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'''Ancient Greek philosophy''' arose in the 6th century BC. [[Philosophy]] was used to make sense of the world using [[reason]]. It dealt with a wide variety of subjects, including [[astronomy]], [[epistemology]], [[mathematics]], [[political philosophy]], [[ethics]], [[metaphysics]], [[ontology]], [[logic]], [[biology]], [[rhetoric]] and [[aesthetics]]. Greek philosophy continued throughout the [[Hellenistic period]] and later evolved into [[Ancient Roman philosophy|Roman philosophy]].

Greek philosophy has influenced much of [[Western culture]] since its inception, and can be found in many aspects of public education. [[Alfred North Whitehead]] once claimed: "The safest general characterization of the [[Western philosophy|European philosophical tradition]] is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato".<ref>Alfred North Whitehead (1929), ''[[Process and Reality]]'', Part II, Chap. I, Sect. I.</ref> Clear, unbroken lines of influence lead from [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] and Hellenistic philosophers to [[Roman philosophy]], [[early Islamic philosophy]], [[Middle Ages|medieval]] [[scholasticism]], the European [[Renaissance]] and the [[Age of Enlightenment]].<ref>[http://kevinscharp.com/Kevin%20Scharp%20-%20%20Diagrams.htm Kevin Scharp (Department of Philosophy, Ohio State University) – Diagrams] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031222017/http://kevinscharp.com/Kevin%20Scharp%20-%20%20Diagrams.htm |date=2014-10-31 }}.</ref>

Greek philosophy was influenced to some extent by the older [[wisdom literature]] and mythological [[Cosmogony|cosmogonies]] of the [[ancient Near East]], though the extent of this influence is widely debated. The classicist [[Martin Litchfield West]] states, "contact with oriental [[cosmology]] and [[theology]] helped to liberate the [[Pre-Socratic philosophy|early Greek philosophers']] imagination; it certainly gave them many suggestive ideas. But they taught themselves to reason. Philosophy as we understand it is a Greek creation".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Griffin |first1=Jasper |last2=Boardman |first2=John |last3=Murray |first3=Oswyn |year=2001 |title=The Oxford history of Greece and the Hellenistic world |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford [Oxfordshire] |page=140 |isbn=978-0-19-280137-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7fY2eCEFkKgC&pg=PA140}}</ref>

In general, the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] acknowledged their Egyptian forebears,<ref name="A Companion to African Philosophy">{{Cite book|date=2005-01-01|editor-last=Wiredu|editor-first=Kwasi|title=A Companion to African Philosophy|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9780470997154|language=en|doi=10.1002/9780470997154|isbn=9780470997154}}</ref> and in the fifth century BCE, the philosopher [[Isocrates]] declared that the earliest Greek thinkers traveled to Egypt to seek knowledge; one of them [[Pythagoras]] of Samos, who "was first to bring to the Greeks all philosophy".<ref name="Herbjørnsrud">{{Cite web|last=Herbjørnsrud|first=Dag|date=2018-12-17|title=The Radical Philosophy of Egypt: Forget God and Family, Write!|url=https://blog.apaonline.org/2018/12/17/the-radical-philosophy-of-egypt-forget-god-and-family-write/|access-date=2021-06-04|website=Blog of the APA|language=en-US}}</ref>

In the 21st century, research by [[Egyptologists]] has indicated that the word ''philosopher'' itself seems to stem from Egypt: "the founding Greek word ''philosophos'', lover of wisdom, is itself a borrowing from and translation of the Egyptian concept ''mer-rekh'' (''mr-rḫ'') which literally means 'lover of wisdom,' or knowledge."<ref name="Herbjørnsrud"/>

Subsequent philosophic tradition was so influenced by [[Socrates]] as presented by [[Plato]] that it is conventional to refer to philosophy developed prior to Socrates as [[pre-Socratic philosophy]]. The periods following this, up to and after the [[wars of Alexander the Great]], are those of "Classical Greek" and "[[Hellenistic philosophy]]", respectively.

== Early Greek philosophy (or pre-Socratic philosophy) ==
{{Main|Pre-Socratic philosophy}}
The '''convention''' of terming those [[philosophers]] who were active prior to the death of [[Socrates]] as the ''pre-Socratics'' gained currency with the 1903 publication of [[Hermann Alexander Diels|Hermann Diels']] ''Fragmente der Vorsokratiker'', although the term did not originate with him.<ref>Greg Whitlock, preface to ''The Pre-Platonic Philosophers'', by Friedrich Nietzsche (Urbana:  University of Illinois Press, 2001), xiv–xvi.</ref><!-- A better reference for this fact should be found; this is just one I had handy. --> The term is considered useful because what came to be known as the "Athenian school" (composed of Socrates, Plato, and [[Aristotle]]) signaled the rise of a new approach to philosophy; [[Friedrich Nietzsche]]'s thesis that this shift began with Plato rather than with Socrates (hence his nomenclature of "pre-Platonic philosophy") has not prevented the predominance of the "pre-Socratic" distinction.<ref name="Whitlock">Greg Whitlock, preface to ''The Pre-Platonic Philosophers'', by Friedrich Nietzsche (Urbana:  University of Illinois Press, 2001), xiii–xix.</ref>

