Eastern and Western Philosophy

• Western Philosophy is primarily concerned with uncovering the truth through systematic argumentation and theory.
• The common theme in Western philosophy is a self-centered or individualistic approach.
• There is a greater emphasis on the use of reason rather than faith.
• Western Philosophy is more focused on the human as an individual.
• In what continent did Western philosophy first begin?

  Europe
• In what city did Western philosophy first flourish?

  Iona (modern-day Anatolia)
• First philosopher in the Western tradition?

  Thales of Miletus
• Socrates is an Ancient Greek philosopher whose way of life, character, and thought exerted a profound influence on Western philosophy.
• When was Socrates born?

  470 BC
• When did Socrates die?

  399 BC
• Socrates claimed to have devoted his life to serving his country and his fellow citizens.
• Socrates died in 399 BC, and his student Plato wrote the dialogues that are the foundation of Western philosophy.
• Socrates was tried and punished for the corruption of the Athenian youth and impiety. His punishment was in the form of poisoning with hemlock.
• The Socratic method, patented by Socrates, was a type of inquiry through a series of questions that narrow a broader concept into a more specific one.
• The scientific approach was born from the Socratic method.
• Plato is an ancient Greek philosopher who was the student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle.
• Plato is the founder of the Academy in Athens, Greece. He is also known for his dialectic, a method of inquiry.
• One of Plato's most significant ideas include Theory of Forms.
• Plato is known as the "Father of Political philosophy."
• When was Plato born?

  428/427 BC
• When did Plato die?

  348/347 BC
• Plato was able to establish his school, "The Academy".
• The dialectic method, patented by Plato, was a type of inquiry that requires the opinion of an audience to refine an idea or concept.
• Aristotle is an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist who is one of the greatest intellectual figures of Western history.
• Aristotle was a student of Plato at The Academy and a tutor to Alexander the Great.
• Plato believed in the existence of Forms, which are the perfect and unchanging ideas of what things are.
• Aristotle believed in Realism, that everything that we have and experience is real and already in its perfect form.
• Aristotle's studies in logic led to the formulation of a formal process of analyzing reasoning which gave rise to deductive reasoning.
• Aristotle formed his school named "The Lyceum".
• Saint Thomas of Aquinas is an Italian Dominican theologian and philosopher who is considered the greatest medieval scholastic.
• Saint Thomas of Aquinas was a prominent proponent of natural theology and a father of a school of thought known as Thomism.
• Saint Thomas Aquinas came during the Age of Enlightenment.
• There are five arguments in proving God's existence, according to Saint Thomas of Aquinas.
• Saint Thomas of Aquinas believed that faith and reason complement rather than contradict each other.
• When was Aristotle born?

  384 BC
• When did Aristotle die?

  322 BC
• When was Saint Thomas of Aquinas born?

  1224/1225
• When did Saint Thomas of Aquinas die?

  1274