# 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. @t[~600 BCE..~500 CE] ## Key Facts - Period: ~600 BCE (Thales) – ~529 CE (closure of Plato's Academy by Justinian) @t[~600 BCE..529 CE] - 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 @t[~624 BCE..~546 BCE] [^1] - Pythagoras (~570–495 BCE): Founded Pythagoreanism; blended mathematics, mysticism, and ethics; taught metempsychosis (transmigration of souls); influenced Plato @t[~570 BCE..~495 BCE] [^3] - Heraclitus (~535–475 BCE): "Everything flows" (*panta rhei*); argued that fire is the fundamental substance and that opposites are unified @t[~535 BCE..~475 BCE] - Parmenides (~515–450 BCE): Founded the Eleatic school; argued that reality is singular, eternal, and unchanging; "being" cannot arise from or pass into "non-being" @t[~515 BCE..~450 BCE] [^1] - Democritus (~460–370 BCE): With his teacher Leucippus, developed atomic theory; proposed all matter consists of indivisible atoms (*atomos*) moving through void; anticipated modern materialism @t[~460 BCE..~370 BCE] [^1] - Pyrrho of Elis (~360–270 BCE): Founded Pyrrhonism (radical skepticism); advocated suspension of judgment (*epoché*) to achieve tranquility (*ataraxia*) @t[~360 BCE..~270 BCE] [^3] - Diogenes of Sinope (~412–323 BCE): Leading Cynic philosopher; rejected social conventions and material wealth in favor of virtue and self-sufficiency @t[~412 BCE..~323 BCE] [^3] - Socrates (~470–399 BCE): Socratic method, executed for impiety @t[~470 BCE..399 BCE] - Plato (~428–348 BCE): Theory of Forms, founded the Academy @t[~428 BCE..~348 BCE] - Aristotle (384–322 BCE): Logic, natural science, ethics, politics; founded the Lyceum @t[384 BCE..322 BCE] - Epicurus (341–270 BCE): Atomism (derived from Democritus), pleasure as the highest good; founded "The Garden" school in Athens @t[341 BCE..270 BCE] - Zeno of Citium (~334–262 BCE): Founded Stoicism @t[~334 BCE..~262 BCE] [^2] - Plotinus (204/5–270 CE): Founded Neoplatonism; posited emanation from "the One" as the source of all reality; his *Enneads* (edited by Porphyry) remain the primary source for his thought @t[~204 CE..270 CE] [^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