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, Ancient Greece had a fairly developed slave society, with a complex social class structure and forms of division of labor that were already specialized. 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 Heneysky; 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. Because actually scientific knowledge did not yet exist, then 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 of nature and in what is the essence of her being.

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 a certain meaning of existence. 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 a moral person is 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 motion celestial bodies geometric correctness of the movement of celestial bodies, 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 soul and body have numerical expressions, and numerical proportions are also inherent in moral qualities, 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 of universal laws of 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 benefit. 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. Economically, it was an era of prosperity, and spiritually, the rise 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 was an outstanding personality in all respects: he was not only a great philosopher-thinker, but an outstanding person and citizen. He amazingly combined his philosophical position and practical actions and deeds 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 capable of either changing natural phenomena or creating 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 the true 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 the connection and indissolubility of 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.”

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ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY- a set of philosophical teachings that arose in Ancient Greece and Rome in the period from the 6th century BC. to 6th century AD The conventional time boundaries of this period are considered to be 585 BC. (when the Greek scientist Thales predicted a solar eclipse) and 529 AD. (when the Neoplatonic school in Athens was closed by Emperor Justinian). The main language of ancient philosophy was ancient Greek, from the 2nd–1st centuries. The development of philosophical literature also began in Latin.

Study sources.

Most of the texts of Greek philosophers are represented in medieval manuscripts in Greek. In addition, valuable material is provided by medieval translations from Greek into Latin, Syriac and Arabic (especially if the Greek originals are irretrievably lost), as well as a number of manuscripts on papyri, partly preserved in the city of Herculaneum, covered with the ashes of Vesuvius - this latter the source of information about ancient philosophy represents the only opportunity to study texts written directly in the ancient period.

Periodization.

In the history of ancient philosophy, several periods of its development can be distinguished: (1) Pre-Socratics, or Early natural philosophy; (2) classical period (Sophists, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle); (3) Hellenistic philosophy; (4) turn-of-the-millennium eclecticism; (5) Neoplatonism. The late period is characterized by the coexistence of the school philosophy of Greece with Christian theology, which was formed under the significant influence of the ancient philosophical heritage.

Pre-Socratics

(6th – mid 5th centuries BC). Initially, ancient philosophy developed in Asia Minor (Miletus school, Heraclitus), then in Italy (Pythagoreans, Eleatic school, Empedocles) and on mainland Greece (Anaxagoras, atomists). The main theme of early Greek philosophy is the principles of the universe, its origin and structure. The philosophers of this period were mainly nature researchers, astronomers, and mathematicians. Believing that the birth and death of natural things does not occur by chance or out of nothing, they looked for a beginning, or a principle that explains the natural variability of the world. The first philosophers considered the beginning to be a single primal substance: water (Thales) or air (Anaximenes), the infinite (Anaximander), the Pythagoreans considered the limit and the infinite to be the beginning, giving rise to an ordered cosmos, cognizable through number. Subsequent authors (Empedocles, Democritus) named not one, but several principles (four elements, an infinite number of atoms). Like Xenophanes, many of the early thinkers criticized traditional mythology and religion. Philosophers have wondered about the causes of order in the world. Heraclitus and Anaxagoras taught about the rational principle ruling the world (Logos, Mind). Parmenides formulated the doctrine of true being, accessible only to thought. All subsequent development of philosophy in Greece (from the pluralistic systems of Empedocles and Democritus, to Platonism) to one degree or another demonstrates a response to the problems posed by Parmenides.

Classics of Ancient Greek Thought

(late 5th–4th centuries). The period of the Pre-Socratics is replaced by sophistry. Sophists are traveling paid teachers of virtue, their focus is on the life of man and society. The sophists saw knowledge, first of all, as a means to achieve success in life; they recognized rhetoric as the most valuable - mastery of words, the art of persuasion. The sophists considered traditional customs and moral norms relative. Their criticism and skepticism in their own way contributed to the reorientation of ancient philosophy from knowledge of nature to understanding the inner world of man. A clear expression of this “turn” was the philosophy of Socrates. He believed that the main thing was knowledge of good, because evil, according to Socrates, comes from people’s ignorance of their true good. Socrates saw the path to this knowledge in self-knowledge, in caring for his immortal soul, and not about the body, in comprehending the essence of the main moral values, the conceptual definition of which was the main subject of Socrates' conversations. The philosophy of Socrates gave rise to the so-called. Socratic schools (Cynics, Megarics, Cyrenaics), differing in their understanding of Socratic philosophy. The most outstanding student of Socrates was Plato, the creator of the Academy, the teacher of another major thinker of antiquity - Aristotle, who founded the Peripatetic school (Lyceum). They created complete philosophical teachings, in which they examined almost the entire range of traditional philosophical topics, developed philosophical terminology and a set of concepts, the basis for subsequent ancient and European philosophy. What was common in their teachings was: the distinction between a temporary, sensory-perceptible thing and its eternal, indestructible, comprehended by the mind essence; the doctrine of matter as an analogue of non-existence, the cause of the variability of things; an idea of ​​the rational structure of the universe, where everything has its purpose; understanding of philosophy as a science about the highest principles and purpose of all existence; recognition that the first truths are not proven, but are directly comprehended by the mind. Both of them recognized the state as the most important form of human existence, designed to serve his moral improvement. At the same time, Platonism and Aristotelianism had their own characteristic features, as well as differences. The uniqueness of Platonism was the so-called theory of ideas. According to it, visible objects are only similarities of eternal essences (ideas), forming a special world of true existence, perfection and beauty. Continuing the Orphic-Pythagorean tradition, Plato recognized the soul as immortal, called to contemplate the world of ideas and life in it, for which a person should turn away from everything material and corporeal, in which the Platonists saw the source of evil. Plato put forward a doctrine atypical for Greek philosophy about the creator of the visible cosmos - the demiurge god. Aristotle criticized Plato's theory of ideas for the “doubling” of the world it produced. He himself proposed a metaphysical doctrine of the divine Mind, the primary source of the movement of the eternally existing visible cosmos. Aristotle laid the foundation for logic as a special teaching about the forms of thinking and the principles of scientific knowledge, developed a style of philosophical treatise that has become exemplary, in which first the history of the issue is considered, then the argumentation for and against the main thesis by putting forward aporia, and in conclusion, a solution to the problem is given.

