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91-560: The first references that are seen in The Republic to the Form of the Good are within the conversation between Glaucon and Socrates (454 c–d). When he is trying to answer such difficult questions pertaining to the definition of justice , Plato identifies that we should not "introduce every form of difference and sameness in nature" instead we must focus on "the one form of sameness and difference that

182-445: A new groundwork for studying metaphysics. Although Kant held that objective knowledge of the world required the mind to impose a conceptual or categorical framework on the stream of pure sensory data—a framework including space and time themselves—he maintained that things-in-themselves existed independently of human perceptions and judgments; he was therefore not an idealist in any simple sense. Kant's account of things-in-themselves

273-594: A perfect island using the same steps of reasoning (therefore leading to an absurd outcome ). Boethius also worked on the problem of universals , arguing that they did not exist independently as claimed by Plato, but still believed, in line with Aristotle, that they existed in the substance of particular things. Another important figure for scholasticism, Peter Abelard , extended this to nominalism , which states (in complete opposition to Plato) that universals were in fact just names given to characteristics shared by particulars . Thomas Aquinas , an academic philosopher and

364-453: A satisfactory way. This biography of a philosopher from Ancient Greece is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Western philosophy Western philosophy refers to the philosophical thought, traditions and works of the Western world . Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture , beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of

455-527: A simple fallacy: that because something that is true proves useful, that usefulness is an appropriate basis for its truthfulness. Pragmatist thinkers include Dewey, George Santayana , and C. I. Lewis . Pragmatism was later worked on by neopragmatists Richard Rorty who was the first to develop neopragmatist philosophy in his Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature (1979), Hilary Putnam , W. V. O. Quine , and Donald Davidson . Neopragmatism has been described as

546-807: A simple life free from all possessions. The Cyrenaics promoted a philosophy nearly opposite that of the Cynics, endorsing hedonism , holding that pleasure was the supreme good, especially immediate gratifications; and that people could only know their own experiences, beyond that truth was unknowable. The final school of philosophy to be established during the Classical period was the Peripatetic school , founded by Plato's student, Aristotle . Aristotle wrote widely about topics of philosophical concern, including physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, aesthetics, poetry, theater, music, rhetoric, politics, and logic. Aristotelian logic

637-496: A single comment by Socrates in the Republic , that Glaucon was old enough to have distinguished himself in a battle at Megara, and that he was the eromenos of the poet and statesman Critias . In Book V of the Republic , an exchange between Socrates and Glaucon indicates that Glaucon owned property where he kept and bred sporting dogs and game birds. He is also referenced briefly in the beginnings of two other dialogues of Plato,

728-467: A society, but not to the degree of absolute rule. Jean-Jacques Rousseau meanwhile argued that in nature people were living in a peaceful and comfortable state , and that the formation of society led to the rise of inequality . The approximate end of the early modern period is most often identified with Immanuel Kant's systematic attempt to limit metaphysics, justify scientific knowledge, and reconcile both of these with morality and freedom. Whereas

819-408: A thing is inconsistent with their own fancy." A later doxographical tradition, recorded by Diogenes Laertius , attributed nine dialogues to Glaucon: Phidylus , Euripides , Amyntichus , Euthias , Lysithides , Aristophanes , Cephalus , Anaxiphemus , and Menexenus , however, no trace of these works remains. Glaucon's family lived in the district of Collytus on the outskirts of Athens, which

910-560: A very important distinction, "sun is not sight" but it is "the cause of sight itself." As the sun is in the visible realm, the form of Good is in the intelligible realm. It is "what gives truth to the things known and the power to know to the knower". It is not only the "cause of knowledge and truth, it is also an object of knowledge". Plato identifies how the form of the Good allows for the cognizance to understand such difficult concepts as justice . He identifies knowledge and truth as important, but through Socrates (508d–e) says, "good

1001-404: A violent and anarchic, calling life under such a state of affairs "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short". To prevent this, he believed that the sovereign of the state should have essentially unlimited power. In contrast, Locke believed the state of nature be one where individuals enjoyed freedom, but that some of that (excluding those covered by natural rights ) had to be given up when forming

