TIMELINE OF CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHERS

By Kent_Ladrera
  • 469 BCE

    Socrates (469-399 BC.)

    Socrates (469-399 BC.)
    • Athenian Philosopher who questions and opinions clashed with the current course of athenian politics and society.
    -Worked critically examine the foundational beliefs that were common in Greece during his time
    • Accused by corrupting the youth and disbelieving in the gods of the city and was sentenced to death by poison.
    • He claimed the " The unexamined life is not worth living".
    • He claimed the concept of "The self"
  • 428 BCE

    Plato (428-348 BC.)

    Plato (428-348 BC.)
    • Platonic Philosophy;Innatism;Theory of forms; Idealism are his notable Ideas
    • Plato ranks among the greatest philosophers of the world
    -Viewed by many scholars as the most important philosopher of western civilazation -He held that moral values are objective in the sense that they exist in a spirit-like realm beyond subjective human conventions.
  • 384 BCE

    Aristotle ( 384-322 BC.)

    Aristotle ( 384-322 BC.)
    -He is the founder of "Lyceum"
    -Notable works:"Poetics"
    - Known as" The First Teacher" in the west,he was "The Philosopher"
    -He argued that virtues are good habits taht we acquire,which regulate our emotions
    -He further argued that most virtues fall at a mean between extreme characteristics.
    - Aristotle's "The Golden Mean Principle" states that to be happy, live a life of moderation. In everything that we do,we must avoid extrems ( Roa,2007).
  • Period: to

    Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679 BC.)

    -He was a Political Philosopher who justified wide-ranging government powers on the basis of the self-interested consent of the citizens.
    -Hobbes' moral positivism anticipates the chaotic outcome if laws are not abided.
    -He believes that human beings are basically selfish creatures who would do anything to improve their position.
    According to him,people would not act on their evil impulses if left alone for themselves;therefore,they should not be trusted to make decisions on their own.

  • Utilitarianism

    Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
    -was influenced both by Hobbes' account of human nature and Hume's account of social utility. He famously held that humans were ruled by two sovereign masters — pleasure and pain. John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
    - was a follower of Bentham, and, through most of his life, greatly admired Bentham's works— particularly on the nature of ‘happiness.’ Bentham, recall, had held that there were no qualitative differences between pleasures, only quantitative ones.