Hellenistic philosophy

(late 4th century BC – 1st century BC). In the Hellenistic era, the most significant, along with the Platonists and Peripatetics, were the schools of the Stoics, Epicureans and Skeptics. During this period, the main purpose of philosophy is seen in practical life wisdom. Ethics, oriented not at social life, but at the inner world of the individual, acquires paramount importance. The theories of the universe and logic serve ethical purposes: developing the correct attitude towards reality to achieve happiness. The Stoics represented the world as a divine organism, permeated and completely controlled by a fiery rational principle, the Epicureans - as various formations of atoms, skeptics called for refraining from making any statements about the world. Having different understandings of the paths to happiness, they all similarly saw human bliss in a serene state of mind, achieved by getting rid of false opinions, fears, and internal passions that lead to suffering.

Turn of the Millennium

(1st century BC – 3rd century AD). During the period of late antiquity, polemics between schools were replaced by a search for common grounds, borrowings and mutual influence. There is a developing tendency to “follow the ancients,” to systematize and study the heritage of past thinkers. Biographical, doxographic, and educational philosophical literature is becoming widespread. The genre of commentary on authoritative texts (primarily the “divine” Plato and Aristotle) ​​is especially developing. This was largely due to new editions of Aristotle's works in the 1st century. BC. Andronicus of Rhodes and Plato in the 1st century. AD Thrasyllus. In the Roman Empire, starting from the end of the 2nd century, philosophy became the subject of official teaching, funded by the state. Stoicism was very popular among Roman society (Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius), but Aristotelianism (the most prominent representative was the commentator Alexander of Aphrodisias) and Platonism (Plutarch of Chaeronea, Apuleius, Albinus, Atticus, Numenius) gained more and more weight.

Neoplatonism

(3rd century BC – 6th century AD). In the last centuries of its existence, the dominant school of antiquity was Platonic, which took on the influences of Pythagoreanism, Aristotelianism and partly Stoicism. The period as a whole is characterized by interest in mysticism, astrology, magic (neopythagoreanism), various syncretic religious and philosophical texts and teachings (Chaldean oracles, Gnosticism, Hermeticism). A feature of the Neoplatonic system was the doctrine of the origin of all things - the One, which is above being and thought and is understandable only in unity with it (ecstasy). As a philosophical movement, Neoplatonism was distinguished by a high level of school organization and a developed commentary and pedagogical tradition. Its centers were Rome (Plotinus, Porphyry), Apamea (Syria), where there was a school of Iamblichus, Pergamum, where Iamblichus' student Aedesius founded the school, Alexandria (main representatives - Olympiodorus, John Philoponus, Simplicius, Aelius, David), Athens (Plutarch of Athens , Syrian, Proclus, Damascus). A detailed logical development of a philosophical system describing the hierarchy of the world born from the beginning was combined in Neoplatonism with the magical practice of “communication with the gods” (theurgy), and an appeal to pagan mythology and religion.

In general, ancient philosophy was characterized by considering man primarily within the framework of the system of the universe as one of its subordinate elements, highlighting the rational principle in man as the main and most valuable, recognizing the contemplative activity of the mind as the most perfect form of true activity. The wide variety and richness of ancient philosophical thought determined its invariably high significance and enormous influence not only on medieval (Christian, Muslim), but also on all subsequent European philosophy and science.

Maria Solopova

Ancient philosophy is a set of philosophical teachings that existed in ancient Greece and Ancient Rome since the 7th century. BC. to the 6th century AD until the closing of the last philosophical school in Athens by Emperor Justinian in 532 - the Platonic Academy. Ancient philosophy had a huge impact on European culture. It was in antiquity that the central problems of philosophical knowledge were formulated and the main methods for solving them were laid down.

The initial period of development of ancient philosophy can be called redphilosophical or theogonic(VII century BC – VI century BC). It is associated with the transition from myth in its original form to the systematized and rationalized form of the heroic epic (Homer and Hesiod), which tried to answer the fundamental needs of man about the origin of the universe and his place in it, describing the process of the birth of the world as the sequential birth of gods (divine geneology brought system and order to the worldview). The era of anthropomorphic Olympian gods symbolizes the harmonization of the cosmos. This determined the artistic understanding of space as symmetry, harmony, measure, beauty, rhythm.

Actually ancient philosophy goes through the following four stages.

