From the Pre-Socratics to Rome

In our opening modules, we have already discussed a few of the most notable names in ancient Greek philosophy, Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates, as well as the Hypatia of ancient Alexandria (in Egypt under the Roman empire).

Ancient philosophy is a term that covers a broad historical period that continues to function as a basis for many philosophical traditions. Ancient Greek and Roman philosophies are landmarks of the Western tradition. In the Eastern tradition, ancient philosophy includes the Vedas (sacred texts) of ancient India, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, among other traditions.

Each of these traditions has left significant impacts on modern thought from Europe to the Americas, and across the Middle East and Far East. Yet wherever there were human civilizations in the ancient world, as societies organized and systems of ethics, morality, religion, and governments developed, philosophy emerged to help structure human thought and clarify language ideas and principles. As these philosophies were written down, we can trace formal traditions historically, yet philosophy also existed (and exists) in many oral traditions.

Is it possible to know who was the first philosopher? Due to gaps in the historical and written record, not with certainty. In the Western tradition, many scholars consider Thales of Miletus an important first. He lived approximately from 624 to 545 B.C.E in Ionia (present-day Turkey) and theorized that water was a common substance from which all-natural existence derived. He also contributed to the development of mathematics, astronomy, and navigation. Today we refer to Thales as one of the Pre-Socratic philosophers, although these people likely did not refer to themselves as philosophers.