The-Philosophy-Book-DK_345

MIND IMAGINATION
HAS NO DECIDES
WE ONLY THINK WHEN EVERYTHING THE UNIVERSE
THIEITRHAEIFMNOKREGENDERWE ARE CONFRONTED HAS NOT ALWAYS
TOPBEERCIESIVTOEDBE
WITH PROBLEMS EXISTED

MAN IS
AN ANIMAL
MAN WAS BORN FREE, THAT MAKES
YET EVERYWHERE BARGAINS
HE IS IN CHAINS
THE
MAN IS THE
MEASURE OF

PHILOSOPHYALL THINGS
BOOK MMAANCHIISNAE
BIG IDEAS SIMPLY EXPLAINED
MAN IS AN
HAPPY IS HE WHO INVENTION OF
HAS OVERCOME RECENT DATE

HIS EGO

THERE IS ACT AS IF WHAT LIFE WILL BE LIVED THE END JUSTIFIES
ONUTOSTIHDIENOGF YOU DO MAKES ALL THE BETTER IF THE MEANS
THE TEXT A DIFFERENCE IT HAS NO MEANING
OVER HIS OWN
BODY AND MIND,
THE INDIVIDUAL
IS SOVEREIGN



THE

PHILOSOPHY
BOOK



THE

PHILOSOPHY
BOOK

LONDON, NEW YORK, MELBOURNE,
MUNICH, AND DELHI

DK LONDON DK DELHI First American Edition 2011
Published in the United States by
PROJECT ART EDITOR PROJECT ART EDITOR
Anna Hall Neerja Rawat DK Publishing
ART EDITOR 375 Hudson Street
SENIOR EDITOR New York, New York 10014
Sam Atkinson Shriya Parameswaran
EDITORS ASSISTANT ART EDITORS 11 12 13 14 15 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Showmik Chakraborty, Devan Das,
Cecile Landau, Andrew Szudek, Niyati Gosain, Neha Sharma 001–176426–Feb/2011
Sarah Tomley MANAGING ART EDITOR
Copyright © 2011
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Arunesh Talapatra Dorling Kindersley Limited
Manisha Majithia
US EDITORS PRODUCTION MANAGER All rights reserved
Pankaj Sharma
Liza Kaplan, Rebecca Warren Without limiting the rights under
MANAGING ART EDITOR DTP MANAGER/CTS copyright reserved above, no part
Balwant Singh of this publication may be reproduced,
Karen Self stored in or introduced into a retrieval
MANAGING EDITOR DTP DESIGNERS system, or transmitted, in any form, or
Bimlesh Tiwary, Mohammad Usman by any means (electronic, mechanical,
Camilla Hallinan photocopying, recording, or otherwise),
ART DIRECTOR DTP OPERATOR without the prior written permission of
Philip Ormerod Neeraj Bhatia both the copyright owner and the
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
styling by above publisher of this book.
Liz Wheeler
PUBLISHER STUDIO8 DESIGN Published in Great Britain by Dorling
Jonathan Metcalf Kindersley Limited.
DK books are available at special
ILLUSTRATIONS discounts when purchased in bulk A catalog record for this book is
James Graham available from the Library of Congress.
for sales promotions, premiums,
PICTURE RESEARCH fund-raising, or educational use. ISBN 978-0-7566-6861-7
Ria Jones, Myriam Megharbi For details, contact: DK Publishing
Special Markets, 375 Hudson Street, Printed and bound in Singapore
PRODUCTION EDITOR by Star Standard
Luca Frassinetti New York, New York 10014 or
[email protected]. Discover more at
PRODUCTION CONTROLLER www.dk.com
Sophie Argyris

CONTRIBUTORS

WILL BUCKINGHAM JOHN MARENBON

A philosopher, novelist, and lecturer, Will Buckingham A Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, UK,
is particularly interested in the interplay of philosophy John Marenbon studies and writes on medieval
and narrative. He currently teaches at De Montfort philosophy. His books include Early Medieval
University, Leicester, UK, and has written several Philosophy 480–1150: An Introduction.
books, including Finding our Sea-Legs: Ethics,
Experience and the Ocean of Stories. MARCUS WEEKS

DOUGLAS BURNHAM A writer and musician, Marcus Weeks studied
philosophy and worked as a teacher before embarking
A professor of philosophy at Staffordshire University, on a career as an author. He has contributed to many
UK, Douglas Burnham is the author of many books books on the arts and popular sciences.
and articles on modern and European philosophy.
OTHER CONTRIBUTORS
CLIVE HILL
The publishers would also like to thank Richard
A lecturer in political theory and British history, Osborne, lecturer of philosophy and critical theory at
Clive Hill has a particular interest in the role of Camberwell College of Arts, UK, for his enthusiasm
the intellectual in the modern world. and assistance in planning this book, and Stephanie
Chilman for her help putting the Directory together.
PETER J. KING

A doctor of philosophy who lectures at Pembroke
College, University of Oxford, UK, Peter J. King is the
author of the recent book One Hundred Philosophers:
A Guide to the World’s Greatest Thinkers.

CONTENTS

10 INTRODUCTION 46 The life which is THE MEDIEVAL
unexamined is not WORLD
THE ANCIENT worth living
WORLD Socrates 250–1500

700 BCE–250 CE 50 Earthly knowledge is 72 God is not the parent
but shadow Plato of evils
22 Everything is made St. Augustine of Hippo
of water 56 Truth resides in the world
Thales of Miletus around us Aristotle 74 God foresees our free
thoughts and actions
24 The Dao that can be told 64 Death is nothing to us Boethius
is not the eternal Dao Epicurus
Laozi 76 The soul is distinct
66 He has the most who is from the body Avicenna
26 Number is the ruler most content with the least
of forms and ideas Diogenes of Sinope 80 Just by thinking about God
Pythagoras we can know he exists
67 The goal of life is living St. Anselm
30 Happy is he who has in agreement with nature
overcome his ego Zeno of Citium 82 Philosophy and religion
Siddhartha Gautama are not incompatible
Averroes
34 Hold faithfulness and
sincerity as first principles 84 God has no attributes
Confucius Moses Maimonides

40 Everything is flux 86 Don’t grieve. Anything
Heraclitus you lose comes round in
another form
41 All is one Parmenides Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi

42 Man is the measure of 88 The universe has not
all things Protagoras always existed
Thomas Aquinas
44 When one throws to me
a peach, I return to him 96 God is the not-other
a plum Mozi Nikolaus von Kues

45 Nothing exists except 97 To know nothing is
atoms and empty space the happiest life
Democritus and Leucippus Desiderius Erasmus

RENAISSANCE THE AGE OF 186 Every man takes the limits
AND THE AGE REVOLUTION of his own field of vision
OF REASON for the limits of the world
1750–1900 Arthur Schopenhauer
1500–1750
146 Doubt is not a pleasant 189 Theology is anthropology
102 The end justifies the means condition, but certainty Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach
Niccolò Machiavelli is absurd Voltaire
190 Over his own body and
108 Fame and tranquillity 148 Custom is the great guide mind, the individual
can never be bedfellows of human life David Hume is sovereign
Michel de Montaigne John Stuart Mill
154 Man was born free yet
110 Knowledge is power everywhere he is in chains 194 Anxiety is the dizziness
Francis Bacon Jean-Jacques Rousseau of freedom
Søren Kierkegaard
112 Man is a machine 160 Man is an animal that
Thomas Hobbes makes bargains 196 The history of all hitherto
Adam Smith existing society is the
116 I think therefore I am history of class struggles
René Descartes 164 There are two worlds: Karl Marx
our bodies and the
124 Imagination decides external world 204 Must the citizen ever
everything Blaise Pascal Immanuel Kant resign his conscience
to the legislator?
126 God is the cause of all 172 Society is indeed a contract Henry David Thoreau
things, which are in him Edmund Burke
Benedictus Spinoza 205 Consider what effects
174 The greatest happiness things have
130 No man’s knowledge for the greatest number Charles Sanders Peirce
here can go beyond his Jeremy Bentham
experience John Locke 206 Act as if what you do
175 Mind has no gender makes a difference
134 There are two kinds of Mary Wollstonecraft William James
truths: truths of reasoning
and truths of fact 176 What sort of philosophy
Gottfried Leibniz one chooses depends on
what sort of person one is
138 To be is to be perceived Johann Gottlieb Fichte
George Berkeley
177 About no subject is there
less philosophizing than
about philosophy
Friedrich Schlegel

178 Reality is a historical
process Georg Hegel

THE MODERN 241 Only as an individual can 268 Existence precedes
WORLD man become a philosopher essence
Karl Jaspers Jean-Paul Sartre
1900–1950
242 Life is a series of collisions 272 The banality of evil
214 Man is something to with the future Hannah Arendt
be surpassed José Ortega y Gasset
Friedrich Nietzsche 273 Reason lives in language
244 To philosophize, first one Emmanuel Levinas
222 Men with self-confidence must confess
come and see and conquer Hajime Tanabe
Ahad Ha’am
246 The limits of my language
223 Every message is made are the limits of my world
of signs Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ferdinand de Saussure
252 We are ourselves the
224 Experience by itself is entities to be analyzed
not science Edmund Husserl Martin Heidegger

226 Intuition goes in the very 256 The individual’s only true
direction of life moral choice is through
Henri Bergson self-sacrifice for the
community
Tetsuro Watsuji

228 We only think when we are 257 Logic is the last scientific 274 In order to see the world
we must break with our
confronted with problems ingredient of philosophy familiar acceptance of it
Maurice Merleau-Ponty
John Dewey Rudolf Carnap
276 Man is defined as
232 Those who cannot 258 The only way of knowing a human being and
remember the past are a person is to love them woman as a female
condemned to repeat it without hope Simone de Beauvoir
George Santayana Walter Benjamin
278 Language is a social art
233 It is only suffering that 259 That which is cannot Willard Van Orman Quine
makes us persons be true Herbert Marcuse
Miguel de Unamuno 280 The fundamental sense of
260 History does not belong freedom is freedom from
234 Believe in life to us but we belong to it chains Isaiah Berlin
William du Bois Hans-Georg Gadamer
282 Think like a mountain
236 The road to happiness lies 262 In so far as a scientific Arne Naess
in an organized diminution statement speaks about
of work Bertrand Russell reality, it must be 284 Life will be lived all the
falsifiable Karl Popper better if it has no meaning
240 Love is a bridge from Albert Camus
poorer to richer knowledge 266 Intelligence is a moral
Max Scheler category Theodor Adorno

CONTEMPORARY 322 Thought has always
PHILOSOPHY worked by opposition
Hélène Cixous
1950–PRESENT
323 Who plays God in present-
290 Language is a skin day feminism?
Roland Barthes Julia Kristeva

292 How would we manage 324 Philosophy is not only
without a culture? a written enterprise
Mary Midgley Henry Odera Oruka

