Stages of development of Greek ancient philosophy. Stages and features of ancient philosophy

philosophy cosmocentrism Milesian ancient

Ancient (Ancient Greek) philosophy appears in the 7th-6th centuries BC. It is formed in certain historical conditions: economic, social, cultural. By that time in Ancient Greece there was a fairly developed slave society, with a complex social class structure and forms of division of labor that were already specialized in nature. The role of intellectual and spiritual activity is also increasing, acquiring the features of professionalism. Developed spiritual culture and art created fertile ground for the formation of philosophy and philosophical thinking. Thus, Homer and his work, it is enough to note his “Iliad” and “Odyssey”, had a huge impact on many aspects of the spiritual life of Greek society of that period. One can figuratively say that all “ancient philosophers and thinkers” came out of Homer. And later, many of them turned to Homer and his works as argument and proof.

At first, philosophy appears in the form of philosophizing. Thus, the “seven wise men”: 1) Thales of Miletus, 2) Pytton of Mytilene, 3) Bias of Prisna; 4) Solon from Asia; 5) Cleobulus of Liontia; 6) Mison of Heney; 7) Chilo from Lacedaemonia tried in aphoristic form to comprehend the essential aspects of the existence of the world and man, which have a stable, universal and generally significant character and determine the actions of people. In the form of aphorisms, they developed rules and recommendations for human action that people should follow in order to avoid mistakes: “Honor your father” (Cleobulus), “Know your time” (Pitton); “Hide the bad in your home” (Thales). They were more in the nature of useful advice than philosophical statements. Their limited but rational meaning is expressed in utility. Due to this, they are generally applicable. But already in Thales’s statements acquire a truly philosophical character, since they record the universal properties of nature that eternally exist. For example, “space is greatest, because it contains everything,” “Necessity is most powerful, because it has power.” They contain only a hint of philosophical problems, but not a conscious formulation of them.

But already within the framework of the “Miletus School of Philosophers,” a proper philosophical approach to understanding the world is being formed, for they consciously pose and try to answer such fundamental questions: Is the world united and how is its unity expressed? Does the world (in this case, nature) have its own fundamental principle and the root cause of its existence? The answer to such questions cannot be obtained on the basis of one’s life experience, but only through thinking in abstract, generalized concepts.

The “Miletus philosophers” designate objectively existing nature with the special concept of “cosmos” (in Greek - the universe, the world). This is where one of the first theoretical ways of understanding the world appears - cosmologism (cosmos + logos, knowledge). Cosmologism considers the world, the universe as an integral system, which is characterized by unity, stability, integrity and eternity of existence. And philosophy developed in the form of natural philosophy, a philosophical understanding of nature, as a rational form of its description, explanation and understanding. Since scientific knowledge itself did not yet exist, philosophy took upon itself the function of knowledge of the specific properties of nature and its physical laws (phisis - in Greek nature, physics), and at the same time tried to solve purely philosophical problems - what is the primary essence, the first principle nature and what is the essence of its existence.

Within the framework of the “Miletus School of Philosophers”, individual objects and phenomena were taken as the primary essence, the original principle, the “primary substance”, the properties of which were given a universal character. The properties of the individual, the separate, were taken as the basis of all things. Thus, Thales from Miletus (late 7th - first half of the 6th century BC) takes water as the fundamental principle of existence, as the most important primary substance. She is the single source of birth of everything. Undoubtedly, the empirical fact was taken into account - where there is water, there is life. Anaximander (610 - ca. 540 BC), a student of Thales, as a primary substance, first takes apeiron (translated into Greek as limitless), which is eternal and present everywhere and has no boundaries. And therefore the Cosmos is eternal and limitless. And space seems to be a living, breathing “organism”, where the collision of warm and cold air acts as respiration. Anaximenes (6th century BC) believed that the first principle is air, from which all objects and things of the objective world arise. It is also the basis of the cosmos. The “breath of air” (liquefaction and condensation) holds everything and gives birth to everything. Thus, within the framework of the Milesian school, a certain principle of philosophizing is expressed - to consider the existence of the world from the world itself. This principle is called materialism. Sometimes it is called naturalism. This is how the materialist tradition was born in Ancient philosophy, which had a huge influence on the development of philosophical thought throughout Antiquity, but also on European philosophy as a whole. It should be noted that materialism is already a rational way of understanding the world, although still in an undeveloped, naive form.

Heraclitus of Ephesus (from the city of Ephesus) played a special role in the development of ancient philosophy from 544 to 480. BC) Based on the established tradition, he also takes a separate phenomenon - fire - as the single basis of the world, and the cosmos is a “fire-breathing ball” that exists on its own, was not created by anyone and has always been and will be an “eternally living fire” ”, which has its own rhythms of being (“measures that flare up and measures that fade away”).

To emphasize the unity of the world with all its diversity, Heraclitus introduces the concept of Logos, which is also cosmic in nature. By Logos he understands the cosmic mind (mind), which through the word gives the Cosmos certain meaning being. Logos, as it were, embraces everything that exists and gives it the quality of unity. Within this unity, all things, bodies, objects flow into each other. Thanks to movement, it (the cosmos) is dynamic, and thanks to Logos it maintains its stability, certainty and harmony. Heraclitus was one of the first to create the doctrine of movement and development of the material world; the source and cause of development and movement are in the world itself. In fact, this is historically the first form of ancient dialectics as a doctrine of the movement and self-movement of the world. And it was materialistic in nature. In his opinion, movement is the universal way of existence of matter. Without movement and without movement, objects of the material world do not manifest their properties. He puts forward the aphoristic formula: “Everything flows and everything changes,” emphasizing the universal nature of movement, understanding by them the fluidity and variability of properties, and not just mechanical movement. The objectivity and naturalness of movement as an attribute of matter (nature) are reinforced by the comparison - it flows like water in a river. But the most important thing in the teachings of Heraclitus is the characteristics of the source, the root cause of movement. This source is the struggle of opposites, which sets everything that exists in motion. In fact, he was the first to formulate the law of unity and struggle of opposites, which is universal and universal. And for that time, Heraclitus gives a detailed description of the content and action of this law. Thus, by unity he understands the identity of opposites, that is, the belonging of various mutually exclusive properties to the same essence, to one object. For example, “day and night, winter and summer” are properties of nature. The struggle of opposites is considered not simply as a collision and destruction of mutually exclusive properties, but as a transition from one to another, as a mutual transition: “Cold becomes warm, warm becomes cold, wet becomes dry, dry becomes wet.” The opposites seem to be in a triune relationship at the same time: 1) they mutually determine each other; 2) they complement each other (harmony of the world) and 3) they are mutually exclusive (struggle). The development of the world as a cosmos presupposes an eternal cycle of phenomena, due to which it remains an eternally living fire. Here it is worth emphasizing that all subsequent philosophers and thinkers appealed to Heraclitean dialectics and his doctrine of development.

