The philosophical perspectives of the ancient world have been very entertaining and full of knowledge for the people of those times. People were very knowledgeable during the contemporary times and they studied the development of different types of philosophical aspects. This essay will allow to get a thorough insight into the developments of different genres of philosophy that had developed during the ancient times till 1 A.D. This is why the philosophical ideas and the key figures associated with all these ideas will be highlighted in this paper for the benefits of the readers. Ancient philosophy is also regarded as the philosophy of antiquity and this is definitely a very significant point of view to understand the evolutionary process of philosophical genres in the modern times. The role of different ancient philosophers in spreading famous philosophical notions will be highlighted so the definitions and knowledgeable conclusions can be drawn at the end of the discussion.
The ancient philosophy had flourished much before the beginning of the Roman Empire. The ancient philosophy basically refers to the context of the Greek philosophy of the ancient times. Apart from that, there are other types of philosophical matters that can be found like Chinese philosophy, Roman philosophy, Indian philosophy and Iranian philosophy. All of these philosophical perspectives had catered to the development of the ancient philosophical perspective in the ancient age. There are several intellectual traditions that could be associated with it in different manners. Critics are of the opinion that the ancient philosophies are the outcomes of various religious values and traditions. Many critics or experts have claimed that the ancient philosophies always had a contrasting approach as compared with the modern philosophical traditions. It has been found that the most modern philosophical traditions have narrowed focus and their methodologies are not too strong also.
As for getting the glimpse of the ancient philosophy, it could definitely be said that these ancient philosophical views had been developed by the people like Plato, Aristotle and Socrates. Greek philosophy and their interpretations had been the most dominant ones during those times. Apart from that, Roman philosophy and Hellenistic philosophy have had their impacts on the ancient traditions of philosophy also. There is a certain amount of contradiction between ancient philosophies and medieval philosophies (Van De Mieroop, 2015). Most medieval philosophical traditions had been developed from the Islamic and Christian influences. There are also some ancient philosophies that have developed from the non-Western traditions. All of them have been developed from the ethical and religious perspectives like the Chinese and Indian philosophy. This is why the traditions of ancient philosophy are proved to be much wide in nature and it has deeper aspects in it also. These high level of ethical and religious bonding in the non-Western ancient philosophies are still being continued even today.
The term ‘philosophy’ itself had come of various types of intellectual traditions since all of them have been very interesting to understand the growth of the religious and philosophical traditions. The concept of the self0refletions and understanding these different thoughts have also been very significant aspects of the society in different ways (Van De Mieroop, 2015). The act of conceptualizing the thoughts will also work as one of the most critical components for the society in different ways as well. Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy before 1 A.D. were the most influential of them all within the surroundings of the society. The growth and spread of this philosophical concepts actually date back to the 6th century BCE. Therefore, the impact of ancient philosophy was immense in the learned people of the society (Coutinho, 2017). Their decisions were also made on this basis as well.
There are different types of the ancient philosophies in the Chinese traditions. Some of these examples are Confucianism, Taoism, Yin-Yang philosophy and others. There are many divisions in the Indian ancient philosophy before the advent of 1 A.D. also. Some of these ancient philosophical traditions are Upnnishads and different sorts of Vedic traditions like Hindu, Buddhism and Jainism philosophy (Van De Mieroop, 2015). The names suggest that all of these philosophical traditions had been largely influenced by the religious reflections. Therefore, it is quite clear that the philosophical traditions have derived from both the intellectual traditions and religious aspects. The concept of Zoroastrianism is a massive part of the Iranian ancient philosophical traditions indeed (Virág, 2017).
The comprehensive ideas of the ancient philosophy are very much important to note that there are several types of components which have led the development of all these traditions. Some of these are religious beliefs, myths, natural theories, cosmology, ethics, and literature (Van De Mieroop, 2015). Therefore, the mixture of all these elements have made these philosophical views much more insightful and full of meaning. Many approaches and issues have been highlighted by the critics that could be very much helpful for the growth of the philosophical views.
Critics of ancient philosophy have also found some common factors in all of these ancient philosophical traditions. They believe that ancient and modern philosophies have different types of synthetic characteristics. The modern philosophies have focused on some specific areas and avoiding the larger perspectives on its topic (Boys-Stones, 2017). This might provide an in depth knowledge on that particular topic but ancient philosophy would provide an opportunity to study and gain knowledge about most of the things (Virág, 2017).