293 Normal science does not 325 In suffering, the animals
aim at novelties of fact are our equals
or theory Thomas Kuhn Peter Singer

294 The principles of justice 300 For the black man, there 326 All the best Marxist
are chosen behind a veil is only one destiny and it analyses are always
of ignorance is white Frantz Fanon analyses of a failure
John Rawls Slavoj Žižek

296 Art is a form of life 302 Man is an invention of 330 DIRECTORY
Richard Wollheim recent date 340 GLOSSARY
Michel Foucault
297 Anything goes
Paul Feyerabend 304 If we choose, we can live
in a world of comforting
298 Knowledge is produced illusion Noam Chomsky
to be sold
Jean-François Lyotard 306 Society is dependent upon 344 INDEX

a criticism of its own 351 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
traditions Jürgen Habermas

308 There is nothing outside
of the text
Jacques Derrida

314 There is nothing deep
down inside us except
what we have put there
ourselves Richard Rorty

320 Every desire has a relation
to madness Luce Irigaray

321 Every empire tells itself
and the world that it is
unlike all other empires
Edward Said

INTRODU

CTION

12 INTRODUCTION

P hilosophy is not just the “schools” to teach not just the any big ideas as the conclusions of
preserve of brilliant but conclusions they had come to, but his thinking. Indeed, he prided
eccentric thinkers that it is the way they had come to them. himself on being the wisest of men
popularly supposed to be. It is what They encouraged their students to because he knew he didn’t know
everyone does when they’re not disagree and criticize ideas as a anything. His legacy lay in the
busy dealing with their everyday means of refining them and coming tradition he established of debate
business and get a chance simply up with new and different ones. A and discussion, of questioning the
to wonder what life and the popular misconception is that of assumptions of other people to gain
universe are all about. We human the solitary philosopher arriving at deeper understanding and elicit
beings are naturally inquisitive his conclusions in isolation, but this fundamental truths. The writings
creatures, and can’t help wondering is actually seldom the case. New of Socrates’ pupil, Plato, are almost
about the world around us and our ideas emerge through discussion invariably in the form of dialogues,
place in it. We’re also equipped with and the examination, analysis, and with Socrates as a major character.
a powerful intellectual capability, criticism of other people’s ideas. Many later philosophers also
which allows us to reason as well adopted the device of dialogues
as just wonder. Although we may Debate and dialogue to present their ideas, giving
not realize it, whenever we reason, The archetypical philosopher in arguments and counterarguments
we’re thinking philosophically. this respect was Socrates. He rather than a simple statement of
didn’t leave any writings, or even their reasoning and conclusions.
Philosophy is not so much about
coming up with the answers to Wonder is very much the The philosopher who presents
fundamental questions as it is affection of a philosopher; his ideas to the world is liable to
about the process of trying to find be met with comments beginning
these answers, using reasoning for there is no other “Yes, but ...” or “What if ...” rather
rather than accepting without beginning of philosophy than wholehearted acceptance.
question conventional views or In fact, philosophers have fiercely
traditional authority. The very first than this. disagreed with one another about
philosophers, in ancient Greece and Plato almost every aspect of philosophy.
China, were thinkers who were not Plato and his pupil Aristotle, for
satisfied with the established example, held diametrically
explanations provided by religion opposed views on fundamental
and custom, and sought answers philosophical questions, and their
which had rational justifications. different approaches have divided
And, just as we might share our opinions among philosophers ever
views with friends and colleagues, since. This has, in turn, provoked
they discussed their ideas with more discussion and prompted yet
one another, and even set up more fresh ideas.

INTRODUCTION 13

But how can it be that these metaphysics such as “Why is there in order to reason correctly. We also
philosophical questions are still something rather than nothing?” need to determine the scope and
being discussed and debated? are not so simply answered. limits of our knowledge. Otherwise
Why haven’t thinkers come up we cannot be sure that we actually
with definitive answers? What are Because we, too, exist as a part do know what we think we know,
these “fundamental questions” that of the universe, metaphysics also and haven’t somehow been “tricked”
philosophers through the ages have considers the nature of human into believing it by our senses.
wrestled with? existence and what it means to be
a conscious being. How do we Logic and language
Existence and knowledge perceive the world around us, and Reasoning relies on establishing
When the first true philosophers do things exist independently of the truth of statements, which can
appeared in ancient Greece some our perception? What is the then be used to build up a train of
2,500 years ago, it was the world relationship between our mind and thought leading to a conclusion. This
around them that inspired their body, and is there such a thing as might seem obvious to us now, but
sense of wonder. They saw the an immortal soul? The area of the idea of constructing a rational
Earth and all the different forms of metaphysics concerned with argument distinguished philosophy
life inhabiting it; the sun, moon, questions of existence, ontology, is from the superstitious and religious
planets, and stars; and natural a huge one and forms the basis for explanations that had existed before
phenomena such as the weather, much of Western philosophy. the first philosophers. These
earthquakes, and eclipses. They thinkers had to devise a way of
sought explanations for all these Once philosophers had started ensuring their ideas had validity. ❯❯
things—not the traditional myths to put received wisdom to the test
and legends about the gods, but of rational examination, another Superstition sets the
something that would satisfy their fundamental question became whole world in flames;
curiosity and their intellect. The obvious: “How can we know?” The philosophy quenches them.
first question that occupied these study of the nature and limits of
early philosophers was “What is the knowledge forms a second main Voltaire
universe made of?”, which was soon branch of philosophy, epistemology.
expanded to become the wider
question of “What is the nature At its heart is the question of
of whatever it is that exists?” how we acquire knowledge, how
we come to know what we know;
This is the branch of philosophy is some (or even all) knowledge
we now call metaphysics. Although innate, or do we learn everything
much of the original question has from experience? Can we know
since been explained by modern something from reasoning alone?
science, related questions of These questions are vital to
philosophical thinking, as we need
to be able to rely on our knowledge

14 INTRODUCTION

What emerged from their thinking Zeno of Elea’s famous paradoxes justice?” or “What is beauty?” not
was logic, a technique of reasoning reached absurd conclusions from only to elicit meanings, but also to
that was gradually refined over time. apparently faultless arguments. explore the concepts themselves.
At first simply a useful tool for In discussions of this sort, Socrates
analyzing whether an argument A large part of the problem is challenged assumptions about the
held water, logic developed rules that philosophical logic, unlike way we live our lives and the things
and conventions, and soon became mathematics, is expressed in words we consider to be important.
a field of study in its own right, rather than numbers or symbols,
another branch of the expanding and is subject to all the ambiguities The examination of what it
subject of philosophy. and subtleties inherent in language. means to lead a “good” life, what
Constructing a reasoned argument concepts such as justice and
Like so much of philosophy, involves using language carefully happiness actually mean and how
logic has intimate connections and accurately, examining our we can achieve them, and how we
with science, and mathematics in statements and arguments to make should behave, forms the basis for
particular. The basic structure of sure they mean what we think they the branch of philosophy known as
a logical argument, starting from mean; and when we study other ethics (or moral philosophy); and the
a premise and working through people’s arguments, we have to related branch stemming from the
a series of steps to a conclusion, is analyze not only the logical steps question of what constitutes beauty
the same as that of a mathematical they take, but also the language and art is known as aesthetics.
proof. It’s not surprising then that they use, to see if their conclusions
philosophers have often turned to hold water. Out of this process came O philosophy, life’s guide!
mathematics for examples of self- yet another field of philosophy that O searcher-out of virtue
evident, incontrovertible truths, nor flourished in the 20th century, the and expeller of vices!
that many of the greatest thinkers, philosophy of language, which What could we and every
from Pythagoras to René Descartes examined terms and their meanings. age of men have been
and Gottfried Leibniz, were also
accomplished mathematicians. Morality, art, and politics without thee?
Because our language is imprecise, Cicero
Although logic might seem to philosophers have attempted to
be the most exact and “scientific” clarify meanings in their search for
branch of philosophy, a field where answers to philosophical questions.
things are either right or wrong, The sort of questions that Socrates
a closer look at the subject shows asked the citizens of Athens tried
that it is not so simple. Advances to get to the bottom of what they
in mathematics in the 19th century actually believed certain concepts
called into question the rules of to be. He would ask seemingly
logic that had been laid down by simple questions such as “What is
Aristotle, but even in ancient times

INTRODUCTION 15

From considering ethical questions human construct—and this in turn form an integral part of Eastern
about our individual lives, it is a has raised the whole debate as to philosophy that has no parallel in
natural step to start thinking about what extent humanity has free will. the West. Eastern and Western
the sort of society we would like to philosophy also differ in their
live in—how it should be governed, In the Eastern philosophies starting points. Where the ancient
the rights and responsibilities of that evolved in China and India Greeks posed metaphysical
its citizens, and so on. Political (particularly Daoism and Buddhism) questions, the first Chinese
philosophy, the last of the major the lines between philosophy and philosophers considered these
branches of philosophy, deals with religion are less clear, at least to adequately dealt with by religion,
these ideas, and philosophers have Western ways of thinking. This and instead concerned themselves
come up with models of how they marks one of the major differences with moral and political philosophy.
believe society should be organized, between Western and Eastern
ranging from Plato’s Republic to philosophies. Although Eastern Following the reasoning
Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto. philosophies are not generally a Philosophy has provided us with
result of divine revelation or some of the most important and
Religion: East and West religious dogma, they are often influential ideas in history. What
The various branches of philosophy intricately linked with what we this book presents is a collection
are not only interlinked, but overlap would consider matters of faith. of ideas from the best-known
considerably, and it is sometimes Even though philosophical philosophers, encapsulated in well
difficult to say in which area a reasoning is frequently used to known quotes and pithy summaries
particular idea falls. Philosophy also justify faith in the Judeo-Christian of their ideas. Perhaps the best-
encroaches on many completely and Islamic world, faith and belief known quotation in philosophy is
different subjects, including the Descartes’ “cogito, ergo sum” (often
sciences, history, and the arts. With There is nothing either translated from the Latin as “I think,
its beginnings in questioning the good or bad, but thinking therefore I am”). It ranks as one of
dogmas of religion and superstition, the most important ideas in the
philosophy also examines religion makes it so. history of philosophy, and is widely
itself, specifically asking questions William Shakespeare considered a turning point in
such as “Does god exist?” and “Do thinking, leading us into the modern
we have an immortal soul?” These era. On its own however, the
are questions that have their roots quotation doesn’t mean much. It is
in metaphysics, but they have the conclusion of a line of argument
implications in ethics too. For about the nature of certainty, and
example, some philosophers have only when we examine the
asked whether our morality comes reasoning leading to it does the
from god or whether it is a purely idea begin to make sense. And ❯❯

