Group 1: Historical Development of Western Philosophy
– Ancient philosophy encompassed disciplines like mathematics, physics, astronomy, and biology.
– Pre-Socratic philosophers focused on cosmology and the origin of the universe.
– Socrates introduced the Socratic method.
– Plato founded the Platonic Academy and linked virtue with knowledge.
– Aristotle established the Peripatetic school and wrote extensively on various philosophical topics.
– Hellenistic and Roman philosophy spread through Alexander the Great’s conquest.
– Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism, and Neoplatonism were prominent schools during this period.
– Early Christian, Islamic, and Scholastic philosophers integrated Greek philosophy with theology.
– Enlightenment philosophy emphasized reason, empiricism, social contract theory, and utilitarianism.
Group 2: Philosophical Schools and Methods
– Philosophical schools proposed conflicting methods for achieving eudaimonia.
– Cynics aimed to live courageously against convention.
– Stoics focused on living in accordance with nature and personal application of apatheia.
– Cyrenaics and Epicureans centered on pleasure as life’s goal.
– Skepticism evolved through Pyrrhonism, Academic skepticism, Middle Platonism, and Neoplatonism.
– Scholasticism emphasized dialectical reasoning and resolving contradictions.
Group 3: Substance in Philosophy
– Substance combines essence and accidental features.
– Essence comprises matter and form.
– Aristotelian and Platonic views influenced the concept of substance.
– Medieval Western, Jewish, and Muslim philosophers contributed to the development of substance philosophy.
Group 4: Renaissance Humanism
– Renaissance marked a transition from the Middle Ages to modern thought.
– Recovery of ancient Greek texts influenced philosophical ideas.
– Humanism focused on virtues and humanity.
– Petrarch led the shift towards human-centered philosophy.
– Renaissance philosophers favored dialogue as a primary writing style.
Group 5: Modern and Late Modern Philosophy
– Modern philosophy emphasized independence from traditional authorities.
– Key topics included knowledge, metaphysical system-building, and the mind-body relation.
– German Idealism reconciled rationalism and empiricism.
– Late modern philosophy began with Kant’s ‘Critique of Pure Reason’ and saw a divide between Continental and analytic traditions.
– Influential philosophers like Hegel, Nietzsche, and Schopenhauer made significant contributions.
– Late modern philosophy laid the groundwork for 20th-century philosophical thought.
Western philosophy refers to the philosophical thought and work of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of 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").