Heraclitus subjects the essence of human cognitive activity to philosophical analysis and puts forward the doctrine of truth. Thus, the universal basis of knowledge is the ability of people to think. (“Thinking is common to all”), the instrument of which is the word (“logos”), and the goal of cognition is the achievement of true knowledge, i.e. one that does not distort the objective properties of things. He distinguishes two levels of knowledge:

sensory knowledge, which he calls “dark”, since feelings often distort the real picture and record only individual external properties. “People’s eyes and ears are bad witnesses.” He, however, stipulates that only those who “have coarse souls.”

theoretical knowledge that gives thinking, through which a person achieves true knowledge and becomes a true sage.

The most prominent representative of the materialist tradition in Ancient philosophy was Democritus of Abdera (460 - 350 BC). He is the most consistent proponent of materialism as a principle of explanation and understanding of the world. He believed that the primary substance, the “first brick” of everything that exists, are atoms, the smallest, indivisible particles. They are smaller than dust and therefore not visually perceptible. He becomes the creator of the atomic picture of the world.

Democritus also resolves such a complex and difficult question: If everything consists of atoms, then why is the world of objects so diverse in their properties? That is, he was faced with a fundamental philosophical problem - the unity and diversity of the world. And within the framework of philosophy and natural philosophy of that period, he gives its rational solution. Atoms are infinite in number, but differ in 1) size; 2) gravity (heavy and light); 3) geometric shapes(flat, round, hooked, etc.). The endless inexhaustibility of atomic forms. Hence, the infinite variety of properties of objects is associated with what atoms they consist of. In addition, the change in properties depends on the change in the bond order, the relationships between different atoms. The combinations of atoms are endless in their variety. Therefore, the Universe, the cosmos, is moving matter consisting of atoms. By matter he understands everything that consists of atoms. And by movement he understands both the movement of atoms (they rush around like crazy), and their connection and separation. And the movement itself is rhythmic, repeatable and stable. Therefore, he is inclined to recognize the existence of necessity in the world, i.e. the obligation and objectivity of what is happening, the stable ordering of events, and the denial of theology. In this regard, the philosophy of Democritus can be characterized as atheistic. But there are no accidents in the world, but strict necessity reigns. Therefore, the existence of the world is existence in necessity. And non-existence is emptiness, when connections and relationships are destroyed, and objects lose their properties.

Democritus consistently applies the principle of materialism to explain the essence of knowledge, to obtain true knowledge about something. By truth in this case we mean the coincidence, the adequacy of our ideas, images, concepts with the real properties of things. We can say that Democritus was one of the first to create a fairly coherent theory of knowledge, which is based on the principle of reflection, reproduction of the world and its properties in thinking. Typically, Democritus’ theory of knowledge is characterized as a “theory of outflow”, the essence of which is as follows. The atoms are covered with the thinnest film, “eidola” - images. They break off, “flow” from the surface of atoms, affect our senses, are imprinted on them, stored and consolidated in memory. This is a sensory level of cognition, which has a sign of reliability. True, he calls sensory knowledge “dark” due to its incompleteness, fragmentation and superficiality. True knowledge is, although a continuation of sensory knowledge, but already the result of the activity of the mind, which, through concepts, generalizes individual facts, gives complete and undistorted knowledge about the true essence of things hidden from the senses. And this is the result of the activity of thinking, the activity of the mind through concepts. Knowledge, as it were, moves from sensory, empirical knowledge to theoretical, rational, intellectual knowledge, in which the true nature of things is revealed to us.

From the point of view of his atheistic concept, Democritus explains the existence of the spiritual world and the human soul. All living things have a soul consisting of special atoms. The human soul consists of very light and spherical atoms. And since the human body also consists of atoms, we can talk about the unity of Soul and Body. Therefore, when the body dies, the soul leaves the body, dissipating in space. Of course, this is a naive dialectic of soul and body, but still an attempt to explain their relationship.

Democritus also touches on complex moral problems of human existence. In his special work “On the Equal Mood of Spirit” (on “euthymia”), he presents the goal of human life as the desire for happiness and good, achieved by calmness and balance in the soul, a state of serene wisdom. Serenity is a mental state when feelings do not rebel against reason. And happiness is understood not as the desire for pleasure, but for justice. From this he concludes that only moral person truly happy. He achieves this by following the dictates of conscience and shame, which he characterizes in the form of aphorisms: “Do not say or do anything bad, even if you are alone; learn to be ashamed of yourself much more than of others” (conscience). “Not out of fear, but out of a sense of duty, one must refrain from actions” (shame). “Not only actions, but also intentions can be immoral.” Of course, these postulates are advisory in nature, but may be generally applicable. They still do not lose their significance, attractiveness and inspiring power.

A prominent place in Ancient philosophy of this period is occupied by Pythagoras (570 - 406/97 BC) and the “Pythagorean school” formed by him. He was not only a famous mathematician and geometer, but also an outstanding philosopher. He offers an original solution to the fundamental philosophical problem - what is the basis of the unity of the world and whether there are single, general patterns in this world, and whether we can cognize them and rationally express them. Based on the already generally accepted idea of ​​the world, space as a living, fiery and breathing spherical body and from astronomical observations, Pythagoras notes in the movement of celestial bodies the geometric regularity of the movement of celestial bodies, the rhythm and harmony in the correlation of celestial bodies, which are characterized by constant numerical relationships. The so-called harmony of the celestial spheres. He comes to the conclusion that the basis of the unity and harmony of the world, as if its universal fundamental principle, is number. “The Pythagoreans considered numbers to be sensually perceived spatial figures.” Introducing such a principle of understanding and explaining the world, Pythagoras draws attention to the presence of interconnections, dialectics of the finite and infinite, spatial coordinates of the existence of the world. And since numbers “rule the world and permeate everything,” then both the soul and body have numerical expressions, and numerical proportions are also inherent in moral qualities, and beauty, and art, especially music. From here he puts forward the idea of ​​​​transmigration of the human soul after bodily death into the bodies of other beings. In this form, which now seems naive, Pythagoras asserts the existence universal laws the existence of the world, its unity, infinity and limitlessness, and therefore eternity.