16 INTRODUCTION

it’s only when we see where ideas here that raise issues that prescient—the theories of the
Descartes took the idea—what the philosophers still puzzle over. ancient Greek atomists for example.
consequences of that conclusion Some ideas may relate to other More importantly, these thinkers
are—that we see its importance. thoughts and theories in different established the processes of
fields of the same philosopher’s philosophy, ways of thinking and
Many of the ideas in this book thinking, or have come from an organizing our thoughts. We must
may seem puzzling at first glance. analysis or criticism of another remember that these ideas are only
Some may appear self-evident, philosopher’s work. These latter a small part of a philosopher’s
others paradoxical or flying in the ideas form part of a line of thinking—usually the conclusion
face of common sense. They might reasoning that may extend over to a longer line of reasoning.
even appear to prove Bertrand several generations or even
Russell’s flippant remark that “the centuries, or be the central idea of Science and society
point of philosophy is to start with a particular “school” of philosophy. These ideas spread their influence
something so simple as not to seem beyond philosophy too. Some have
worth stating, and to end with Many of the great philosophers spawned mainstream scientific,
something so paradoxical that no formed integrated “systems” of political, or artistic movements.
one will believe it.” So why are philosophy with interconnecting Often the relationship between
these ideas important? ideas. For example, their opinions science and philosophy is a back-
about how we acquire knowledge and-forth affair, with ideas from one
Systems of thought led to a particular metaphysical informing the other. Indeed, there
Sometimes the theories presented view of the universe and man’s is a whole branch of philosophy
in this book were the first of their soul. This in turn has implications that studies the thinking behind
kind to appear in the history of for what kind of life the philosopher
thought. While their conclusions believes we should lead and what Scepticism is the first
may seem obvious to us now, in type of society would be ideal. And step towards truth.
hindsight, they were startlingly in turn, this entire system of ideas Denis Diderot
new in their time, and despite their has been the starting point for
apparent simplicity, they may make subsequent philosophers.
us reexamine things that we take
for granted. The theories presented We must remember too that
here that seem to be paradoxes and these ideas never quite become
counter-intuitive statements are the outdated. They still have much to
ideas that really call into question tell us, even when their conclusions
our assumptions about ourselves have been proved wrong by
and the world—and they also make subsequent philosophers and
us think in new ways about how scientists. In fact, many ideas that
we see things. There are many had been dismissed for centuries
were later to be proved startlingly

INTRODUCTION 17

scientific methods and practices. and still more in dense, abstract often come to radically different
The development of logical thinking language that takes time to unpick. conclusions in their investigations
affected how math evolved and If you read these ideas in the into questions that science cannot
became the basis for the scientific original texts, you will not only —and religion does not—explain.
method, which relies on systematic agree or disagree with the what
observation to explain the world. they say, and follow the reasoning Enjoying philosophy
Ideas about the nature of the self by which they reached their If wonder and curiosity are human
and consciousness have developed conclusions, but also get a feeling attributes, so too are the thrill of
into the science of psychology. of what kind of person is behind it. exploration and the joy of discovery.
You might, for example, warm to We can gain the same sort of
The same is true of philosophy’s the witty and charming Hume, “buzz” from philosophy that we
relationship with society. Ethics of appreciating his beautifully clear might get from physical activity,
all sorts found adherents in political prose, while not altogether feeling and the same pleasure that we
leaders throughout history, shaping at home with what he has to say; or enjoy from an appreciating the arts.
the societies we live in today, and find Schopenhauer both persuasive Above all, we gain the satisfaction
even prompting revolutions. The and a delight to read, while getting of arriving at beliefs and ideas that
ethical decisions made in all kinds the distinct feeling that he was not are not handed down or forced upon
of professions have moral dimensions a particularly likeable man. us by society, teachers, religion, or
that are informed by the ideas of even philosophers, but through our
the great thinkers of philosophy. Above all these thinkers were own individual reasoning. ■
(and still are) interesting and
Behind the ideas stimulating. The best were also The beginning of thought
The ideas in this book have come great writers too, and reading is in disagreement—not
from people living in societies and their original writings can be as only with others but also
cultures which have shaped those rewarding as reading literature; we
ideas. As we examine the ideas, we can appreciate not just their literary with ourselves.
get a picture of certain national and style, but also their philosophical Eric Hoffer
regional characteristics, as well as style, the way they present their
a flavor of the times they lived in. arguments. As well as being
thought-provoking, it can be as
The philosophers presented here uplifting as great art, as elegant as
emerge as distinct personalities— a mathematical proof, and as witty
some thinkers are optimistic, others as an after-dinner speaker.
pessimistic; some are meticulous
and painstaking, others think in Philosophy is not simply about
broad sweeps; some express ideas—it’s a way of thinking. There
themselves in clear, precise are frequently no right or wrong
language, others in a poetic way, answers, and different philosophers

THE ANC
WORLD

700 BCE–250 CE

IENT

20 INTRODUCTION

Thales of Miletus, Traditional date of Death of Siddhartha Empedocles proposes
the first known Greek birth of Kong Fuzi Gautama, the Buddha, his theory of the four
(Confucius), whose founder of the religion and Classical elements;
philosopher, seeks philosophy is centered philosophy of Buddhism. he is the last Greek
rational answers philosopher to record
to questions about on respect and
the world we live in. tradition. his ideas in verse.

624–546 BCE 551 BCE 480 BCE C.460 BCE

569 BCE 508 BCE 469 BCE 404 BCE

Birth of Pythagoras, The powerful Greek Birth of Socrates, whose Defeat in the
the Greek thinker who city-state of Athens methods of questioning Peloponnesian
combined philosophy adopts a democratic War leads to the
in Athens formed the decline of Athens’
and mathematics. constitution. basis for much of later political power.
Western philosophy.

F rom the beginning of human He passed on to his followers not acquired mystical significance for
history, people have asked only his answers, but the process Pythagoras and his followers, their
questions about the world of thinking rationally, together with numerical explanation of the cosmos
and their place within it. For early an idea of what kind of explanations had a profound influence on the
societies, the answers to the most could be considered satisfactory. beginnings of scientific thought.
fundamental questions were found For this reason Thales is generally
in religion: the actions of the gods regarded as the first philosopher. Classical Greek philosophy
explained the workings of the As the Greek city-states grew in
universe, and provided a framework The main concern of the early stature, philosophy spread across
for human civilizations. philosophers centered around the Greek world from Ionia, and in
Thales’ basic question: “What is particular to Athens, which was
Some people, however, found the the world made of?” Their answers rapidly becoming the cultural
traditional religious explanations form the foundations of scientific center of Greece. It was here that
inadequate, and they began to thought, and forged a relationship philosophers broadened the scope of
search for answers based on reason between science and philosophy philosophy to include new questions,
rather than convention or religion. that still exists today. The work of such as “How do we know what we
This shift marked the birth of Pythagoras marked a key turning know?” and “How should we live
philosophy, and the first of the great point, as he sought to explain the our lives?” It was an Athenian,
thinkers that we know of was Thales world not in terms of primal matter, Socrates, who ushered in the short
of Miletus—Miletus was a Greek but in terms of mathematics. He and but hugely influential period of
settlement in modern-day Turkey. his followers described the Classical Greek philosophy. Although
Thales used reason to inquire into structure of the cosmos in numbers he left no writings, his ideas were so
the nature of the universe, and and geometry. Although some of important that they steered the
encouraged others to do likewise. these mathematical relationships

THE ANCIENT WORLD 21

Plato founds his Zeno of Citium Ptolemy, a Roman Galen of Pergamum
hugely influential formulates his stoic citizen of Egypt, produces extraordinary
philosophy, which medical research that
Academy in goes on to find favor proposes the idea that remains unsurpassed until
Athens. in the Roman Empire. Earth is at the center the work of Vesalius in 1543.

of the universe and
does not move.

C.385 BCE C.332–265 BCE C.100–178 CE C.150 BCE

335 BCE 323 BCE 122 CE 220 CE

Aristotle, Plato’s The death of Alexander Construction begins The collapse of the
student, opens his own the Great signals the end on Hadrian’s Wall in Han Dynasty
school in Athens—the of the cultural and political Britain, marking the marks the end of
northernmost border a unified China.
Lyceum. dominance of Greece in of the Roman Empire. The Period of
the ancient world.
Disunity begins.

future course of philosophy, and once again became rivals. Following philosophies that were less
all philosophers before him became the death of Aristotle in 322 BCE, concerned with the nature of
known as the pre-socratics. His pupil philosophy also divided into very the universe than with how best
Plato founded a philosophical school different schools of thought, as the to organize a just society and
in Athens called the Academy (from cynics, sceptics, epicureans, and provide moral guidelines for the
which the word “academic” derives) stoics argued their positions. individuals within it; in the process
where he taught and developed his examining what constitutes a
master’s ideas, passing them on to Over the next couple of centuries, “good” life. The so-called “Hundred
students such as Aristotle, who was Greek culture waned as the Roman Schools of Thought” flourished in
a pupil and teacher there for 20 years. Empire grew. The Romans had this period, and the most significant
The contrasting ideas and methods little time for Greek philosophy of these were Confucianism and
of these great thinkers—Socrates, apart from stoicism, but Greek Daoism, both of which continued
Plato, and Aristotle—form the basis ideas persisted, mainly because to dominate Chinese philosophy
of Western philosophy as we know they were preserved in the until the 20th century.
it today, and their differences of manuscripts and translations of
opinion have continued to divide the Arab world. They resurfaced To the south of China an equally
philosophers throughout history. later, during medieval times, with influential philosopher appeared:
the rise of Christianity and Islam. Siddhartha Gautama, later known
The Classical period of ancient as the Buddha. From his teaching
Greece effectively came to an end Eastern philosophies in northern India around 500 BCE,
with the death of Alexander the Thinkers throughout Asia were also his philosophy spread across the
Great in 323 BCE. This great leader questioning conventional wisdom. subcontinent and over most of
had unified Greece, and Greek city- Political upheaval in China from southern Asia, where it is still
states that had worked together 771 to 481 BCE led to a collection of widely practiced. ■

22

EVERYTHING
IS MADE
OF WATER

THALES OF MILETUS (C.624–546 BCE)

IN CONTEXT From observation, Thales deduced that specific
weather conditions, not appeals to the gods, led to a good
BRANCH harvest. Predicting a high yield of olives one year, he is
Metaphysics said to have bought up all the local olive presses, then
profited by renting them out to meet increased demand.
APPROACH
Monism D uring the Archaic period have predicted the total eclipse of
(mid-8th–6th century BCE), the sun in 585 BCE. This practical
BEFORE the peoples of the Greek turn of mind led him to believe that
2500–900 BCE The Minoan peninsula gradually settled into a events in the world were not due to
civilization in Crete and the group of city-states. They developed supernatural intervention, but had
later Mycenaean civilization an alphabetical system of writing, natural causes that reason and
in Greece rely on religion to as well as the beginnings of what observation would reveal.
explain physical phenomena. is now recognized as Western
philosophy. Previous civilizations Fundamental substance
c.1100 BCE The Babylonian had relied on religion to explain Thales needed to establish a first
creation myth, Enûma Eliš, phenomena in the world around principle from which to work, so
describes the primal state of them; now a new breed of thinkers he posed the question, “What is
the world as a watery mass. emerged, who attempted to find the basic material of the cosmos?”
natural, rational explanations. The idea that everything in the
c.700 BCE Theogony by the universe can be ultimately reduced
Greek poet Hesiod relates how The first of these new scientific to a single substance is the theory
the gods created the universe. thinkers that we are aware of was of monism, and Thales and his
Thales of Miletus. Nothing survives followers were the first to propose
AFTER of his writings, but we know that it within Western philosophy.
Early 5th century BCE he had a good grasp of geometry Thales reasons that the fundamental
Empedocles proposes the four and astronomy, and is reputed to
basic elements of the cosmos:
earth, water, air, and fire.

c.400 BCE Leucippus and
Democritus conclude that the
cosmos is made up solely of
atoms and empty space.

