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# Greek Philosophy

## Overview
Greek philosophy (~600 BCE – ~500 CE) laid the foundations of Western intellectual tradition, encompassing metaphysics, ethics, logic, political theory, and natural science.

## Key Facts
- Period: ~600 BCE (Thales) – ~529 CE (closure of Plato's Academy by Justinian)
- Region: Greek world (Ionia, Athens, Alexandria, Rome)
- Major schools: Pre-Socratics, Pythagoreanism, Platonism, Aristotelianism, Cynicism, Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism, Neoplatonism

## Major Figures
- Thales of Miletus (~624–546 BCE): First philosopher, proposed water as the fundamental substance [^1]
- Pythagoras (~570–495 BCE): Founded Pythagoreanism; blended mathematics, mysticism, and ethics; taught metempsychosis (transmigration of souls); influenced Plato [^3]
- Heraclitus (~535–475 BCE): "Everything flows" (*panta rhei*)
- Pyrrho of Elis (~360–270 BCE): Founded Pyrrhonism (radical skepticism); advocated suspension of judgment (*epoché*) to achieve tranquility (*ataraxia*) [^3]
- Diogenes of Sinope (~412–323 BCE): Leading Cynic philosopher; rejected social conventions and material wealth in favor of virtue and self-sufficiency [^3]
- Socrates (~470–399 BCE): Socratic method, executed for impiety
- Plato (~428–348 BCE): Theory of Forms, founded the Academy
- Aristotle (384–322 BCE): Logic, natural science, ethics, politics; founded the Lyceum
- Epicurus (341–270 BCE): Atomism, pleasure as the highest good
- Zeno of Citium (~334–262 BCE): Founded Stoicism [^2]
- Plotinus (204/5–270 CE): Founded Neoplatonism; posited emanation from "the One" as the source of all reality; among the most influential philosophers of late antiquity [^3]

## Legacy
- Shaped Western philosophy, science, and political thought
- Transmitted to the Islamic world and medieval Europe
- Aristotle's works dominated European thought for ~2,000 years
- Neoplatonism profoundly influenced early Christian theology and the Renaissance

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[^1]: Kirk, G.S. et al. *The Presocratic Philosophers* (Cambridge, 1983)
[^2]: Long, A.A. *Hellenistic Philosophy* (University of California Press, 1986)
[^3]: Zalta, E.N. (ed.) *Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy* (Stanford University, ongoing) — entries on Pythagoras, Pyrrho, Plotinus