A special trend in the philosophy of Antiquity of this period was sophistry (from the Greek sophistry - the ability to conduct debates wittily). Based on the postulate “Man is the measure of all things” put forward by Protagoras (481 - 413 BC), they direct their efforts not to achieve true knowledge, but to prove through eloquence the correctness of any subjective opinion that meets the principle of utility . This is a kind of “utilitarian philosophy”, which puts forward the ideas of relativity and impermanence of all things, denying truth as generally valid knowledge. Exactly what is useful and beneficial to an individual. Therefore, they pursued a purely pragmatic and largely selfish goal - to prove the truth of any opinion if it was beneficial. Hence the extreme relativism - there is nothing universally significant, stable and permanent in the world. And to do this, they narrowly used logic as a system of proof for narrow speculative purposes. Everything is relative: good, good, evil, beautiful, and, therefore, there is nothing truly true. Here is an example of the sophists’ technique: “Disease is evil for the sick, but good for doctors.” “Death is evil for those who are dying, but for sellers of things needed for funerals and for funeral workers it is good.” Based on such judgments, it is impossible to understand what true good is and whether it has universal significance; it is impossible to prove whether death is evil. In fact, sophistry and sophistry entered the history of philosophical thought and culture as a conscious substitution of concepts about something in order to obtain benefit and gain. Sophistry has become synonymous with unscientificness and dishonesty both in the thinking and in the actions of people. Sophistry and sophistry become a sign of untruth in actions, in thinking, and in worldview. Sophistry and sophistry are a deliberate justification of evil and self-interest. It should be noted that sophism and sophists were especially popular among politicians of that time. Modern politicians are guilty of the same thing.

3. Now we begin to characterize the most fruitful and positive period in the development of Ancient philosophy, which received the designation of the Ancient Classics, a period of a perfect example of philosophizing, pursuing the only goal - comprehending the truth and creating methods of cognition that lead us to truly true, reliable knowledge. This was the period of the creation of the historically first universal philosophical systems that grasped the world as a single whole and gave it a rational interpretation. We can say that this was a period of a kind of “creative competition” of thinkers-philosophers, although they held different positions, but pursued one goal - the search for universal truth and the elevation of philosophy as a rational form of description, explanation and understanding of the world.

In socio-economic and political terms, this was the heyday of ancient slave society, democracy and political life, art and science of that period. IN economically it was an era of prosperity, and in spiritual terms - the exaltation of the principles of high ethics and morality. It seemed to become a model for civilized and cultural development, a model of humanism for all subsequent stages of European and not only European culture and history. Although Greek society of this period also had its own internal contradictions, as indeed for any other. But we can still say that agreement and unity rather prevailed in it than disagreement and disunity.

We can say that the ancestor, the “father” of classical ancient philosophy is Socrates (469 - 399 BC). This one was in every way outstanding personality: He was not only a great philosopher-thinker, but an outstanding person and citizen. In him amazingly his philosophical position and practical actions and deeds were combined in harmonious unity. His integrity as a philosopher and as a person has such high charm and authority that he had a huge influence not only on all subsequent stages of philosophy, both European and world, but became a symbol, an example of an authentic, true person for all times. “Socratic man” is the ideal of man, not as God, but as “an earthly being close to all people.” It can be said that the life of Socrates is an example of demonstrative service to truth and humanity.

Socrates, first of all, draws attention to the peculiarities of philosophy and philosophizing, to the specifics of philosophical knowledge. It lies in the fact that philosophy, through general concepts about an object, tries to discover a single basis, an essence that is generally valid for a number of phenomena or all phenomena, which is the law of the existence of things. The subject of philosophy, according to Socrates, cannot be nature, since we are not able to change natural phenomena, nor create them. Therefore, the subject of philosophy is man and his actions, and self-knowledge, knowledge of oneself, is the most important task. Socrates raises the question of the goals and practical purpose of philosophical knowledge for man. Thus, philosophy is given an anthropological character. Socratic philosophy is one of the first forms of anthropological philosophy. After Socrates in philosophy, the problem of man acquired the meaning of a fundamental problem. What is the purpose of philosophy according to Socrates? The goal and task of philosophy is to teach a person the art of life and to be happy in this life. He gives a very simple definition of happiness, which is essentially universal - happiness is a state of a person when he experiences neither mental nor physical suffering. Eudlaimon - this is it happy man. The basis of happiness, according to Socrates, can be true knowledge about the good and the good, i.e., which no one doubts, and which does not lead to mistakes and delusions that are the cause of unhappiness. On this basis, Socrates believes that true knowledge is a genuine good, which is based not so much on benefit as on goodness. By good, Socrates understands bringing benefit to another, without pursuing any selfish gain. But how to achieve and is knowledge of true goodness and goodness achievable, is true knowledge of anything achievable? After all, true knowledge has a special attribute. It is universally significant and obvious to everyone and therefore no one doubts it. Therefore, Truth reveals the universal, essential foundations of the existence of phenomena in a certain quality.

The only way to achieve true knowledge is the method of dialogue, during which the truth is revealed to the participants in the dialogue. According to Socrates, dialogue is a mutual and voluntary search for true knowledge about something, clothed in a system of general concepts under which we subsume specific phenomena. Dialogue is a creative process of searching for truth. Addressing his interlocutor, Socrates says: “And yet I want to think with you and look for what it is” (true virtue). (See Plato. Meno. Selected dialogues and true good). In the dialogue Laches, Socrates asks the question: “What does it mean to define what virtue is?” and answers: “It means to find out what is one and the same in everything, to find in the virtue in question that one thing that covers all cases of its manifestation.” This means that truth, and especially philosophical truth, is correct knowledge about the essence, which has a universally valid character. In this regard, Socrates emphasizes the rationalistic nature of philosophy, capable of resisting mysticism, prejudice and ignorance. Therefore, Socrates insists on the assertion that philosophy is the only impartial form of self-knowledge by a person of his true essence. Hence his motto-aphorism: “Know yourself.”

In dialogue there is always a dialectic of opinion and knowledge, opinion and truth. Opinion, i.e. a statement about something turns into a true judgment only when it turns into a system of concepts that fix what is generally valid. And the dialectics of thinking consists in the transition from one type of concept to another, from particular to general, more general content, from simpler knowledge to more complex one.

