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Stoics
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. The Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, ''i.e.'' by a God which is immersed in nature itself. Of all the schools of ancient philosophy, Stoicism made the greatest claim to being utterly systematic. The Stoics provided a unified account of the world, constructed from ideals of logic, monistic physics, and naturalistic ethics. These three ideals constitute virtue which is necessary for 'living a well reasoned life', seeing as they are all parts of a logos, or philosophical discourse, which includes the mind's rational dialogue with itself. Stoicism was founded in the ancient Agora of Athens by Zeno of Citium around 300 BC, and flourished throughout the Greco-Roman world until the 3rd century AD, and among its adherents was Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Along with Aristotelian term logic, the system of propositional logic developed by the Stoics was one of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hellenistic Philosophy
Hellenistic philosophy is Ancient Greek philosophy corresponding to the Hellenistic period in Ancient Greece, from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC to the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The dominant schools of this period were the Stoics, the Epicureans and the Academic Skepticism, Skeptics. Background The Preceding classical period in Ancient Greek philosophy had centered around Socrates (c. 470–399 BC), whose students Antisthenes, Aristippus, and Plato went on to found Cynicism (philosophy), Cynicism, Cyrenaicism, and Platonism, respectively. Plato taught Aristotle who created the Peripateticism, Peripatetic school and in turn, had tutored Alexander the Great. Socrates' thought was therefore influential for many of these schools of the period, leading them to focus on ethics and how to reach ''eudaimonia.'' Early Platonism, known as the "Old Academy" begins with Plato, followed by Speusippus (Plato's nephew), who succeeded him as the head of school (until 339 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chrysippus
Chrysippus of Soli (; , ; ) was a Ancient Greece, Greek Stoicism, Stoic Philosophy, philosopher. He was a native of Soli, Cilicia, but moved to Athens as a young man, where he became a pupil of the Stoic philosopher Cleanthes. When Cleanthes died, around 230 BC, Chrysippus became the third head of the Stoic school. A prolific writer, Chrysippus expanded the fundamental doctrines of Cleanthes' mentor Zeno of Citium, the founder and first head of the school, which earned him the title of the Second Founder of Stoicism. Chrysippus excelled in logic, the theory of knowledge, ethics, and Stoic physics, physics. He created an original system of propositional logic in order to better understand the workings of the universe and role of humanity within it. He adhered to a fatalistic view of Destiny, fate, but nevertheless sought a role for personal agency (philosophy), agency in thought and action. Ethics, he thought, depended on understanding the nature of the universe, and he taught ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epicureans
Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded 307 BCE based upon the teachings of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher. Epicurus was an atomist and materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to religious skepticism and a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism, and its main opponent later became Stoicism. It is a form of hedonism insofar as it declares pleasure to be its sole intrinsic goal. However, the concept that the absence of pain and fear constitutes the greatest pleasure, and its advocacy of a simple life, make it very different from hedonism as colloquially understood. Following the Cyrenaic philosopher Aristippus, Epicurus believed that the greatest good was to seek modest, sustainable pleasure in the form of a state of '' ataraxia'' (tranquility and freedom from fear) and ''aponia'' (the absence of bodily pain) through knowledge of the workings of the world an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Socrates
Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre. Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, a situation known as the Socratic problem. Socrates was a polarizing figure in Athenian society. In 399 BC, he was accused of Asebeia, impiety and corrupting the youth. After Trial of Socrates, a trial that lasted a day, he was sentenced to death. He spent his last day in prison ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neostoicism
Neostoicism was a philosophical movement that arose in the late 16th century from the works of Justus Lipsius, and sought to combine the beliefs of Stoicism and Christianity. Lipsius was Flemish people, Flemish and a Renaissance humanist. The movement took on the nature of religious syncretism, although modern scholarship does not consider that it resulted in a successful synthesis. The name "neostoicism" is attributed to two Roman Catholic authors, Léontine Zanta and Julien-Eymard d'Angers. Background John Calvin made reference to "new stoic" ideas earlier in the 16th century, but the denotation is not relevant to neostoicism. Antonio de Guevara in 1528 published a flattering biography of Marcus Aurelius, then considered a paragon of Stoic virtues. Neostoicism is usually said to have been founded by Flemish humanist Justus Lipsius (1547–1606). It was in some aspects anticipated by Giphanius (Hubert van Giffen), who had in common with Lipsius the publisher Christophe Plantin. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zeno Of Citium
Zeno of Citium (; , ; c. 334 – c. 262 BC) was a Hellenistic philosophy, Hellenistic philosopher from Kition, Citium (, ), Cyprus. He was the founder of the Stoicism, Stoic school of philosophy, which he taught in Athens from about 300 BC. Based on the moral ideas of the Cynicism (philosophy), Cynics, Stoicism laid great emphasis on good and evil, goodness and calmness, peace of mind gained from living a life of virtue in accordance with nature. It proved very popular, and flourished as one of the Hellenistic philosophy, major schools of philosophy from the Hellenistic period through to the Roman era, and enjoyed revivals in the Renaissance as Neostoicism and in the current era as Modern Stoicism. Life Zeno was born c. 334 BC, in the colony of Kition, Citium in Classical Cyprus, Cyprus. His ancestry is disputed between Phoenician and Greeks, Greek, because Citium contained both Phoenician and Greek inhabitants. While a number of contemporary and modern historians regard Zeno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monism
