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A comprehensive overview of the development of philosophical thought in various traditions and periods. Learn about the main concepts, arguments, and schools of Western, Arabic–Persian, Indian, Chinese, and other philosophies.
4 days ago · Learn about the history of philosophy from ancient to modern times, covering western, Islamic, Indian, and Africana traditions. Listen to interviews with experts, explore philosophical themes, and discover new perspectives on classic texts and thinkers.
Philosophy is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind, and language. It originated in Ancient Greece and covers various subfields, such as epistemology, ethics, logic, and metaphysics.
- Historical Overview
- Philosophy in Egypt & Mesopotamia
- Indian Philosophy
- Persian Philosophy
- Chinese Philosophy
- Greek Philosophy
- Branches of Philosophy
- Conclusion
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A philosophical system may develop independently but usually is a response to religion; when religion fails to fully answer a people's questions or address their needs, the people turn to philosophy. People's existential questions traditionally have been answered by the development of religious systems which assured them of the existence of superna...
The earliest philosophical system seems to have developed in Egypt as a response to the religious vision of a paradise after death known as the Field of Reeds, a mirror image of one's life on earth, where the souls of the justified dead would live eternally. The question which seems to have inspired Egyptianphilosophy is how one should live in orde...
In India, philosophy developed in response to the Vedas, the scriptures of Hinduism (known as Sanatan Dharma, “Eternal Order”, to adherents), in the form of the Upanishads (the earliest written c. 800-500 BCE). The Vedas were understood as the emanations of the Universe, the literal words of God, and the Upanishadswere composed to clarify and expla...
Persian philosophy was almost certainly already developed before c. 1500 BCE as evidenced by the Avesta (Zoroastrian scriptures) which draws on concepts from the polytheistic Early Iranian Religion. Zoroaster conceived of a new religious paradigm of a single god, Ahura Mazda, creator and sustainer of the universe, whose supernatural adversary was A...
The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in China were times of chaos as the Zhou Dynasty was declining, and Chinese philosophy was developed in response to this disorder. The early texts of Confucianism are thought to have been composed during the Zhou Dynasty and later developed by the sage Confucius (l. 551-479 BCE). Confuciani...
Greek philosophy began in the 6th century BCE with Thales of Miletus who initiated it with the question “What is the basic 'stuff' of the universe?” (Ancient Philosophy, 8). Thales' inquiry seems an anomaly because of the religious beliefs of his time which seem to have been meeting the needs of the people. Ancient Greek religionheld that the gods ...
The areas of interest of modern-day philosophy apply equally to the East and West but the names by which they are known were developed by the Greeks. Although various schools may break some into sub-sections, the branches of study are: Metaphysics – The Study of Existence, so named for Aristotle's work on the subject. Far from being a definitive te...
Plato attributed the vision of his philosophy to his teacher, Socrates, who wrote nothing himself. Almost all of what is known of Socrates' life and teaching comes from Plato and another of Socrates' students, Xenophon (l. 430 - c. 354 BCE). Whether Plato's work accurately reflects Socrates' teachings is unknown and will never be known, but scholar...
Learn about the definition, development, and history of philosophy from ancient Egypt to modern times. Explore the philosophical systems of different cultures and religions, and how they answered fundamental questions of human existence.
- Joshua J. Mark
4 days ago · Explore the history and branches of philosophy, from Eastern to Western traditions, with Britannica's comprehensive articles and biographies. Learn about the major systems, schools, movements, and philosophers who shaped the development of philosophy.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Feb 18, 2007 · W. H. Walsh’s Philosophy of History (Walsh 1960 [1951]), first published in 1951 and revised in 1960, is an open-minded and well-grounded effort to provide an in-depth presentation of the field that crosses the separation between continental and analytical philosophy.
Aug 9, 2024 · Explore the development of Western philosophy from ancient Greece to the present, with an overview of its main topics, methods, and challenges. Learn about the diverse philosophical traditions, schools, and movements, and their historical and cultural contexts.