According to Socrates, the goal of philosophy is also for man to gain true freedom, the content of which should be to clarify what depends on man and what does not depend on man, and within these boundaries; Based on true knowledge, a person acts accurately and without error. Therefore, a person is free only to the extent that he knows himself. But according to Socrates, true and genuine freedom also includes a moral and ethical component. Freedom, free-thinking is the path to self-improvement, to the perfect ideal of a person, to a kalokagatic person (i.e., perfect in spiritual and moral terms). Socrates insists: “After all, all I do is go around and convince each of you, both young and old, to take care first and foremost not of the body or money, but of the soul, so that it is as good as possible.”

This is the humanistic and educational character of Socratic philosophy. Socrates is a model not only of genuine philosophizing, but also of a genuine combination of philosophy and practice of action, responsibility as a thinker and as a person. In essence, Socrates conducts a “social experiment” on himself, in which he tests the possibility and achievability of connection and indissolubility philosophical truths and principles with direct life manifestation. Which always requires extraordinary courage from a thinker and a person, as demonstrated by Socrates at his trial. Let’s finish our characterization of Socrates’ philosophy with Michel Montaigne’s statement about him: “It is truly easier to speak like Aristotle and live like Caesar than to speak and live like Socrates. This is precisely the limit of difficulty and perfection: no art will add anything here.”

Is ancient philosophy. Its ancestors are the ancient Greeks and Romans. In the arsenal of thinkers of that time, the “tools” of knowledge were subtle speculation, contemplation and observation. Ancient philosophers were the first to pose eternal questions to themselves, exciting people: where does everything around us begin, the existence and non-existence of the world, the unity of contradictions, freedom and necessity, birth and death, the purpose of man, moral duty, beauty and sublimity, wisdom, friendship, love, happiness, personal dignity. These problems are still relevant today. It was ancient philosophy that served as the basis for the formation and development of philosophical thought in Europe.

Periods of development of ancient philosophy

Let us consider what main problems ancient philosophy solved and the stages of its development as a science.

In the development of ancient Greek and ancient Roman philosophical thought, four important stages can be roughly distinguished.

The first, pre-Socratic, period falls on the 7th - 5th centuries. BC. It is represented by the activities of the Eleatic and Milesian schools, Heraclitus of Ephesus, Pythagoras and his students, Democritus and Leucipus. They dealt with issues of the laws of nature, the construction of the world and the Cosmos. The importance of the pre-Socratic period is difficult to overestimate, because it was early ancient philosophy that largely influenced the development of culture, social life and Ancient Greece.

Characteristic feature the second, classical period (V - IV centuries. is the appearance of the sophists. They shifted their attention from the problems of nature and the Cosmos to the problems of man, laid the foundations of logic and contributed to the development of 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 began to take shape, in which three main directions were defined - Epicureanism, Stoicism and Skepticism.

For the period from the 4th to the 2nd centuries BC. e. Ancient philosophy goes through the third, Hellenistic, stage of development. At this time, the first philosophical systems emerged, deep in their content, new ones appeared philosophical schools- Epicurean, academic, perepathetic and others. Representatives of the Hellenistic period move on to solving ethical problems and moralizing precisely at a 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 entered into its last period development. At this time, the leading role belonged to Rome, under whose influence Greece also appeared. On the formation of Roman philosophy big influence Greek influences, in particular, its Hellenistic stage. In the philosophy of Rome, three main directions are formed - Epicureanism, Stoicism and Skepticism. This period was characterized by the activities of such philosophers as Aristotle, Socrates, Protogor, and Plato.

The third and fourth centuries were the time of the emergence and development of a new direction in ancient philosophy - Neoplatonism, the founder of which was Plato. His ideas and views largely influenced the philosophy of early Christianity and the philosophy of the Middle Ages.

This is how ancient philosophy arose, the stages of development of which gave rise to interesting ideas: the idea of ​​​​the universal connection of all phenomena and things existing in the world, and the idea of ​​​​infinite development.

It was in those times that epistemological trends emerged - Democritus, being, in essence, a materialist, suggested that the atom is the smallest particle any substance. This idea of ​​his was ahead of centuries and millennia. Plato, adhering to idealistic views, created a dialectical doctrine of individual things and general concepts.

The philosophy of ancient times became one of the independent ones. With its help, the complete picture peace. Ancient philosophy allows us to trace the entire path of the formation of theoretical thought, full of non-standard and bold ideas. Many questions that ancient Greek and Roman philosophical minds tried to solve have not lost their relevance in our time.

The main features of ancient philosophy are cosmologism, objectivism, and syncretism.

In the development of philosophy of Ancient Greece, three stages are traditionally distinguished:

• -natural philosophy;
• -classic;
• - Hellenistic era.

The first stage of ancient philosophy represents the natural philosophy of the early Greek philosophers (VI-V centuries BC). The main problem for philosophers of this period was the problem of the first principle (arche). They tried to answer the question: what is the root cause of everything that exists?

Main features of this period:

• - Cosmologism: the focus of the philosophers of this period was the ancient cosmos, its origin and structure. The cosmos is considered as a large but finite material body, built according to the laws of mathematical proportion, similar to the proportions of a perfect structure. This is the ideal of harmony that a person should strive for in his life. Space is a role model in all areas of life.
• - Objectivism - all reality, including human ideas, is understood extremely objectively. Even the mind and soul of man are seen as a pathetic imitation of the objective mind and soul of the cosmos. Human life is subject to the same natural laws as the life of the cosmos.
• - Syncretism: the non-separation of man from nature and society. The man of antiquity did not perceive himself as a self-sufficient person opposed to nature, clan, or polis. IN Ancient Greek There is not even a term “personality”.

The main schools and representatives of this period are the Milesian school (Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Heraclitus), the Pythagorean Union (Pythagoras), the Eleatic school (Parmenides, Zeno), the school of atomism (Leucippus, Democritus).

The second period of the classical stage of development of ancient philosophy dates back to the middle of the 5th century. BC.

Continuing the logic of the development of natural philosophy, which came to recognize the mind as the most important part of the cosmos, the philosophy of this period makes an anthropological turn to man as the bearer of opinion and knowledge. The paradoxes of natural philosophy, expressed in the teachings of Heraclitus and Parmenides, were perceived as proof of the impossibility of knowledge of the cosmos. Therefore, the problems of man and society became the only sphere of philosophical reflection.

