Greek Philosophy

Greek philosophy is a body of philosophical concepts developed by the Greeks, particularly during the flowering of Greek civilization between 600 and 200 BC. Greek philosophy formed the basis of all later philosophical thought in the Western world. The perceptive hypotheses of the ancient Greeks foreshadowed many theories of modern science, and many of the moral ideas of pagan Greek philosophers have been incorporated into “Christian” moral doctrine. The political ideas set forth by Greek thinkers influenced …

…philosophical inquiry. Subsequent Greek philosophy, reflecting a historical period of civil unrest and individual insecurity, was less concerned with the nature of the world than with the problems in the individual. During this period, four major schools of largely materialistic, individualistic philosophy arose: that of the Cynics, and those espousing Epicureanism, Skepticism, and Stoicism. From these schools came other great thinkers who were a large part in the spread of philosophy to the Western world