THE ANCIENT WORLD 23

See also: Anaximander 330 ■ Anaximenes of Miletus 330 ■ Pythagoras 26–29 ■
Empedocles 330 ■ Democritus and Leucippus 45 ■ Aristotle 56–63

What is the basic
material of the cosmos?

It must be…

…something …essential …capable …capable Thales of Miletus
from which to life. of motion. of change.
everything Although we know that
can be formed. Thales was born and lived in
Miletus, on the coast of what
Everything is is now Turkey, we know very
made of water. little about his life. None of his
writings, if indeed he left any,
material of the universe had to be When anything occurs to cause have survived. However, his
something out of which everything ripples or tremors in this water, reputation as one of the key
else could be formed, as well as Thales states, we experience early Greek thinkers seems
being essential to life, and capable them as earthquakes. deserved, and he is referred
of motion and therefore of change. to in some detail by both
He observes that water is clearly However, as interesting as Aristotle and Diogenes
necessary to sustain all forms of the details of Thales’ theories are, Laertius, the 3rd-century
life, and that it moves and changes, they are not the main reason why biographer of the ancient
assuming different forms – from he is considered a major figure in Greek philosophers.
liquid to solid ice and vaporous the history of philosophy. His true
mist. So Thales concludes that all importance lies in the fact that he Anecdotal evidence
matter, regardless of its apparent was the first known thinker to seek suggests that as well as
properties, must be water in some naturalistic, rational answers to being a philosopher, Thales
stage of transformation. fundamental questions, rather than was actively involved in
to ascribe objects and events to the politics and was a very
Thales also notes that every whims of capricious gods. By doing successful businessman. He
landmass appears to come to an so, he and the later philosophers is thought to have traveled
end at the water’s edge. From this of the Milesian School laid the widely around the eastern
he deduces that the whole of the foundations for future scientific Mediterranean, and while
earth must be floating on a bed of and philosophical thought across visiting Egypt, to have learned
water, from which it has emerged. the Western world. ■ the practical geometry that
was to become the basis of his
deductive reasoning.

However, Thales was
above all a teacher, the first of
the so-called Milesian School
of philosophers. Anaximander,
his pupil, expanded his
scientific theories, and in
turn became a mentor to
Anaximenes, who is believed
to have taught the young
mathematician Pythagoras.

24

THE DAO THAT CAN
BE TOLD IS NOT
THE ETERNAL DAO

LAOZI (C.6TH CENTURY BCE)

IN CONTEXT I n the 6th century BCE, China that was produced by these officials
moved toward a state of became known as the Hundred
TRADITION internal warfare as the ruling Schools of Thought.
Chinese philosophy Zhou Dynasty disintegrated. This
change bred a new social class of All this coincided with the
APPROACH administrators and magistrates emergence of philosophy in Greece,
Daoism within the courts, who occupied and shared some of its concerns,
themselves with the business of such as seeking stability in a
BEFORE devising strategies for ruling more constantly changing world, and
1600–1046 BCE During the effectively. The large body of ideas alternatives to what had previously
Shang Dynasty, people believe been prescribed by religion. But
fate is controlled by deities and
practice ancestor worship. The source of Dao The root of
all existence. (the Way)… all things, seen
1045–256 BCE Under the Zhou and unseen.
Dynasty, the Mandate of A solitary …is achieved
Heaven (god-given authority) life of meditation through… Acting
justifies political decisions. thoughtfully,
and reflection. …wu wei not impulsively.
AFTER (non-action).
5th century BCE Confucius Living in peace, Acting in
(Kong Fuzi) sets out his rules simplicity, and harmony
for personal development and with nature.
for ethical government. tranquility.

4th century BCE Philosopher
Zhuangzi moves the focus of
Daoist teaching more toward
the actions of the individual,
rather than those of the state.

3rd century CE Scholars Wang
Bi and Guo Xiang create a
Neo-Daoist school.

THE ANCIENT WORLD 25

See also: Siddhartha Gautama 30–33 ■ Confucius 34–39 ■ Mozi 44 ■ Wang Bi 331 ■ Hajime Tanabe 244–45

Chinese philosophy evolved from which could be found by following Knowing others
practical politics and was therefore dao (the Way), and forms the basis is intelligence; knowing
concerned with morality and ethics of the philosophy known as Daoism. yourself is true wisdom.
rather than the nature of the cosmos.
Cycles of change Laozi
One of the most important ideas In order to understand the concept
to appear at this time came from of dao, it is necessary to know how Following the dao, however, is not
the Daode jing (The Way and its the ancient Chinese viewed the a simple matter, as the Daode jing
Power), which has been attributed ever-changing world. For them, the acknowledges. Philosophizing
to Laozi (Lao Tzu). It was one of the changes are cyclical, continually about dao is pointless, as it is
first attempts to propose a theory moving from one state to another, beyond anything that humans can
of just rule, based on de (virtue), such as from night to day, summer conceive of. It is characterized by
to winter, and so on. They saw the wu (“not-being”), so we can only
Living in harmony with nature is different states not as opposites, live according to the dao by wu
one path the Daode jing prescribes for but as related, one arising from the wei, literally “non-action.” By this
a well-balanced life. For this man that other. These states also possess Laozi does not mean “not doing”,
could mean respecting the ecological complementary properties that but acting in accordance with
balance of the lake and not over-fishing. together make up a whole. The nature—spontaneously and
process of change is seen as an intuitively. That in turn entails
expression of dao, and leads to the acting without desire, ambition,
10,000 manifestations that make up or recourse to social conventions. ■
the world. Laozi, in the Daode jing,
says that humans are merely one
of these 10,000 manifestations and
have no special status. But because
of our desire and free will, we can
stray from the dao, and disturb the
world’s harmonious balance. To live
a virtuous life means acting in
accordance with the dao.

Laozi So little is known for certain about rituals and ceremonies. Legend
the author of the Daode jing, who states that Laozi left the court
is traditionally assumed to be as the Zhou dynasty declined,
Laozi (Lao Tzu). He has become and journeyed west in search
an almost mythical figure; it has of solitude. As he was about to
even been suggested that the cross the border, one of the
book was not by Laozi, but is in guards recognized him and
fact a compilation of sayings by a asked for a record of his wisdom.
number of scholars. What we do Laozi wrote the Daode jing for
know is that there was a scholar him, and then continued on his
born in the state of Chu, with the way, never to be seen again.
name Li Er or Lao Tan, during
the Zhou dynasty, who became Key works
known as Laozi (the Old Master).
Several texts indicate that he was c.6th century BCE
an archivist at the Zhou court, and Daode jing (also known
that Confucius consulted him on as the Laozi)

26 IN CONTEXT

NUMBER IS BRANCH
THE RULER Metaphysics
OF FORMS
AND IDEAS APPROACH
Pythagoreanism
PYTHAGORAS (C.570–495 BCE)
BEFORE
6th century BCE Thales
proposes a non-religious
explanation of the cosmos.

AFTER
c.535–c.475 BCE Heraclitus
dismisses Pythagoreanism
and says that the cosmos is
governed by change.

c.428 BCE Plato introduces
his concept of perfect Forms,
which are revealed to the
intellect and not the senses.

c.300 BCE Euclid, a Greek
mathematician, establishes
the principles of geometry.

1619 German mathematician
Johannes Kepler describes the
relationship between geometry
and physical phenomena.

W estern philosophy was
in its infancy when
Pythagoras was born.
In Miletus, Greece, a group of
philosophers known collectively as
the Milesian School had started to
seek rational explanations for natural
phenomena only a generation or so
earlier, marking the beginning of
the Western philosophical tradition.
Pythagoras spent his childhood not
far from Miletus, so it is very likely
that he knew of them, and may
even have studied in their academy.
Like Thales, the founder of the
Milesian School, Pythagoras is
said to have learnt the rudiments
of geometry during a trip to Egypt.
With this background, it is not

THE ANCIENT WORLD 27

See also: Thales of Miletus 22–23 ■ Siddhartha Gautama 30–33 ■ Heraclitus 40 ■ Plato 50–55 ■ René Descartes 116–23

Everything in the So if we ...we come to Mathematics is
universe conforms understand number understand the the key model
to mathematical and mathematical structure of for philosophical
rules and ratios. the cosmos.
relationships... thought.

Number is the Number is the
ruler of forms. ruler of ideas.

surprising that he should approach following strict behavioral and Pythagoras’s beliefs—the mystical
philosophical thinking in a dietary rules, while studying his and the scientific—seem to be
scientific and mathematical way. religious and philosophical theories. irreconcilable, but Pythagoras
The Pythagoreans, as his disciples himself does not see them as
The Pythagorean academy were known, saw his ideas as contradictory. For him, the goal
Pythagoras was also, however, a mystical revelations, to the extent of life is freedom from the cycle
deeply religious and superstitious that some of the discoveries of reincarnation, which can be
man. He believed in reincarnation attributed to him as “revelations” gained by adhering to a strict
and the transmigration of souls, and may in fact have come from others set of behavioral rules, and by
he established a religious cult, with in the community. His ideas were contemplation, or what we would
himself cast as a virtual messiah, in recorded by his students, who call objective scientific thinking.
Croton, southern Italy. His disciples included his wife, Theano of Crotona, In geometry and mathematics he
lived in a collective commune, and daughters. The two sides of found truths that he regarded ❯❯

Pythagoras Little is known about Pythagoras’s community of around 300 people
life. He left no writings himself, in Croton, southern Italy. Its
and unfortunately, as the Greek members studied a mixture of
philosopher Porphyry noted in his mystical and academic studies,
Vita Pythagorae, “No one knows and despite its collective nature,
for certain what Pythagoras told Pythagoras was clearly the
his associates, since they observed community’s leader. At the age
an unusual silence.” However, of 60, he is said to have married
modern scholars believe that a young girl, Theano of Crotona.
Pythagoras was probably born on Growing hostility toward the
the island of Samos, off the coast Pythagorean cult eventually
of modern-day Turkey. As a young forced him to leave Croton, and
man, he travelled widely, perhaps he fled to Metapontum, also in
studying at the Milesian School, southern Italy, where he died
and probably visiting Egypt, which soon after. His community had
was a centrer of learning. At virtually disappeared by the end
the age of about 40, he set up a of the 4th century BCE.