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1092-487: Is both 'uncaused' and the cause of being for everything else in the universe. Plotinus compared his principle of 'the One' to an illuminating light, as Plato did with the Form of the Good. As a result of Plotinus' school of neoplatonism , the bulk of understanding of Platonic philosophy until the 19th century came through Plotinus' interpretation of it. Many theologians and philosophers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam looked to

1183-443: Is both controversial and highly complex. Continuing his work, Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Friedrich Schelling dispensed with belief in the independent existence of the world, and created a thoroughgoing idealist philosophy. The most notable work of absolute idealism was G. W. F. Hegel 's Phenomenology of Spirit , of 1807. Hegel admitted his ideas were not new, but that all the previous philosophies had been incomplete. His goal

1274-431: Is broached in the form of a question, oppositional responses are given, a counterproposal is argued and oppositional arguments rebutted. Because of its emphasis on rigorous dialectical method, scholasticism was eventually applied to many other fields of study. Anselm of Canterbury (called the 'father of scholasticism') argued that the existence of God could be irrefutably proved with the logical conclusion apparent in

1365-457: Is disputed. The term " modern philosophy " has multiple usages. For example, Thomas Hobbes is sometimes considered the first modern philosopher because he applied a systematic method to political philosophy. By contrast, René Descartes is often considered the first modern philosopher because he grounded his philosophy in problems of knowledge , rather than problems of metaphysics. Modern philosophy and especially Enlightenment philosophy

1456-472: Is distinguished by its increasing independence from traditional authorities such as the Church, academia, and Aristotelianism; a new focus on the foundations of knowledge and metaphysical system-building; and the emergence of modern physics out of natural philosophy. Some central topics of Western philosophy in its early modern (also classical modern) period include the nature of the mind and its relation to

1547-514: Is known as the " Hegelian dialectic ". Philosophers influenced by Hegel include Ludwig Feuerbach , who coined the term "projection" as pertaining to humans' inability to recognize anything in the external world without projecting qualities of ourselves upon those things; Karl Marx ; Friedrich Engels ; and the British idealists , notably T. H. Green , J. M. E. McTaggart , F. H. Bradley , and R. G. Collingwood . Few 20th-century philosophers embraced

1638-641: Is not accessible to mortals. Following the end of the skeptical period of the academy with Antiochus of Ascalon , Platonic thought entered the period of Middle Platonism , which absorbed ideas from the Peripatetic and Stoic schools. More extreme syncretism was done by Numenius of Apamea , who combined it with Neopythagoreanism . Also affected by the Neopythagoreans, the Neoplatonists , first of them Plotinus , argued that mind exists before matter, and that

1729-411: Is not so much a philosophy or a theology as a methodology , as it places a strong emphasis on dialectical reasoning to extend knowledge by inference and to resolve contradictions . Scholastic thought is also known for rigorous conceptual analysis and the careful drawing of distinctions. In the classroom and in writing, it often takes the form of explicit disputation ; a topic drawn from the tradition

1820-505: Is one of Socrates' main interlocutors. As Plato himself points out, Glaucon is a very courageous and bold interlocutor who does not hesitate to express his doubts about Socrates' refutation of Thrasymachus. His speech opens with a classification of goods, which will be taken up later by other ancient philosophers, including Aristotle. According to Glaucon, there are goods that we desire for themselves, regardless of their consequences, because they are "harmless pleasures that involve nothing in

1911-459: Is triggered by objects existing in the external world, with thought being a kind of computation. John Locke was another classic empiricist, with his arguments helping it overtake rationalism as the generally preferred approach. Together with David Hume , they form the core of 'British empiricism'. George Berkeley agreed with empiricism, but instead of believing in an ultimate reality which created perceptions, argued in favour immaterialism and

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2002-476: Is usually considered to begin around the pivotal year of 1781, when Gotthold Ephraim Lessing died and Immanuel Kant 's Critique of Pure Reason appeared. The 19th century saw the beginnings of what would later grow into the divide between Continental and analytic traditions of philosophy, with the former more interested in general frameworks of metaphysics (more common in the German-speaking world), and

2093-421: Is water") His use of observation and reason to derive this conclusion is the reason for distinguishing him as the first philosopher. Thales' student Anaximander claimed that the arche was the apeiron , the infinite . Following both Thales and Anaximander, Anaximenes of Miletus claimed that air was the most suitable candidate. Pythagoras (born c.  570 BCE ), from the island of Samos off

