The History of

Philosophy
 4 major sections
• Ancient Philosophy
• Medieval Philosophy
• Modern Philosophy
• Contemporary Philosophy
 Discussion
• What are the major events that have
shaped world history?
• How does our place in history affect the
way we perceive reality?
 Ancient Philosophy

• -The first Philosophers did something

dramatically different: (1)They tried to
understand life using reason and not
submitting to religion (2)They taught
others to use reason as well and even
allowed their pupils to disagree with them
• -These first known Philosophers came
from Miletus, located on the Aegean Sea
 The Milesians

• Thales (First Philosopher)

– asked the question “what is the world made of?
– Came to the conclusion that the world was made of a single
element, Water.
• Anaxamander:
– Thales’ pupil
– Believed that the Earth was solid and floated in Space,
supported its equidistance from everything else
• Anaxamenes
-Anaxamanders’ pupil
-believed that the Earth was flat and floated on air
• Hereclitus
-The unity of opposites
-Everything is Flux (the world is constantly changing)
 Socrates

• founder of moral theology

• sought truth by constantly asking
questions (he didn’t think he had answers
but he also knew that no one else had
them either)
 Plato

• Socrates’ Pupil
• since Socrates didn’t write things down, we get
info about him from Plato’s writing
• Wrote many stories after Socrates is executed,
these stories star Socrates as the chief
protagonist
• Believed in 2 worlds, 1 changes and is imperfect
& the other does not change and is perfect
• He believed that there can never be reliable
knowledge of this ever-changing world
 Aristotle

• Pupil of Plato
• Believed that we can only consider and
speak about 1 world, the one we live in
and experience
• Lived his life dedicated to gathering
information about anything that could be
known about this World
• He asks the question “what is being”
 4 major schools of Greek
Philosophy (after the fall of Athens)
• (1) Cyncis: Rejected all social conventions
• (2) Skeptics: Believed that we can never be certain of
anything, therefore we should just go with the flow
• (3) Epicurians: we should be liberated from fear of death
and fear of life. Felt that no pleasure activity was
forbidden (as long as it didn’t hurt people) but please
should be enjoyed in moderation
• (4) Stoics: Since death and adversity are inevitable, they
should be met with dignity. Believed that there is no
higher authority than reason. Since emotions represent
irrational judgment, emotions are wrong
 Medieval Philosophy

• -Characterized by a prolonged attempt to

fit Plato and Aristotle into a harmonious
relationship with Christianity
• The fall of the Roman empire destroys the
life structure that the known-world had
become familiar with
• -This where we begin to see the quest to
prove the existence of God
• 3 important Arguments
• -Teleological Argument: The universe
has order and demonstrates purpose
• -Cosmological Argument: The universe
exists so someone must have created it
• -Ontological Argument: Because we
can conceive of Go He must exist