# 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 --- [^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