The second period of development is the classics (mid-5th - mid-4th centuries BC). During this period, an “anthropological turn” occurs: the central theme of philosophy becomes man himself, and with him the problems of knowledge, ethics, and social philosophy. Plato and Aristotle complete the classical period by combining the teachings of natural philosophers about nature with the teachings of Socrates about man and society.

In the middle of the 5th century in Ancient Greece, the polis system reached its peak. In Athens, a democratic form of statehood is established with elements of aristocratic rule, which presupposes the participation of all citizens in governing the state. This requires the ability to speak beautifully and reasonedly, to prove one’s opinion in the courts and the people’s assembly - highest body management. That is why rhetoric (the art of eloquence), eristics (the art of argument) and logic (the art of correct thinking). The skills of rhetoric and eristics were taught by the first paid teachers of philosophy, the sophists (from the Greek word “sophistes” - sage, expert). The Sophists were supported by Pericles, the enlightened ruler of Athens, who was elected to the highest government positions for a long time. However, already at the end of the 5th century BC, the word “sophist” acquired a negative meaning.

This was due to the fact that the sophists could equally convincingly prove completely opposite statements. In the face of rapid changes in laws, traditions and customs that previously seemed unshakable, the sophists questioned the objectivity of state laws, religious and moral principles.

The sophists focus on a specific, individual person, with his desires and sensual aspirations. For sophists, a person is a bearer of opinion; he does not possess knowledge of objective truth. The sophists Protagoras and Gorgias believed that objective truth is unknowable. Everything is relative and depends on the individual preferences of the person. The sophists' line of reasoning is as follows: the world is material, but the main property of matter is variability. Everything in the world is constantly changing to the opposite; accordingly, two opposing opinions can be expressed about each subject. From this statement Protagoras concludes: “If two opposing opinions can be expressed about every thing in the world, then whatever we say will be true. From here everything is true.” Another sophist Gorgias drew the opposite conclusion from these premises, that everything is false. In his work “On Nature or the Non-Existent” Gorgias proves the impossibility and pointlessness of attempts to understand nature.

Considering the impossibility of objective general cosmic criteria of good and evil, truth and falsity, Protagoras declares that such a criterion is the representation of man himself: “Man is the measure of all things.” Pointing to the diversity of laws and religious customs of different countries, the Sophists considered law and religion to be baseless, invented by man, and not given by the gods. Therefore, already at the end of the fifth century, the sophists began to be seen as a real threat to the foundations of polis statehood. The activities of the sophists were officially prohibited.

The opposite in spirit philosopher of this era was Socrates. If the Sophists consider man from the sensual side, then for Socrates man, first of all, is the bearer of reason. Reason allows a person to know the difference between good and evil and thereby achieve a happy life. Such knowledge is possible only with the help of general concepts - justice, goodness, courage, which are definitions of God. Socrates' God appears as cosmic reason, goodness and truth. It manifests itself in the mind of every person. A special place in the philosophy of Socrates is occupied by the doctrine of the soul as a non-physical ideal sphere of existence. Caring for the soul, its upbringing and education, becomes the main goal of Socrates' conversations. Socrates was convinced that a person cannot acquire knowledge externally as information. Knowledge can only be the result of one’s own reflections and volitional efforts, as a result of which unshakable values ​​are formed in the soul. moral principles. This is where the famous saying “Know thyself” comes from.

Socrates' student Plato is the most significant representative not only of ancient philosophy, but of all Western philosophy as a whole. His teaching synthesizes the natural philosophy of the Pre-Socratics with the philosophical anthropology of Socrates. Thus, Plato overcomes the limitations of natural philosophy, in which there was no problem of man, and the limitations of the philosophy of Socrates, in which there was no doctrine of the cosmos. As a result, Plato creates a comprehensive philosophical system that reveals the cosmos as a dialectical unity of the spiritual and physical, as a perfect living organism.

The sensory world is a dialectical unity of opposites - mind and body, idea and matter, limit and infinity, one and many. Being in the middle between being and non-being, ideal and material, the sensory world always strives for the highest and ideal, but it is constantly pulled down by formless matter. Therefore, everything in the cosmos is in the process of birth and dying, transition from being to non-being and from non-being to being. Using mythological images, Plato characterizes the sensible cosmos as a child born from the marriage of a cosmic mind-father, containing all ideas, and a formless mother-matter. Space - Living being, which has a mind containing the ideas-patterns of all things, a soul, which is the source of movement, and a body composed of four elements, mathematically ordered, in which the mind and soul are located. The unity of all parts of the cosmos is ensured by the One or Good (analogue of the Pythagorean unit), which is higher than the Mind and therefore unknowable.

Analyzing the life of the contemporary polis, Plato speaks of the inevitable degradation of the ideal state, the cause of which is imperfection human nature. Irregular shapes government system, which simultaneously represent successive stages of the decline of the ideal system, are:

• - timocracy - the power of ambitious people or military state, where instead of wisdom, courage and bravery are put in first place;
• - oligarchy - the power of a wealthy minority, which is established as a result of the accumulation of wealth by rulers;
• - democracy - the power of the poor majority who overthrew the oligarchs;
• - tyranny - the power of one tyrant who comes to rule the state as a result of democratic elections.

If in a just state everything is controlled by the rational part of the soul, then in tyranny as an absolutely unjust state everything is subordinated to the basest desires of the lustful part of the soul.

Being the largest event of antiquity, Plato's philosophy is the pinnacle of development classical period and a model for subsequent stages in the history of philosophy.

The Hellenistic era - the third period of ancient philosophy - is characterized by subjectivism and individualism. At this time, philosophers are concerned with the questions of the individual who seeks protection from the destructive influence outside world. The main currents of this period are Stoicism, Epicureanism, skepticism, Neoplatonism.

The increased attention to the singular and individual, which permeates Aristotle's philosophy, indicates the onset of new era, when the sensory and subjective will be the main subject of attention of philosophers. This is the Hellenistic era, which begins at the end of the 4th century BC. The term Hellenism itself means “imitation of the Hellenes” and defines the desire to repeat the concepts of the classical era in new subjective forms.

Main features: the collapse of the polis system and the advent of the era of empires, as a result of which the individual finds himself torn out of the familiar and visible environment of the polis and thrown into the vast expanses of the empire. This change of environment will force a person to withdraw into his own inner world and view external reality as a source of unpredictable and hostile events.