28 PYTHAGORAS c2 There is geometry in
the humming of the strings,
Pythagoras’s Theorem showed that shapes
and ratios are governed by principles that there is music in the
can be discovered. This suggested that it spacing of the spheres.
might be possible, in time, to work out the
structure of the entire cosmos. Pythagoras

b2 b c

a

a2

a2 + b2 = c2 triangular shape made up of rows of
dots) had a particular significance
as self-evident, as if god-given, and that number (numerical ratios and in Pythagorean ritual. Less
worked out mathematical proofs that mathematical axioms) can be used contentiously, they saw the number
had the impact of divine revelation. to explain the very structure of the one as a single point, a unity, from
cosmos. He does not totally dismiss which other things could be derived.
Because these mathematical the Milesian idea that the universe The number two, in this way of
discoveries were a product of pure is made up of one fundamental thinking, was a line, number three a
reasoning, Pythagoras believes substance, but he shifts the enquiry surface or plane, and four a solid; the
they are more valuable than mere from substance to form. correspondence with our modern
observations. For example, the concept of dimensions is obvious.
Egyptians had discovered that a This was such a profound change
triangle whose sides have ratios of in the way of looking at the world, The Pythagorean explanation of
3:4:5 always has a right angle, and that we should probably forgive the creation of the universe followed
this was useful in practice, such as Pythagoras and his disciples for a mathematical pattern: on the
in architecture. But Pythagoras getting somewhat carried away, Unlimited (the infinite that existed
uncovered the underlying principle and giving numbers a mystical before the universe), God imposed a
behind all right-angled triangles significance. Through exploring the Limit, so that all that exists came to
(that the square of the hypotenuse relationship between numbers and have an actual size. In this way God
equals the sum of the squares of the geometry, they discoved the square created a measurable unity from
other two sides) and found it to be numbers and cube numbers that which everything else was formed.
universally true. This discovery was we speak of today, but they also
so extraordinary, and held such attributed characteristics to them, Numerical harmonies
potential, that the Pythagoreans such as “good” to the even numbers Pythagoras’s most important
took it to be divine revelation. and “evil” to the odd ones, and even discovery was the relationships
specifics such as “justice” to the between numbers: the ratios and
Pythagoras concludes that the number four, and so on. The number proportions. This was reinforced by
whole cosmos must be governed ten, in the form of the tetractys (a his investigations into music, and
by mathematical rules. He says in particular into the relationships
between notes that sounded pleasant
together. The story goes that he
first stumbled onto this idea when
listening to blacksmiths at work. One
had an anvil half the size of the other,
and the sounds they made when

THE ANCIENT WORLD 29

hit with a hammer were exactly an atomic weight, those with similar Reason is immortal,
octave (eight notes) apart. While properties occur at every eighth all else mortal.
this may be true, it was probably by element, like notes of music. This Pythagoras
experimenting with a plucked string discovery became known as the
that Pythagoras determined the Law of Octaves, and it helped lead attempt to grapple with a problem
ratios of the consonant intervals to the development of the Periodic that has dogged philosophy and
(the number of notes between two Law of chemical elements still religion in some ways ever since.
notes that determines whether they used today.
will sound harmonious if struck Almost everything we know
together). What he discovered was Pythagoras also established the about Pythagoras comes to us from
that these intervals were harmonious principle of deductive reasoning, others; even the bare facts of his life
because the relationship between which is the step-by-step process are largely conjecture. Yet he has
them was a precise and simple of starting with self-evident axioms achieved a near-legendary status
mathematical ratio. This series, (such as “2 + 2 = 4”) to build toward (which he apparently encouraged) for
which we now know as the harmonic a new conclusion or fact. Deductive the ideas attributed to him. Whether
series, confirmed for him that the reasoning was later refined by or not he was in fact the originator
elegance of the mathematics he had Euclid, and it formed the basis of these ideas does not really matter;
found in abstract geometry also of mathematical thinking into what is important is their profound
existed in the natural world. medieval times and beyond. effect on philosophical thought. ■

The stars and elements One of Pythagoras’s most
Pythagoras had now proved not important contributions to the
only that the structure of the development of philosophy was
universe can be explained in the idea that abstract thinking
mathemathical terms—“number is superior to the evidence of the
is the ruler of forms”—but also senses. This was taken up by
that acoustics is an exact science, Plato in his theory of Forms, and
and number governs harmonious resurfaced in the philosophical
proportions. He then started to method of the rationalists in the
apply his theories to the whole 17th century. The Pythagorean
cosmos, demonstrating the attempt to combine the rational
harmonic relationship of the stars, with the religious was the first
planets, and elements. His idea
of harmonic relationships between
the stars was eagerly taken up
by medieval and Renaissance
astronomers, who developed whole
theories around the idea of the music
of the spheres, and his suggestion
that the elements were arranged
harmoniously was revisited over
2,000 years after his death. In 1865
English chemist John Newlands
discovered that when the chemical
elements are arranged according to

Classical architecture follows
Pythagorean mathematical ratios.
Harmonious shapes and ratios are used
throughout, scaled down in the smaller
parts, and up for the overall structure.

30 IN CONTEXT

HAPPY IS TRADITION
HE WHO HAS Eastern philosophy
OVERCOME
HIS EGO APPROACH
Buddhism
SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA (C.563–483BCE)
BEFORE
c.1500 BCE Vedism reaches
the Indian subcontinent.

c.10th–5th centuries BCE
Brahmanism replaces
Vedic beliefs.

AFTER
3rd century BCE Buddhism
spreads from the Ganges
valley westward across India.

1st century BCE The
teachings of Siddhartha
Gautama are written down
for the first time.

1st century CE Buddhism
starts to spread to China
and Southeast Asia. Different
schools of Buddhism begin
to evolve in different areas.

S iddhartha Gautama, later
known as the Buddha, “the
enlightened one”, lived in
India during a period when religious
and mythological accounts of the
world were being questioned. In
Greece, thinkers such as Pythagoras
were examining the cosmos using
reason, and in China, Laozi and
Confucius were detaching ethics
from religious dogma. Brahmanism,
a religion that had evolved from
Vedism—an ancient belief based
on the sacred Veda texts—was
the dominant faith in the Indian
subcontinent in the 6th century BCE,
and Siddhartha Gautama was the
first to challenge its teachings with
philosophical reasoning.

THE ANCIENT WORLD 31

See also: Laozi 24–25 ■ Pythagoras 26–29 ■ Confucius 34–39 ■
David Hume 148–53 ■ Arthur Schopenhauer 186–188 ■ Hajime Tanabe 244–45

The Four Noble Truths

inherent part of The truth of suffering
existence from birth, through (Dukkha)
sickness and old age, to death.

The cause of suffering is The truth of Siddhartha Gautama
desire: craving for sensual the origin of suffering
pleasures and attachment to Almost all we know of
worldly possessions and power. (Samudaya) Siddhartha Gautama’s life
comes from biographies
Suffering can be ended The truth of the written by his followers
by detaching oneself from ending of suffering centuries after his death, and
which differ widely in many
craving and attachment. (Nirodha) details. What is certain is
that he was born in Lumbini,
The Eightfold Path is the The truth of the path modern-day Nepal, some time
means to eliminate desire and to the ending of around 560 BCE. His father
was an official, possibly
overcome the ego. suffering (Magga) the leader of a clan, and
Siddhartha led a privileged
Gautama, although revered by beyond our experience, this kind of life of luxury and high status.
Buddhists for his wisdom, was enquiry was senseless speculation.
neither a messiah nor a prophet, Instead, he concerned himself with Dissatisfied with this,
and he did not act as a medium the question of the goal of life, Siddhartha left his wife and
between God and Man. His ideas which in turn involved examining son to find a spiritual path,
were arrived at through reasoning, the concepts of happiness, virtue, and discovered the “middle
not divine revelation, and it is this and the “good” life. way” between sensual
that marks Buddhism out as a indulgence and asceticism.
philosophy as much as (perhaps The middle way He experienced enlightenment
even more than) a religion. His In his early life, Gautama enjoyed while thinking in the shade of
quest was philosophical—to luxury and, we are told, all the a bodhi tree, and devoted the
discover truths—and he sensual pleasures. However, he rest of his life to traveling
maintained that these truths are realized that these were not enough throughout India, preaching.
available to all of us through the on their own to bring him true After his death, his teachings
power of reason. Like most Eastern happiness. He was acutely aware were passed down orally for
philosophers, he was not interested of the suffering in the world, and some 400 years before being
in the unanswerable questions of saw that it was largely due to written down in the Tipitaka
metaphysics that preoccupied the sickness, old age, and death, and (Three Baskets).
Greeks. Dealing with entities the fact that people lack what ❯❯
Key works

1st century CE
Tipitaka (recounted by
his followers), comprising:
Vinaya-pitaka, Sutta-pitaka,
Abhidhamma-pitaka

32 SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA

may bring short-term gratification,
but not happiness in the sense of
contentment and peace of mind.

The Buddha cut off his hair as part of The “not-self” Believe nothing,
his renunciation of the material world. The next step in Gautama’s no matter where you
According to Buddhist teaching, the reasoning is that the elimination read it, or who said it,
temptations of the world are the source of attachments will prevent any unless it agrees with
of all suffering, and must be resisted. disappointment, and so avoid
suffering. To achieve this, he your own reason.
they need. He also recognized that suggests a root cause of our Siddhartha Gautama
the sensual pleasure we indulge attachments—our selfishness,
in to relieve suffering is rarely and by selfishness he means more notion of being a unique “self”, is
satisfying, and that when it is, the than just our tendency to seek the key to losing that attachment,
effects are transitory. He found the gratification. For Gautama, and finding a release from suffering.
experience of extreme asceticism selfishness is self-centeredness
(austerity and abstinence) equally and self-attachment—the domain The Eightfold Path
dissatisfying, bringing him no of what today we would call the Gautama’s reasoning from the
nearer to an understanding of how “ego.” So, to free ourselves from causes of suffering to the way to
to achieve happiness. attachments that cause us pain, achieve happiness is codified in
it is not enough merely to renounce Buddhist teachings in the Four
Gautama came to the conclusion the things we desire—we must Noble Truths: that suffering is
that there must be a “middle way” overcome our attachment to that universal; that desire is the cause
between self-indulgence and self- which desires—the “self.” of suffering; that suffering can be
mortification. This middle way, avoided by eliminating desire;
he believed, should lead to true But how can this be done? that following the Eightfold Path
happiness, or “enlightenment”, Desire, ambition, and expectation will eliminate desire. This last
and to find it he applied reason are part of our nature, and for Truth refers to what amounts to
to his own experiences. most of us constitute our very a practical guide to the “middle
reasons for living. The answer, way” that Gautama laid out for his
Suffering, he realized, is for Gautama, is that the ego’s followers to achieve enlightenment.
universal. It is an integral part of world is illusory—as he shows,
existence, and the root cause of our again, by a process of reasoning. Peace comes
suffering is the frustration of our He argues that nothing in the from within. Do not
desires and expectations. These universe is self-caused, for
desires he calls “attachments”, and everything is the result of some seek it without.
they include not only our sensual previous action, and each of us is Siddhartha Gautama
desires and worldly ambitions, only a transitory part of this eternal
but our most basic instinct for process—ultimately impermanent
self-preservation. Satisfying and without substance. So, in
these attachments, he argues, reality, there is no “self” that is not
part of the greater whole—or the
“not-self”—and suffering results
from our failure to recognize this.
This does not mean that we should
deny our existence or personal
identity, rather that we should
understand them for what they
are—transient and insubstantial.
Grasping the concept of being a
constituent part of an eternal “not-
self”, rather than clinging to the