First period– pre-Socratic (natural philosophical, or cosmological), which dates back to the 7th century. BC. – mid-5th century BC. is based on the transition of cosmogony to non-mythological rationalized teachings, which are already associated with interest in the problems of nature (“physis”) and the cosmos as a living and self-moving whole. Philosophers of this time were busy searching for the origin (substance) of all things (Miletus school). The materialistic direction is associated, first of all, with the representatives of atomism - Leucippus and Democritus. The main opposition of this period was the confrontation between the teachings of Heraclitus (objective dialectics) and the philosophers of the Eleatic school Parmenides and Zeno (who argued that movement is unthinkable and impossible). An idealistic direction arose in the teachings of Pythagoras.

Second period– classical (Socratic), which dates from the middle of the 5th century. BC. until the end of the 4th century. BC, when the focus is transferred from space to man, making him the main subject of his research and considering him as a microcosm, trying to determine his essence, and also draws attention to ethical and social problems (sophists, Socrates and Socratic schools). Therefore, this period is sometimes defined as an “anthropological revolution” in ancient philosophy. The first philosophical systems of Plato and Aristotle appear. During this period, two main opposing philosophical systems were formed - the “line of Democritus” (materialism) and the “line of Plato” (idealism).

Third period – Hellenistic, dates back to the end of the 4th century. BC. – II century BC. Initially, this period was associated with the understanding of philosophy, first of all, as a moral teaching that develops norms and rules human life(Epicureanism, Stoicism, Skepticism) and then the knowledge of the Divine becomes the main object of philosophy (Peripatetism, which in the future became the theoretical basis of Catholicism, and Neoplatonism - the theoretical foundation of Orthodoxy).

The fourth period – Roman (1st century BC – 5th century AD). During this period, the merger of ancient Greek and ancient Roman philosophy into one - ancient philosophy; interest in the philosophical explanation of nature is waning and problems of man, society, and the state are being actively developed; Stoicism flourishes. Prominent representatives of this period are Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. Cicero, Lucretius Carus, Boethius, as well as the Roman Stoics, skeptics, and Epicureans.

ABOUTfeaturesancient philosophy.

1. Cosmocentrism. The theoretical basis of ancient philosophy is the idea of ​​the cosmos as a sensory-material, corporeal, intelligent, beautiful being, which is set in motion by the cosmic soul, controlled by the cosmic mind, and itself is created by a super-intelligent and super-spiritual primal unity and determines the laws of the world and the fate of man. Philosophical concepts of nature are called natural philosophy. The world, as a rule, was considered as a natural integrity in which constant changes and interconversions occur (spontaneous materialism). Due to the lack of specific data, connections and patterns unknown to philosophers were replaced by fictitious, invented ones (speculative in nature).

2. Anthropocentrism. Man was considered as a microcosm (small cosmos), similar to a macrocosm (large cosmos), and therefore as a corporeal and intelligent being. As a result of such attitudes, aestheticism, that is, the desire for beauty in all spheres of life, became characteristic of ancient culture.

3. Rationalism. Most ancient authors were convinced of the knowability of the world. During this period, the idea of ​​two levels of knowledge emerged - sensory (sensations, perceptions) and rational (mind, logical reasoning). It was argued that it is rational knowledge that makes it possible to obtain the truth, and attempts at a rationalistic solution to it marked the beginning of the formation of philosophy itself.

The formation of ancient philosophy. Ancient atomism.

The emergence of ancient philosophy is associated with overcoming mythological thinking, the main features of which are:

Explanation of all phenomena by the actions of supernatural forces and their will;

lack of boundary between the real and imaginary world;

assessment of all phenomena as friendly or hostile to humans;

lack of interest in theoretical analysis of phenomena and processes.

The end of the mythological era with its calm stability came in the Axial Age as a result of the struggle of rationality and rationally verified experience against myth. Philosophy originates in Ancient Greece as an attempt to unravel the mystery of the world. An important condition for the victory of the Greek logos over myth was the formation of a polis form of social life, which created the precondition for personal freedom of a person, complete openness of all manifestations of social and spiritual life. It replaced the hierarchical relations of domination and subordination with a new type of social communication, which was based on the equality of citizens, on the rejection of rigid traditional norms of human behavior, and most importantly, on the formation of a rational-theoretical way of thinking.

During the formation of ancient philosophy, special attention was paid to the search for the foundations of being. Representatives of spontaneous-materialistic Milesian school(Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, who lived in the 7th-6th centuries BC in the city of Miletus), looked for the foundations of being: water - from Thales, apeiron (unformed, quality-free matter) - from Anaximander, air - from Anaximenes. According to the teachings of these ancient thinkers, as a result of the combination of elements, that is, their connection and separation in various proportions, all things in the world are formed and destroyed. On this basis, they tried to give a holistic picture of the world. The origin, representatives of the Milesian school, gives rise to all the diversity of existing things and embraces everything that exists.

Pythagoras(approx. 571-497 BC), who created his own philosophical school - the union of the Pythagoreans, and asserted: “I am not a sage, but only a philosopher.” He and his students Philolaus, Alcmaeon, in contrast to the representatives of the materialistic Milesian school, considered the first principle of the world not the corporeal-material, but the ideal-incorporeal, therefore their teachings can be considered as a type of objective idealism. The only basis of existence is number, which can be used to express and quantitatively describe anything. Number is something that is always and invariably present in completely different things, and is their single connecting thread. The whole world is the consistent unfolding of an incorporeal entity - a number, and the number itself is the collapsed unity of the universe, therefore the harmony of the cosmos is determined by mathematical laws. But a number is an idea, not a thing. The things and objects we see are not true reality. The real existence can be revealed to us by the mind, not by sensory perceptions. The Pythagoreans believed in immortality and the transmigration of souls.