Since 2016, however, scholarly discourse has shifted from using the term ''"pre-Socratic philosophy"'' to the more neutral ''"Early Greek Philosophy"''. This change has been popularized in part by André Laks and Glenn W. Most through their comprehensive nine-volume ''Loeb Classical Library'' edition of ''Early Greek Philosophy''. In the first volume, they distinguish their systematic approach from that of Hermann Diels, starting with the deliberate choice of terminology. They prefer ''"Early Greek Philosophy"'' over ''"pre-Socratic philosophy"'' primarily because Socrates was a contemporary of, and in some cases even preceded, thinkers traditionally labeled as "pre-Socratic" such as the Atomists.<ref> ''Early Greek Philosophy, Volume 1: Introductory and Reference Material'', Edited and Translated by André Laks and Glenn W. Most, Loeb Classical Library 524 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2016) 6–8.</ref>

The early Greek philosophers (or "pre-Socratics") were primarily concerned with [[cosmology]], [[ontology]], and mathematics. They were distinguished from "non-philosophers" insofar as they rejected mythological explanations in favor of reasoned discourse.<ref>John Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy:  Thales to Plato'', 3rd ed. (London: A & C Black Ltd., 1920), 3–16.  [https://archive.org/stream/p1greekphilosoph00burnuoft#page/n9/mode/2up Scanned version from Internet Archive]</ref>

=== Milesian school ===
{{Main|Milesian school}}
[[Thales of Miletus]], regarded by [[Aristotle]] as the first philosopher,<ref>[[Aristotle]], [[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|''Metaphysics Alpha'']], 983b18.</ref> held that all things arise from a single material substance, water.<ref>Aristotle, ''Metaphysics Alpha'', 983 b6 8–11.</ref> It is not because he gave a [[cosmogony]] that [[John Burnet (classicist)|John Burnet]] calls him the "first man of science", but because he gave a naturalistic explanation of the [[cosmos]] and supported it with reasons.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 3–4, 18.</ref> According to tradition, Thales was able to predict an [[solar eclipse|eclipse]] and taught the Egyptians how to measure the height of the [[pyramids]].<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 18–20; [[Herodotus]], [[Histories (Herodotus)|''Histories'']], I.74.</ref>

Thales inspired the [[Milesian school]] of philosophy and was followed by [[Anaximander]], who argued that the substratum or [[arche#Arche in ancient Greek Philosophy|''arche'']] could not be water or any of the [[classical element]]s but was instead something "unlimited" or "indefinite" (in Greek, the ''[[Apeiron (cosmology)|apeiron]]''). He began from the observation that the world seems to consist of opposites (e.g., hot and cold), yet a thing can become its opposite (e.g., a hot thing cold). Therefore, they cannot truly be opposites but rather must both be manifestations of some underlying unity that is neither. This underlying unity (substratum, ''arche'') could not be any of the classical elements, since they were one extreme or another. For example, water is wet, the opposite of dry, while fire is dry, the opposite of wet.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 22–24.</ref> This initial state is ageless and imperishable, and everything returns to it according to necessity.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ogUR3V9wbbIC&pg=PA83|title=A History of Greek Philosophy: Volume 1, The Earlier Presocratics and the Pythagoreans|first1=W. K. C.|last1=Guthrie|first2=William Keith Chambers|last2=Guthrie|date=May 14, 1978|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521294201|via=Google Books}}</ref> [[Anaximenes of Miletus|Anaximenes]] in turn held that the ''arche'' was air, although John Burnet argues that by this, he meant that it was a transparent mist, the [[aether (classical element)|''aether'']].<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 21.</ref> Despite their varied answers, the Milesian school was searching for a natural substance that would remain unchanged despite appearing in different forms, and thus represents one of the first scientific attempts to answer the question that would lead to the development of modern atomic theory; "the Milesians," says Burnet, "asked for the [[physis|''φύσις'']]<!--Greek italics in the original--> of all things."<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 27.</ref>

=== Xenophanes ===

{{Main|Xenophanes}}

Xenophanes was born in [[Ionia]], where the Milesian school was at its most powerful and may have picked up some of the Milesians' cosmological theories as a result.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 35.</ref> What is known is that he argued that each of the phenomena had a natural rather than divine explanation in a manner reminiscent of Anaximander's theories and that there was only one god, the world as a whole, and that he ridiculed the [[anthropomorphism]] of the Greek religion by claiming that cattle would claim that the gods looked like cattle, horses like horses, and lions like lions, just as the Ethiopians claimed that the gods were snub-nosed and black and the Thracians claimed they were pale and red-haired.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 35; Diels-Kranz, ''Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker'', Xenophanes frs. 15–16.</ref>

Xenophanes was highly influential to subsequent schools of philosophy. He was seen as the founder of a line of philosophy that culminated in [[Pyrrhonism]],<ref>[[Eusebius]], ''[[Praeparatio Evangelica]]'' Chapter XVII</ref> possibly an influence on [[Eleatics|Eleatic philosophy]], and a precursor to [[Epicurus]]' total break between science and religion.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 33, 36.</ref>

