Ancient Philosophy. From 600 BCE to 500 CE

256 Pages·2010·4.14 MB·English

by  Britannica Educational Publishing

ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
FROM 600 BCE TO 500 CE
The History of Philosophy
ANCIENT
PHILOSOPHY
FROM 600 BCE TO 500 CE
EDITED BY BRIAN DUIGNAN, SENIOR EDITOR,
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION
Published in 2011 by Britannica Educational Publishing
(a trademark of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.)
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First Edition
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Introduction by Brian Duignan Library of Congress Cataloging-in-
Publication Data
Ancient philosophy: from 600 BCE to 500 CE / edited by Brian Duignan.
p. cm.—(The history of philosophy)
“In association with Britannica Educational Publishing, Rosen
Educational Services.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61530243-7 (eBook)
1. Philosophy, Ancient. I. Duignan, Brian.
B108.A53 2010
180—dc22
2009054263
Manufactured in the United States of America
On the cover: Plato was one of the greatest philosophers ever to have
lived. Fuelled by a desire to fully comprehend the nature of reality,
Plato, along with his teacher, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, largely
pioneered the development of Western philosophical thought. Today,
everything from metaphysics to ethics to political philosophy owes much
the work of Plato and his contemporaries. Hulton Archive/Getty Images
On page 16: Thales, shown here, is the first known Greek philosopher
and one of the Seven Wise Men of antiquity. His belief that water formed
the basis of the universe marked a significant deviation from the more
widespread myth-based explanations of the time. Hulton Archive/Getty
Images
CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1: Early Greek Philosophy: The Pre-Socratics
Cosmology, Metaphysics, and Epistemology
The Early Cosmologists
Being and Becoming
Appearance and Reality
Pythagoras and Pythagoreanism
Skepticism and Relativism: The Sophists
Chapter 2: The Philosophy of Socrates
His Life and Personality
Why Was Socrates Hated?
The Impression Created by Aristophanes
The Human Resistance to Self-Reflection
Socrates’ Criticism of Democracy
The Legacy of Socrates
Chapter 3: The Philosophy of Plato
His Life
Dialogue Form
Happiness and Virtue
The Theory of Forms
Linguistic and Philosophical Background
Forms as Perfect Exemplars
Forms as Genera and Species
The Dialogues of Plato
Early Dialogues
Middle Dialogues
Late Dialogues
Chapter 4: The Philosophy of Aristotle
His Life
The Academy
Travels
The Lyceum
His Philosophy
Logic
Physics and Metaphysics
Philosophy of Mind
Ethics
Political Theory
Rhetoric and Poetics
The Legacy of Aristotle