Brief History of Philosophy

2000 BC 1000 BC 0 1000 2000

Epochs

Mythology
Natural Philosophers/Pre-Socratics
Big Three Greek Philosophers

Hellenism

Medieval Age
Renaissance

The Scientific Revolution

Baroque
The Enlightenment

Romanticism

The Modern World

People

Moses
Thales of Miletus
Siddhārtha Gautama

Heraclitus
Parmenides
Empedocles

Socrates
Democritus
Plato

Diogenes of Sinope
Aristotle
Alexander the Great

Epicurus
Zeno of Citium
Jesus of Nazareth

Plotinus
Augustine of Hippo

Muhammad

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 Averroes
Thomas Aquinas

Nicolaus Copernicus

Sir Francis Bacon

Galileo Galilei

Thomas Hobbes

Descartes
John Locke

Isaac Newton

George Berkeley
Voltaire

David Hume

Immanuel Kant
Karl Marx

Sigmund Freud

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 Epochs

Mythology The beliefs of many cultures/people characterized by their uncritical

1800 bc - 300 bc acceptance of stories that explain natural phenomena. Written
mythologies date back to 2800 bc.

Natural Philosophers/Pre-Socratics These early philosophers helped to transition from unchecked mythology
600 bc - 370 bc to critical thought emphasizing reason.

Big Three Greek Philosophers The most important philosophers of the ancient world came from this short
430 bc - 322 bc time period in Athens.

Hellenism A period of time marked be the decline of Greek culture and a fusion of
323 bc - 420 ad the cultures/beliefs of a multitude of kingdoms.

Medieval Age A time period marked by the emphasis on Christian theology and some
400 ad - 1400 ad remaining/selected Greek philosophy/thought.

Renaissance The years following the Medieval age, known as a "rebirth" of many of the
1400 ad - 1600 ad cultural influences of the Hellenistic age. A time of rapid cultural, religious,
political evolution.

The Scientific Revolution The period of time where the intellectual emphasis on rationalism
1543 - 1727 transfers to empiricism. Discoveries are made primarily through the sense
and induction.

Baroque A period of time developed after the Renaissance known for a unique
1600 - 1725 development of the arts.

The Enlightenment
1650 - 1789

Romanticism
1770 - 1848

The Modern World

1850 - 1970

People

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 Moses The cultural father of the Jewish people (and ultimately Christian and
1391 bc - 1271 bc Muslim). His writings stand as the basis for Jewish culture, history and
spirituality - comprised as the Torah.

Thales of Miletus Studied the earth and it's processes. He asked: "What is the basic
624 bc - 546 bc substance of the cosmos?" He reasoned: "It must be a few things:
essential to life, capable of motion, and capable of change." He thus
concluded water was the basic element.

Siddhārtha Gautama Also known as the Buddha, Siddhārtha offered enlightenment by freeing
563 bc - 483 bc oneself from the desire which will ultimately leads to suffering. The
Buddha also uniquely challenged authority in demanding the fallibility of
scriptures. Truth was determined by experience and praise from the wise -
which was a step away from mythology.

Heraclitus Heraclitus trusted his senses and used reason to explain why things
535 bc - 475 bc change when they come from a common root. He determined that
"everything flows" or is in a constant state of change.

Parmenides Parmenides realized that his reason can come in conflict with his senses.
515 bc - 445 bc He was the earliest to choose his reason over the senses. Thus he
determines that they world is not in change - our sense are deceiving.

Empedocles Empedocles solves the dilemma created by Heraclitus and Parmenides:

490 bc - 430 bc The world is made of something, yet the world changes. How can
something randomly change? Empedocles determines that there must be
more than one (four) root elements.

Socrates Socrates takes speculative reasoning to new levels. He determines that he

469 bc - 399 bc is the wisest man because he knows what everyone else does not, that
we (he) know(s) nothing. At the core of his contribution is his belief that all
people have common ability to apply reason to discover truth. Thus, he
spent his life asking questions and allowing this common reasoning to
discover truths through conversation. Socrates ultimately dies for his ideas
which were deemed dangerous by the politicians of Athens. His legacy
lived on through his students, including Plato and the early Cynics and
Stoics.

