Ancient Philosophy: Stages of Formation and Development

The first significant stage in the history of the origin and development of philosophical thought is the ancient philosophy. Its ancestors are the ancient Greeks and Romans. In the arsenal of thinkers of that time, the "tools" of cognition were subtle speculation, contemplation and observation. Ancient philosophers were the first to begin to pose eternal questions that concern man: from what is the beginning of everything around him, the existence and non-existence of the world, the unity of contradictions, freedom and necessity, birth and death, man's appointment, moral duty, beauty and sublimity, wisdom, Love, happiness, dignity of the individual. These problems are still relevant today. The foundation for the formation and development of philosophical thought in Europe was served by ancient philosophy.

Periods of the development of the philosophy of antiquity

Let us examine the main problems solved by ancient philosophy, the stages of its development as a science.

In the development of ancient Greek and Roman philosophical thought, we can conditionally distinguish four important stages.

The first, pre-Socratian, period falls on the VII-V century. BC. It is represented by the activities of the Eleatic and Miletus schools, Heraclitus of Ephesus, Pythagoras and his disciples, Democritus and Leucypus. They dealt with questions of the laws of nature, the construction of the world and the Cosmos. The significance of the pre-Socratian period can not be overestimated, because it was precisely the early ancient philosophy that largely influenced the development of culture, public life and the political sphere of ancient Greece.

A characteristic feature of the second, classical, period (V-IV centuries BC) is the appearance of the Sophists. They shifted their attention from the problems of nature and the cosmos to human problems, laid the foundations of logic and promoted the development of rhetoric as a science. In addition to the Sophists, early ancient philosophy in this period is represented by the names of Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Protogor. At the same time, Roman philosophy begins to form, in which three main directions are defined: epicureanism, stoicism and skepticism.

For the period from IV to II century BC. E. Ancient philosophy is the third, Hellenistic, stage of development. At this time, the first philosophical systems are emerging, deep in content, new philosophical schools are emerging - Epicurean, academic, perepathetics and others. Representatives of the Hellenistic period pass to the solution of ethical problems and moralizing precisely at the time when Hellenic culture is in decline. The names of Epicurus, Theophrastus and Carneades represent this stage in the development of philosophy.

With the beginning of our era (I - VI centuries), ancient philosophy enters its last period of development. At this time, the leading role in the ancient world belongs to Rome, under the influence of which is Greece. The formation of Roman philosophy is greatly influenced by the Greek, in particular, its Hellenistic stage. In the philosophy of Rome three main trends are formed - epicureanism, stoicism and skepticism. This period is characterized by the activities of such philosophers as Aristotle, Socrates, Protogorus, Plato.

The third-fourth centuries - the time of the emergence and development of a new trend in ancient philosophy - Neoplatonism, whose ancestor was Plato. His ideas and views in many ways influenced the philosophy of early Christianity and the philosophy of the Middle Ages.

So there was an ancient philosophy, the development stages of which gave rise to interesting ideas: the idea of a universal connection of all phenomena and things existing in the world, and the idea of infinite development.

It was at that time that epistemological trends developed- materialism and idealism. Democritus, being, in essence, a materialist, suggested that the atom is the smallest particle of any substance. This idea surpassed the centuries and millennia. Plato, adhering to idealistic views, created a dialectical doctrine of individual things and general concepts.

The philosophy of ancient times has become one of the independent forms of social consciousness. With her help, a complete picture of the world was formed. Ancient philosophy allows us to trace the whole path of the formation of theoretical thought, full of unconventional and bold ideas. Many of the questions that ancient Greek and Roman philosophical minds have tried to solve have not lost their actuality in our time.