Ridling Zaine. Philosophy: Then and Now. A look back at 26 centuries of thought
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PHILOSOPHY
Then and Now
A Look Back at 26 Centuries
of Ideas That Have Shaped
Our Thinking
by
Zaine Ridling, Ph.D.
Access Foundation
2001
Ridling, Philosophy Then and Now: A Look Back at 26 Centuries of Thought
ii
© Copyright 2001, Zaine Ridling
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author.
Ridling, Philosophy Then and Now: A Look Back at 26 Centuries of Thought
iii
Table of Contents
Preface ................................................................................................................iii
Introduction ........................................................................................................ vi
PART I: HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY ....................................... 2
The Writing of the History of Philosophy ................................................... 3
Ways of Ordering the History ............................................................... 3
Factors in Writing the History of Philosophy ....................................... 5
Shifts in the Focus and Concern of Philosophy .................................... 7
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy ........................................................ 9
The Pre-Socratic Philosophers................................................................ 9
Cosmology and the Metaphysic of Matter ......................................... 9
Monistic Cosmologies ...................................................................... 9
Pluralistic Cosmologies ................................................................. 14
Epistemology of Appearance ............................................................... 16
Metaphysic of Number ........................................................................ 17
Anthropology and Relativism .............................................................. 19
The Seminal Thinkers of Greek Philosophy ............................................. 21
Socrates ................................................................................................. 21
Plato ...................................................................................................... 23
Life .................................................................................................... 24
Philosophy ......................................................................................... 25
Aristotle ................................................................................................ 28
Philosophy ......................................................................................... 28
Disciples and Commentators ............................................................ 32
Hellenistic and Roman Philosophy ............................................................ 32
Stoics .................................................................................................... 33
Epicureans ............................................................................................ 35
Sceptics ................................................................................................. 36
Neo-Pythagoreans and Neoplatonists .................................................. 37
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Medieval Philosophy .................................................................................. 39
Early Medieval Philosophy .................................................................. 40
Augustine ........................................................................................... 41
Boethius ............................................................................................. 42
Greek Fathers of the Church and Erigena ........................................ 43
Anselm ............................................................................................... 44
Bernard of Clairvaux and Abelard ....................................................45
Transition to Scholasticism ........................................................................ 47
Arabic Thought ....................................................................................48
Jewish Thought .................................................................................... 49
The Age of the Schoolmen ......................................................................... 50
Robert Grosseteste and Roger Bacon .................................................. 50
William of Auvergne ............................................................................ 51
Bonaventure .......................................................................................... 52
Albertus Magnus .................................................................................. 53
Thomas Aquinas ................................................................................... 54
Averroists ............................................................................................. 56
Philosophy in the Late Middle Ages .......................................................... 57
Duns Scotus .......................................................................................... 58
William of Ockham .............................................................................. 59
Meister Eckhart .................................................................................... 60
Nicholas of Cusa .................................................................................. 61
Modern Philosophy .................................................................................... 62
The Renaissance and Early Modern Period ........................................62
Dominant Strands of Renaissance Philosophy .................................... 64
Political Theory ................................................................................. 65
Humanism ......................................................................................... 67
Philosophy of Nature ........................................................................70
Rise of Empiricism and Rationalism ................................................... 74
The Empiricism of Francis Bacon .................................................... 74
The Materialism of Thomas Hobbes ................................................ 75
Rationalism of Descartes .................................................................. 77
Rationalism of Spinoza and Leibniz ................................................. 81
Literary Forms and Sociological Conditions ....................................... 84
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The Enlightenment ..................................................................................... 86
Classical British Empiricism and Its Basic Tasks ............................... 87
Origin and Nature of Reason in Locke and Berkeley ...................... 88
Basic Science of Man in Hume ........................................................ 91
Nonepistemological Movements in the Enlightenment ...................... 92
Materialism and Scientific Discovery .............................................. 92
Social and Political Philosophy ........................................................ 93
Professionalization of Philosophy .................................................... 95
Critical Examination of Reason in Kant ............................................. 98
Literary Forms .................................................................................... 100
The 19th Century ...................................................................................... 101
German Idealism of Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel ............................ 102
Positivism and Social Theory in Comte, Mill, and Marx ................. 106
Independent and Irrationalist Movements ......................................... 110
The 20th Century ...................................................................................... 113
Individual Philosophies of Bergson, Dewey, and Whitehead .......... 114
Marxist Thought ................................................................................. 116
Analytic Philosophy ........................................................................... 117
Logical Positivism ........................................................................... 117
Linguistic Analysis ......................................................................... 120
Continental Philosophy ...................................................................... 121
Phenomenology of Husserl and Others .......................................... 122
Existentialism of Jaspers and Sartre ............................................... 123
Conclusion ................................................................................................ 125
Bibliography ............................................................................................. 127
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PART II: WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL SCHOOLS ................................. 134
Introduction ...............................................................................................135
Ancient and Medieval Schools ................................................................136
Aristotelianism ...................................................................................136
The Hellenistic Age and Neoplatonism .......................................... 136
Aristotelianism in Arabic Philosophy ............................................138
Aristotelianism in Jewish Philosophy ............................................141
The Christian East ...........................................................................141
The Christian West ..........................................................................142
Conclusion ....................................................................................... 147
Atomism ...................................................................................................148
The Basic Nature of Atomism ........................................................... 148
Various Senses of Atomism ............................................................... 149
Two Basic Types of Atomism ........................................................149
Philosophical Atomism ................................................................150
Modern Atomic Theory ...............................................................151
Extensions to Other Fields .................................................................151
Diverse Philosophical Characterizations of Atomism ......................153
