Ancient philosophy

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato played an important role in laying the foundations of western philosophy, science, and mathematics. His greatest concern was political philosophy. He believed that political problems could not be solved through the opinions of ordinary people. Through his works such as The Republic and The Apology, Plato states his beliefs that the philosophers should be the ultimate rulers and that democracy is not the best form of government. According to Plato, democracy…

Philosophy seems to me to break down the world, ridding it of its mundane features and delving beneath to tackle the problems, which, although extremely complex and intricate, are those most fundamental at the heart of our existence. From my wider reading, it is evident that some philosophical discussions change and evolve with time, whilst others do not currently, and may never, find themselves satisfied solely with scientific discoveries and theories. It the philosopher’s role to analyse the…

Aristotle was a synoptic thinker with an over-arching theory that tied together all aspects and fields of philosophy. He elaborates a logic that is designed to describe what exists in the world. Ancient commentators regarded logic as a widely applicable method for careful thinking. They grouped Aristotles six logical treatises into a sort of manual they called the Organon (Greek for “tool””). The Organon…

together they had entered the Stanza della Segnatura library of Pope Julius II. On opposite walls they would have seen two contrasting fresco masterpieces of the young Renaissance painter Raphael: “The School of Athens” representing the discipline of philosophy and “La Disputa” representing the theme of theology. Their first impression would be that “The School of Athens” vividly symbolizes an embodiment of Renaissance values in an incompatible…

“Introduction to Philosophy” course what Philosophy was, I would have formulated my answer to be somewhere along the lines of “It is..ya’ know… the questioning of everything?” and would have tried to promptly change the subject as I actually did not have any idea as to what the subject of Philosophy actually encompassed. However, now after the course’s completion, I have not only acquired greater understanding, but I have also gained much interest on this “Subject-of-All-Subjects”. I give…

To begin with the ancient times, various scholars and philosophers around the world were critically observing the liberty issue. This question or issue even became complicated with the advent of initial states and cities since it became evident that limits of freedom must be precisely defined using a legal framework. These philosophers include Plato who was born in Athens around 427 B. C, and who is also known to be the first philosopher to commit his life to the philosopher of attempting to…

Epictetus is a Greek stoic philosopher who was born as a slave. However, since he got a great chance to study stoic philosophy under Musonius Rufus, he became free from the slave. He later even established a school in Nicopolis in Epirus(Brown). Like Jesus, Epictetus wrote nothing, but his teaching wrote down and published by his disciples in The Enchiridion. Epictetus taught that philosophy is a way of life and not just a theoretical discipline. To Epictetus, all external events are beyond…

Consolation of Philosophy; themes of happiness, virtue, religion and fortune are investigated further to explain the relation of each in a political arena. In The Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius deals with the universal experience of suffering. He is imprisoned and facing execution. Boethius blames fortune for the reason of his suffering, “Surely the severity of Fortune’s attack on me needs no further mention” (pg. 9). While Boethius is imprisoned, he gets a visit from Lady Philosophy in…

Atheistic naturalism (Secular Humanism) is the belief system that has it's roots in pagan philosophy in the ancient world, and today's modern philosophy. It is a philosophical belief that sense experience is all we can know about the world. It is a closed system, similar to a closed room without windows or doors. Nothing can penetrate or escape from the closed room. There…

immoral and a nihilist who condemns Christianity, in addition to believing that existence has no actual meaning. As one of the foremost existentialist theorists, Friedrich Nietzsche revolutionized philosophy because of his nontraditional interpretations and criticisms of theology, existence, morals, and philosophy during a time that valued these…