2184-537: Is where Glaucon was born. His father, Ariston, and his mother, Perictione, had four children according to Diogenes Laërtius—Glaucon, Adeimantus, Plato, and a daughter, Potone. He also had a half-brother named Antiphon according to the Parmenides dialogues. Their family was established, wealthy, and successful. Glaucon distinguished himself in a battle at Megara , which may have been a battle in 424 BC , 409 BC, or 405 BC. Due to constant warfare between Athens and Megara,

2275-407: Is yet more prized". He then proceeds to explain "although the good is not being" it is "superior to it in rank and power", it is what "provides for knowledge and truth" (508e). Plato writes that the Form (or Idea) of the Good is the origin of knowledge although it is not knowledge itself, and from the Good, things that are just and true, gain their usefulness and value. Humans are compelled to pursue

2366-601: The Parmenides and Symposium . Glaucon also appears in Xenophon 's Memorabilia , and is referenced in Aristotle 's Poetics , where Aristotle states: "The true mode of interpretation is the precise opposite of what Glaucon mentions. Critics, he says, jump at certain groundless conclusions; they pass adverse judgement and then proceed to reason on it; and, assuming that the poet has said whatever they happen to think, find fault if

2457-445: The unmoved mover . His ethical views identified eudaimonia as the ultimate good, as it was good in itself. He thought that eudaimonia could be achieved by living according to human nature, which is to live with reason and virtue, defining virtue as the golden mean between extremes. Aristotle saw politics as the highest art, as all other pursuits are subservient to its goal of improving society. The state should aim to maximize

2548-658: The Forms or Ideas . As these Forms cannot be perceived by human senses, whatever knowledge we attain of the Forms must be seen through the mind's eye (cf. Parmenides 132a), while ideas derived from the concrete world of flux are ultimately unsatisfactory and uncertain (see the Theaetetus ). He maintains that degree of skepticism which denies all permanent authority to the evidence of sense. In essence, Plato suggests that justice, truth, equality, beauty, and many others ultimately derive from

2639-849: The Platonic Academy and Platonic philosophy . As Socrates had done, Plato identified virtue with knowledge . This led him to questions of epistemology on what knowledge is and how it is acquired. Socrates had several other students who also founded schools of philosophy. Two of these were short-lived: the Eretrian school , founded by Phaedo of Elis , and the Megarian school , founded by Euclid of Megara . Two others were long-lasting: Cynicism , founded by Antisthenes , and Cyrenaicism , founded by Aristippus . The Cynics considered life's purpose to live in virtue, in agreement with nature, rejecting all conventional desires for wealth, power, and fame, leading

2730-540: The Sophists comprised teachers of rhetoric who taught students to debate on any side of an issue. While as a group, they held no specific views, in general they promoted subjectivism and relativism . Protagoras , one of the most influential Sophist philosophers, claimed that "man is the measure of all things", suggesting there is no objective truth. This was also applied to issues of ethics, with Prodicus arguing that laws could not be taken seriously because they changed all

2821-432: The ontological argument , according to which God is by definition the greatest thing in conceivable, and since an existing thing is greater than a non-existing one, it must be that God exists or is not the greatest thing conceivable (the latter being by definition impossible). A refutation of this was offered by Gaunilo of Marmoutiers , who applied the same logic to an imagined island, arguing that somewhere there must exist

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2912-655: The pre-Socratics . The word philosophy itself originated from the Ancient Greek philosophía (φιλοσοφία), literally, "the love of wisdom" Ancient Greek : φιλεῖν phileîn , "to love" and σοφία sophía , "wisdom". The scope of ancient Western philosophy included the problems of philosophy as they are understood today; but it also included many other disciplines, such as pure mathematics and natural sciences such as physics , astronomy , and biology ( Aristotle , for example, wrote on all of these topics). The pre-Socratic philosophers were interested in cosmology ;

3003-433: The problem of evil , just war and what time is. On the problem of evil, he argued that evil was a necessary product of human free will . When this raised the issue of the incompatibility of free will and divine foreknowledge , both he and Boethius solved the issue by arguing that God did not see the future, but rather stood outside of time entirely. An influential school of thought was that of scholasticism , which

