Thales of Miletos
Empedocles of Acragas
Pythagoras of Samos
Presocratic Philosophy:
Thales
of Miletos (620 - 546 BC)
Water
was the basis of all things
Good understanding of Geometry (the
theorem of Thales)
Astronomy (predicted the total
solar eclipse of 28 May 585 BC, and fixed the solstices)
Anaximander
of Miletos (610-546 BC)
The infinite is the basis of all things. The infinite has no beginning
or end.
Anaxagoras
of Klazomenai (c. 500 -430? BC)
The infinite Mind (nous) created the world by arranging it in order
Anaximenes
of Miletos (6th -5th c.)
He suggested that air was the principle of all things, and was the first
to seek a rational explanation for the soul.
Empedocles
of Acragas (c. 450 BC)
Four elements: earth, water, air, and fire. Love unites them, strife separates
them.
Xenophanes
of Colophon (570-475 BC)
Declared God to be the eternal unity, permeating the universe, and
governing it by his thought
Founder of the Eleatic
School. Other prominent members: Zeno
and Parmenides
Heraclitus
of Ephesus (about 535-475 BCE)
All things are in a perpetual flux. However, this perpetual flux is
structured by logos
He first introduced metaphysical concepts to philosophical research.
Pythagoras
of Samos (582-504 BC)
The world is perfect harmony, dependent on number. He aimed at inducing
humankind likewise to lead a harmonious life. There are remarkable parallels
between Pythagorean doctrine and Christianity. He founded the Pythagorean
School
Raphael's Socrates
Raphael's Plato and Aristotle
The Classical Period
Democritus
of Abdera (460-370 BC)
An influential philosopher often accredited with the Atomic Theory.
Socrates
of Athens (469-399 BC)
The first to apply logical argumentation in his attempt to explain all
things through reason. He always claimed ignorance, rather than knowing
the answers, and tried to come to conclusions through dialogue and reason.
He never wrote anything, but the poor philosopher changed the world
for ever. His ideas were considered to be dangerous and was executed.
Plato of Athens
(428-348 BC)
Student of Socrates, he glorified his teacher in his Dialogues.
Unlike previous philosophers Plato sought answers, and came up with
the Theory
of Ideas. In the Republic
he conceives an
ideal state which was essentially communist and elitist. He was
an excellent author, and probably because of this very influential.
Aristotle
of Stageira (384-322)
Student and close associate of Plato at first, breaks away from his
teacher because he seeks the answers not in another sphere but here,
through a rigorously logical process that would allow general conclusions
from partial observation. He founded logic and taught humanity how to
think and express logically. Thus he is probably the founder of scientific
thinking, even though some of his conclusions were way off the mark.
He saw knowledge as one universal goal, and researched Biology,
Physics, Politics, Ethics, Literary Theory, Metaphysics, Constitutional
Histories, the Soul,
that is a vast field of widely diverse knowledge. His influence has
been tremendous, and in medieval times he was considered to be THE authority.
The Peripatetic School was closely associated to Aristotle. His immediate and perhaps most prominent successor was Theophrastos of Eressos (372 - 287 BC). He wrote philosophical works and poetry as well as books on botany and physics. He also wrote a book on 30 different human characters like the Tactless, the Greedy, the Superstitious et.c.
Chrysippos
Hellenistic and Roman Period
The
Stoics
A very influential and long lasting philosophical movement which begun
in late 4th century Athens, extended well into the Imprerial Era, and
had profound influence upon Christian Theology and Dogma. The Stoics believed
in a force that pervades the entire universe and makes it alive (Logos),
and much of their teachings evolved around a moral lifestyle. Prominent
Representatives are Chrysippos
of Soli, Zeno
of Elea, Cleanthes
of Assos, Epictetus
of Hierapolis, and the Roman Emperor Marcus
Aurelius.
Epicurus
An influential school founded upon the teachings of Epicurus of Samos. He did not feel that virtue was a good in itself, worthy of devotion because of its superior qualities. He never looked deeply into the question of virtue's great, even divine, qualities. Rather he recommended focusing on living a virtuous life because it was able to produce pleasure--freedom from pain. It was in the ability to produce pleasure that virtue achieved its worth. Virtue was not the highest good. It was merely the means to the highest good, which was pleasure. A prominent follower of the teachings of the school was the Roman poet Titus Lucretius Carus.
Diogenes the Cynic
The school was founded by Antisthenes (c. 445-365 BCE), a follower of Socrates. The Cynics believed that living a virtuous life, which they also identified with living according to nature, is necessary and sufficient for attaining happiness. They disdained conventional values, such as wealth and social status, which they thought were opposed to living according to nature. The Cynics were never a well-organized philosophical school; Cynicism was more a way of life than a philosophical system. Many of their key doctrines were incorporated into Stoicism.
Carneades
School founded by Pyrrho of Elis (about 365-275 BC). Pyrrho disputes the possibility of attaining truth by sensory apprehension, reason, or the two combined, and thence infers the necessity of total suspension of judgment on things. Thus can we attain release from all bondage to theories, a condition which is followed, like a shadow, by that imperturbable state of mind which is the foundation of true happiness.
Plotinus
The closing period of Greek philosophy is marked in the third century CE. by the establishment of Neoplatonism in Rome. Its founder was Plotinus of Lycopolis (205-270) and its emphasis is a scientific philosophy of religion, in which the doctrine of Plato is fused with the most important elements in the Aristotelian and Stoic systems and with Eastern speculations. At the summit of existences stands the One or the Good, as the source of all things. Nature is a whole, endowed with life and soul. Their teachings had profound influence upon Christian theology. Other prominent representatives are Proclus and Porphyry.
http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/g/greekphi.htm#Presocratics
A good introductory site
http://graduate.gradsch.uga.edu/archive/Greek.html
Contains links to English Translations of important Greek texts