Monism attributes oneness or singleness () to a concept, such as to existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished: * Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., in Neoplatonism everything is derived from The One. In this view only the One is ontologically fundamental or prior to everything else. * Existence monism posits that, strictly speaking, there exists only a single thing, the universe, which can only be artificially and arbitrarily divided into many things. * Substance monism asserts that a variety of existing things can be explained in terms of a single reality or substance. Substance monism posits that only one kind of substance exists, although many things may be made up of this substance, e.g., matter or mind. * Dual-aspect monism is the view that the mental and the physical are two aspects of, or perspectives on, the same substance. * Neutral monism believes the fundamental nature of reality to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antisthenes
Antisthenes (; , ; 446 366 BCE) was a Greek philosopher and a pupil of Socrates. Antisthenes first learned rhetoric under Gorgias before becoming an ardent disciple of Socrates. He adopted and developed the ethical side of Socrates' teachings, advocating an ascetic life lived in accordance with virtue. Later writers regarded him as the founder of Cynic philosophy. Life Antisthenes was born 446 BCE, the son of Antisthenes, an Athenian. His mother was thought to have been a Thracian, though some say a Phrygian, an opinion probably derived from his sarcastic reply to a man who reviled him as not being a genuine Athenian citizen, that the mother of the gods was a Phrygian (referring to Cybele, the Anatolian counterpart of the Greek goddess Rhea). In his youth he fought at Tanagra (426 BCE), and was a disciple first of Gorgias, and then of Socrates; so eager was he to hear the words of Socrates that he used to walk daily from the port of Peiraeus to Athens (about 9 kilometres) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace, calm, and stability for the Roman Empire lasting from 27 BC to 180 AD. He served as Roman consul in 140, 145, and 161. Marcus Aurelius was the son of the praetor Marcus Annius Verus (father of Marcus Aurelius), Marcus Annius Verus and his wife, Domitia Calvilla. He was related through marriage to the emperors Trajan and Hadrian. Marcus was three when his father died, and was raised by his mother and Marcus Annius Verus (II), paternal grandfather. After Hadrian's Adoption in ancient Rome, adoptive son, Aelius Caesar, died in 138, Hadrian adopted Marcus's uncle Antoninus Pius as his new heir. In turn, Antoninus adopted Marcus and Lucius Verus, Lucius, the son of Aelius. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleanthes
Cleanthes (; ; c. 330 BC – c. 230 BC), of Assos, was a Greek Stoic philosopher and boxer who was the successor to Zeno of Citium as the second head ('' scholarch'') of the Stoic school in Athens. Originally a boxer, he came to Athens where he took up philosophy, listening to Zeno's lectures. He supported himself by working as a water-carrier at night. After the death of Zeno, c. 262 BC, he became the head of the school, a post he held for the next 32 years. Cleanthes successfully preserved and developed Zeno's doctrines. He originated new ideas in Stoic physics, and developed Stoicism in accordance with the principles of materialism and pantheism. Among the fragments of Cleanthes' writings which have come down to us, the largest is a ''Hymn to Zeus''. His pupil was Chrysippus who became one of the most important Stoic thinkers. Life Cleanthes was born in Assos in the Troad, about 330 BC. According to Diogenes Laërtius, he was the son of Phanias, and early in life he w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naturalism (philosophy)
In philosophy, naturalism is the idea that only Scientific law, natural laws and forces (as opposed to supernatural ones) operate in the universe. In its primary sense, it is also known as ontological naturalism, metaphysical naturalism, pure naturalism, philosophical naturalism and antisupernaturalism. "Ontological" refers to ontology, the philosophical study of what exists. Philosophers often treat naturalism as equivalent to materialism, but there are important distinctions between the philosophies. For example, philosopher Paul Kurtz argued that nature is best accounted for by reference to Matter, material principles. These principles include mass, energy, and other Physical property, physical and Chemical property, chemical properties accepted by the scientific community. Further, this sense of naturalism holds that spirits, Deity, deities, and ghosts are not real and that there is no "Teleology, purpose" in nature. This stronger formulation of naturalism is commonly ref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cynicism (philosophy)
Cynicism () is a school of thought in ancient Greek philosophy, originating in the Classical Greek philosophy, Classical period and extending into the Hellenistic philosophy, Hellenistic and Ancient Roman philosophy, Roman Imperial periods. According to Cynicism, people are reasoning animals, and the purpose of life and the way to gain happiness is to achieve virtue, in agreement with nature, following one's natural sense of reason by Simple living, living simply and shamelessly free from social constraints. The Cynics (, ) rejected all conventional desires for wealth, power, Glory (honor), glory, Recognition (sociology), social recognition, conformity, and worldly possessions and even flouted such conventions openly and derisively in public. The first philosopher to outline these themes was Antisthenes, who had been a pupil of Socrates in the late 400s BC. He was followed by Diogenes, who lived in a ceramic jar on the streets of Athens. Diogenes took Cynicism to its logical ext ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