3094-484: The valuation of pure pleasure in Bentham's work, Mill divided pleasures into higher and lower kinds. Logic began a period of its most significant advances since the inception of the discipline, as increasing mathematical precision opened entire fields of inference to formalization in the work of George Boole and Gottlob Frege . Other philosophers who initiated lines of thought that would continue to shape philosophy into

3185-592: The 17th century, in figures such as Francisco Suárez and John of St. Thomas . During the Middle Ages, Western philosophy was also influenced by the Jewish philosophers Maimonides and Gersonides ; and the Muslim philosophers Alkindus , Alfarabi , Alhazen , Avicenna , Algazel , Avempace , Abubacer , and Averroes . The Renaissance ("rebirth") was a period of transition between the Middle Ages and modern thought, in which

3276-589: The 20th century include: Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that began in the United States around 1870. It asserts that the truth of beliefs consists in their usefulness and efficacy rather than their correspondence with reality. Charles Sanders Peirce and William James were its co-founders and it was later modified by John Dewey as instrumentalism . Since the usefulness of any belief at any time might be contingent on circumstance, Peirce and James conceptualized final truth as something established only by

3367-438: The Form may be attributed to the idea that Plato did not have a systematic definition of the Form itself. Plato's writings on the meaning of virtue and justice permeate through the Western philosophical tradition. Plotinus , the founder of neoplatonism , had principles that were heavily influenced by the Good. His concept of 'the One' is equivalent to 'the Good' because it describes an ultimate ontological truth. 'The One'

3458-453: The Form of the Good. Aristotle discusses the Forms of Good in critical terms several times in both of his major surviving ethical works, the Eudemian and Nicomachean Ethics . Aristotle argues that Plato's Form of the Good does not apply to the physical world, for Plato does not assign "goodness" to anything in the existing world. Because Plato's Form of the Good does not explain events in

3549-468: The Good is self-contradictory. Ferber claimed that Plato's Form of the Good could be simultaneously defined and unknown, and be in a state of both "being" and "not being". Plato's Forms are also critiqued for being treated as the reason for all things, as opposed to being an essence in itself. Some scholars also believe that Plato intended the Form to be the essence of which things come into existence. These different interpretations of Plato's intention for

3640-406: The Good through the idea of One allows scholars to explain how Plato's Form of the Good relates to the physical world. According to this philosophy, in order for an object to belong to the Form of the Good, it must be One and have the proper harmony, uniformity, and order to be in its proper form. Philosopher Rafael Ferber dismissed Aristotle's view that the 'Good' is 'One' and wrote that the Form of

3731-539: The Great 's army where Pyrrho was influenced by Buddhist teachings, most particularly the three marks of existence . After returning to Greece, Pyrrho started a new school of philosophy, Pyrrhonism , which taught that it is one's opinions about non-evident matters (i.e., dogma ) that prevent one from attaining ataraxia . To bring the mind to ataraxia , Pyrrhonism uses epoché ( suspension of judgment ) regarding all non-evident propositions. After Arcesilaus became head of

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3822-566: The Pithia's claim. Socrates developed a critical approach, now called the Socratic method , to examine people's views. He focused on issues of human life: eudaimonia , justice , beauty , truth , and virtue . Although Socrates wrote nothing himself, two of his disciples, Plato and Xenophon , wrote about some of his conversations, although Plato also deployed Socrates as a fictional character in some of his dialogues. These Socratic dialogues display

3913-661: The Socratic method being applied to examine philosophical problems. Socrates's questioning earned him enemies who eventually accused him of impiety and corrupting the youth. For this, he was tried by the Athenian democracy, was found guilty, and was sentenced to death. Although his friends offered to help him escape from prison, Socrates chose to remain in Athens and abide by his principles. His execution consisted of drinking poison hemlock . He died in 399 BCE. After Socrates' death, Plato founded

4004-422: The academy, he adopted skepticism as a central tenet of Platonism , making Platonism nearly the same as Pyrrhonism . After Arcesilaus, Academic skepticism diverged from Pyrrhonism. The Academic skeptics did not doubt the existence of truth ; they just doubted that humans had the capacities for obtaining it. They based this position on Plato's Phaedo , sections 64–67, in which Socrates discusses how knowledge

4095-427: The accessibility of the former, arguing that it could in fact be accessed. The experience of will was how this reality was accessible, with the will underlying the whole of nature, with everything else being appearance. Whereas he believed the frustration of this will was the cause of suffering, Friedrich Nietzsche thought that the will to power was empowering, leading to growth and expansion, and therefore forming