THE ANCIENT WORLD 33

The Eightfold Path (right action, experience. It is an eternal and Gautama’s teachings spread as far
right intention, right livelihood, unchanging state of not-being, as the Greek empire by the 3rd
right effort, right concentration, and so the ultimate freedom from century BCE, but had little influence
right speech, right understanding, the suffering of existence. on Western philosophy. However,
and right mindfulness) is in effect there were similarities between
a code of ethics—a prescription for Gautama spent many years Gautama’s approach to philosophy
a good life and the happiness that after his enlightenment traveling and that of the Greeks, not least
Gautama first set out to find. around India, preaching and Gautama’s emphasis on reasoning
teaching. During his lifetime, he as a means of finding happiness, and
Nirvana gained a considerable following, his disciples’ use of philosophical
Gautama sees the ultimate goal of and Buddhism became established dialogues to elucidate his teachings.
life on Earth to be the ending of the as a major religion as well as a His thoughts also find echoes in the
cycle of suffering (birth, death, and philosophy. His teachings were ideas of later Western philosophers,
rebirth) into which we are born. By passed down orally from generation such as in Hume’s concept of the
following the Eightfold Path, a man to generation by his followers, until self and Schopenhauer’s view of
can overcome his ego and live a the 1st century CE, when they were the human condition. But it was
life free from suffering, and through written down for the first time. not until the 20th century that
his enlightenment he can avoid the Various schools began to appear Buddhism was to have any direct
pain of rebirth into another life of as Buddhism spread across India, influence on Western thinking.
suffering. He has realized his place and later spread eastward into Since then, more and more
in the “not-self”, and become at one China and Southeast Asia, where Westerners have turned to it
with the eternal. He has attained it rivalled Confucianism and for guidance on how to live. ■
the state of Nirvana—which is Daoism in its popularity.
variously translated as “non-
attachment”, “not-being”, or literally The dharma wheel, one of the oldest
“blowing out” (as of a candle). Buddhist symbols, represents the
Eightfold Path to Nirvana. In Buddhism,
In the Brahmanism of Gautama’s the word “dharma” refers to the teachings
time, and the Hindu religion that of the Buddha.
followed, Nirvana was seen as
becoming one with god, but Right
Gautama carefully avoids any Mindfulness
mention of a deity or of an ultimate
purpose to life. He merely describes Right Right
Nirvana as “unborn, unoriginated, Understanding Action
uncreated, and unformed”, and
transcending any sensory

The mind is Right The Right
everything. What you Speech Eightfold Intention

think, you become. Right Path Right
Siddhartha Gautama Concentration Livelihood
Right
Effort

HOLD

FAITHFULNESS

AND SINCERITY

AS FIRST PRINCIPLES

CONFUCIUS (551–479 BCE)



36 CONFUCIUS F rom 770 to 220 BCE, China The superior man does
enjoyed an era of great what is proper to the station
IN CONTEXT cultural development, and in which he is; he does not
the philosophies that emerged
TRADITION at this time were known as the desire to go beyond this.
Chinese philosophy Hundred Schools of Thought. By Confucius
the 6th century BCE, the Zhou
APPROACH Dynasty was in decline—moving A rigid social hierarchy existed in
Confucianism from the stability of the Spring China, but Confucius was part of
and Autumn Period to the aptly a new class of scholars who acted
BEFORE named Warring States Period— as advisors to the courts—in effect
7th century BCE The Hundred and it was during this time that a class of civil servants—and they
Schools of Thought emerge. Kong Fuzi, the Master Kong, or achieved their status not through
Confucius, was born. Like other inheritance, but by merit. It was
6th century BCE Laozi philosophers of the age—such as Confucius’s integration of the
proposes acting in accordance Thales, Pythagoras, and Heraclitus old ideals with the emerging
with the dao (the Way). of Greece—Confucius sought meritocracy that produced his
constants in a world of change, unique new moral philosophy.
AFTER and for him this meant a search
c.470–c.380 BCE Chinese for moral values that could enable The main source we have for
philosopher Mozi argues rulers to govern justly. the teachings of Confucius is the
against Confucian ideas. Analects, a collection of fragments
The Analects of his writings and sayings compiled
372–289 BCE Chinese thinker Unlike many of the early Chinese by his disciples. It is primarily
Meng Zi revives Confucianism. philosophers, Confucius looked a political treatise, made up of
to the past for his inspiration. He
221–202 BCE Confucianism is was conservative by nature, and
suppressed by the Qin Dynasty. had a great respect for ritual and
ancestor worship—both of which
136 BCE The Han Dynasty were maintained by the Zhou
introduces civil service Dynasty, whose rulers received
examinations modelled on authority from the gods via the
Confucian texts. so-called Heavenly Mandate.

9th century CE Confucianism
is reborn as Neo-Confucianism.

Confucius According to tradition, Confucius As a teacher he traveled
was born in 551 BCE in Qufu, in throughout the empire, and at
the state of Lu, China. His name the end of his life he returned
was originally Kong Qiu, and only to Qufu, where he died in 479
later did he earn the title Kong BCE. His teaching survives in
Fuzi, or “Master Kong.” Little is fragments and sayings passed
known about his life, except that down orally to his disciples,
he was from a well-to-do family, and collected in the Analects
and that as a young man he and anthologies compiled by
worked as a servant to support Confucian scholars.
his family after his father died.
He nevertheless managed to find Key works
time to study, and became an
administrator in the Zhou court, 5th century BCE
but when his suggestions to the Analects
rulers were ignored he left to Doctrine of the Mean
concentrate on teaching. Great Learning

THE ANCIENT WORLD 37

See also: Thales of Miletus 22–23 ■ Laozi 24–25 ■ Pythagoras 26–29 ■ Siddhartha Gautama 30–33 ■ Heraclitus 40 ■
Hajime Tanabe 244–45

aphorisms and anecdotes that form Heaven, as the source of moral blessing of the Heavenly Mandate,
a sort of rule book for good order. According to the Analects, Confucius argues that the virtuous
government—but his use of the we humans are the agents that man is not simply one who stands
word junzi (literally “gentleman”) to Heaven has chosen to embody its at the top of the social hierarchy,
denote a superior, virtuous man, will and to unite the world with but one who understands his
indicates that his concerns were as the moral order—an idea that was place within that hierarchy and
much social as political. Indeed, in line with traditional Chinese embraces it to the full. And to
many passages of the Analects thinking. What breaks with define the various means of acting
read like a book of etiquette. But tradition, however, is Confucius’s in accordance with de—virtue—he
to see the Analects as merely a belief that de—virtue—is not turns to traditional Chinese values:
social or political treatise is to miss something Heaven-sent for the zhong, loyalty; xiao, filial piety; li,
its central point. At its heart lies a ruling classes, but something that ritual propriety; and shu, reciprocity.
comprehensive ethical system. can be cultivated—and cultivated The person who sincerely observes
by anyone. Having himself risen to these values Confucius called junzi,
The virtuous life be a minister of the Zhou court, the gentleman or superior man, by
Before the appearance of the he believed that it was a duty of which he means a man of virtue,
Hundred Schools of Thought, the middle classes, as well as the learning, and good manners.
the world had been explained by rulers, to strive to act with virtue
mythology and religion, and power and benevolence (ren) to achieve The values of de had evolved
and moral authority were generally a just and stable society. within the ruling classes but had
accepted to be god-given. Confucius become little more than empty
is pointedly silent about the gods, To reconcile the fact that society gestures in the disintegrating
but he often refers to tian, or was a rigid class system with his world of the Zhou Dynasty.
belief that all men can receive the Confucius is attempting to ❯❯

Faithfulness ...are shown in traditional These qualities in these
and sincerity... rituals and ceremonies. settings allow virtue to

become visible.

Others are Virtue can then Virtue is then
transformed be seen by others. made manifest

by virtue. Faithfulness and sincerity in the world.
hold the power of
transformation.

38 CONFUCIUS persuade the rulers to return to
these ideals and to restore a just
The Five Constant government, but he also believes in
Relationships the power of benevolence—arguing
that ruling by example rather than
Sovereign—Subject by fear would inspire the people to
Rulers should be benevolent, follow a similarly virtuous life. The
same principle, he believes, should
and subjects loyal. govern personal relationships.

Father—Son Loyalty and ritual Ritual and tradition, for Confucius,
A parent is to be loving, In his analysis of relationships, are vital for binding an individual
Confucius uses zhong—the virtue to his community. By knowing his
a child obedient. of loyalty—as a guiding principle. place in society, the individual is free
To begin with, he stresses the to become junzi, a man of virtue.
Husband—Wife importance of the loyalty of a
Husbands are to be good and minister to his sovereign, then funerals, and sacrifices to the
fair, and wives understanding. shows that a similar relation holds etiquette of receiving guests,
between father and son, husband presenting gifts, and the simple,
Elder Brother— and wife, elder brother and younger everyday gestures of politeness,
Younger Brother brother, and between friends. The such as bowing and using the
An elder sibling is to be order in which he arranges these is correct mode of address. These are,
gentle, and younger significant—political loyalty first, according to Confucius, the outward
siblings respectful. then family and clan loyalties, then signs of an inner de—but only when
loyalties to friends and strangers. they are performed with sincerity,
Friend—Friend For Confucius, this hierarchy which he considers to be the way of
Older friends are to reflects the fact that each person Heaven. Through the outward show
be considerate, younger should know his station in society of loyalty with inner sincerity, the
friends reverential. as a whole, as well his place in the superior man can transform society.
family and the clan.
Sincerity
This aspect of “knowing one’s For Confucius, society can be
station” is exemplified by xiao— changed by example. As he writes:
filial piety—which for Confucius “Sincerity becomes apparent.
was much more than just respect From being apparent, it becomes
for one’s parents or elders. In fact, manifest. From being manifest,
this is the closest he gets to it becomes brilliant. Brilliant, it
religious ideas in the Analects, for affects others. Affecting others,
xiao is connected to the traditional they are changed by it. Changed by
practice of ancestor worship. Above it, they are transformed. Only he
all, xiao reinforced the relationship who is possessed of the most
of inferior to superior, which was complete sincerity that can exist
central to his thinking. under Heaven, can transform.”

