A Concise Introduction to Western Philosophy

Author: Chief Editor: Ye Zhou
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1995-10-01
Features:
Fragment: Philosophy and religion are closely related. In the early stages, philosophy and religion were not opposed to each other; philosophy emerged and developed from primitive religion. The myths and legends in primitive religion about the origin of the universe, the immortality of the soul, and the struggles among gods were also the main issues faced by philosophy. Philosophy cannot be separated from science. The civilizations of the Western Asia Tigris-Euphrates region achieved remarkable accomplishments in astronomy and mathematics, and held advanced positions in architecture, medicine, navigation, and textile industries. Egypt's astronomy, geometry, and craftsmanship were also highly developed. The Greeks not only accepted these scientific achievements but also were not limited by these specific knowledge. Building upon this scientific knowledge, they further proposed the abstract and general philosophical question of "why," began to explain the world using abstract concepts, reasoning, and arguments, and thus created philosophy. Philosophy is a product of the development of human abstract and reasoning abilities to a certain stage. However, at the beginning of its establishment, philosophy's relationship with religion and science was still unclear, with the three intertwined, complementing each other, and lacking strict classification and boundaries. The separation of philosophy from science was not finalized until the time of Aristotle, and the complete separation from religion was not achieved until modern philosophy. Philosophy is a product of human active thinking. Humans are rational beings who are not only satisfied with understanding everything that already exists around them but also explore abstract questions such as why they exist, how they exist, where they come from, and what their essence is. They also hope to answer these questions using concepts and reasoning to achieve general understanding. Philosophy is the active and positive outcome of such creative labor and advanced mental activity. Historically, Greek and Roman philosophy can be divided into the following four developmental stages:
1. Early Greek Philosophy (7th–6th centuries BC), mainly including the Milesian School, the Pythagorean School, the Heraclitean and Eleatic School, and the early atomic theory school.
2. Philosophy of the Sophists, Socrates, and Plato (5th–4th centuries BC).
3. Aristotle's Philosophy (4th century BC). Stages two and three are generally referred to as the classical period of Greek philosophy, during which the development of philosophy in both content and form became more perfect and diverse, marking a golden age in the entire history of Western philosophy.
4. Late Greek and Roman Philosophy (4th century BC–5th century AD), including the atomic theory school of Epicurus and Lucretius, Neoplatonism, the Stoic school, and various skeptical, eclectic, and mystical schools. With the fall of the Roman Empire, medieval philosophy replaced Greek and Roman philosophy. Greek and Roman philosophy primarily revolved around the following three fundamental questions:
1. The origin of all things;
2. The origin and evolution of the universe;
3. Whether the soul is immortal and ethical and social issues. These three fundamental questions involve the relationship between existence and thought, the relationship between movement and stillness, and what humans are, among other things. The development of Greek and Roman philosophy exhibits the following characteristics:
(1) In the childhood of philosophy, the boundaries and opposition between the spiritual and the material were still unclear. The understanding of the fundamental question of the relationship between thought and existence in philosophy would undergo a long and complex evolutionary process. Therefore, we cannot simply view the philosophical debates of that time as a struggle between idealism and materialism.
(2) The exploration of the relationship between movement and stillness in the movement of all things in the universe gave rise to the earliest naive dialectical thinking of humanity. However, the overall level of thinking at that time still remained at the level of intuitive perception, and theoretical thinking and conceptual reasoning had not yet become skillfully applicable methods.
(3) The inquiry into the nature of the soul began with natural philosophy. As science and society developed, this question gradually became an ethical and religious issue. However, since the study of human issues was merely an extension of natural problems at that time, ancient philosophy did not consciously recognize the subjectivity of humans.
(4) The focus on and study of general and particular issues advanced the development of human logical thinking and deepened understanding.
(5) Greek and Roman philosophy was the worldview of the slave-owning class and, in a certain sense, represented the political aspirations of the common people but did not represent the slave class. It reflected and advanced the development of the slave-owning society in Western Europe.