=== Pythagoreanism ===

{{Main|Pythagoreanism}}

[[Pythagoras]] lived at approximately the same time that Xenophanes did and, in contrast to the latter, the school that he founded sought to reconcile religious belief and reason. Little is known about his life with any reliability, however, and no writings of his survive, so it is possible that he was simply a [[mysticism|mystic]] whose successors introduced rationalism into Pythagoreanism, that he was simply a [[rationalism|rationalist]] whose successors are responsible for the mysticism in Pythagoreanism, or that he was actually the author of the doctrine; there is no way to know for certain.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 37–38.</ref>

Pythagoras is said to have been a disciple of [[Anaximander]] and to have imbibed the [[cosmology|cosmological]] concerns of the Ionians, including the idea that the cosmos is constructed of spheres, the importance of the infinite, and that air or aether is the ''arche'' of everything.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 38–39.</ref> Pythagoreanism also incorporated [[asceticism|ascetic]] ideals, emphasizing purgation, [[metempsychosis]], and consequently a respect for all animal life; much was made of the correspondence between mathematics and the cosmos in a musical harmony.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 40–49.</ref> Pythagoras believed that behind the appearance of things, there was the permanent principle of mathematics, and that the forms were based on a transcendental mathematical relation.<ref>C.M. Bowra 1957 ''The Greek experience'' p. 166"</ref>

=== Heraclitus ===
{{Main|Heraclitus}}
Heraclitus must have lived after Xenophanes and Pythagoras, as he condemns them along with [[Homer]] as proving that much learning cannot teach a man to think; since [[Parmenides]] refers to him in the past tense, this would place him in the 5th century BC.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 57.</ref> Contrary to the [[Milesian school]], which posits one stable [[Classical element|element]] as the ''[[arche]]'', Heraclitus taught that ''[[Panta rhei (Heraclitus)|panta rhei]]'' ("everything flows"), the closest element to this eternal flux being fire. All things come to pass in accordance with ''Logos'',<ref>DK B1.</ref> which must be considered as "plan" or "formula",<ref>pp. 419ff., [[W.K.C. Guthrie]], ''A History of Greek Philosophy'', vol. 1, Cambridge University Press, 1962.</ref> and "the ''Logos'' is common".<ref>DK B2.</ref> He also posited a [[unity of opposites]], expressed through [[dialectic]], which structured this flux, such as that seeming opposites in fact are manifestations of a common substrate to good and evil itself.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 57–63.</ref>

Heraclitus called the oppositional processes ἔρις (''[[Eris (mythology)|eris]]''), "strife", and hypothesized that the apparently stable state of δίκη (''[[Dike (mythology)|dikê]]''), or "justice", is the [[Harmonia (mythology)|harmonic]] unity of these opposites.<ref>DK B80</ref>

=== Eleatic philosophy ===
{{Main|Eleatics}}
[[Parmenides of Elea]] cast his philosophy against those who held "it is and is not the same, and all things travel in opposite directions,"—presumably referring to Heraclitus and those who followed him.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 64.</ref> Whereas the doctrines of the Milesian school, in suggesting that the substratum could appear in a variety of different guises, implied that everything that exists is corpuscular, Parmenides argued that the first principle of being was One, indivisible, and unchanging.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 66–67.</ref> Being, he argued, by definition implies eternality, while only that which ''is'' can be thought; a thing which ''is'', moreover, cannot be more or less, and so the rarefaction and condensation of the Milesians is impossible regarding Being; lastly, as movement requires that something exist apart from the thing moving (viz. the space into which it moves), the One or Being cannot move, since this would require that "space" both exist and not exist.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 68.</ref> While this doctrine is at odds with ordinary sensory experience, where things do indeed change and move, the Eleatic school followed Parmenides in denying that sense phenomena revealed the world as it actually was; instead, the only thing with Being was thought, or the question of whether something exists or not is one of whether it can be thought.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 67.</ref>

In support of this, Parmenides' pupil [[Zeno of Elea]] attempted to prove that the concept of [[Motion (physics)|motion]] was absurd and as such motion did not exist. He also attacked the subsequent development of pluralism, arguing that it was incompatible with Being.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 82.</ref> His arguments are known as [[Zeno's paradoxes]].