It is in his insistence on li— Here, Confucius is at his least
ritual propriety—that Confucius conservative, and he explains that
is at his most conservative. Li did the process of transformation can
not simply refer to rituals such as work both ways. The concept of
ancestor worship, but also to the zhong (faithfulness) also has an
social norms that underpinned
every aspect of contemporary
Chinese life. These ranged from
ceremonies such as marriages,

THE ANCIENT WORLD 39

What you know, action. This implies modesty and them, remaining silent about the
you know; humility—values traditionally held gods, he nevertheless influenced
in high regard in Chinese society, aspects of both new faiths.
what you don’t know, and which for Confucius express
you don’t know. our true nature. Fostering these A Neo-Confucian school
values is a form of loyalty to oneself, revitalized the movement in the 9th
This is true wisdom. and another kind of sincerity. century, and reached its peak in the
Confucius 12th century, when its influence
Confucianism was felt across Southeast Asia into
implication of “regard for others.” Confucius had little success in Korea and Japan. Although Jesuit
He took the view that one can learn persuading contemporary rulers to missionaries brought back Kong
to become a superior man by first adopt his ideas in government, and Fuzi’s ideas to Europe (and
recognizing what one does not know turned his attention to teaching. Latinized his name to Confucius)
(an idea echoed a century later by His disciples, including Meng Zi in the 16th century, Confucianism
the Greek philosopher Socrates, (Mencius), continued to anthologize was alien to European thought
who claimed that his wisdom lay and expand on his writings, which and had limited influence until
in accepting that he knew nothing), survived the repressive Qin translations of his work appeared
and then by watching other people: Dynasty, and inspired a revival of in the late 17th century.
if they show virtue, try to become Confucianism in the Han Dynasty
their equal; if they are inferior, of the early Common Era. From Despite the fall of imperial
be their guide. then on, the impact of Confucius’s China in 1911, Confucian ideas
ideas was profound, inspiring continued to form the basis of
Self-reflection almost every aspect of Chinese many Chinese moral and social
This notion of zhong as a regard society, from administration to conventions, even if they were
for others is also tied to the last of politics and philosophy. The major officially frowned upon. In recent
the Confucian values of de: shu, religions of Daoism and Buddhism years the People’s Republic of China
reciprocity, or “self-reflection”, which had also been flourishing in has shown a renewed interest in
should govern our actions toward Confucius’s time, replacing Confucius, integrating his ideas
others. The so-called Golden Rule, traditional beliefs, and although with both modern Chinese thought
“do as you would be done by”, Confucius offered no opinion on and Western philosophy, creating
appears in Confucianism as a a hybrid philosophy known as
negative: “what you do not desire “New Confucianism.” ■
for yourself, do not do to others.”
The difference is subtle but crucial:
Confucius does not prescribe
what to do, only what not to do,
emphasizing restraint rather than

Confucius’s devotion to the idea
of establishing a humane society led
him to travel the Chinese empire for
12 years, teaching the virtues of
faithfulness and sincerity.

40

EVERYTHING
IS FLUX

HERACLITUS (C.535–475 BCE)

IN CONTEXT W here other early Greek leads to the unity of the universe,
philosophers seek to or the idea everything is part of a
BRANCH uncover scientific single fundamental process or
Metaphysics explanations for the physical nature substance—the central tenet of
of the cosmos, Heraclitus sees it as monism. But he also states that
APPROACH being governed by a divine logos. tension is constantly generated
Monism Sometimes interpreted to mean between these pairs of opposites,
“reason” or “argument”, Heraclitus and he therefore concludes that
BEFORE considers the logos to be a universal, everything must be in a permanent
6th century BCE The Milesian cosmic law, according to which all state of flux, or change. Day, for
philosophers claim that the things come into being, and by instance, changes into night, which
cosmos is made up of a single which all the material elements of in turn changes back again to day.
specific substance. the universe are held in balance.
Heraclitus offers the example
6th century BCE Pythagoras It is the balancing of opposites, of a river to illustrate his theory:
states that the universe has such as day and night and hot and “You can never step into the same
an underlying structure that cold, which Heraclitus believes river twice.” By this, he means that
can be defined mathematically. at the very moment you step into a
The road up and river, fresh waters will immediately
AFTER the road down are replace those into which you initially
Early 5th century BCE one and the same. placed your foot, and yet the river
Parmenides uses logical itself is always described as one
deduction to prove change Heraclitus fixed and unchanging thing.
is impossible.
Heraclitus’s belief that every
Late 4th century BCE Plato object in the universe is in a state
describes the world as being of constant flux runs counter to the
in a state of flux, but dismisses thinking of the philosophers of the
Heraclitus as contradictory. Milesian school, such as Thales
and Anaximenes, who define all
Early 19th century Georg things by their quintessentially
Hegel bases his dialectic unchanging essence. ■
system of philosophy on the
integration of opposites. See also: Thales of Miletus 22–23 ■ Anaximenes of Miletus 330 ■
Pythagoras 26–29 ■ Parmenides 41 ■ Plato 50–55 ■ Georg Hegel 178–85

THE ANCIENT WORLD 41

ALL IS ONE

PARMENIDES (C.515–445 BCE)

IN CONTEXT T he ideas put forward by Understanding the cosmos is one of
Parmenides mark a key the oldest philosophical quests. In the
BRANCH turning point in Greek 20th century, evidence from quantum
Metaphysics philosophy. Influenced by the physics emerged to support ideas that
logical, scientific thinking of Parmenides reached by reason alone.
APPROACH Pythagoras, Parmenides employs
Monism deductive reasoning in an attempt unchanging, and must have an
to uncover the true physical nature indivisible unity—“all is one.”
BEFORE of the world. His investigations lead More importantly for subsequent
6th century BCE Pythagoras him to take the opposite view to philosophers, Parmenides shows by
sees mathematical structure, that of Heraclitus. his process of reasoning that our
rather than a substance, as perception of the world is faulty and
the foundation of the cosmos. From the premise that something full of contradictions. We seem to
exists (“It is”), Parmenides deduces experience change, and yet our
c.500 BCE Heraclitus says that that it cannot also not exist (“It is reason tells us that change is
everything is in a state of flux. not”), as this would involve a logical impossible. The only conclusion
contradiction. It follows therefore we can come to is that we can
AFTER that a state of nothing existing is never rely on the experience that
Late 5th century BCE Zeno impossible—there can be no void. is delivered to us by our senses. ■
of Elea presents his paradoxes Something cannot then come from
to demonstrate the illusory nothing, and so must always have
nature of our experience. existed in some form. This
permanent form cannot change,
c.400 BCE Democritus and because something that is
Leucippus say the cosmos is permanent cannot change into
composed of atoms in a void. something else without it ceasing
to be permanent. Fundamental
Late 4th century BCE Plato change is therefore impossible.
presents his theory of Forms,
claiming that abstract ideas Parmenides concludes from this
are the highest form of reality. pattern of thought that everything
that is real must be eternal and
1927 Martin Heidegger writes
Being and Time, reviving the See also: Pythagoras 26–29 ■ Heraclitus 40 ■ Democritus and Leucippus 45 ■
question of the sense of being. Zeno of Elea 331 ■ Plato 50–55 ■ Martin Heidegger 252–255

42

MAN IS THE
MEASURE OF
ALL THINGS

PROTAGORAS (C.490–420 BCE)

IN CONTEXT It is a spring day
in Athens.
BRANCH
Ethics A visitor from Sweden says A visitor from Egypt
the weather is warm. says the weather is cold.
APPROACH
Relativism Both people are
speaking the truth.
BEFORE
Early 5th century BCE The truth depends on Man is the
Parmenides argues that we perspective and is measure of
can rely more on reason than all things.
the evidence of our senses. therefore relative.

AFTER D uring the 5th century BCE, taken to court was required to
Early 4th century BCE Athens evolved into an plead his own case; there were no
Plato’s theory of Forms states important and prosperous advocates, but a recognized class
that there are “absolutes” or city-state, and under the leadership of advisors soon evolved. Among
ideal forms of everything. of Pericles (445–429 BCE) it entered this group was Protagoras.
a “Golden Age” of scholarship and
1580 French writer Michel de culture. This attracted people from Everything is relative
Montaigne espouses a form of all parts of Greece, and for those Protagoras lectured in law and
relativism to describe human who knew and could interpret the rhetoric to anybody who could
behavior in his Essays. law, there were rich pickings to be afford him. His teachings were
had. The city was run on broadly essentially about practical matters,
1967–72 Jacques Derrida uses democratic principles, with an arguing to win a civil case rather
his technique of deconstruction established legal system. Anyone than to prove a point, but he could
to show that any text contains
irreconcilable contradictions.

2005 Benedict XVI warns
“we are moving towards a
dictatorship of relativism” in
his first public address as pope.

THE ANCIENT WORLD 43

See also: Parmenides 41 ■ Socrates 46–49 ■ Plato 50–55 ■ Michel de Montaigne 108–09 ■ Jacques Derrida 308–13

Many things prevent politics at that time, was new to Protagoras was the most influential
knowledge, including philosophy. By placing human of a group of itinerant teachers of
beings at its center, it continued law and rhetoric that became
the obscurity of a tradition of taking religion out known as the Sophists (from the
the subject and the of philosophical argument, and it Greek sophia, meaning wisdom).
brevity of human life. also shifted the focus of philosophy Socrates and Plato derided the
away from an understanding of Sophists as mere rhetoricians,
Protagoras the nature of the universe to an but with Protagoras there was a
examination of human behavior. significant step in ethics toward
see the philosophical implications Protagoras is mainly interested in the view that there are no absolutes
of what he taught. For Protagoras, practical questions. Philosophical and that all judgements, including
every argument has two sides, speculations on the substance of moral judgements, are subjective. ■
and both may be equally valid. the cosmos or about the existence
He claims that he can “make the of the gods seem pointless to him, According to Protagoras, any “truth”
worse case the better”, proving not as he considers such things to be uncovered by these two philosophers,
the worth of the argument, but the ultimately unknowable. depicted on a 5th-century BCE Greek
persuasiveness of its proponent. In drinking vessel, will depend on their
this way, he recognizes that belief The main implication of “man use of rhetoric and their debating skill.
is subjective, and it is the man is the measure of all things” is that
holding the view or opinion that is belief is subjective and relative.
the measure of its worth. This style This leads Protagoras to reject the
of reasoning, common in law and existence of absolute definitions
of truth, justice, or virtue. What is
true for one person may be false for
another, he claims. This relativism
also applies to moral values, such
as what is right and what is wrong.
To Protagoras, nothing is inherently
good in itself. Something is ethical,
or right, only because a person or
society judges it to be so.