4186-451: The avoidance of pain" as the ultimate goal of life, but noted that "We do not mean the pleasures of the prodigal or of sensuality . . . we mean the absence of pain in the body and trouble in the mind". This brought hedonism back to the search for ataraxia . Another important strand of thought in post-Classical Western thought was the question of skepticism . Pyrrho of Elis , a Democritean philosopher, traveled to India with Alexander

4277-434: The basis of ethics. Jeremy Bentham established utilitarianism, which was a consequentialist ethic based on 'the greatest happiness for the greatest number', an idea taken from Cesare Beccaria . He believed that any act could be measured by its value in this regard through the application of felicific calculus . His associate James Mill's son John Stuart Mill subsequently took up his thought. However, in contrast to

4368-452: The battle in question may also be a more minor skirmish with an unknown date. Glaucon and Plato belonged to Socrates ' circle of wealthy young students. Although little is known about Glaucon's life, some information can be gleaned from his brother's writings and from later Platonic biographers. Much of what we know about Glaucon comes from Plato's works, particularly the Republic, where he

4459-512: The body, the implications of the new natural sciences for traditional theological topics such as free will and God, and the emergence of a secular basis for moral and political philosophy. These trends first distinctively coalesce in Francis Bacon 's call for a new, empirical program for expanding knowledge, and soon found massively influential form in the mechanical physics and rationalist metaphysics of René Descartes . Descartes's epistemology

4550-539: The coast of Ionia, later lived in Croton in southern Italy ( Magna Graecia ). Pythagoreans hold that "all is number", giving formal accounts in contrast to the previous material of the Ionians. The discovery of consonant intervals in music by the group enabled the concept of harmony to be established in philosophy, which suggested that opposites could together give rise to new things. They also believed in metempsychosis ,

4641-421: The concept of apatheia to personal circumstances rather than social norms, and switched shameless flouting of the latter for a resolute fulfillment of social duties. The ideal of 'living in accordance with nature' also continued, with this being seen as the way to eudaimonia, which in this case was identified as the freedom from fears and desires and required choosing how to respond to external circumstances, as

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4732-487: The core tenets of German idealism after the demise of British idealism. However, quite a few have embraced Hegelian dialectic, most notably Frankfurt School critical theorists , Alexandre Kojève , Jean-Paul Sartre (in his Critique of Dialectical Reason ), and Slavoj Žižek . A central theme of German idealism, the legitimacy of Kant's " Copernican revolution ", remains an important point of contention in 21st-century post-continental philosophy . Late modern philosophy

4823-655: The emergence of new philosophies, including Pyrrhonism , Epicureanism , Stoicism , and Neopythagoreanism . Platonism also continued but came under new interpretations, particularly Academic skepticism in the Hellenistic period and Neoplatonism in the Imperial period. The traditions of Greek philosophy heavily influenced Roman philosophy. In Imperial times, Epicureanism and Stoicism were particularly popular. The various schools of philosophy proposed various and conflicting methods for attaining eudaimonia . For some schools, it

4914-493: The end of the lecture Plato said to those hearers who remained: 'The Good is the One". Glaucon Glaucon ( / ˈ ɡ l ɔː k ɒ n / ; Greek : Γλαύκων ; c. 445 BC – 4th century BC), son of Ariston , was an ancient Athenian and Plato 's older brother. He is primarily known as a major conversant with Socrates in the Republic . According to Debra Nails , two major facts about Glaucon's life can be ascertained from

5005-860: The essence being a combination of matter and form, similar to the Aristotelian view. For humans, the soul is the essence. Also influenced by Plato, he saw the soul as unchangeable and independent of the body. Other Western philosophers from the Middle Ages include John Scotus Eriugena , Gilbert de la Porrée , Peter Lombard , Hildegard of Bingen , Albertus Magnus , Robert Grosseteste , Roger Bacon , Bonaventure , Peter John Olivi , Mechthild of Magdeburg , Robert Kilwardby , Henry of Ghent , Duns Scotus , Marguerite Porete , Dante Alighieri , Marsilius of Padua , William of Ockham , Jean Buridan , Nicholas of Autrecourt , Meister Eckhart , Catherine of Siena , Jean Gerson , and John Wycliffe . The medieval tradition of scholasticism continued to flourish as late as