=== Pluralism and atomism ===
The power of Parmenides' logic was such that some subsequent philosophers abandoned the [[monism]] of the Milesians, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, and Parmenides, where one thing was the ''arche''. In place of this, they adopted [[pluralism (philosophy)|pluralism]], such as [[Empedocles]] and [[Anaxagoras]].<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 69.</ref> There were, they said, multiple elements which were not reducible to one another and these were set in motion by love and strife (as in Empedocles) or by Mind (as in Anaxagoras). Agreeing with Parmenides that there is no coming into being or passing away, genesis or decay, they said that things appear to come into being and pass away because the elements out of which they are composed assemble or disassemble while themselves being unchanging.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 70.</ref>

[[Leucippus]] also proposed an ontological pluralism with a cosmogony based on two main elements: the vacuum and atoms. These, by means of their inherent movement, are crossing the void and creating the real material bodies. His theories were not well known by the time of [[Plato]], however, and they were ultimately incorporated into the work of his student, [[Democritus]].<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 94.</ref>

=== Sophism ===
{{Main|Sophists}}
Sophism arose from the juxtaposition of ''[[physis]]'' (nature) and ''[[:wikt:nomos|nomos]]'' (law). John Burnet posits its origin in the scientific progress of the previous centuries which suggested that Being was radically different from what was experienced by the senses and, if comprehensible at all, was not comprehensible in terms of order; the world in which people lived, on the other hand, was one of law and order, albeit of humankind's own making.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 105–10.</ref> At the same time, nature was constant, while what was by law differed from one place to another and could be changed.

The first person to call themselves a sophist, according to Plato, was [[Protagoras]], whom he presents as teaching that all [[virtue]] is conventional. It was Protagoras who claimed that "man is the measure of all things, of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are not," which Plato interprets as a radical [[perspectivism]], where some things seem to be one way for one person (and so actually are that way) and another way for another person (and so actually are ''that'' way as well); the conclusion being that one cannot look to nature for guidance regarding how to live one's life.<ref>Burnet, ''Greek Philosophy'', 113–17.</ref>

Protagoras and subsequent sophists tended to teach [[rhetoric]] as their primary vocation. [[Prodicus]], [[Gorgias]], [[Hippias]], and [[Thrasymachus]] appear in various [[Plato's dialogues#The dialogues|dialogues]], sometimes explicitly teaching that while nature provides no ethical guidance, the guidance that the laws provide is worthless, or that nature favors those who act against the laws.

== Classical Greek philosophy<!--'Classical Greek philosophy' redirects here--> ==

=== Socrates ===
{{Main|Socrates}}
[[File:British Museum - Four Greek philosophers.jpg|thumb|left|Four Greek philosophers: Socrates, Antisthenes, Chrysippos, Epicurus; British Museum]]
[[Socrates]], believed to have been born in Athens in the [[Fifth-century Athens|5th century BC]], marks a watershed in ancient Greek philosophy. Athens was a center of learning, with sophists and philosophers traveling from across Greece to teach rhetoric, astronomy, cosmology, and geometry.

While philosophy was an established pursuit prior to Socrates, [[Cicero]] credits him as "the first who brought philosophy down from the heavens, placed it in cities, introduced it into families, and obliged it to examine into life and morals, and good and evil."<ref>[[Cicero|Marcus Tullius Cicero]], ''[[Tusculan Disputations]]'', V 10–11 (or V IV).</ref> By this account he would be considered the founder of [[political philosophy]].<ref>Leo Strauss, ''Natural Right and History'' (Chicago:  University of Chicago Press, 1953), 120.</ref> The reasons for this turn toward political and ethical subjects remain the object of much study.<ref>Seth Benardete, ''The Argument of the Action'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 277–96.</ref><ref>Laurence Lampert, ''How Philosophy Became Socratic'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010).</ref>

The fact that many conversations involving Socrates (as recounted by Plato and [[Xenophon]]) end without having reached a firm conclusion, or [[aporia|aporetically]],<ref>Cf. [[Plato]], [[The Republic (Plato)|''Republic'']] 336c & 337a, [[Theaetetus (dialogue)|''Theaetetus'']] 150c, [[Apology (Plato)|''Apology of Socrates'']] 23a; [[Xenophon]], [[Memorabilia (Xenophon)|''Memorabilia'']] 4.4.9; [[Aristotle]], ''[[Sophistical Refutations]]'' 183b7.</ref> has stimulated debate over the meaning of the [[Socratic method]].<ref>[[W.K.C. Guthrie]], ''The Greek Philosophers'' (London: Methuen, 1950), 73–75.</ref> Socrates is said to have pursued this probing question-and-answer style of examination on a number of topics, usually attempting to arrive at a defensible and attractive definition of a [[virtue]].

While Socrates' recorded conversations rarely provide a definite answer to the question under examination, several maxims or paradoxes for which he has become known recur. Socrates taught that no one desires what is bad, and so if anyone does something that truly is bad, it must be unwillingly or out of ignorance; consequently, all virtue is knowledge.<ref>[[Terence Irwin]], ''The Development of Ethics'', vol. 1 (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2007), 14</ref><ref>Gerasimos Santas, "The Socratic Paradoxes", ''Philosophical Review'' 73 (1964): 147–64, 147.</ref> He frequently remarks on his own ignorance (claiming that he does not know what courage is, for example). [[Plato]] presents him as distinguishing himself from the common run of mankind by the fact that, while they know nothing noble and good, they do not ''know'' that they do not know, whereas Socrates knows and acknowledges that he knows nothing noble and good.<ref>[[Apology (Plato)|''Apology of Socrates'']] 21d.</ref>

The great statesman [[Pericles]] was closely associated with this new learning and a friend of [[Anaxagoras]], however, and his political opponents struck at him by taking advantage of a conservative reaction against the philosophers; it became a crime to investigate the things above the heavens or below the earth, subjects considered impious. Anaxagoras is said to have been charged and to have fled into exile when Socrates was about twenty years of age.<ref>Debra Nails, ''The People of Plato'' (Indianapolis:  Hackett, 2002), 24.</ref> There is a story that [[Protagoras]], too, was forced to flee and that the Athenians burned his books.<ref>Nails, ''People of Plato'', 256.</ref> Socrates, however, is the only subject recorded as charged under this law, convicted, and sentenced to death in 399 BC (see [[Trial of Socrates]]). In the version of his [[Apology (Plato)|defense speech]] presented by Plato, he claims that it is the envy he arouses on account of his being a philosopher that will convict him.