Heraclitus (c. 544-480 BC) - the founder of objective dialectics, who believes that the fundamental principle of everything that exists is fire. The choice of fire as the fundamental principle is not accidental: the world, or nature, is in continuous change, and of all natural substances, fire is the most capable of change, the most mobile. So Heraclitus comes to the idea of ​​​​the universality of changes in the world, about the struggle of opposites as the source of all things, about the hidden harmony of the world as the internal identity of opposites, therefore he argued: “everything flows, everything changes.” Nothing is stable, everything moves and changes and never stops at anything. The world is a process where everything turns into its opposite: cold becomes warm, warm becomes cold, wet becomes dry, dry becomes wet. A world in which there is nothing stable and permanent is chaotic. Chaos (disorder) of the world is the main principle or law (logos). But law is something stable and orderly. It turns out a paradox: the highest order of the world lies in general disorder, or chaos. Two opposite principles - chaos and logos - turn out to be closely related to each other and are equal (identical). Thus, all things are made up of opposites that fight each other. The struggle of opposite principles is the source of eternal movement and change. If there were no opposites, then there would be nothing to change for any thing. But opposites not only exist in struggle, but also form unity. This important pattern of the universe is the main principle of dialectics - the doctrine of universal connection and eternal change of things. The dialectic of Heraclitus is not a dialectic of ideas (that is, not a subjective dialectic), but a dialectic of the Cosmos, which is presented as unified in its inconsistency. Heraclitus places the material principle – fire – at the basis of everything that exists. “Fire lives the earth by the death, and the air lives by the death of fire; water lives on air by death, earth by water (by death).” This process is cyclical. Heraclitus can be considered the founder of the doctrine of knowledge. He writes: “Man has two means of knowing the truth: sensory perception and logos.” However, the mind comprehends the truth, for it cognizes the essence - the logos of the world. Wisdom is “the knowledge of thought, which rules everywhere and everything.” And although “much knowledge does not teach intelligence...”, however, “men-philosophers should know a lot.” The soul is equated by Heraclitus to fiery breath - the basis of life. A person “inhales” the mind, joining with its help to the logos - the object of truth. The highest goal of knowledge is the knowledge of the Logos, and thereby the knowledge of the highest unity of the universe and the achievement of the highest wisdom. People are equal by nature, but they are not equal in fact. Their inequality is a consequence of the inequality of their interests. Happiness does not lie in pleasing the body, but in thinking and being able to act according to nature.

The opposite of the teachings of Heraclitus is Eleatic school. Its representatives - Xenophanes (580-490 BC), Parmenides (540-480 BC), Zeno of Elea (490-430 BC) believe that existence is one , indivisible, motionless; there is no development. This thesis was substantiated using specific reasoning. Instead of the term “One,” which denotes everything that exists, Xenophanes used the concept of “being.” Eternity follows from the very concept of being and is its most essential feature. That which is eternal must necessarily be indivisible. But something absolutely integral cannot move, which means that being is unchangeable. This is the picture of existence that the mind painted for us, while feeling paints a different picture. Thus, the sensory and rational pictures of the world do not coincide. This means that movement and change do not exist. Because they are impossible to think. To prove this position, Zeno developed aporia (paradoxes or insoluble contradictions: “Dichotomy”, “Achilles and the Tortoise”, etc.). With their help, he tried to prove that the movement we observe does not actually exist, because when we begin to think about it, we encounter insurmountable difficulties: the eyes say that movement is possible, but the mind says that it is not possible. And indeed: we see that the Sun moves every day from East to West, but in fact it is motionless in relation to the Earth. Therefore, one should not rush to assert that Zeno is wrong.

Ancient atomism is a holistic teaching that illuminates all the central problems of ancient philosophy. Representatives of this school include thinkers who lived in different historical periods: Leucippus (5th century BC), Democritus (c. 460-370 BC), Epicurus (342-270 BC) .e.).

The Doctrine of Being. The basis of everything that exists is an infinite number of atoms moving in the void, which is nothingness. Atoms (indivisible particles) are qualityless, that is, devoid of color, smell, sound, etc. All these qualities arise due to the interaction of atoms with human senses. Atoms vary in size, shape, and position. As a result of their combination, all things are formed. Moving atoms gather into “vortices”, from which countless worlds are formed, in which life can arise naturally (without the intervention of gods). It follows from this that not a single phenomenon is uncaused, since it is caused by the combination of different atoms. Everything in the world has a cause, is subject to necessity, which means there are no random events. (The idea of ​​the absence of chance is characteristic primarily of Democritus, while Epicurus deviated from this thesis). The philosophical principle according to which all phenomena in the world have natural causes is called the principle of determinism. Consciousness, the soul of a person, is also a collection of atoms of a special variety.

Theory of knowledge. Cognition is a material process of interaction between atoms. The basis of cognition is sensations, which are the transfer of their copies from things, penetrating into a person through the external senses. But if sensory perceptions are the basis of knowledge, then reason allows us to reveal the true essence of things.

The doctrine of man. Man is a unity of soul and body. The soul, like the body, consists of special atoms that are distributed everywhere. They enter the body during the breathing process. After the death of a person, both body and soul disintegrate.

