (is the center of this era)
- That’s The reason why many of the medieval
philosophers were saints of the church
- for instance the 3 Greatest philosophers in this era
and this are:
- Saint Thomas Aquinas- talks about the 5 proofs that
God existence
- Saint Anselm
- Saint Augustine
(These 3 philosophers they have talked about the
existence of God)
In medieval ERA GOD BECAME THE PROVIDER OF
TRUTH AND MEANING
- So that when man has questions God Provide the
answers this was the shift from Cosmo centric to
theocentric.
MEDIEVAL ERA IS FROM 600 AD TO 1600 AD
- The end of this so called medieval era marked also
the beginning of other philosophical era and this is
what we call the MODERN philosophical Era.
 MODERN PHILOSOPHY
- If in the ancient era and medieval era the shift
was from Cosmo centric to theocentric. The shift
that transpired from medieval era to modern era
was from Cosmo centric or theocentric.
MODERN ERA= ANTHROPOCENTRIC
- Since we are talk about truth and meaning in the
MODERN ERA thus,
THE SOURCE OF TRUTH AND MEANING IS MAN
ANTROPE= MAN
MAN BECOMES THE CENTER OF THIS ERA
Source of truth and meaning was him self
MAN BECAME THE MASTER OF HIS FAITH AND CAPTAIN
OF HIS SOUL
Man now BECOMES THE PROVIDER OF MEANING TO
OTHERS man.
ONE OF THE GREATEST PHILOSOPHERS IN THIS ERA :
- RENE DECARTES- HE IS CONSIDERED AS THE FATHER
OF THE MODERN PHILOSOPHY
- WHY?
- BECAUSE OF HIS PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION HE
WAS ABLE TO COME UP WITH ONE TRUTH AND THE
METHOD HE USED WAS CALLED METHODIC DOUBT
- SO THIS IS THE MODERN ERA
- IN MODERN ERA MAN BECOMES THE CENTER
ANTHROPOCENTRIC= MODERN ERA
- MODERN ERA IS FROM 1600 TO 1900
( if you observe, that the shifting of the source of truth
and meaning happened from one era to another,
meaning that the truth varied from one folk to another
from Cosmo centric down to theocentric to
anthropocentric or from ancient era to medieval era to
the modern era from the universe as the source of
truth and meaning, to god as the source of truth and
meaning, to man as the source of truth and meaning )
- So what happen after the modern era?
From 1900 to the present
After the medieval or modern era is what we call the
CONTEMPORARY ERA or the postmodern era
 CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY
(This era is different from another era because this
era, CONTEMPORARY ERA is describe as the
PHILOSOPHY OF PLURALITY
PHILOSOPHY OF INCLUSIVITY
- Which means that this kind of era you are not
limiting one school of talk you include all the
philosophical school of talk you even include in this
era the oriental philosophy
- It only means that in this era we do not limit the
investigation and philosophical reflection on certain
subject matter we do not limit our investigation in
Cosmo centric, theocentric, anthropocentric
- We are bound to study everything
- So the time that we are living right now is describe as
contemporary era because we become more liberal
we accommodate all things we don’t exclude other
beliefs but we accept them we investigate them we
studied and we have realize that in trying to know
the truth and meaning we need to be open we don’t
need to be a limited we need to investigate
everything we need to question everything
- The purpose of this is to have partial history of
philosophy and of course to know the pattern ship
that have transpired during this different
philosophical era.
THE NEED TO PHILOSOPHIZE
Why is there a need to philosophize?
(Question i used to asked myself: for instance why we
need to die? is there an afterlife? Thus, man really
composed of body and soul?)
- You asked yourself when you are young and this
question are examples of;
“WONDERING”
WONDERING IS THE START OF PHILOSOPHIZING
- As Socrates said- wonder is the feeling of philosopher
PHILOSOPHY BEGINS IN WONDER
According to Crist john terry- to wonder means to realize
that THERE IS SOMETHING STRANGE BEHIND THE
ORDINARY THINGS that we perceive.
Once you start philosophize once you start to wonder
you make ordinary things extraordinary when you are
curious with something whose causes are still unknown
you wonder why?
This for Socrates begin for wisdom
REMEEMBER: WONDERING IS START OF
PHILOSOPHIZING because of this each of us man has the
ability to philosophize which makes us philosopher and
we have the inclination to philosophized.
But what is to philosophize?
PHILOSOPHIZING IS THINKING AND EXPRESSING
ONESELF IN A PHILOSOPHICAL MANNER
This leads us to question what the role of philosophy into
man’s life is and to answer this
 PLATO -TRANCE THE MANS NEED TO PHILOSOPHIE
THROUGH MAN’S SENSE OF WONDER
IT IS BECAUSE OF OUR CURIOSITY THAT WE TEND TO
ASK QUESTIONS
- WHO AM I?
- IS LOVE REALLY BLIND?
It seems that to wonder and to ask question is already
part and percent of mind because of this:
IT DIVES US MORE TO INVESTIGATE AND TO QUESTION
 RENE DECARTES-found the need to philosophize
through his doubting method methodic doubt – in
order for us to arrive in a certain things we need to
doubt everything thought tentatively doubting
DOUBT EVERYTHING THAT CAN BE DOUBTED
- In this sense we can arrived with assertive with the
truth and law if we are going to apply this into our
lives right now it’s like when you are confronted with
a lots of ideas and opinions or knowledge in a social
media before you accept this ideas we need first to
verify this ideas in using the process of Descartes we
doubt its thankfulness
- Fake news- very first before we can accept it as truth
Jewish- German philosopher
 KARL THEODOR JASPERS – belief that it is through
our EXPERIENCE to philosophize because he taught
when man is confronted with experiences that
challenge his ideas we of to link it our self from
knowing more we become helpless , stress or even
depress. He call this kind of situation, kind of
experiences as LIMIT SITUATION
Example: In this pandemic times it is hard to us to go out
and as a student we cannot socialized with friends and of
course it changes our normal experiences, as we love to
socialize and because of this situation we cannot do it
anymore and this is an example of limit situation but
according to jaspers we shouldn’t settle with it because
he beliefs that we cannot overcome that situations.
SURPASS OR TRANSCEND THIS LIMIT SITUATION
- Best thing about this trough limit situation we will
learn something through this experiences we can
learn from it.
 SOCRATES- it start of wisdom is “DOCTA
IGNORANTIA” it is TO KNOW WHAT WE DO NOT
KNOW we should believe that we are ignorant of
something – he knows nothing
- He usually go to market place to ask people, ask his
scholar to ask question because he believes that he
knows nothing and by that believing we do not know
everything we will learn something new.
- We do not stop to the thing we know but we also try
to know what we don’t know
REMEMBER: To know what you know and know what
you do not know is a characteristic of someone who
knows.