Western and Eastern Beginnings of Doing Philosophy

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the historical development of Western philosophy, from the Pre-Socratics and the Golden Age of Greek philosophy to modern and postmodern schools of thought.

Thales of Miletus

The $1^{\text{st}}$ known Western philosopher who identified water or moisture as the single substance to account for the universe.

Anaximander

Thales’ student who proposed the Apeiron (Boundless, infinite, unlimited) as the fundamental substance from which everything comes.

Anaximenes

A philosopher who believed air was the fundamental, divine substance of reality and that the soul is airy.

Pythagoras

A thinker who argued that numbers and mathematical relationships are the true foundation of the universe and reality.

Heraclitus

A philosopher who proposed that fire is the fundamental substance and that change is the fundamental nature of reality.

Parmenides

A philosopher who argued that change is an illusion and that reality is one, eternal, and unchanging.

Empedocles

A philosopher who believed everything in the universe is made up of four basic elements: earth, water, air, and fire.

Anaxagoras

A philosopher who believed everything contains portions of everything else in tiny "seeds" and introduced the concept of Nous (Mind or Intelligence).

Atomism

The theory developed by Leucippus and Democritus stating that everything is composed of tiny, indivisible particles called atoms.

Socratic Method

Attributed to Socrates, it is described as the art of questioning used to explore human behavior and morals.

Theory of Forms

Plato's suggestion that the physical world is merely a copy of a perfect, ideal, and permanent world.

Philosopher King

According to Plato's work The Republic, this is the title for the ideal political leader.

Aristotle

A student of Plato who founded the Lyceum and believed knowledge comes from observation and experience.

Metaphysics

Referred to by Aristotle as the "first philosophy" and the highest form of knowledge.

Scholasticism

A medieval period movement (around the $9^{\text{th}}$ to $15^{\text{th}}$ century) that uses reason to clarify and systematize theological truths.

Rationalism

A major school of modern philosophy that asserts knowledge comes from reason.

Empiricism

A major school of modern philosophy that asserts knowledge comes from experience and the senses.

Age of Enlightenment

Concept by Immanuel Kant involving the process of freeing oneself from intellectual dependence by reasoning independently.

Existentialism

A philosophy focusing on human existence and responsibility, characterized by the phrase ‘existence precedes essence.’

Phenomenology

Founded by Edmund Husserl, it focuses on lived-experience to describe the structures of consciousness by suspending judgments.

Analytic Philosophy

A tradition from the late $19^{\text{th}}$ or early $20^{\text{th}}$ century emphasizing clarity, logical reasoning, and precise language.

Postmodernism

A movement characterized by skepticism toward absolute truths, universal explanations, and grand narratives.