Numerous subsequent philosophical movements were inspired by Socrates or his younger associates. Plato casts Socrates as the main interlocutor in his [[Plato#Works|dialogues]], deriving from them the basis of [[Platonism]] (and by extension, [[Neoplatonism]]). Plato's student [[Aristotle]] in turn criticized and built upon the doctrines he ascribed to Socrates and Plato, forming the foundation of [[Aristotelianism]]. [[Antisthenes]] founded the school that would come to be known as [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynicism]] and accused Plato of distorting Socrates' teachings. [[Zeno of Citium]] in turn adapted the ethics of Cynicism to articulate [[Stoicism]]. [[Epicurus]] studied with Platonic and [[Pyrrhonism|Pyrrhonist]] teachers before renouncing all previous philosophers (including [[Democritus]], on whose atomism the [[Epicurean]] philosophy relies). The philosophic movements that were to dominate the intellectual life of the [[Roman Empire]] were thus born in this febrile period following Socrates' activity, and either directly or indirectly influenced by him. They were also absorbed by the expanding Muslim world in the 7th through 10th centuries AD, from which they returned to the West as foundations of [[Medieval philosophy]] and the [[Renaissance]], as discussed below.

=== Plato ===
{{Main|Plato}}
Plato was an [[Classical Athens|Athenian]] of the generation after [[Socrates]]. Ancient tradition ascribes thirty-six dialogues and thirteen [[Epistles (Plato)|letters]] to him, although of these only twenty-four of the dialogues are now universally recognized as authentic; most modern scholars believe that at least twenty-eight dialogues and two of the letters were in fact written by Plato, although all of the thirty-six dialogues have some defenders.<ref>John M. Cooper, ed., ''Complete Works'', by Plato (Indianapolis:  Hackett, 1997), v–vi, viii–xii, 1634–35.</ref> A further nine dialogues are ascribed to Plato but were considered spurious even in antiquity.<ref>Cooper, ed., ''Complete Works'', by Plato, v–vi, viii–xii.</ref>

Plato's dialogues feature Socrates, although not always as the leader of the conversation. (One dialogue, the [[Laws (Plato)|''Laws'']], instead contains an "Athenian Stranger".) Along with [[Xenophon]], Plato is the primary source of information about Socrates' life and beliefs and it is not always easy to distinguish between the two. While the Socrates presented in the dialogues is often taken to be Plato's mouthpiece, Socrates' reputation for [[irony]], his caginess regarding his own opinions in the dialogues, and his occasional absence from or minor role in the conversation serve to conceal Plato's doctrines.<ref>[[Leo Strauss]], ''The City and Man'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964), 50–51.</ref> Much of what is said about his doctrines is derived from what Aristotle reports about them.

The political doctrine ascribed to Plato is derived from the [[The Republic (Plato)|''Republic'']], the [[Laws (dialogue)|''Laws'']], and the [[Statesman (dialogue)|''Statesman'']]. The first of these contains the suggestion that there will not be justice in cities unless they are ruled by [[philosopher king]]s; those responsible for enforcing the laws are compelled to hold their women, children, and property in [[communism|common]]; and the individual is taught to pursue the common good through [[noble lie]]s; the ''Republic'' says that such a city is likely impossible, however, generally assuming that philosophers would refuse to rule and the people would refuse to compel them to do so.<ref name="Strauss Plato">Leo Strauss, "Plato", in ''History of Political Philosophy'', ed. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, 3rd ed. (Chicago:  University of Chicago Press 1987): 33–89.</ref>

Whereas the ''Republic'' is premised on a distinction between the sort of knowledge possessed by the philosopher and that possessed by the king or political man, Socrates explores only the character of the philosopher; in the ''Statesman'', on the other hand, a participant referred to as the Eleatic Stranger discusses the sort of knowledge possessed by the political man, while Socrates listens quietly.<ref name="Strauss Plato" /> Although rule by a wise man would be preferable to rule by law, the wise cannot help but be judged by the unwise, and so in practice, rule by law is deemed necessary.

