The Origins of Western Philosophy

Generally speaking, the whole development of Western philosophy can be briefly divided into five main periods, each with its own main subject or mode of thinking. These five periods are:

(1) Mythological and Legendary Period - From the age of myths and metaphors to the emergence of Socrates. The philosophical issues of this period were "the roots of man" and "the investigation of emotional phenomena". Philosophically speaking, it was a preliminary analysis of "cosmology," "epistemology," and "ethics.

(2) Ancient Greek Philosophy - The period from Socrates to Aristotle. The philosophy of this period was gradually taking shape and becoming mature. "Metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics formally appeared. The name "science" also started to become an independent discipline under the leadership of Aristotle.

(3) Medieval Philosophy - The period from the decline of ancient Greek philosophy to the emergence of Descartes in France. This was the most vigorous age of faith exploration, but it was also the dark age of "non-theology". Theology (mainly Christianity) and related philosophical issues of life dominated all intellectual inquiry.

(4) Modern Philosophy - From the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution to 1900, when Nietzsche died. This was the second golden age of philosophy after ancient Greece. The high level of philosophy, but also after the unprecedented. During this period, all fields of philosophy were in full bloom. Philosophers from different countries expressed different views on different courses. Britain, France, the Netherlands and other places, has appeared a number of great philosophers, and Germany has appeared several giant system of thought.

(5) Contemporary Philosophy - From the echo of Nietzsche's death to the present. The Industrial Revolution had reached an unprecedented stage. In between there were two world wars. Philosophy was divided into two main directions. One was to explore the "meaning of human existence", combining literature and social thinking into one camp; the other was to specialize in "philosophical and technical exploration", combining mathematics and science to develop new explorations. The former can be summarized as "Existentialism" and "Contemporary Ethics", while the latter is "Analytic Philosophy" and "Philosophy of Science".