Ideas about society. Society arose naturally - people united because together it was easier for them to satisfy their needs (needs). Imitating swallows, they learned to build houses, imitating spiders - weaving, etc.

The doctrine of morality (ethics). The atomistic ethics of pleasure in its developed form was developed by Epicurus. Man strives for pleasure and avoids suffering. Its goal is bliss, that is, health of the body and serenity of the spirit. The path to bliss is pleasure, but only natural and necessary (excessive pleasures only give rise to new suffering). Everything that gives pleasure is good, and everything that leads to suffering is evil. Philosophy, according to Epicurus, helps a person achieve bliss, because the knowledge it gives frees him from fear of the gods and death. The name of Epicurus has become a household name in world culture: a person who devotes a lot of time to receiving pleasure is called an “Epicurean.”

“Anthropological revolution” in ancient philosophy.

The anthropological or humanistic period in the development of ancient philosophy is associated with the activities of the Sophists, Socrates and Socratic schools.

Sophists. In the 5th century BC. In Greece, a democratic form of government was established and people were not appointed to public positions, but were elected by popular vote, in connection with which oratory and education in general became of great importance. It was primarily philosophers who had extensive knowledge. Therefore, people began to turn to them with requests to teach them how to argue and prove, refute and convince. Some philosophers who took money for teaching were called sophists, that is, paid teachers. But gradually, in the context of the polemics between Plato and Aristotle, the term “sophistry” takes on a negative meaning, denoting reasoning that deliberately misleads a person, and a sophist began to be called a thinker who knew how to prove what was beneficial to him, regardless of the truth of what was being proven, then there is a “false sage”. Sophisms are outwardly correct evidence of obviously false propositions (for example, the sophism “Horned” sounds like this: “You have something that you haven’t lost; you haven’t lost your horns, which means you are horned”). The Sophists argued that any view is as true as it is false. This view is called subjectivism. From these reasoning it followed that everything in the world is relative (the position that everything is relativity is called relativism).

The famous Greek philosopher confronts the sophists Socrates Athenian (469-399 BC), who did not leave a written statement of his views. His philosophy is his life. The main idea of ​​Socrates' philosophy is the assertion that philosophy should not be a doctrine of nature, because a person can only know what is in his power. Nature is inaccessible to man. She is not in his power. Therefore, the main task of philosophy is self-knowledge, following the motto: “Man, know yourself.” Having known himself, a person knows the essence of virtue.

Knowledge is the discovery of the general in objects, and the general is the concept of an object. To know, you need to define a concept. He developed a special method, which he called maieutics (midwifery), identifying the process of learning the truth with the birth of a child, arguing that the philosopher assists in the birth of truth. He argued that truth, just like the Sun in the sky, can only be one. It is the same for everyone and exists outside of us, regardless of our desires. We didn’t invent it, and it’s not up to us to cancel it. The truth was before us and will always be. But the only thing we can say is that there is truth. However, it is impossible to assert that it is found and established once and for all. Therefore, Socrates argued: “I know that I know nothing” (but our ignorance of the truth does not mean that it does not exist). Everyone must seek the truth on their own. This search is always filled with doubts, contradictions and long discussions. A person can, if not find the truth, then at least get closer to it. This method is called heuristic (from the Greek “I find”). A philosopher must assist the seeker in his endeavors: without offering ready-made answers, help him navigate his search for truth. But it must be born itself in the soul and mind of the one who seeks it. the process of cognition of truth is etah, and the general is the concept of the subject. must be a doctrine of nature, because man can

However, knowledge and virtue, according to Socrates, are not identical. It follows from this that the cause of moral evil, that is, unvirtuous human behavior, is ignorance. If a person knows what good is, then his actions will be true and good. Virtue is knowledge of good and action according to this knowledge. Therefore, explaining the essence of virtue becomes a source of moral self-improvement. Hence, dialectics as a method is aimed, first of all, at educating the soul, at man’s awareness of the true meaning of his existence

After the death of Socrates, several groups of philosophers formed, citing him as a teacher. Such groups were called " Socratic schools" Of particular importance among them was school of cynics(Antisthenes, Diogenes). The Cynics believed that social institutions, including moral norms, are not natural, but artificial. A person must follow nature - it was she who determined the minimum that he really needs. Everything else (eg wealth, power) does not matter. Therefore, the only true benefit is inner freedom - independence from the norms imposed by society. The condition for achieving inner freedom is virtuous behavior. It is expressed in abstaining from pleasures and developing insensitivity to suffering.

Founder Cyrenaic schools was Aristippus. The principle of pleasure was the basis of their practical philosophy, hence the name of their ethical concept - hedonism (pleasure). At the same time, the sage, striving for pleasure, will dominate the blessings of life, and not be captured by them. He must be completely free from external goods and the worries of the world. But it is impossible to achieve perfect happiness, therefore life has no meaning (thus the development of the pleasure principle leads to its self-denial, that is, to the denial of hedonism).

Ancient philosophy covers the period from the 4th century. BC e. until the 5th century n. e. The philosophers of the ancient period include many great thinkers, including Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Democritus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and others. The history of ancient philosophy includes several main periods. Below are the periods of ancient philosophy in the correct order, as well as characteristics of the periods of ancient philosophy.