Both the ''Republic'' and the ''Statesman'' reveal the limitations of politics, raising the question of what political order would be best given those constraints; that question is addressed in the ''Laws'', a dialogue that does not take place in Athens and from which Socrates is absent.<ref name="Strauss Plato" /> The character of the society described there is eminently conservative, a corrected or liberalized [[timocracy]] on the [[Sparta#Classical Sparta|Spartan]] or [[History of Crete#Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Arab Crete|Cretan]] model or that of pre-democratic [[Classical Athens|Athens]].<ref name="Strauss Plato" />

Plato's dialogues also have [[metaphysics|metaphysical]] themes, the most famous of which is his [[theory of forms]]. It holds that non-material abstract (but [[ousia|substantial]]) forms (or ideas), and not the material world of change known to us through our physical senses, possess the highest and most fundamental kind of reality. He argued extensively in the ''[[Phaedo]]'', ''[[Phaedrus (dialogue)|Phaedrus]]'', and ''[[Republic (Plato)|Republic]]'' for the immortality of the soul, and he believed specifically in [[reincarnation]].<ref>See [[Kamtekar, Rachana]]. “The Soul’s (After-) Life,” ''Ancient Philosophy'' 36 (2016): 1–18.</ref>

Plato often uses long-form [[analogies]] (usually [[allegories]]) to explain his ideas; the most famous is perhaps the [[Allegory of the Cave]]. It likens most humans to people tied up in a cave, who look only at shadows on the walls and have no other conception of reality.<ref>{{cite web |title=Plato – Allegory of the cave |website=classicalastrologer.files.wordpress.com |url=http://classicalastrologer.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/plato-allegory-of-the-cave.pdf}}</ref> If they turned around, they would see what is casting the shadows (and thereby gain a further dimension to their reality). If some left the cave, they would see the outside world illuminated by the sun (representing the ultimate form of goodness and truth). If these travelers then re-entered the cave, the people inside (who are still only familiar with the shadows) would not be equipped to believe reports of this 'outside world'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Allegory of the Cave |work=washington.edu |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/cave.htm}}</ref> This story explains the theory of forms with their different levels of reality, and advances the view that philosopher-kings are wisest while most humans are ignorant.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kemerling |first=Garth |title=Plato: The Republic 5–10 |work=philosophypages.com |url=http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/2h.htm}}</ref> One student of Plato, [[Aristotle]], who would become another of the most influential philosophers of all time, stressed the implication that understanding relies upon first-hand observation.

=== Aristotle ===
{{Main|Aristotle}}
{{See also|Aristotelianism}}
Aristotle moved to Athens from his native [[Stageira]] in 367 BC and began to study philosophy (perhaps even rhetoric, under [[Isocrates]]), eventually enrolling at [[Platonic Academy|Plato's Academy]].<ref name="Lord Intro">Carnes Lord, Introduction to ''The Politics'', by Aristotle (Chicago:  University of Chicago Press, 1984): 1–29.</ref> He left Athens approximately twenty years later to study [[botany]] and [[zoology]], became a tutor of [[Alexander the Great]], and ultimately returned to Athens a decade later to establish his own school: the [[Lyceum (classical)|Lyceum]].<ref name="Russell">[[Bertrand Russell]], ''A History of Western Philosophy'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1972).</ref> At least twenty-nine of his treatises have survived, known as the ''[[corpus Aristotelicum]]'', and address a variety of subjects including [[logic]], [[physics]], [[optics]], [[metaphysics]], [[ethics]], [[rhetoric]], [[politics]], [[poetry]], botany, and zoology.

Aristotle is often portrayed as disagreeing with his teacher Plato (e.g., in [[Raphael]]'s [[School of Athens]]). He criticizes the [[regime]]s described in Plato's [[Republic (Plato)|''Republic'']] and [[Laws (dialogue)|''Laws'']],<ref name=":0">Aristotle, [[Politics (Aristotle)|''Politics'']], bk. 2, ch. 1–6.</ref> and refers to the [[theory of forms]] as "empty words and poetic metaphors".<ref>Aristotle, [[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|''Metaphysics'']], 991a20–22.</ref> He is generally presented as giving greater weight to empirical observation and practical concerns.

Aristotle's fame was not great during the [[Hellenistic period]], when [[Stoicism|Stoic]] logic was in vogue, but later [[Peripatetic school|peripatetic]] commentators popularized his work, which eventually contributed heavily to Islamic, Jewish, and medieval Christian philosophy.<ref>Robin Smith, "[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-logic/ Aristotle's Logic]," ''[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'' (2007).</ref> His influence was such that [[Avicenna]] referred to him simply as "the Master"; [[Maimonides]], [[Alfarabi]], [[Averroes]], and [[Aquinas]] as "the Philosopher".