The Intrinsic Nature of the Atoms ..................................................153
Atoms as Lumpish Corpuscles ....................................................... 154
Atoms as Sheer Extension ..............................................................157
Atoms as Centres of Force: Dynamic Particles .............................. 158
Atoms as Psychophysical Monads .................................................159
The Immutability of Atoms ...............................................................160
Other Differences ............................................................................... 161
Number of Atoms ............................................................................161
Atoms in External Aggregation versus in Internal Relationship ...163
History and Major Representatives of the Various Atomisms ...............165
Philosophical Atomism ......................................................................165
Ancient Greek Atomism ....................................................................165
The Elachista of the Early Aristotelian Commentators .................166
The Minima Naturalia of the Averroists ............................................167
Modern Scientific Atomism: Early Pioneering Work .......................167
The 17th century .............................................................................168
Founding of Modern Atomism .......................................................169
Recent and Contemporary Scientific Atomism ..............................170
Atomism in the Thought of India ................................................... 171
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Foundational Issues Posed By Atomism ........................................... 172
Atomism as a Metaphysical System ............................................... 172
Ancient Greek versus Contemporary Scientific Atomism ............ 175
Evaluation of Atomism ...................................................................... 176
Eleaticism ................................................................................................. 177
The Eleatic School Vis-À-Vis Rival Movements ............................. 178
The Rigorous Ontologism of Parmenides and Melissus ................... 180
Logical and Linguistic Approach ................................................... 180
Monistic Theory of Being ............................................................... 182
The Paradoxes of Zeno ...................................................................... 184
The Decline of Eleaticism .................................................................. 186
Epicureanism ............................................................................................ 187
The Nature of Epicureanism .............................................................. 188
History of Epicureanism .................................................................... 189
Epicurus’ Own Life and Teachings ................................................... 189
Doctrine of Epicurus .......................................................................... 190
The Epicurean School ........................................................................ 194
Epicureanism and Egoism in Modern Philosophy ............................ 196
Epicureanism in Contemporary Philosophy ...................................... 197
Criticism and Evaluation ................................................................... 198
Platonism .................................................................................................. 201
Aristotle’s Account of Platonism ...................................................... 201
The Academy after Plato: The Rise of Neoplatonism ...................... 205
Influence of Platonism on Christian Thought ................................... 207
Pythagoreanism ........................................................................................ 210
General Features of Pythagoreanism ................................................. 210
Major Concerns and Teachings ......................................................... 212
Religion and Ethics ............................................................................ 212
Metaphysics and Number Theory ..................................................... 214
The Harmony of the Cosmos ............................................................. 215
The Doctrine of Opposites ................................................................. 216
Mathematics and Science .................................................................. 217
Arithmetic ....................................................................................... 217
Geometry ......................................................................................... 220
Music ............................................................................................... 221
Astronomy ....................................................................................... 222
History of Pythagoreanism ................................................................ 222
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Early Pythagoreanism ........................................................................ 223
Background .....................................................................................224
Pythagorean Communities .............................................................. 224
Two Pythagorean Sects ................................................................... 225
4th-Century Pythagoreanism .......................................................... 226
The Hellenistic Age ........................................................................ 226
Neo-Pythagoreanism .......................................................................227
Medieval and Modern Trends .........................................................228
Evaluation ...........................................................................................229
Realism .....................................................................................................230
Nature and Scope of Realism ............................................................. 231
Realism and the Problem of Knowledge ........................................... 231
Philosophical Senses of Realism .......................................................233
Basic Kinds of Realism ......................................................................234
Distinctions Among the Realisms .....................................................235
History of Western Realism ...............................................................237
Ancient Realism ..............................................................................237
Medieval Realism ............................................................................238
Modern Realism .............................................................................. 239
Major Issues and Evaluation of Realism ........................................240
Scholasticism ............................................................................................242
Nature and Significance .....................................................................243
History and Issues ..............................................................................246
Roots of Scholasticism .................................................................... 246
Early Scholastic Period ................................................................... 251
Maturity of Scholasticism ............................................................... 256
Late Scholastic Period ..................................................................... 261
Enduring Features ...........................................................................262
Thomism .............................................................................................265
William of Ockham ............................................................................ 268
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Scepticism ................................................................................................. 269
Various Senses and Applications ...................................................... 270
Ancient Scepticism ............................................................................ 271
Medieval Scepticism .......................................................................... 274
Modern Scepticism ............................................................................ 275
In the Reformation .......................................................................... 275
In the 17th Century ......................................................................... 276
In the 18th Century ......................................................................... 279
In Recent and Contemporary Philosophy ...................................... 282
Criticism and Evaluation ................................................................... 284
Sophists ..................................................................................................... 286
History of the Name ........................................................................... 286
The 5th-Century Sophists .................................................................. 287
Nature of Sophistic Thought .............................................................. 290
Writings .............................................................................................. 294
Particular Doctrines ............................................................................ 295
Theoretical Issues ............................................................................... 296
Humanistic Issues .............................................................................. 298
The Second Sophistic Movement ...................................................... 300
Stoicism .................................................................................................... 301
Nature and Scope of Stoicism ........................................................... 302
Ancient Stoicism ................................................................................ 304
Early Greek Stoicism ...................................................................... 304
Later Roman Stoicism .................................................................... 308
Stoic Elements in Pauline and Patristic Thought ........................... 310
Stoicism in Medieval and Modern Philosophy ................................. 312
Stoic Undercurrents in Medieval Thought ..................................... 312
Renascence of Stoicism in Modern Times ..................................... 314