5096-430: The father of Thomism , was immensely influential in medieval Christendom . He was influenced by newly discovered Aristotle , and aimed to reconcile his philosophy with Christian theology . Aiming to develop an understanding of the soul , he was led to consider metaphysical questions of substance , matter, form, and change. He defined a material substance as the combination of an essence and accidental features, with

5187-499: The forces of Love and Strife, creating the mixtures of elements which form the world. Another view of the arche being acted upon by an external force was presented by his older contemporary Anaxagoras , who claimed that nous , the mind , was responsible for that. Leucippus and Democritus proposed atomism as an explanation for the fundamental nature of the universe. Jonathan Barnes called atomism "the culmination of early Greek thought". In addition to these philosophers,

5278-451: The future except the joy of experiencing them", others that we desire for themselves and for their advantages (such as sight and intelligence) and still others that in themselves are less than desirable or cost us effort, but which we are happy to possess for the consequences they have (such as being treated in case of illness or doing gymnastics). This classification is used by Glaucon to introduce his argument, according to which justice, for

5369-432: The future, final settlement of all opinion. Pragmatism attempted to find a scientific concept of truth that does not depend on personal insight (revelation) or reference to some metaphysical realm. It interpreted the meaning of a statement by the effect its acceptance would have on practice. Inquiry taken far enough is thus the only path to truth. For Peirce commitment to inquiry was essential to truth-finding, implied by

5460-481: The good, but no one can hope to do this successfully without philosophical reasoning. According to Plato, true knowledge is conversant, not about those material objects and imperfect intelligences which we meet within our daily interactions with all mankind, but rather it investigates the nature of those purer and more perfect patterns which are the models after which all created beings are formed. Plato supposes these perfect types to exist from all eternity and calls them

5551-421: The idea and hope that inquiry is not fruitless. The interpretation of these principles has been subject to discussion ever since. Peirce's maxim of pragmatism is, "Consider what effects, which might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the object of our conception to have. Then, our conception of these effects is the whole of our conception of the object." Critics accused pragmatism falling victim to

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5642-407: The ideas of Platonism through the lens of Plotinus. Amphis, a comic playwright of Athens, has one of his characters say: "And as for the good that you are likely to get on her account, I know no more about it, master, than I do of the good of Plato." There is an ancient anecdotal tradition that Plato gave a public lecture entitled "On the Good" which so confused the audience that most walked out. At

5733-405: The individual to be good, Plato's Form of the Good is not applicable to human ethics since there is no defined method for which goodness can be pursued. Through Socrates in The Republic , Plato acknowledges the Form of the Good as an elusive concept and proposes that the Form of the Good be accepted as a hypothesis, rather than criticized for its weaknesses. According to Socrates in The Republic ,

5824-468: The late 18th and early 19th centuries. It developed out of the work of Immanuel Kant in the 1780s and 1790s. Transcendental idealism , advocated by Immanuel Kant, is the view that there are limits on what can be understood since there is much that cannot be brought under the conditions of objective judgment. Kant wrote his Critique of Pure Reason (1781) in an attempt to reconcile the conflicting approaches of rationalism and empiricism, and to establish

5915-605: The latter focusing on issues of epistemology, ethics, law and politics (more common in the English-speaking world). German philosophy exercised broad influence in this century, owing in part to the dominance of the German university system. German idealists , such as Johann Gottlieb Fichte , Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling , Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel , and the members of Jena Romanticism ( Friedrich Hölderlin , Novalis , and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel ), transformed

6006-532: The majority of people, belongs to the last category of goods, because in itself it should be avoided, but it is necessary to have money and a good reputation. At this point, Glaucon manifests his desire to reinforce Thrasymachus ' thesis (justice as the benefit of the strongest), refuted by Socrates in an unsatisfactory way in his opinion, building a genesis of justice that is complementary to it. According to some interpretations, Glaucon chooses to support Thrasymachus's thesis only to spur Socrates to defend justice in

6097-421: The medieval interest in metaphysics and logic, the humanists followed Petrarch in making humanity and its virtues the focus of philosophy. At the point of passage from Renaissance into early/classical modern philosophy, the dialogue was used as a primary style of writing by Renaissance philosophers, such as Giordano Bruno . The dividing line between what is classified as Renaissance versus modern philosophy

