Greek Philosophy

In the 6^th century BCE, Ancient Greek philosophy rose and prolonged throughout the Hellenistic period. During this time the Ancient Greece was incorporated in the Roman Empire. There are a variety of subjects that are dealt seriously by the Ancient Greek philosophy namely metaphysics, ontology, rhetoric, aesthetics, political philosophy, and rhetoric.

Philosophers of today admit that much of the western thought has been influenced by the Greek philosophy. As noted by Alfred Whitehead Western philosophy is just a series of footnotes. Though it is considered as an exaggeration, it is true to some point.

Reckoning the formation of the Greek philosophy, many philosophers claim that it is influenced by the older mythological cosmogonies and the older wisdom literature. The oriental cosmology and theology is said to be the main source for the liberation of the early Greek philosophers’ imagination. The massive suggestive ideas of it were very much appreciated.

The main focus of the Greek philosophy was the role of reason and inquiry. This philosophy lead to the modern philosophy and modern science. The early Muslim philosophy and the early Greek philosophy lead to the Enlightenment and the modern day’s secular sciences.

In the West the history of philosophy has begun from the Greeks and particularly with the pre-Socratics philosophers. The occurrence of rumblings in the other pre-philosophy in Babylonian and the Egyptian cultures had contacts with this philosophy. The difference the Greek thinkers made is that there would be atleast one element that is different from the other philosophies that are formed before the Greek Philosophy.

Those philosophers who were before Socrates named pre-Socratics have gained importance with 1903 publication of Hermann Diel’s. Though the term has not originated with him, the term is considered more useful philosophically which in a later stage came to be known as the Athenian school. There has been a shift in the subject matter and the philosophical methods which was signaled by the Athenian school. The thesis by Friedrich Nietzsche was not strong enough to prevent the rise of the phrase pre-Socratic philosophy.

Though the cosmologies that were proposed by the early Greek philosophers are demonstrably false, the importance of these cosmologies can never be hidden. Even though the philosopher of the later period rejected the answers of the early Greek philosophers they cannot escape these questions.

Questions like:  What life is. Where does everything come from? What does it consist? How can the plurality of things be explained? Why can we describe them with a singular mathematics?

Questions:

• What is the main focus of Greek philosophy?
• What are the questions by the old Greek philosophers?