PolledHistory - 4 August: History of Philosophy
Hello! Today's poll result is: ANOTHER TIE! Weird thing is, the sciencefordummies poll also tied. I chose History of Philosophy, as it tied with History of Religion (History of Currency did not get any votes).
The history of Philsophy begins in 624 BC in Greece, with the birth of Thales of Miletus. Miletus is a city in modern day Turkey. Thales is regarded as the first philosopher - the first deep thinker. He was interested in metaphysics (the study of the universe and its composition), specifically he asked, "What is the common substance of the universe, that builds all other?".
He concluded water was this central substance. Obviously, he was wrong, but what he asked, and his attempt, was vital. Pythagoras in Greece, born in 570 BC, who was one of the students of one of the students of one of the students of Thales, thought numbers was the common substance. He also created the Pythagorean Theorem, a geometrical equation in mathematics. Democritus lived around this time, and he said atoms, small units made up the world. Though this theory did go far, he was wrong with many of the predictions of what atoms were.
Meanwhile, in China, other philosophers began to think, such as Confucius, whose works survive quite intactly. Chinese philosophy, however, wasn't relevant for really long, and was mostly important just arounf this time. Other philosophers, such as Lao Zi was relevant in Eastern Philosophy. The common theme in eastern philosophy is that they like to study ethics - the philosophy about how to act.
Back in Greece, born in 470 BC, was an extremely influential philosopher, Socrates. He was the first philosopher to think about ethics and character, and he also made a great contribution into the Socratic Method, a method where you repetitively ask and find weaknesses in someone's statement. However, the Athenians hated him so they killed him by forcing him to drink a bowl of poison, which he accepted.
Socrates' student Plato was also extremely influential. He made a system of philosophy, a theory saying that there is "a world of forms", which is a complex and strange idea. He founded the Academy of Athens, and his works were saved and greatly studied by future philosophers and students. Plato's works included his belief, many dialogues, including the dialogue between Socrates, his teacher and the Athenians with him during his trial and execution.
Now, Aristotle was sent to the Academy of Plato to study philosophy under the philosopher Plato. He stayed many years there, both as a student and teacher. However, he disagreed with Plato, rejecting his theory of Forms. Plato was a rationalist, meaning he found conclusions by thinking, while Aristotle was a empiricist, meaning he found conclusions by sensing the world around him.
After Plato died, Aristotle left to study nature and wildlife. This made him be able to create a system of classification still relevant today, and as a result, while thinking, created laws of logic - logic is finding a new conclusion from previous statements. One of his famous syllogisms goes like this: if A is B, and B is C, A is C.
Aristotle then founded his own school to rival Plato's, which was still existent at the time, and he made contributions to fields of study included philosophy, biology, logic, chemistry, history, psychology, and poetry. He also taught Alexander the Great when he was young, for Alexander's father Philip had made a deal with Aristotle. Philip rebuilt his hometown, but he had to teach his so Alexander.
After Aristotle's death, two main schools of thought arose. The first one was revolving around the philosopher Epicurus. He believed that the goal in life is to find pleasure. This school of thought was less appealing than the other one, founded by Zeno of Citium.
Zeno of Citium put productivity and result higher, and rejecting pain and feeling. However, although less flawed and more popular than the Epicurean school, this belief had flaws of its own. After Greece fell to Rome, philosophy in general was mostly rejected. The Romans did not philosophize much, but they usually followed Greek philosophy, usually Stoic philosophy.
The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius was a philosopher however, though most of his works and beliefs were from the Stoic philosophers before him. Plato's influence was very widespread by this time also. After Rome converted to Christianity, the theologian/philosopher Augustine of Hippo lived. His philosophy was influenced by Plato's, but was mostly about Christianity, developing systematic theology.
After the Fall of Rome (476 ad), philosophy became less and less studied but Plato's influence was still strong. Anselm lived around this time, and he made the Ontological Argument. Some time after Anselm's death, the works of Aristotle were found by the Arabs of the Caliphate and translated into Arabic (1100s ad)
This began a golden age for the Caliphates, and a philosophy named Aristotelianism arose, a philosophy of people's own but revolving around Aristotle's works. The Muslim Arabs eventually rejected Aristotelianism and philosophy. In Judea, Maimonides who also studied Aristotle's works started Jewish Aristotelianism.
Now, the Italian priest Thomas Aquinas had learned from Maimonides the works of Aristotle. His understanding of ancient philosophy was deep, and he was an influential philosopher and theologian, founding Christian Aristotelianism.
Around this time, William of Ockham the English philosopher and theologian lived. He was a fideist, meaning he rejected reason while proving God's existence, putting proof or evidence. This contrasts with many philosophers and theologians before him.
Once the Renaissance came, Machiavelli, a Florentine Diplomat, Philosopher and Historian lived. He believed the end justifies the means, which is the belief that if the result is good enough, any method to obtain it is not wrong. He also contributed to politics and diplomacy.
After the Rennaisance, the Enlightenment, or age of Reason came. Now, two main schools of thought formed - an Empiricist and Rationalist one. The rationalist philosophers, such as Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz believed thinking and logic is the better and more reliable way to know, and saying you have innate knowledge (knowledge you already know from birth).
The empiricist philosophers, such as Locke, Hume, and Berkeley, believed that sensing and observation is the best means to find knowledge. They thought there is no such thing as innate knowledge, or there is too little of that. Philosophy had been divided into two.
Later, Immanuel Kant tried to solve this division, by philosophizing his own means to know, called Transcendental Idealism. It is a complex belief that is hard to explain. Kant popularized philosophy and made it an academic thing. He modernized Plato's theory of Forms.
Later, in the 1700s, Georg Hegel theorized and philosophized about metaphysics, thinking that reality was a historical process. Around this time, in France, Rousseau philosophized about free will. This belief fuelled the French Revolution and many revolts. He said that we should be free but governments limit us from freedom.
In the 1800s, Karl Marx philosophized, supporting communism. His philosophy fuelled political scenes and communism in government, though many criticizes his thinking. In the 19th and 20th century, Modernism was popular as a philosophy. It focuses on science and logic, pushing away from theology and ancient-based philsophy.
In the 1900s, Nietzsche from Germany lived. He founded existentialism as a philosophy, basically "godifying" himself, rejecting religion. It too is criticized for narcissism and flaws, and also he is greatly criticized for potentially inspiring Facism and N*zi Germany. John Dewey, an American philosopher thought that knowledge is based from the mind and reflection. He greatly contributed to education.
Ayn Rand, Aristotelian philosopher founded a philosophy named Objectivism, philosophy spread to America, and contemporary philosophy began, with people like Richard Rorty, Jurgen Habermas, and others.
That was long! The link for next seven days:
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