Notes on the History of Philosophy
*The history of Philosophy form Thales to the Contemporary era shows us the ideas that
became the foundation of the ideas that most philosophers follow now. The history of
philosophy has a wide range of ideas from “where did the world began?” to the questions of
technology today. From Ancient times, different questions emerged and most of them still
remains unanswered…
*The ancient times is mostly concerned about the beginnings of the universe, the reason why
most historians in Philosophy call this as the COSMOLOGICAL ERA (Cosmo-centric).
Cosmos () – universe
Thales – most historians consider him as the first man who philosophized about the world.
- Thales is regarded with his argument that the world came from water…
Anaximander – he argued that the world is made of the “apeiron” () or “the
boundless”.
Anaximenes – he proposed that “air” is the first cause of everything.
*Philosophy developed from the Milesian school of thought then at around 470 BC Socrates
founded the Socratic thought in Athens.
Socrates – is considered as the father of Western Philosophy and many also regard him as the
father of the Western World.
Plato – is a follower/disciple of Socrates who wrote about the teachings of Socrates.
- He is as well known to be the Father of Metaphysics and the founder of many
Political Philosophies that we follow until now.
- Founder of the “academia”.
Aristotle – a student of Plato. He founded the “Lyceum” in Athens.
- Aristotle is regarded as the father of modern science since his Philosophy is
considered as the foundation of scientific thoughts. He also influenced many notable
Philosophers like St. Thomas Aquinas, Paul Ricoeur, etc.
*As thoughts developed from the beginnings of the world, man began to realize that there may
be a higher entity that exist i.e., we call GOD. Hence the shift of ideas from Ancient to Medieval
was realized because Religion became the central part of man’s thought. The reason why the
Medieval era is called as the THEOLOGICAL ERA (THEO-CENTRIC).
Theos () – God
Notable Philosophers during this Era:
St. Augustine of Hippo
St. Thomas Aquinas
John Duns Scotus
St. Bonaventure
St. Irenaeus
Etc.
*The modern era tends to go back to the idea of man. Philosophies that emerged during this
era is concerned about MAN – hence called, ANTHROPOLOGICAL ERA.
Anthropos () – Man
Rene Descartes – one of the pioneering philosophers in this era.
- Known for his philosophy on Dualism. He developed the Philosophical method called
UMD (Universal Methodic Doubt).
- Descartes argued that in order arrive at a certainty, one must doubt everything…
Notable Philosophers:
John Locke
Friedrich Nietzsche
Etc.
*The contemporary era is where all philosophies combined and ideas from different thoughts
emerged. Some call this as the Post-modern era and regarded as ECCENTRIC/ECLECTIC.
To Summarize:
Ancient = Cosmological (concerned mainly about the universe)
Medieval = Theological (Concerned mainly about God)
Modern = Anthropological (Concerned mainly on Man)
Post-Modern = Eclectic/Eccentric (basically, concerned of everything)