6188-516: The mind gave people the perception of cause and effect . Many other contributors were philosophers, scientists, medical doctors, and politicians. A short list includes Galileo Galilei , Pierre Gassendi , Blaise Pascal , Nicolas Malebranche , Antonie van Leeuwenhoek , Christiaan Huygens , Isaac Newton , Christian Wolff , Montesquieu , Pierre Bayle , Thomas Reid , Jean le Rond d'Alembert and Adam Smith . German idealism emerged in Germany in

6279-452: The nature and origin of the universe, while rejecting unargued fables in place for argued theory, i.e., dogma superseded reason, albeit in a rudimentary form. They were specifically interested in the arche (the cause or first principle) of the world. The first recognized philosopher, Thales of Miletus (born c.  625 BCE in Ionia ) identified water as the arche (claiming "all

6370-450: The need to address theological problems and to integrate the then-widespread sacred doctrines of Abrahamic religion ( Judaism , Christianity , and Islam ) with secular learning. Some problems discussed throughout this period are the relation of faith to reason , the existence and unity of God , the object of theology and metaphysics , the problems of knowledge, of universals, and of individuation. A prominent figure of this period

6461-409: The need to find a route from the private world of consciousness to the externally existing reality was widely accepted until the 20th century. A major issue for his thought remained in the mind–body problem , however. One solution to the problem was presented by Baruch Spinoza , who argued that the mind and the body are one substance . This was based on his view that God and the universe are one and

6552-407: The only alternative to accepting a hypothesis is to refute all the objections against it, which is counterproductive in the process of contemplation. Aristotle along with other scholars sees the Form of the Good as synonymous with the idea of One. Plato claims that Good is the highest Form, and that all objects aspire to be good. Since Plato does not define good things, interpreting Plato's Form of

6643-454: The opportunities for the pursuit of reason and virtue through leisure, learning, and contemplation. Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great , who conquered much of the ancient Western world. Hellenization and Aristotelian philosophy have exercised considerable influence on almost all subsequent Western and Middle Eastern philosophers . The Hellenistic and Roman Imperial periods saw the continuation of Aristotelianism and Cynicism , and

6734-409: The physical world, humans have no reason to believe that the Form of the Good exists and the Form of the Good is thereby irrelevant to human ethics. Plato's Form of the Good is often criticized as too general. Plato's Form of the Good does not define things in the physical world that are good, and therefore lacks connectedness to reality. Because Plato's Form of the Good lacks instruction, or ways for

6825-510: The quality of life was seen as based on one's beliefs about it. An alternative view was presented by the Cyrenaics and the Epicureans . The Cyrenaics were hedonists and believed that pleasure was the supreme good in life, especially physical pleasure, which they thought more intense and more desirable than mental pleasures. The followers of Epicurus also identified "the pursuit of pleasure and

6916-399: The rationalists had believed that knowledge came from a priori reasoning, the empiricists had argued that it came from a posteriori sensory experience, Kant aimed to reconcile these views by arguing that the mind uses a priori understanding to interpret the a posteriori experiences. He had been inspired to take this approach by the philosophy of Hume, who argued that the mechanisms of

7007-478: The recovery of ancient Greek philosophical texts helped shift philosophical interests away from technical studies in logic, metaphysics, and theology towards eclectic inquiries into morality, philology, and mysticism. The study of the classics and the humane arts generally, such as history and literature, enjoyed a scholarly interest hitherto unknown in Christendom, a tendency referred to as humanism . Displacing

7098-471: The same, encompassing the totality of existence. In the other extreme, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz , argued instead that the world was composed of numerous individual substances, called monads . Together, Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz are considered influential early rationalists . In contrast to Descartes, Thomas Hobbes was a materialist who believed that everything was physical, and an empiricist who thought that all knowledge comes from sensation which

7189-650: The time, while Antiphon made the claim that conventional morality should only be followed when in society. The Classical period of ancient Greek philosophy centers on Socrates and the two generations of students who followed. Socrates experienced a life-changing event when his friend, Chaerephon visited the Oracle of Delphi where the Pythia told him that no one in Athens was wiser than Socrates . Learning of this, Socrates subsequently spent much of his life questioning anyone in Athens who would engage him, in order to investigate