Figure 1. Periods of development of ancient philosophy, table

Main periods of development of ancient philosophy

1. Early (VII – V BC). This period is characterized by the search for the beginning of all things. It includes the Milesian, Pythagorean, and Eleatic schools, as well as Heraclitus of Ephesus and the atomists Democritus and Leucipus. It was from this period that the term “natural philosophy” came.
2. Middle period (VI – V centuries BC). The Sophists and Socrates, as well as the Stoic and Cynic schools, belong to this period. Much attention is paid to human problems and human place in the world. The Sophists were the first of the philosophers to receive material rewards for teaching eloquence. The Sophists placed the sensory over the material, at the same time they denied the possibility of achieving objective knowledge. Socrates arose from the school of sophists and subsequently began to criticize their ideas.
3. Classical (V-IV BC). The third period of ancient philosophy includes the teachings of Plato and then Aristotle. Plato developed and criticized some of Socrates' ideas; he was also characterized by reflections on the sensory world and the world of ideas. His student was Aristotle, who also partially criticized his teacher, and is famous for introducing syllogistics.
4. Hellenistic period (IV - I centuries BC) During this period, the development of some already existing philosophical schools took place, but in general it is marked by the decline of ancient philosophy of ancient Greek culture in connection with the victory of Macedonia over Ancient Greece. This period is sometimes called Hellenism.
5. The Roman period of the development of ancient philosophy (I century BC - V AD). A feature of this period is Neoplatonism. At this time, some directions of the classical period continue to develop. Towards the end of the period, ideas of nascent Christianity begin to appear.

Characteristics of the early period of ancient philosophy (VII - V BC)

The early or 1st period of the development of ancient philosophy is characterized by the great influence of various religious cults, glorifying nature and worshiping it through the ancient gods. Thanks to the abundance of these cults, the so-called natural philosophy arises - the philosophy of nature as an integral system. Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, the philosophers of the Milesian school, as well as Parmenides, Democritus, Heraclitus and Zeno belong to this period. Early natural philosophers were characterized by a search for the root cause of being; they were not interested in the question of who created the universe, they were interested in what everything was created from.

Different sages of that time answered this question in different ways, for example, Heraclitus named fire as the first principle, and all that exists is nothing more than the struggle of unity and opposites, and the Pythagoreans called number the beginning of everything. It was at this time that the concept of “ontology” arose - the doctrine of being as such. The beginning of the period is characterized by a figurative-metaphorical form, that is, a description of objects and phenomena by comparison, without any abstraction, while in the second half of this period there is a transition from metaphors to concepts.

Characteristics of the second period of ancient philosophy

The so-called Socratic stage of development of ancient philosophy covers the period from the 6th to the 5th centuries. BC. This period began with the sophists, who at that time taught people the art of eloquence for money. The sophists placed the sensory sphere above mental experience, while they believed that there is no objectivity, since from the point of view of the sensory world everything is individual. A characteristic saying for the sages of this school is “Only the world of opinion exists.” From their ideas arose the current of subjective idealism.

Socrates first belonged to the school of the Sophists, but then became their critic. He, in contrast to the sophists, believed that the objective exists, and it should be the measure of everything. Knowledge of the objective is born only after making certain efforts, and everyone can be convinced of the reliability of the objective for themselves. Socrates perceived philosophy as a tool for knowing the truth, and knowledge as a source of moral perfection, believing that all evil comes from ignorance.

Figure 2. Socrates

Characteristics of ancient philosophy of the 3rd period

The most famous thinkers of this time are Plato and Aristotle. Plato rejected the ideas of Democritus’ materialism, treating existence as a set of incorporeal ideas, and relating sensory things to the world of “becoming” - a world in which everything is constantly changing. At the same time, he did not consider being as something unified, but considered it to consist of a whole multitude of ideas, which unites a transcendental unity. Plato introduced the concept of “matter”, calling matter the beginning of everything changeable. Plato also paid a lot of attention to the concept of the state and the place that a person occupies in it.

Aristotle partly continued Plato's ideas, and partly criticized them. Unlike Plato, matter in Aristotle can be given shape, while matter is divisible. It was Aristotle who introduced the concept of formal logic and he also formed the criteria by which material things can be studied.

Figure 3. Aristotle

Characteristics of the Hellenistic period

At this time, ideas in which a person is not a part of society, but an individual, become popular. It is now that stoicism arises, which considers peace and dispassion for the surrounding world to be the goal of human existence. Partially, the ideas of Stoicism are continued by Epicurus; his philosophical thoughts then became popular in the Roman Empire, but he considers happiness to be the goal of human life. Sometimes this period is combined with the Roman period.

Roman period of development of ancient philosophy

At this time, the ideas of Neoplatonism became popular, one of the popularizers of which was Plotinus. Plotinus continues to develop some of Plato's ideas, but, unlike him, he combines mythology and philosophy, endowing the origin with otherworldliness and super-reasonability. Other representatives of this period are Porphyry of Tire and Iamblichus.

Introduction

Mid-1st millennium BC - that milestone in the history of human development at which philosophy arose almost simultaneously in three centers of ancient civilization (India, China, Greece).

Its birth is a long process of transition from a mythological worldview, based mainly on tradition and faith, to a worldview based on objective knowledge, reason

Why exactly the 7th-6th centuries? BC. are the times of explosion of intellectual energy?

Scientists suggest that this is due to the following reasons:

1) development of productive forces (transition from bronze to iron);

2) the emergence of commodity-money relations;

3) the emergence of the first states;

4) growth of scientific knowledge;

5) growing opposition to traditional religion.