One of the examples that can be given in this scenario is the fact that Pro-Socratics used to display all their metaphysical arguments in the forms of a poem or a verse. The modern or today’s philosophers will always rely on prose forms to deliver their messages to the common people. The themes of metaphysical arguments for ancient philosophers could be presented on the themes of religion and ethics Baird, F. (2019). The theme of divine justice was one of the concurrent themes during that time period. They also focused on the soul’s salvation because it was highly important in many ways indeed (McLeod, 2015). The confluence of natural philosophy and metaphysics could be found in the ancient Chinese philosophy as the critics have narrated in their discussions. Sometimes this kind of philosophical arguments can find its extension in the political philosophy also Reding, J. P. (2017). The framework of thoughts is probably one of most crucial situations where the ncient philosophy could be interpreted in different manners.
The modern philosophy is quite independent from the religious philosophy since it has derived new positions in the independent manner (Denyer, 2016) On the other hand, ancient philosophy is highly depended on several types of religious traditions in the society. These religious traditions are mixed with the ethical perspectives to understand the involvement of the people (Graham, 2015).
The beliefs of souls’ redemption, immortality and divine justice have been included in the philosophical thoughts and explanations of Plato also. The development of the western philosophy traditions had developed during the Roman and Hellenistic periods. Most of these philosophical perspectives had been dominated by the people like Plato, Socrates and Aristotle (Black, 2016). All sorts of discourses in the western philosophy had been developed and analyzed through methodologies by both Plato and Aristotle.
This new discipline and traditional overview of the western philosophy had been very important for the understanding of the readers. People of those times were largely influenced by these philosophical views of both these people (Beckwith, 2017). These philosophical experiences and views could be taken as far more comprehensive than the philosophers of previous era. Some of the pre-Socratics are Thales, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Xenophanes, Philolaus, Protagoras, Gorgias and many more philosophers of antiquity. All of their views and thought points do not match with those of the current times (Jin, 2020). Aristotle. Socrates and Plato gave a complete new version of the philosophical arguments and they believed this to be the foundation for the ancient philosophical traditions from the advent of 6th century BCE.
Epicurus was one of the most prolific philosophers during the Hellenistic era. Some of the others were Archimedes, Posidonius, Carneades and others.Yin-Yang philosophy is probably the oldest of the Chinese classical philosophical traditions. Confucianism and Taoism had great effects on the people also (Coutinho, 2017). Though Buddhism began in India, it some important impacts on countries like Japan, Korea and China also. The Vedic philosophy of Hindu traditions in India gained much popularity belonging to ancient philosophical traditions also (Denyer, 2016).
In the concluding section of the essay, it could be said that the classical and ancient philosophical perspectives and traditions had lots of impacts on the people of the society. Both the Western and Eastern philosophical attributes have been discussed in the essay with some of their main proponents. The influence of religious and ethical traditions on these ancient philosophical perspectives have also been highlighted in the essay so readers can find out its original roots. Both the Western philosophy along with Chinese and Indian philosophy in the ancient times have been quite important for the development of philosophical traditions.
References
Baird, F. (2019). Philosophic Classics: Volume 1: Ancient Philosophy. Routledge.
Beckwith, C. I. (2017). Greek buddha: Pyrrho’s encounter with early Buddhism in Central Asia. Princeton University Press.
Black, A. (2016). A World History of Ancient Political Thought: Its Significance and Consequences. Oxford University Press.
Boys-Stones, G. (2017). Platonist Philosophy 80 BC to AD 250: An Introduction and Collection of Sources in Translation. Cambridge University Press.
Coutinho, S. (2017). Zhuangzi and early Chinese philosophy: Vagueness, transformation and paradox. Routledge.
Denyer, N. (2016). Language, thought and falsehood in ancient Greek philosophy. Routledge.
Graham, A. C. (2015). Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical argument in ancient China. Open Court.
Jin, Y. (2020). Chinese philosophy. In Tao, Nature and Man (pp. 3-12). Springer, Singapore.
McLeod, A. (2015). Theories of Truth in Chinese Philosophy: A Comparative Approach. Rowman & Littlefield.
Reding, J. P. (2017). Comparative essays in early Greek and Chinese rational thinking. Taylor & Francis.
Van De Mieroop, M. (2015). Philosophy before the Greeks: The pursuit of truth in ancient Babylonia. Princeton University Press.
Virág, C. (2017). The emotions in early Chinese philosophy. Oxford University Press.