Protagoras Protagoras was born in Abdera, Protagoras is believed to have
in northeast Greece, but traveled lived to the age of 70, but his
widely as an itinerant teacher. At exact date and place of death
some stage, he moved to Athens, are unknown.
where he became advisor to the
ruler of the city-state, Pericles, Key works
who commissioned him to write
the constitution for the colony of 5th century BCE
Thurii in 444 BCE. Protagoras was On the Gods
a proponent of agnosticism, and Truth
legend has it that he was later On Being
tried for impiety, and that his The Art of Controversy
books were publicly burned. On Mathematics
On the State
Only fragments of his writings On Ambition
survive, although Plato discusses On Virtues
the views of Protagoras at length On the Original State of Things
in his dialogues.

44

WHEN ONE THROWS
TO ME A PEACH,
I RETURN TO HIM
A PLUM

MOZI (C.470–391 BCE)

IN CONTEXT B orn in 479 BCE, shortly after Mao Zedong regarded Mozi as the
the death of Confucius, true philosopher of the people, because
TRADITION Mozi had a traditional of his humble origins. Mozi’s view that
Chinese philosophy Chinese education based on the everyone should be treated equally has
classic texts. Later, however, he been encouraged in modern China.
APPROACH came to dislike the emphasis on
Mohism clan relationships that runs through and war; when the same principle
Confucianism, and this led him is practiced by everyone, it leads to
BEFORE to set up his own school of thought, a more harmonious and therefore
6th century BCE Laozi states advocating universal love or jian ai. more productive society. This idea
that to live according to the By jian ai, Mozi means that we is similar in spirit to that of the
dao means acting intuitively should care for all people equally, Utilitarianism proposed by Western
and in accordance with nature. regardless of their status or their philosophers of the 19th century. ■
relationship to us. He regards this
Late 6th century BCE philosophy, which became known
Confucius’s moral philosophy as Mohism and which “nourishes
stresses the importance of and sustains all life”, as being
family ties and traditions. fundamentally benevolent and in
accordance with the way of heaven.
AFTER
Mid-4th century BCE Mozi believes that there is
The Confucian philosophy always reciprocity in our actions.
of Mencius stresses man’s By treating others as we would
innate goodness. wish to be treated ourselves, we
will receive similar treatment in
Mid-4th century BCE Daoist return. This is the meaning behind
philosopher Zhuangzi criticizes “when one throws to me a peach, I
Confucianism and Mohism. return to him a plum.” When this
principle of caring for everyone
3rd century BCE Legalism is impartially is applied by rulers,
adopted by the Qin dynasty. It Mozi states that it avoids conflict
opposes Mohism, advocating
strong laws to keep man’s See also: Laozi 24–25 ■ Siddhartha Gautama 30–33 ■ Confucius 34–39 ■
essentially evil nature in check. Wang Bi 331 ■ Jeremy Bentham 174 ■ Hajime Tanabe 244–45

THE ANCIENT WORLD 45

NOTHING EXISTS
EXCEPT ATOMS
AND EMPTY SPACE

DEMOCRITUS (C. 460–371 BCE)
AND LEUCIPPUS (EARLY 5TH CENTURY BCE)

IN CONTEXT F rom the 6th century BCE exist. The atoms that make up our
onward, philosophers began bodies, for example, do not decay
BRANCH to consider whether the and disappear when we die, but are
Metaphysics universe was made from a single dispersed and can be reconstituted.
fundamental substance. During the
APPROACH 5th century BCE, two philosophers Known as atomism, the theory
Atomism from Abderra in Greece, named that Democritus and Leucippus
Democritus and Leucippus, devised offered the first complete
BEFORE suggested that everything was mechanistic view of the universe,
Early 6th century BCE Thales made up of tiny, indivisible, and without any recourse to the notion
says that the cosmos is made unchangeable particles, which they of a god or gods. It also identified
of one fundamental substance. called atoms (atomos is Greek for fundamental properties of matter
uncuttable). that have proved critical to the
c.500 BCE Heraclitus declares development of the physical
that everything is in a state of First atomic theory sciences, particularly from the 17th
constant flux, or change. Democritus and Leucippus also century onward, right up to the
claim that a void or empty space atomic theories that revolutionized
AFTER separates atoms, allowing them to science in the 20th century.■
c.300 BCE The Epicurians move around freely. As the atoms
conclude that there is no move, they may collide with each Man is a microcosm
afterlife, as the body’s atoms other to form new arrangements of of the universe.
disperse after death. atoms, so that objects in the world Democritus
will appear to change. The two
1805 British chemist John thinkers consider that there are
Dalton proposes that all pure an infinite number of these eternal
substances contain atoms of atoms, but that the number of
a single type that combine different combinations they can
to form compounds. arrange themselves into is finite.
This explains the apparent fixed
1897 The British physicist number of different substances that
J.J. Thomson discovers that
atoms can be divided into See also: Thales of Miletus 22–23 ■ Heraclitus 40 ■ Epicurus 64–65
even smaller particles.

46 IN CONTEXT

THE LIFE WHICH BRANCH
IS UNEXAMINED Epistemology
IS NOT WORTH
LIVING APPROACH
Dialectical method
SOCRATES (469–399 BCE)
BEFORE
c.600–450 BCE Pre-Socratic
philosophers in Ionia and Italy
attempt to explain the nature
of the cosmos.

Early 5th century BCE
Parmenides states that we
can only understand the
universe through reasoning.

c.450 BCE Protagoras and the
Sophists apply rhetoric to
philosophical questions.

AFTER
c.399–355 BCE Plato portrays
the character of Socrates in
the Apology and numerous
other dialogues.

4th century BCE Aristotle
acknowledges his debt to
Socrates’ method.

S ocrates is often referred to
as one of the founders of
Western philosophy, and
yet he wrote nothing, established
no school, and held no particular
theories of his own. What he did do,
however, was persistently ask the
questions that interested him, and
in doing so evolved a new way of
thinking, or a new way of examining
what we think. This has been called
the Socratic, or dialectical, method
(“dialectical” because it proceeds
as a dialogue between opposing
views), and it earned him many
enemies in Athens, where he lived.
He was vilified as a Sophist
(someone who argues for the sake
of deception), and was sentenced to

THE ANCIENT WORLD 47

See also: Thales of Miletus 22–23 ■ Pythagoras 26–29 ■ Heraclitus 40 ■
Parmenides 41 ■ Protagoras 42–43 ■ Plato 50–55 ■ Aristotle 56–63

The only life worth
living is a good life.

I can only live a good “Good” and “evil” are not Socrates
life if I really know what relative; they are absolutes
“good” and “evil” are. Born in Athens in 469 BCE,
that can only be found by Socrates was the son of a
a process of questioning stonemason and a midwife.
It is likely that he pursued his
and reasoning. father’s profession, and had
the opportunity to study
An unquestioning life In this way, morality philosophy, before he was
is one of ignorance, and knowledge are called up for military service.
After distinguishing himself
without morality. bound together. during the Peloponnesian War,
he returned to Athens, and for
The life which is a while involved himself in
unexamined is not politics. However, when his
father died he inherited
worth living. enough money to live with
his wife Xanthippe without
death on charges of corrupting the have studied natural philosophy, having to work.
young with ideas that undermined looking at the various explanations
tradition. But he also had many of the nature of the universe, but From then on, Socrates
followers, and among them was then became involved in the politics became a familiar sight around
Plato, who recorded Socrates’ ideas of the city-state and concerned Athens, involving himself in
in a series of written works, called with more down-to-earth ethical philosophical discussions with
dialogues, in which Socrates sets issues, such as the nature of justice. fellow citizens and gaining a
about examining various ideas. It is However, he was not interested in following of young students.
largely thanks to these dialogues— winning arguments, or arguing He was eventually accused of
which include the Apology, Phaedo, for the sake of making money—a corrupting the minds of young
and the Symposium—that Socrates’ charge that was leveled at many of Athenians, and was sentenced
thought survived at all, and that it his contemporaries. Nor was he to death. Although he was
went on to guide the course of seeking answers or explanations— offered the choice of exile, he
Western philosophy. he was simply examining the accepted the guilty verdict
basis of the concepts we apply to and was given a fatal dose
The purpose of life ourselves (such as “good”, “bad”, of hemlock in 399 BCE.
Socrates lived in Athens in the and “just”), for he believed that
second half of the 5th century BCE. understanding what we are is Key works
As a young man he is believed to the first task of philosophy. ❯❯
4th–3rd century BCE
Plato’s record of Socrates’ life
and philosophy in the Apology
and numerous dialogues.

48 SOCRATES Socrates’ central concern, then, But what exactly is involved in this
was the examination of life, and it examination of life? For Socrates it
I am a citizen was his ruthless questioning of was a process of questioning the
of the world. people’s most cherished beliefs meaning of essential concepts that
Socrates (largely about themselves) that we use every day but have never
earned him his enemies—but he really thought about, thereby
Q. So you think remained committed to his task revealing their real meaning and
that the gods until the very end. According to the our own knowledge or ignorance.
account of his defence at his trial, Socrates was one of the first
know everything? recorded by Plato, Socrates chose philosophers to consider what it
death rather than face a life of was that constituted a “good” life;
Q. Do some gods ignorance: “The life which is for him it meant achieving peace of
disagree with others? unexamined is not worth living.” mind as a result of doing the right
thing, rather than living according to
Q. So gods disagree Socrates’ dialectical method the moral codes of society. And the
about what is was a simple method of questioning “right thing” can only be determined
true and right? that brought to light the often false through rigorous examination.
assumptions on which particular
Q. So some gods claims to knowledge are based. Socrates rejected the notion
can be wrong that concepts such as virtue were
sometimes? A. Yes, because relative, insisting instead that they
they are gods. were absolutes, applicable not just to
Therefore the gods citizens of Athens, or Greece, but to
cannot know A. Yes, of course all people in the world. He believed
everything! they do. They are that virtue (areté in Greek, which at
always fighting. the time implied excellence and
fulfilment) was “the most valuable
A. I suppose of possessions”, and that no-one
they must do. actually desires to do evil. Anyone
performing evil actions would be
acting against their conscience and
would therefore feel uncomfortable;
and as we all strive for peace of
mind it is not something we would
do willingly. Evil, he thought, was
done because of lack of wisdom and
knowledge. From this he concluded
that “there is only one good:
knowledge; and one evil: ignorance.”
Knowledge is inextricably bound to
morality—it is the “only one
good”—and for this reason we must
continually “examine” our lives.

A. I suppose Care of the soul
that is true. For Socrates, knowledge may also
play a part in life after death. In the
Apology, Plato’s Socrates prefaces
his famous quote about the
unexamined life by saying: “I tell
you that to let no day pass without
discussing goodness and all the