Philosophy from the moment of its inception has a concrete historical character, because it is the spiritual component of society.

Changes in public life changed its subject matter and placed other accents. This is due to the fact that philosophy, like any form of social consciousness (politics, law, morality, religion, art, science), has its own history.

It is customary to distinguish the following historical types of philosophy (type (from the Greek typos 'imprint') is the basic form that combines the characteristics of the entire group of subjects):

Philosophy of the Ancient East (India, China). Originated in the 7th and 6th centuries. BC e.; existed in various modifications until modern times.

Philosophy of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, or ancient philosophy (VII century BC -VI century AD)

Philosophy of the Middle Ages (II, III centuries -XIV centuries).

Philosophy of the Renaissance (XV-XVI centuries).

Philosophy of the New Age (XVII - early XVIII centuries).

Philosophy of the Enlightenment (XVIII century).

Classical German philosophy (late XVIII - XIX centuries).

Philosophy of Marxism (XIX-XX centuries).

Western European philosophy of the late XIX-XX centuries.

Russian philosophy (XI-XVII centuries; XVIII-XIX centuries; late XIX-XX centuries).

Periodization of ancient philosophy

Ancient Greek philosophy is a collection of various teachings that developed in the period from the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. (from the formation of archaic city-states (Greek polis "city-state") on the Ionian and Italian coasts to the heyday of democratic Athens and the subsequent crisis and collapse of the Roman Empire). After 1200 years, the ancient stage of European philosophy ends - in 529, when the Byzantine emperor Justinian denies pagans the right to occupy public buildings, prohibits them from having schools and teaching, because this “corrupts the souls of students.”

It is customary to distinguish three periods within ancient Greek philosophy.

The first is the origin and formation - VII-V centuries. BC e. It is characterized by the study of nature, space, the search for the beginning, the origins of existence.

The second is “classical” - V-VI centuries. BC e., corresponds to the heyday of ancient Greek slave-owning democracy. During this period, issues of the structure of matter, the theory of knowledge, the essence of man, and social life came to the fore.

Third - Extinction and decline of philosophy - III century. BC e.-VI century n. e., it corresponds to the crisis of the polis structure of social life, the emergence of imperial state entities first under the auspices of Macedonia, and then - Ancient Rome and, further, the decline of slave society. During this period, from philosophy, which acted as a comprehensive science, private sciences began to branch off, developing methods for the precise study of nature. The philosophy of this period is characterized by a wide variety of schools and teachings, which interpreted the problems of existence, the role of matter and spirit, the essence and purpose of man, etc. from different positions. The main attention during this period was paid to ethical and socio-political problems.

Pre-Socratics

The numerous ancient Greek schools and trends that existed before Socrates can be united by their unified natural philosophical orientation, syncretism of consciousness, and special interest in the origin of the world and its integral essence. Syncreticity is expressed not only in ideas about the indivisibility of the Cosmos, but also in epistemology: as in mythological thinking, the sensory-rational way of thinking is predominant here.

But unlike mythology, the Pre-Socratics did not limit themselves when faced with formidable and incomprehensible phenomena to the introduction of deus ex machil1a, i.e. a reference to the gods. They are looking for others. the causes of these phenomena accessible to knowledge, other fundamental principles of the world. Some of them even go as far as primitive atheism.

One of the divisions of pre-Socratic schools could be as follows:

· Ionian (Milesian) - Thales. Anaximander. Anaximenes, Heraclitus;

· Pythagorean - Pythagoras and his disciples;

· Eleatic - Parmenides, Zeno;

· physiological - Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Leucippus, Democritus;

· Sophists - Protagoras, Prodicus, Hippias. Gorgias.

in these schools the following were accepted as the fundamental principle of the world: for Pythagoras - number; Leucippus and Democritus have atoms, Heraclitus has fire, etc.

The sophists stand out sharply from these schools - with their focus on man, on social issues, and on practical actions in ordinary everyday situations. They taught methods and forms of evidence both in specific cases and generalizing them as examples of political activity and philosophizing. In their opinion, anything can be proven and proved. This speaks of the relativity of truth and the polysemy of language. The views of the sophists played a significant role in the theory of knowledge, as well as in linguistics.

Early Hellenism

Cynics. Antisthenes, Diogenes and their followers. according to Vl. Solovyov, preached the supremacy of nature and reason. the single essence of everything that exists and the insignificance of all artificial and historically divided boundaries, advocating the principle of cosmopolitanism. Man, by his very nature, has the highest dignity and purpose, which consists in freedom from external attachments, delusions and passions - in unshakable valor of spirit.

Hence their condemnation of the government, private property, the institution of marriage, and slavery. Hence the contempt for all conventions and decency - in manners, clothing, food. Their constructive program was formed “by contradiction”: the world is bad, so we must learn to live independently of it; the blessings of life are fragile - therefore one should not strive for them. Moral freedom consists of freedom from desires. Therefore, the ideal of a sage is simplicity and humility.

As is known from the example of the life of Diogenes, the Cynics proved by deeds the possibility of real embodiment of their credo in life.

Hedonism (Epicureans). Epicureanism in ordinary opinion is often identified with pleasure at any cost, without taking into account rationality and morality. However, these ideas are valid only in relation to the vulgar epigones of this ancient philosophical school.