There is a deepening of ideas about personality, the development of individual independence. The new situation also requires this. In the Roman Empire, a professional bureaucracy arises, which requires an independent and developed individual, a professional intelligentsia is formed, representing subjective images of the era in literary works, and individual entrepreneurship expands in the economy. Slaves gain greater independence, from whom initiative and independence are required. Finally, the entire multitude of policies, peoples, and territories of the empire are united under the rule of one person - the monarch. Thus, the individual, subjective principle permeates all spheres of the Hellenistic world.

The three main movements of the early Hellenistic era - Stoicism, Epicureanism and skepticism, despite significant differences, pursue the same goal: to protect a person from the destructive influence of the outside world, bringing him into a state of equanimity that cannot be disturbed by any blows of fate.

Stoicism is the most widespread movement of the Hellenistic era, which arose in Ancient Greece and was popular in Ancient Rome. Founders: Zeno, Chrysippus, Cleanthes. Recognizing that everything in the world happens according to the will of an unknowable fate, the Stoics sought to achieve a state where fate could no longer have any influence on a person. This is a state of apathy or equanimity, the achievement of which requires a person to get rid of all passions and lusts. Emphasizing the rational side of man, the Stoics were convinced of the ability of reason to curb passions and lusts. To describe the picture of the world, the Stoics used the philosophy of Heraclitus, considering the cosmos and everything that exists as a result of the outflow of the divine primordial energy, which is at the same time the Logos. Logos is Destiny natural law, God, space. Being an integral part of the fiery cosmos, man is completely dependent on the actions of the Logos. He can only choose between wisdom and stupidity, that is, between following the rational law of the Logos or following his own unreasonable passions and desires. The Stoic cosmos is a living organism permeated with fiery breath, consisting of a mixture of fire and air and called “pneuma”. A change in this breathing is reflected in all cosmic processes, including human life.

Representatives of Epicureanism, in contrast to Stoicism, emphasized the sensual component of man, believing that the goal of life is a state of pleasure. The founder of this movement, Epicurus of Athens, argued that sciences are useless and do not save people from stupidity. All knowledge arises from sensations, and sensations are followed by pleasure, which is the beginning and the end of a blissful life. The purpose of life is not to suffer in body, not to worry in soul. Pleasure is understood as the absence of suffering, that is, equanimity and serenity. The ideal of the Epicurean sage is gods who are so imperturbable and self-absorbed that they do not interfere either in the life of man or in the life of the cosmos. The Epicurean teaching about nature is based on the atomism of Democritus and is intended to free man from the main source of his anxiety - fear of the gods. Everything that exists is made up of atoms and the void in which they move. Atoms are capable of spontaneously deviating from the path of motion. This ability also exists in a person who performs free actions that are not predetermined by fate. After death, a person simply disintegrates into atoms, so the gods cannot punish him for his misdeeds during life.

Unlike Stoicism and Epicureanism, skepticism (the term itself comes from a Greek verb that means to look around, to look around, to be indecisive) believes that truth is completely unknowable by either reason or the senses. The founder of this movement is Pyrrho, the successors are Timon, Aenesidemus, Carneades, Arcesilaus, the systematizer and the last representative is Sextus Empiricus.

Subsequently, the ideas of ancient philosophy formed the basis of medieval philosophy and are considered the main sources of the development of European social thought.

In ancient philosophy, there are 4 main periods: Natural philosophical (pre-classical) stage (7-5 ​​centuries BC, Classical stage (5-4 centuries BC), Hellenistic-Roman stage (4 centuries BC .c. – 3rd century AD), final stage (3rd-6th centuries AD).

Pre-classical ancient philosophy arose in the ancient Greek city-states (polises): Miletus, Ephesus, Elea, etc. It is a collection of philosophical schools named after the corresponding policies. Natural philosophers (translated as philosophers of nature) considered the problems of the universe in the unity of nature, gods and man; Moreover, the nature of the cosmos determined the nature of man. The main question of pre-classical philosophy was the question of the fundamental principle of the world.

Early natural philosophers highlighted the problem of cosmic harmony, which must correspond to the harmony of human life (cosmological approach).

U late natural philosophers the contemplative approach is combined with the use of logical argumentation, and a system of categories emerges.

Natural philosophers include:

School	Main representatives	Key Ideas	What is the fundamental principle of the world
Early natural philosophers
Milesian school	Thales (c. 625-c. 547 BC) - founder of the school	Nature is identified with God	Water
	Anaximander (c. 610-546 BC)	There are countless worlds that come and go	Apeiron - abstract matter in perpetual motion
	Anaximenes (c. 588-c. 525 BC)	Founded the doctrine of the sky and stars (ancient astronomy)	Air
Ephesus school	Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 554-483 BC)	Everything in the world is changeable - “you cannot step into the same river twice”	The First Fire is a symbol of the universal, rational and animate element
Eleatic school (Eleatics)	Xenophanes of Colophon (c. 570-after 478 BC)	Human feelings do not provide true knowledge, but only lead to opinions	“One” is an eternal, perfect being, which is God.
	Parmenides (c. 515 BC – ?)	The true truth - "aletheia" - can only be known by reason	Eternal existence without beginning or end
	Zeno of Elea (c. 490-c. 430 BC)	The movement does not exist, because a moving object consists of many points at rest (Achilles and the tortoise)
Later natural philosophers
The teachings of Pythagoras and his followers - the Pythagoreans	Pythagoras (2nd half 6th - early 5th centuries BC)	Harmony, order and measure are the main thing in the life of both a person and society	Number-symbol of world harmony
	Empedocles of Agrigentum (484-424 BC)	The driving forces of the world - the confrontation between Love and Enmity	Four elements: water, air, earth and fire.
Spontaneous materialistic direction	Anaxagoras (500-428 BC)	Nus, Mind (intelligence) - organizes a chaotic mixture of seeds, as a result of which things arise	“Seeds” – an infinite number of tiny particles
Atomistic materialism	Leucippus, Democritus of Abdera (?-ca. 460 century BC)	All bodies are formed as a result of diverse combinations of atoms	Atoms are countless, constantly moving elements.

Classical stage (5th-4th centuries BC)

The heyday of ancient philosophy. At this stage, the center of philosophical thought was Athens, which is why it is also called Athenian. Main features of the classical stage:

• systematized teachings (original philosophical systems) appear;
• switching the attention of philosophers from the “nature of things” to questions of ethics, morality, problems of society and human thinking;

Most famous philosophers of the classical period are the ancient Greek thinkers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, as well as the sophistic philosophers.