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 Democritus Democritus takes Empedocles one step further. He determines that the
460 bc - 371 bc universe is made up of small, indivisible building blocks - like legos. These
building blocks come together to create material things. This is the early
birth of the "atom" (Greek for "uncuttable").

Plato Plato was the greatest philosopher-student of Socrates. His impact was
427 bc - 347 bc vast and was one of the main authors of Socrates' ideas. He started the
greatest school of philosophy in Athens, the Academy. In addition to his
scholastic contributions, he answered the question of what is temporal
and what is eternal. To Plato, all material is finite and thus "flows" or
changes (i.e. dies, decomposes, etc). What we sense then "flows". He
determined that material things must come from "something" that reminds
material to compose in one way and not another (e.g. a horse and not a
crocodile). This "something" must be eternal and Plato called it the form.
Thus, a pine cone is finite/temporary while the concept of the circle that it
mimics is eternal. We sense such concepts with our reason, making
reason eternal. The eternal was more important to Plato than the things
that "flow" or change. Reason is how we access the eternal. Thus, reason
is more important sense perception - this belief is the core of "rationalism".
Plato's legacy was continued by the advancements of his student,
Aristotle.

Diogenes of Sinope Diogenes is probably the most apparent example of Cynic philosophy.
404 bc - 323 bc Stories recall that Diogenes lived in a ceramic bin on the side of the road
with very few material possessions. Cynics held that happiness is not
found in power, materials or wealth. This stance caused cynics to become
calloused to the pains and pleasures of life. It was Diogenes who was
offered anything he desired from Alexander the Great, he replied with the
request the Alexander steps to the right so the sun would shine on him.

Aristotle
384 bc - 322 bc

Alexander the Great The Macedonian king and student of Aristotle known for expanding the
356 bc - 323 bc Greek kingdom to it's greatest reach. His death signals the beginning of
Hellenism.

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 Epicurus Father of the Epicureans (or hedonists) and focused on how to achieve
341 bc - 270 bc true happiness. Epicurus agreed with Democritus that we are made of
atoms that will be returned to the earth when we die. Thus, he decide that
living for pleasure was the meaning of life. This is concisely summed in the
statement, "The gods aren’t to be feared. Death is nothing to worry about.
Good is easy to attain. The fearful is easy to endure."

Zeno of Citium
332 bc - 265 bc

Jesus of Nazareth Jewish teacher who claimed deity. Transformed the Jewish belief in a king
5 bc - 33 ad that would restore the Jewish state into a distinctly spiritual message.
Political restoration or salvation was exchanged for a spiritual restoration.
The teaching of Jesus would be combined with a set of Greek
philosophers to develop Christian theology in the Medieval years and
beyond.

Plotinus
205 ad - 270 ad

Augustine of Hippo
354 ad - 430 ad

Muhammad
570 ad - 632 ad

Averroes
1126 ad - 1198 ad

Thomas Aquinas
1225 ad - 1274 ad

Nicolaus Copernicus Developed the most advanced heliocentric description of our solar
1473 - 1543 system.

Sir Francis Bacon Among other things, Bacon made new developments for Aristotle's logic
1561 - 1626 and the scientific method.

Galileo Galilei Among other things, Galileo developed theories about celestial bodies
1564 - 1642 that upset the social and religious establishment.

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 Thomas Hobbes
1588 - 1679

Descartes
1596 - 1650

John Locke
1632 - 1704

Isaac Newton By building on the findings of previous thinkers (especially Kepler and
1643 - 1727 Galileo), Newton developed basic formulaic laws for the both planetary
science and the universe. Contributed a work ethic of rigorous
experimentation.

George Berkeley
1685 - 1753

Voltaire
1694 - 1778

David Hume
1711 - 1776

Immanuel Kant
1724 - 1804

Karl Marx
1818 - 1883

Sigmund Freud
1856 - 1939

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