Philosophy: a QuickStudy Digital Reference Guide

Table of Contents

Ancient & Classical Philosophy

Medieval Philosophy

Early Modern Philosophy

Modern Philosophy

Contemporary Philosophy

Philosophy Study Tips

Philosophy entails learning how to think, which is based on the close reading and interpretation of original texts.

Pay attention to the words, lines, and phrases in the original text and think about what they might mean.

Write in your books if you can; circle or underline words you think are important or need to be examined.

Look for patterns; identify what the arguments are and what is being used to support those arguments.

Prepare questions about the readings and draw connections between the phrases or arguments that interest you.

Write down your ideas about what you read.

Do not reproduce other’s interpretations of the text. Instead, call them into question against yours.

Abbreviations

c. = circa (around this date). Especially with ancient and medieval philosophers, dates are not only often approximate, but they vary between available sources.

fl. = floruit (flourished, i.e., wrote and was productive around the given date)

Ancient & Classical Philosophy

Includes the pre-Socratics (before Socrates)

Thinkers who set the tone of intellectual culture in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE

Philosophy is not yet a defined occupation.

Departed from mythological explanations for natural phenomena

Relied on more independent investigations, new theories of elements, forces, and other explanations of the cosmos and its contents

Before the Common Era (BCE)

c. 610–c. 547 Anaximander

Cosmologist offering ambitious accounts of the totality of the universe

Originator of the idea of the apeiron, an infinite, boundless, unlimited source of all things

This is different than asserting the role of the Greek gods in a traditional way.

c. 610–c. 545 Thales of Miletus

Known for positing water as the basic element of the cosmos

Predicted a solar eclipse in 585 BCE; was influenced by Babylonian methods

Predicted a successful olive crop; exhibited advanced knowledge of weather patterns and astronomy

Predictions and understandings required the kind of methods and evidence that set aside any mystical or mythological notions.

c. 570–c. 495 Pythagoras

Remembered for his intense engagement with mathematics, although few reliable accounts survive

Pythagoreans are known for mathematical investigations and their moral precepts regarding how best to live life.

They drew inspiration from an unusual mixture of rigorous math applied to a kind of cosmic symbolism.

EX: Harmonies as a cosmic theory—the sizes and portions of cosmic bodies are what they are so that they achieve a musical harmony.

c. 570 Themistoclea

Priestess of Delphi, a well-known temple in Greece

Some scholars believe she taught Pythagoras