Socrates to the
Hellenistic Era

General Themes

• Order in and of the universe
• The role of reason
• What we can know of the universe and its order
• Our place/purpose in the world
• The divine

Pre-Philosophy Era

Themes

• Social order supported by religion and myth
• Order imposed by humans on themselves
• Cosmos explained through anthropomorphic and supernatural

Pre-Socratic Era

Time

• Thales (c. 624 - 546 BCE) to Democritus (c. 460 - 370 BCE)

Schools of Thought

• Milesians
• Eleatics
• Ephesian (Heraclitus of Ephesus)
• Pythagoreanism
• Pluralism
• Atomism
• Sophism

Themes

• Naturalism and rejection of mythology
• Organizing principles are universal, rational, and knowable by humans
• Development of a critical method for discovering truth

Socratic Era

Time

• Socrates (c. 470-399 BCE)
• Antisthenes (c. 445 - 365 B.C.)
• Plato (c. 429-347 BCE)
• Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
• Diogenes of Synope (412-323 BCE)
• Aristotle (384-322 BCE)

Schools of Thought

• Platonism
• Aristotelianism
• Cynicism
• Hedonism

Themes: Socrates

• Philosophy as a way of life
• Expanded rationality of the cosmos to daily life
• Divine realm governed by moral law--the gods are bound by the same moral laws as humans
• Moral laws are unknowable by humans, thus constant self-examination is necessary to avoid hubris

Themes: Plato

• Reality is the eternal unchanging forms, and the material world is a representation (Parmenides)
• The model of reality is mathematical (Pythagoras)
• The human soul should emulate the Good (Socrates)
• Immortality of the soul
• Innate knowledge

Plato's Academy

• Old (Platonism): Plato, Speusippus (347-339 BCE), Xenocrates (339 - 314 BCE), Polemo (314 - 269 BCE), Crates (269 - 266 BCE)

Themes: aristotle

• Systematization of philosophy
• Rational order of the natural world/teleology (biological determinism)
• Prime Mover/divine intellect ("thought thinking itself")
• Happiness/eudaimonia and excellence/arete
• Empiricism

Aristotle's Lyceum

• Aristotle, Theophrastus (322 - 286 BCE), Strato (286 - 268 BCE), Polemo (314 - 269 BCE), Crates (269 - 266 BCE), Lyco of Troas, Aristo of Ceos, Critolaus, Diodorus of Tyre, Erymneus

Cynicism

• Originated by Anisthenes, followed by Diogenes of Sinope
• Live a life of virtue (Socrates)
• Live in harmony with nature/bare essentials
• Social critics
• Declined 3rd century BCE, rose again in Roman empire 1st to 4th centuries AD

Hedonism

• Early hedonism: Cyrenaicism, originated by Aristippus of Cyrene (c. 435 - 360 BCE)
• Sought immediate gratification, bodily pleasures
• Moderate form, Epicureanism, arose 3rd cent. BCE
• Declined in the Middle Ages due to Christianity, revived in Europe in the 17th century

Hellenistic Era

Time

• 3rd Century BCE (deaths of Alexander the Great, 323 BCE, and Aristotle, 322 BCE) to 5th Century AD (fall of Roman empire)
• Pyrrho (c. 360 - 270 BCE)
• Epicurus (341 - 270 BCE)
• Zeno of Citium (334 - 262 BCE)
• Philo of Alexandria (20 BCE - 50 AD) Egyptian-Jewish
• Plotinus (205 - 270) Egyptian-Greek

Time

• Rapid changes after Alexander the Great's death.
• Greek culture was replicated in his empire but never its highest glory. Native cultures struggled with Greek culture and sought refuge in cults, religions, and secret societies.
• Philosophy disengaged from daily life. Focused on ways to live a good life in reaction to circumstances.

Schools of Thought

• Epicureanism
• Stoicism
• Skepticism
• Neoplatonism

Themes: Epicureanism

• Moderate form of hedonism: originated by Epicurus (341 - 270 BCE) in response to indulgences of society
• Maximize pleasure over the long-term, simple life free from pain
• All pleasures are fleeting except wisdom and virtue

Themes: Stoicism

• Originated by Zeno of Citium around 300 BCE
• Self-control to overcome destructive emotions and pain, promote inner peace and clarity
• Wisdom and virtue were highest attainment, based on morality of cynicism
• Requires constant physical and mental training, Socratic dialogue, meditation, contemplation of death

Themes: Skepticism

• Pyrrhonism: avoid making truth claims, certain knowledge is not possible (Pyrrho, later revived by Sextus Empiricus (2nd cent. AD))
• Pyrrhonism: originated by Pyrrho, later revived by Sextus Empiricus (2nd cent. AD)
• Academic: there is inadequate evidence so constant questioning is needed
• Academic: leaders of Plato's Academy 3rd to 1st cent. BCE

Plato's Academy

• Middle (Skepticism): Arcesilaus (265 -243 BCE), Lacydes (242-216 BCE), Evander (205-165 BCE), Hegesinus (c. 160 BCE),
• New (Skepticism): Carneades (155 - 130, Clitomachus (129 - 110 BCE), and Philo (110 - 84 BCE)
• 88 BCE Destroyed
• 410 AD Re-established by Neoplatonists
• 529 AD Closed by Emperor Justinian

Aristotle's Lyceum

• Destroyed 86 BCE
• Re-established 2nd century AD, with heads appointed by Marcus Aurelius
• 529 AD Closed by Emperor Justinian

Themes: Neoplatonism

• Originated in the 3rd century by Plotinus (233-309), from Egypt, wrote in Greek, lived in Rome, influenced by Egyptian, Greek, Persian and Indian teachings
• Monistic religious philosophy
• Influenced St. Augustine and other Christian thinkers

THemes: Plotinus

• One: is, not sentient, cannot act, source of all through constant process of emanation

THemes: Plotinus

• Nous: first emanation from the One, intelligence, thought, divine mind, contemplates the One and its own thoughts and the ideas innate to it (similar to Plato's Forms)

THemes: Plotinus

• Soul: from the Nous, upper aspect maintains contact with the nous so souls can return through it, governs the cosmos & lower aspect governs nature, divides itself into individual human souls

THemes: Plotinus

• Third emanation is the universe (sky, stars, good and evil, matter, human souls
• Matter and the world of the senses is the the lowest and least perfected level of being (matter = evil)
• Human souls exist in the Nous, then are imprisoned in material bodies
• Human souls have two levels of activities, the rational (formation of ideas) and the informative.

THemes: Plotinus

• Human souls recognize the One through the Good or Beauty. Union with the One (ecstasy) is the highest form of knowledge.
• Four kinds of knowledge: sense knowledge, representation of truth; reason cognition, knowledge of the essences of things; intellectual cognition, knowledge of ourselves; and ecstasy.

THemes: Plotinus

• Living an ethical life is a way of upward progression from the world to God, the reverse of the downward flow the emanations.
• Catharsis, purification from matter, through 3 virtues: ethical, opens the door to the contemplative, which reveals the ecstatic, our connection to the One.
• Happiness is beyond the physical, found in the soul, and thus available to anyone.