Sophists (in translation from Greek - “sages, experts”) - a group of ancient Greek enlighteners from the mid-5th to first half. 4th centuries BC. They can be called professional philosophers, since the sophists taught logic to those who wished for a fee, oratory and other disciplines. They attached particular importance to the ability to convince and prove any position (even incorrect ones).

Features of the philosophy of the Sophists:

• a turn from natural philosophical problems to man, society and everyday problems;
• denial of old norms and experiences of the past, critical attitude towards religion;
• recognition of man as the “measure of all things”: free and independent of nature;

The Sophists did not create a single philosophical doctrine, but they aroused interest in critical thinking and human personality.

The senior sophists include (2nd half of the 5th century BC): Gorgias, Protagoras, Hippias, Prodicus, Antiphon, Critias.

The younger sophists include: Lycophron, Alcidamont, Thrasymachus.

Socrates (469-399 BC) - considered the founder of classical philosophy. Like the Sophists, he made man and his inner world, however, he considered their teaching sterile and superficial. He questioned the existence of gods and put reason, truth and knowledge at the forefront.

The main ideas of Socrates:

• Self-knowledge is both the search for knowledge and virtue.
• Admitting your ignorance encourages you to expand your knowledge.
• Exists higher intelligence, scattered throughout the Universe, and the human mind is only a tiny fraction of it.

The essence of Socrates' life was his conversations with his students and discussions with his opponents. He believed that the way to comprehend truth was maieutics (a method he invented, in Greek means midwifery) - the search for truth through dialogue, irony and collective reflection. Socrates is also credited with the invention of the inductive method, leading from the particular to the general.

Since the philosopher preferred to present his teachings orally, its main provisions have come to us in the retellings of Aristophanes, Xenophon and Plato.

Plato (Athenian) real name - Aristocles (427-347 BC). A student and follower of Socrates, he preached the moral meaning of his ideas all his life. He founded his own school, called the Academy, in the suburbs of Athens, and laid the foundation for an idealistic movement in philosophy.

The basis of Plato’s teachings is made up of three concepts: “one” (the basis of all being and reality), mind and soul. Main question his philosophy is the relationship between being and thinking, material and ideal.

According to Plato's idealistic theory, the world is divided into 2 categories:

• world of becoming- a real, material world in which everything is changeable and imperfect. Material objects are secondary and are only a semblance of their ideal images;
• world of ideas, or “eidos” - sensory images that are primary and comprehended by the mind. Every object, thing or phenomenon carries within itself own idea. The highest idea is the idea of ​​God, the creator of the world order (demiurge).

As part of his philosophy, Plato also developed the doctrine of virtue and created the theory of the ideal state.

Plato presented his ideas mainly in the genre of letters and dialogues (the main character of which is Socrates). In total, his works include 34 dialogues. The most famous of them: “The Republic”, “Sophist”, “Parmenides”, “Theaetetus”.

Plato's ideas had a huge influence both on subsequent philosophical schools of antiquity and on thinkers of the Middle Ages and Modern times.

Aristotle (384 – 322 BC). Aristotle was a student of Plato and spent twenty years at his Academy. After the death of Plato, he served as tutor to Alexander the Great for eight years, and in 335-334. BC. founded his own educational institution in the vicinity of Athens, the Lyceum, where he taught together with his followers. He created his own philosophical system based on logic and metaphysics.

Aristotle developed the basic principles of Plato's philosophy, but at the same time criticized many of its aspects. Let’s say he believed that it is not the contemplation of abstract “ideas” that leads to the highest truth, but the observation and study of the real world.

Basic principles of Aristotle's philosophy:

• at the basis of any thing are: matter and form (the material essence and idea of ​​the thing);
• philosophy is the universal science of being, it provides justification for all sciences;
• the basis of science is sensory perception (opinion), but true knowledge can only be achieved with the help of reason;
• the search for the first or final cause is crucial;
• the main reason for life is soul- the essence of being of any thing. There are: lower (vegetative), middle (animal) and higher (reasonable, human) soul, which gives meaning and purpose to human life.

Aristotle rethought and generalized the philosophical knowledge of all previous ancient thinkers. He was the first to systematize the existing sciences, dividing them into three groups: theoretical (physics, mathematics, philosophy), practical (among which one of the main ones was politics) and poetic, regulating production various items). He also developed theoretical basis ethics, aesthetics, social philosophy and the basic structure of philosophical knowledge. Aristotle is the author of the geocentric system in cosmology, which existed until heliocentric system Copernicus.

Aristotle's teachings appeared highest achievement ancient philosophy and completed its classical stage.

Hellenistic-Roman stage (4th century BC – 3rd century AD)

This period takes its name from the Greek state of Hellas, but also includes the philosophy of Roman society. At this time, in ancient philosophy there was a refusal to create fundamental philosophical systems and a transition to problems of ethics, meaning and values ​​of human life.

School	Main representatives	Key Ideas
Cynics (cynics)	Antisthenes from Athens (c. 444–368 BC) - founder of the school, student of Socrates; Diogenes of Sinope (c. 400–325 BC).	Giving up wealth, fame, and pleasures is the path to happiness and achieving inner freedom. The ideal of life is asceticism, disregard for social norms and conventions.
Epicureans	Epicurus (341–270 BC) – founder of the school; Lucretius Carus (c. 99 – 55 centuries BC);	The basis of human happiness is the desire for pleasure, serenity and peace of mind (ataraxia). The desire for pleasure is not the subjective will of man, but a property of human nature. Knowledge frees man from fear of nature, gods and death.
Stoics	Early Stoics: Zeno of Kitium (336-264 BC) is the founder of the school. Late Stoics: Epictetus (50-138 BC); Marcus Aurelius.	Happinnes exists the main objective human life. Good is everything that is aimed at preserving a human being, evil is everything that is aimed at its destruction. You need to live in accordance with natural nature and your conscience. The desire for one's own preservation is non-harm to another.
Skeptics	Pyrrho of Elis (c. 360-270 BC); Sextus Empiricus (c. 200-250 BC).	Due to his imperfection, man is unable to know the truth. There is no need to strive to know the truth, you just need to live based on inner peace.
Eclecticism	Philo (150-79 BC); Panetius (c. 185-110 BC); Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC).	A combination of progressive philosophical thoughts and ideas of Greek thinkers of the classical period. The value of reason, morality, a reasonable attitude towards life.

