Western Philosophy.doc

Western Philosophy Ancient Greece Socrates – “The only thing I know for certain is that I know nothing.” Questioning everything (Socratic method) Plato – Reason/logic (“mind over matter”), rationalism Idealism – society where people use their minds to work together to understand the world Aristotle – “matter over mind” Empirical evidence - data (science) Water (45 C), freezing (-10 C), becomes ice Scientific method Hypothesis (idea) Experiment Observe Conclusion based on the results (Was the hypothesis right or wrong?) Science came from philosophy In the West, people have used philosophy (and science) to understand the world/universe and how it works Eastern philosophy Older than Western philosophy Comes from oral tradition (from generation to generation) How to live your life (guidance/advice) Western philosophy Newer than Eastern philosophy Written (Ancient Greece) Trying to understand the world around them (observing and science) Ancient Rome Christianity Society declined and spread out (Middle Ages/ Medieval period) People were less educated (less science and philosophy) Religious (Christianity) Christian philosopher – theologian St. Augustine – Plato (idealism) Christians believed in the spirit (mind) and the body/material world St. Thomas Aquinas – Aristotle (believed you could prove that god existed using reason/logic) Renaissance (“rebirth”) More people rediscovered Ancient philosophy, art, science Studied people as a part of the natural world Science divided into different fields (physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy) Mathematics (use mathematics with science) Rene Descartes (Rationalism) – similar Plato and St. Augustine “I think; therefore, I am.” Father of modern Rationalism, also the father of modern Western philosophy Age of Enlightenment/Age of Reason (less religious) Immanuel Kant (combined parts of Rationalism and Empiricism) “Nature versus nurture” Philosophy and science share a common history