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Major contributions in nearly every field of philosophy, especially metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics. Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786). Member of the Jewish Enlightenment .
Thales of Miletus (/ ˈθeɪliːz / THAY-leez; Greek: Θαλῆς; c. 626/623 – c. 548/545 BC) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages, founding figures of Ancient Greece.
- The Milesian School: 7th-6th Centuries BCE
- The Eleatic School: 6th and 5th Centuries BCE
- Pre-Socratic and Socratic Philosophers of The 6th and 5th Centuries BCE
- Philosophers of The 4th Century BCE
- Philosophers of The 3rd Century BCE
- Philosophers of The 2nd Century BCE
- Philosophers of The 1st Century CE
Miletus was an ancient Greek Ionian city-state on the western coast of Asia Minor in today’s Turkey. The Milesian School consisted of Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes (all from Miletus). The three are sometimes described as "materialists," because they believed that all things derived from a single material. 1. Thales (636-546 BCE): Thales was c...
Xenophanes, Parmenides, and Zeno of Elea were members of the Eleatic School(named for its location in Elea, a Greek colony in southern Italy). They rejected the idea of many gods and questioned the idea that there is one reality. 1. Xenophanes of Colophon (c. 570-480 BCE):Xenophanes rejected the anthropomorphic deities and considered there to be on...
Panaetius (c. 185-110) Stoic and Neo-Platonic PhilosopherLucretius (c. 98-55) Roman poet and Epicurean philosopherEpictetus (50 - 138) Roman philosopher(121-180) Roman emperor and philosopherThales (c. 624–545 BCE), often regarded as the first philosopher, sought to describe the cosmos in terms of a first principle, or arche. He identified water as this primal source of all things.
- Socrates. Socrates, often hailed as the father of Western philosophy, was a figure of monumental significance in the development of philosophical thought.
- Plato. Plato, born in Athens around 428 BC, was a pivotal figure in the history of philosophy. As a student of Socrates, he was deeply influenced by his teacher's ideas and methods, which he further developed and refined in his own philosophical system.
- Aristotle. Aristotle, born in 384 BC in the city of Stagira in northern Greece, was one of the most influential philosophers in history. A student of Plato's Academy, Aristotle would go on to tutor Alexander the Great and establish his own school, the Lyceum, in Athens.
- Pythagoras. Pythagoras, born around 570 BC on the island of Samos, was a philosopher and mathematician whose influence extends far beyond the realm of ancient Greece.
Thales is the first person about whom we know to propose explanations of natural phenomena which were materialistic rather than mythological or theological. His theories were new, bold, exciting, comprehensible, and possible of explanation.
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From Thales, who is often considered the first Western philosopher, to the Stoics and Skeptics, ancient Greek philosophy opened the doors to a particular way of thinking that provided the roots for the Western intellectual tradition.