7280-501: The transmigration of souls, or reincarnation . Parmenides argued that, unlike the other philosophers who believed the arche was transformed into multiple things, the world must be singular, unchanging and eternal, while anything suggesting the contrary was an illusion. Zeno of Elea formulated his famous paradoxes in order to support Parmenides' views about the illusion of plurality and change (in terms of motion), by demonstrating them to be impossible. An alternative explanation

7371-585: The universe has a singular cause which must therefore be a single mind. As such, Neoplatonism become essentially a religion , and had much impact on later Christian thought . Medieval philosophy roughly extends from the Christianization of the Roman Empire until the Renaissance. It is defined partly by the rediscovery and further development of classical Greek and Hellenistic philosophy , and partly by

7462-504: The work of Kant by maintaining that the world is constituted by a rational or mind-like process, and as such is entirely knowable. Hegel argued that history was the dialectical journey of the Geist (universal mind) towards self-fulfilment and self-realization. The Geist's self-awareness is absolute knowledge, which itself brings complete freedom. His philosophy was based on absolute idealism , with reality itself being mental. His legacy

7553-534: The world existing as a result of being perceived . In contrast, the Cambridge Platonists continued to represent rationalism in Britain. In terms of political philosophy, arguments often started from arguing over the first principles of human nature through the thought experiment of what the world would look like without society, a scenario referred to as the state of nature . Hobbes believed that this would be

7644-477: Was Augustine of Hippo , one of the most important Church Fathers in Western Christianity . Augustine adopted Plato's thought and Christianized it. His influence dominated medieval philosophy perhaps up to the end of era and the rediscovery of Aristotle's texts. Augustinianism was the preferred starting point for most philosophers up until the 13th century. Among the issues his philosophy touched upon were

7735-425: Was based on a method called Cartesian doubt , whereby only the most certain belief could act as the foundation for further inquiry, with each step to further ideas being as cautious and clear as possible. This led him to his famous maxim cogito ergo sum ('I think, therefore I exist'), though similar arguments had been made by earlier philosophers. This became foundational for much of further Western philosophy, as

7826-456: Was divided between the conservative Right Hegelians and radical Young Hegelians , with the latter including David Strauss and Ludwig Feuerbach . Feuerbach argued for a materialist conception of Hegel's thought, inspiring Karl Marx . Arthur Schopenhauer was inspired by Kant and Indian philosophy . Accepting Kant's division of the world into the noumenal (the real) and phenomenal (the apparent) realities, he, nevertheless, disagreed on

7917-457: Was presented by Heraclitus , who claimed that everything was in flux all the time , famously pointing out that one could not step into the same river twice. Empedocles may have been an associate of both Parmenides and the Pythagoreans. He claimed the arche was in fact composed of multiple sources, giving rise to the model of the four classical elements . These in turn were acted upon by

8008-420: Was relevant to the particular ways of life themselves" which is the form of the Good. This form is the basis for understanding all other forms; it is what allows us to understand everything else. Through the conversation between Socrates and Glaucon (508 a–c), Plato analogizes the form of the Good with the sun as it is what allows us to see things. Here, Plato describes how the sun allows for sight. But he makes

8099-437: Was the first type of logic to attempt to categorize every valid syllogism . His epistemology comprised an early form of empiricism . Aristotle criticized Plato's metaphysics as being poetic metaphor, with its greatest failing being the lack of an explanation for change . Aristotle proposed the four causes model to explain change – material, efficient, formal, and final – all of which were grounded on what Aristotle termed

8190-541: Was through internal means, such as calmness, ataraxia (ἀταραξία), or indifference, apatheia (ἀπάθεια), which was possibly caused by the increased insecurity of the era. The aim of the Cynics was to live according to nature and against convention with courage and self-control. This was directly inspiring to the founder of Stoicism , Zeno of Citium , who took up the Cynic ideals of steadfastness and self-discipline, but applied

8281-498: Was to correctly finish their job. Hegel asserts that the twin aims of philosophy are to account for the contradictions apparent in human experience (which arise, for instance, out of the supposed contradictions between "being" and "not being"), and also simultaneously to resolve and preserve these contradictions by showing their compatibility at a higher level of examination ("being" and "not being" are resolved with "becoming"). This program of acceptance and reconciliation of contradictions

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