Philosophy

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Philosophy Philosophy started when human beings started to ask questions, about how and what things are actually, due to curiosity. The things that caused these questions to come about were the people started to realize that everything isn’t exactly what it appears to be. Philosophy started in the town of Miletus, many early philosophers came from here. The philosophers started their work around 585 B.C. Thales, one of the early Miletus philosophers, left no writings behind, all we know about him is memorable incidents recorded by later writers. He lived between 624 and 546 B.C. His unique contributions to thought was he believed that even though there are differences between various things there is a basic similarity between them all. He thought that some single element, that contained its own principle of action or change, lay at the foundation of all physical reality. This element being water. Another Miletus philosopher and also a pupil of Thales was Anaximander. Anaximander believed also about some thing at the foundation of all physical reality, but he didn’t believe it was water or any specific element. He thought the primary substance that all things come is an indefinite and boundless realm. He differentiates things from their origin by the indeterminate boundless. The last Miletus philosopher was Anaximenes, he was an associate of Anaximander. Anaximenes wasn’t satisfied with the thought of the boundless being the source of all things, he thought this was too vague. He combined Thales belief of a definite substance and Anaximander’s concept of the boundless in continued motion. Anaximenes declared air as the primary substance from which all things come. The Miletus philosophers did raise questi... ... middle of paper ... ...ion of philosophy, they were the Epicureans, the Stoics, the Skeptics, and the Neoplationists. Unlike their predecessors, who tried to fit individuals into large social and political organizations, the new groups taught people to think of themselves and how and individual could have the most satisfactory personal life. They were, on the other hand, influenced by the old philosophers. Epicurus relied upon Democritus for his atomic theory of nature, the Stoics made use of a fiery substance permeating all things, the Skeptics built a method of inquiry upon the Socratic form of doubt, and Plotinus drew heavily upon Plato. This ancient period of philosophy shaped the philosophic mind. Many theories were conceived by many great men and most just added on to an original notion. This period also had three of the greatest thinkers ever, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

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