Aristotle opposed the utopian style of theorizing, deciding to rely on the understood and observed behaviors of people in reality to formulate his theories. Stemming from an underlying moral assumption that life is valuable, the philosopher makes a point that scarce resources ought to be responsibly allocated to reduce poverty and death. This 'fear of goods' led Aristotle to exclusively support 'natural' trades in which personal satiation was kept at natural limit of consumption.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Kishtainy|first=Niall|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/979259190|title=A little history of economics : revised version|date=January 2017 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-20636-4|oclc=979259190}}</ref> 'Unnatural' trade, as opposed to the intended limit, was classified as the acquisition of wealth to attain more wealth instead of to purchase more goods.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Reynard|first1=H.|last2=Gray|first2=Alexander|date=December 1931|title=The Development of Economic Doctrine.|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2224006|journal=The Economic Journal|volume=41|issue=164|pages=636|doi=10.2307/2224006|jstor=2224006|issn=0013-0133|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Cutting more along the grain of reality, Aristotle did not only set his mind on how to give people direction to make the right choices but wanted each person equipped with the tools to perform this moral duty. In his own words, "Property should be in a certain sense common, but, as a general rule, private; for, when everyone has a distinct interest, men will not complain of one another, and they will make more progress because everyone will be attending to his own business... And further, there is the greatest pleasure in doing a kindness or service to friends or guests or companions, which can only be rendered when a man has private property. These advantages are lost by excessive unification of the state."<ref name=":0" />

=== Cynicism ===
{{Main|Cynicism (philosophy)}}
Cynicism was founded by [[Antisthenes]], who was a disciple of Socrates, as well as [[Diogenes]], his contemporary.{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=99}} Their aim was to live according to nature and against convention.{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=99}} Antisthenes was inspired by the ascetism of Socrates, and accused Plato of pride and conceit.{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=100}} Diogenes, his follower, took the ideas to their limit, living in extreme poverty and engaging in anti-social behaviour. [[Crates of Thebes]] was, in turn, inspired by Diogenes to give away his fortune and live on the streets of Athens.{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=102}}

=== Cyrenaicism ===
{{Main|Cyrenaics}}
The [[Cyrenaics]] were founded by [[Aristippus]] of Cyrene, who was a pupil of [[Socrates]]. The Cyrenaics were [[hedonists]] and held that pleasure was the supreme good in life, especially physical pleasure, which they thought more intense and more desirable than mental pleasures.<ref name="annas231">{{Cite book |last=Annas |first=Julia |author-link=Julia Annas |year=1995 |title=The Morality of Happiness |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-509652-5 |page=231}}</ref> Pleasure is the only good in life and pain is the only evil. [[Socrates]] had held that [[virtue]] was the only human good, but he had also accepted a limited role for its utilitarian side, allowing pleasure to be a secondary goal of moral action.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Reale |first1=Giovanni |last2=Catan
 |first2=John R. |year=1986 |title=A History of Ancient Philosophy: From the Origins to Socrates |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=0-88706-290-3 |page=271}}</ref> Aristippus and his followers seized upon this, and made pleasure the sole final goal of life, denying that virtue had any intrinsic value.

=== Megarians ===
{{Main|Megarian school}}
The [[Megarian school]] flourished in the 4th century BC. It was founded by [[Euclides of Megara]], one of the pupils of [[Socrates]]. Its ethical teachings were derived from Socrates, recognizing a single [[Form of the Good|good]], which was apparently combined with the [[Eleatic]] doctrine of [[monism|Unity]]. Their work on [[modal logic]], [[logical conditional]]s, and [[propositional logic]] played an important role in the development of logic in antiquity, and were influences on the subsequent creation of [[Stoicism]] and [[Pyrrhonism]].

== Hellenistic philosophy ==
{{Main|Hellenistic philosophy}}
{{See also|Ancient Roman philosophy}}
[[File:Petrarca-Meister 001.jpg|thumb|The philosopher [[Pyrrho]] of [[ancient Elis|Elis]], in an anecdote taken from [[Sextus Empiricus]]' ''Outlines of Pyrrhonism''<br /><div style="background-color:#EEE9BF;text-align: center;">(upper)
PIRRHO • HELIENSIS •<br />
PLISTARCHI • FILIVS<br />
translation (from Latin): Pyrrho • Greek • Son of Plistarchus</div><br /><div style="background-color:#EEE9BF;text-align: center;">(middle)
OPORTERE • SAPIENTEM<br />
HANC ILLIVS IMITARI<br />
SECVRITATEM
translation (from Latin): It is right wisdom then that all imitate this security (Pyrrho pointing at a peaceful pig munching his food)</div><br /><div style="background-color:#EEE9BF;text-align: center;">(lower)
Whoever wants to apply the real wisdom, shall not mind [[trepidation]] and misery</div>]]

During the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] and [[Roman Empire|Roman]] periods, many different schools of thought developed in the [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic world]] and then the [[Greco-Roman]] world. The spread of [[Christianity]] throughout the Roman world, followed by the [[spread of Islam]], ushered in the end of Hellenistic philosophy and the beginnings of [[Medieval philosophy]], which was dominated by the three [[Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic]] traditions: [[Jewish philosophy]], [[Christian philosophy]], and [[early Islamic philosophy]].