Indeed, the basic principle of the Epicureans is pleasure - the principle of hedonism. Happiness and bliss are the highest goals and values ​​of life (the principle of eudaimonism). But the question is what happiness and bliss are and how they are achieved. Epicurus and his followers considered a happy life to be a reasonable, moral and just life. giving serenity of spirit and health of body. Epicurus considered the means of achieving such a life to be knowledge of the Universe, its laws, as well as knowledge of man and the society in which he lives. The worldview of true Epicureans is characterized by contemplation, piety and worship of God. Neither gods nor society can give a person happiness. It is in himself, in his spiritual pleasures and independence from vain, transitory things.

In his Athenian philosophical school, the Garden of Epicurus, its creator taught not only the principles of his famous ethics. He had a holistic system of philosophy, consisting of physics (ontology), logic (epistemology) and ethics, which included the doctrine of morality in the state.

Epicurus's ideas did not die with him. Several centuries later in Ancient Rome, his views were interpreted in his own way and actively preached by the Roman poet, philosopher and educator Titus Lucretius Carus.

Skepticism. An acute sense of the unknown, turning into the unknowability of the world, awareness of the relativity of even the most stable ideas about it, social cataclysms, cognitive tradition - all this led to the formation of such a direction of ancient philosophy as skepticism. The views of its main creator and representative Pyrrho were strongly influenced by the philosophy of Democritus. The basic principle of life, according to Pyrrho, is gentleness (ataraxia). The philosopher strives for happiness, but it consists of equanimity and the absence of suffering.

Since it is impossible to know the essence of things, we cannot talk about either the beautiful or the ugly, or the just or the unjust. Any statement we make about an object or phenomenon can be countered with equal right and equal force by a statement that contradicts it. Hence the conclusion: refrain from making any judgments about anything. This achieves ataraxia, which is the only happiness available to the philosopher.

Stoicism. The teaching of the Stoics lasted for more than six centuries.

This indicates the relevance of their views throughout antiquity and the significance of these views. The most famous are the late Stoics of Ancient Rome (3rd stage of Stoicism), but the founder of Stoicism is considered to be the philosopher of the 3rd century. BC. Zeno of Kition. The second stage (end of the 2nd - mid-1st century BC) is represented by the ancient Greek philosophers Posidonius and Panetius. According to the views of the Stoics, man is not at all born for pleasure. Life is full of suffering and disasters, and a person must always be prepared for them. Therefore, the sage is characterized by moderation, masculinity, prudence and justice. These are the basic virtues in the face of almighty Fate. The Stoics paid special attention to the will. From it come all the Stoic virtues. They must be observed, since everything in the world is predetermined, the principle of universal expediency prevails in it: both good and evil are expedient; Submission, endurance and persistent enduring of life's adversities, as the Stoics believed, are the highest manifestation of freedom: if everything is predetermined, if nothing in this world can be changed, then the highest freedom and dignity of a person can only lie in perseverance and resistance to evil. The most important feature of the teachings of the Stoics, especially the later ones, is the recognition of all human beings as equal in nature. This objectively meant the denial of class and the importance of a person’s social position and judging him only on his personal merits. Hence their opinion that the philosophical principle itself is rooted in man himself. The Stoics not only preached these views, but also tried to put them into practice. Thus, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the situation of women and slaves was improved. The teachings of the Stoics served as one of the essential foundations of early Christianity. Their ideas have not lost their relevance today.

Late Hellenism

At the beginning of the topic, we talked about the relativity of the classification of philosophy into schools and directions. A clear example of this is late Hellenism. Strictly speaking, it was to this period that the teaching of the Stoics should be attributed, for it reached its highest flowering in ancient Rome. The example of Epicureanism, which was already developed by Titus Lucretius Carp in the period of late Hellenism, is also appropriate here. Essentially, the teaching of the Neoplatonists has roots in classical antiquity. This pattern will be traced throughout the subsequent presentation. Should this be surprising? Philosophy is a grandiose Whole that develops from its foundations.

Neoplatonism is a doctrine that systematizes the basic ideas of Plato, taking into account the ideas of Aristotle. The personal pathos of Neoplatonism lies in preserving the inner peace of the individual. This was relevant in the era of decrepitness and collapse of the Roman Empire. The philosophical core of Neoplatonism is the development of the dialectic of the Platonic triad - the One - Mind - soul and bringing it to a cosmic scale. The main thing in the philosophy of Neoplatonists is the doctrine of the One as a transcendental principle, which is above all other categories, including Mind and soul. The One is indistinguishable and inseparably inherent in everything that is manifest and everything that is conceivable. In fact, it is all that exists, taken in absolute singularity. Accordingly, it is not fragmented and exists everywhere and in everything. At the same time, “everything pours out of it.” The second part of the Platonic triad - the soul - is not a body, but is realized in it and has the limit of its existence in it. Not a single individual soul can exist independently from all other souls, but all are “individual” souls are embraced by the World Soul. The soul does not find its existence in a certain body, it exists even before it begins to belong to it. The mind - the third component of the triad - is also not a body, but without the mind no organized body would exist. Matter is also in the mind itself: in addition to sensory matter, there is also intelligible matter. The action of the World Soul is extended by Neoplatonists to the entire Cosmos. They shared the Orphic-Pythagorean doctrine of transmigration and reincarnation of souls. The ideas of Neoplatonism had a certain influence on early Christianity.