Final stage (3rd-6th centuries AD)

Period from 3rd to 6th centuries AD includes the philosophy of not only the Greek, but also the Roman world. At this stage, there was a crisis in Roman society, which was reflected in social thought. Interest in rational thinking faded, the popularity of various mystical teachings and the influence of Christianity grew.

The most influential teaching of this period was Neoplatonism, most well-known representative which was Plotinus (205-270 AD).

Representatives of Neoplatonism interpreted Plato's teachings and criticized all subsequent movements. The main ideas of Neoplatonism were:

• Everything lower flows from the Highest. The highest is God, or some kind of philosophical principle. The Supreme cannot be comprehended by reason, only through mystical ecstasy.
• The essence of knowledge is the knowledge of the divine principle, which embodies the authenticity of being.
• Good is spirituality, liberation from the body, asceticism.

Useful sources

1. "Philosophy. Course of lectures” / B.N. Bessonov. – M.-LLC “AST Publishing House”, 2002
2. "Philosophy. Short course" / Moiseeva N.A., Sorokovikova V.I. – St. Petersburg-Petersburg, 2004
3. “Philosophy: a textbook for universities” / V.F. Titov, I.N. Smirnov - M. graduate School, 2003
4. "Philosophy: a textbook for higher education students educational institutions» / Yu.M. Khrustalev - M.: Publishing Center "Academy", 2008.
5. “Philosophy: a textbook for higher educational institutions” / executive editor, Ph.D. V.P. Kokhanovsky - Rostov n/a: “Phoenix”, 1998

Ancient philosophy: stages of development, representatives and features updated: October 30, 2017 by: Scientific Articles.Ru

→Periodization of ancient philosophy

Features of ancient philosophy

The development of ancient philosophy is the most important stage in the historical dynamics of the subject philosophical knowledge. Within the framework of ancient philosophy, ontology and metaphysics, epistemology and logic, anthropology and psychology, philosophy of history and aesthetics, moral and political philosophy are highlighted.

Ancient philosophy(first Greek and then Roman) cover more than a thousand-year period from the 6th century. BC e. to VI century AD e. Ancient philosophy originated in the ancient Greek (city-states) with a democratic orientation and its content, methods and purpose differed from the eastern methods of philosophizing, the mythological explanation of the world characteristic of early ancient culture. The formation of a philosophical view of the world was prepared by ancient Greek literature and culture (the works of Homer, Hesiod, gnomic poets), where questions were raised about the place and role of man in the universe, skills were formed to establish motives (reasons) for actions, and artistic images were structured according to feelings of harmony, proportion and measures.

Early Greek philosophy uses fantastic imagery and metaphorical language. But if for myth the image of the world and real world were no different, then philosophy formulates as its main goal the desire for truth, a pure and selfless desire to get closer to it. Possession of the complete truth, according to ancient tradition, was considered possible only by the gods. Man could not merge with “sophia” because he was mortal, finite and limited in knowledge. Therefore, only an unbridled desire for truth is available to a person, which has never been fully completed, active, active, passionate desire for truth, love for wisdom, what the concept itself expresses "philosophy". Being was associated with a multitude of constantly changing elements, and consciousness was associated with a limited number of concepts that restrained the chaotic manifestation of the elements.

Search for the fundamental principle of the world in the changing circulation of phenomena is the main cognitive goal of ancient Greek philosophy. Therefore, ancient philosophy can be understood as doctrine of "first principles and causes". According to its method, this historical type of philosophy seeks to rationally explain existence, reality as a whole. For ancient philosophy, reasonable evidence, logical argumentation, rhetorical-deductive rationality, and logos are significant. The transition “from myth to logos” created a well-known vector of development of both spiritual culture and Europe.

The main stages in the development of ancient philosophy

In the development of ancient philosophy there are four main stages(you can see the detailed division of philosophical schools in the table below).

First stage – 6-5 centuries BC e. "pre-Socratic" . The philosophers who lived before Socrates are called pre-Socratics. These include the sages from Miletus (Miletus school - Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes), Heraclitus from Ephesus, the Eleatic school (Parmenides, Zeno), Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, atomists (Leucippus and Democritus). Natural philosophers deal with the problem of arche (Greek arhe - beginning) - the unified basis of the universe (senior physicists) and the problems of the integral unity of multiple worlds (junior physicists).

The central subject of knowledge in ancient Greek natural philosophy acts space, and the main form of philosophical teaching is cosmological models. The central question of ontology - the question of the essence and structure of the world - is highlighted from the perspective of the question of its origin.

Second phase – approximately mid 5th – late 4th centuries BC. e. – classical. The emergence of classical philosophy marks a radical turn to logical-epistemological, socio-political, moral-ethical and anthropological issues. This turn is associated with the sophistic tradition and with the figure of Socrates. Within the framework of mature classics, perfect examples of systemic abstract theoretical and philosophical concepts are developed, defining the canon of the Western European philosophical tradition (Plato and Aristotle).

Third stage - end of 4th-2nd centuries. BC e. usually called Hellenistic. In contrast to the previous one, associated with the emergence of significant, deep in content and universal in theme, philosophical systems, various eclectic competing philosophical schools are being formed: peripatetics, academic philosophy (Plato’s Academy, Stoic and Epicurean schools, skepticism). All schools are united by one feature: the transition from commenting on the teachings of Plato and Aristotle to the formation of problems of ethics, moralistic frankness in the era of the decline of Hellenistic culture. Then the works of Theophrastus, Carneades, Epicurus, Pyrrho and others became popular.

Fourth stage – 1st century BC e. – 5-6 centuries on the. e. - the period when Rome began to play a decisive role in antiquity, under whose influence Greece also fell. Roman philosophy was formed under the influence of Greek, especially Hellenistic. There are three schools of thought in Roman philosophy: Stoicism (Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius), skepticism (Sextus Empiricus), Epicureanism (Titus Lucretius Carus). In the 3rd-5th centuries. n. e. Neoplatonism arises and develops in Roman philosophy, a famous representative of which is the philosopher Plotinus. Neoplatonism significantly influenced not only early Christian philosophy, but all of it.

References:

1. World Encyclopedia: Philosophy / Main. scientific ed. and comp. A. A. Gritsanov. - M.: AST, Mn.: Harvest, - Modern writer, 2001. - 1312 p.

2. History of philosophy: A handbook for a high school. - Kh.: Prapor, 2003. - 768 p.