=== Pyrrhonism ===
{{Main|Pyrrhonism}}
[[Pyrrho of Elis]], a [[Democritus|Democritean]] philosopher, [[Indian campaign of Alexander the Great|traveled to India]] with [[Alexander the Great]]'s army where Pyrrho was influenced by [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] teachings, most particularly the [[three marks of existence]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Beckwith|first=Christopher I.|url=http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s10500.pdf|title=Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|year=2015|isbn=9781400866328|page=28}}</ref> After returning to Greece, Pyrrho started a new school of philosophy, [[Pyrrhonism]], which taught that it is one's opinions about non-evident matters (i.e., [[dogma]]) that prevent one from attaining [[eudaimonia]]. Pyrrhonism places the attainment of [[ataraxia]] (a state of [[equanimity]]) as the way to achieve eudaimonia. To bring the mind to ataraxia Pyrrhonism uses [[epoché]] ([[suspension of judgment]]) regarding all non-evident propositions. Pyrrhonists dispute that the dogmatists – which includes all of Pyrrhonism's rival philosophies – have found [[truth]] regarding non-evident matters. For any non-evident matter, a Pyrrhonist makes arguments for and against such that the matter cannot be concluded, thus suspending belief and thereby inducing ataraxia.

=== Epicureanism ===
{{Main|Epicureanism}}
[[Epicurus]] studied in [[Athens]] with [[Nausiphanes]], who was a follower of [[Democritus]] and a student of [[Pyrrho of Elis]].{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=103}} He accepted Democritus' theory of atomism, with improvements made in response to criticisms by Aristotle and others.{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=104}} His ethics were based on "the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain".{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=106}} This was, however, not simple [[hedonism]], as he noted that "We do not mean the pleasures of the prodigal or of sensuality . . . we mean the [[Aponia|absence of pain]] in the body and trouble in the mind".{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=106}}

=== Stoicism ===
{{Main|Stoicism}}
The founder of Stoicism, [[Zeno of Citium]], was taught by Crates of Thebes, and he took up the Cynic ideals of continence and self-mastery, but applied the concept of [[apatheia]] (indifference) to personal circumstances rather than social norms, and switched shameless flouting of the latter for a resolute fulfillment of social duties.{{sfn|Grayling|2019|pp=107–108}} Logic and physics were also part of early Stoicism, further developed by Zeno's successors [[Cleanthes]] and [[Chrysippus]].{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=108}} [[Stoic physics|Their metaphysics]] was based in [[materialism]], which was structured by [[logos]], reason (but also called God or fate).{{sfn|Grayling|2019|pp=108–109}} [[Stoic logic|Their logical contributions]] still feature in contemporary [[propositional calculus]].{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=110}} Their ethics was based on pursuing happiness, which they believed was a product of 'living in accordance with nature'.{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=112}} This meant accepting those things which one could not change.{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=112}} One could therefore choose whether to be happy or not by adjusting one's attitude towards their circumstances, as the freedom from fears and desires was happiness itself.{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=114}}

=== Platonism ===
{{Main|Platonism}}
Platonism is the philosophy of [[Plato]], asserting the existence of [[abstract object theory|abstract objects]], which exist in a realm distinct from both the physical world and the mind.<ref name="SEP-P">{{Citation |last=Balaguer |first=Mark |title=Platonism in Metaphysics |date=2016 |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2016/entries/platonism/ |encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=Edward N. |edition=Spring 2016 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=2022-07-10 |archive-date=2022-06-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618135541/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2016/entries/platonism/ |url-status=live }}.</ref> Central to Platonism is the [[Theory of forms|Theory of Forms]], where ideal Forms or perfect archetypes are considered the true reality, with the physical world being an imperfect reflection.<ref name="seyffert481">Oskar Seyffert, (1894), ''Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'', p. 481</ref> This philosophy has influenced [[Western thought]], emphasizing the difference between the changing, perceptible world and the unchanging, intelligible realm. Platonism stands in opposition to [[nominalism]], which denies the existence of such abstract entities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Haack |first1=Susan |title=Platonism Versus Nominalism: Carnap and Goodman |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27902552 |journal=The Monist |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=November 14, 2024 |date=1978|volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=483–494 |doi=10.5840/monist197861338 |jstor=27902552 }}</ref>

==== Academic skepticism ====
{{Main|Academic skepticism}}
Around 266 BC, [[Arcesilaus]] became head of the [[Platonic Academy]], and adopted skepticism as a central tenet of [[Platonism]], making Platonism nearly the same as [[Pyrrhonism]].<ref>[[Sextus Empiricus]], "Outlines of Pyrrhonism" I.33.232</ref> After Arcesilaus, Academic skepticism diverged from Pyrrhonism.<ref>Sextus Empiricus, "Outlines of Pyrrhonism" I.33.225–231</ref> This skeptical period of ancient Platonism, from [[Arcesilaus]] to [[Philo of Larissa]], became known as the [[New Academy]], although some ancient authors added further subdivisions, such as a [[Platonic Academy#Middle Academy|Middle Academy]]. The Academic skeptics did not doubt the existence of [[truth]]; they just doubted that humans had the capacities for obtaining it.<ref name="Smith:Arcesilaus">{{SmithDGRBM|article=Arcesilaus}}</ref> They based this position on Plato's ''[[Phaedo (dialogue)|Phaedo]]'', sections 64–67,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0170:text=Phaedo:page=64|title=Plato, Phaedo, page 64|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> in which Socrates discusses how knowledge is not accessible to mortals.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Veres|first=Máté|year=2009|title=Carlos Lévy, Les Scepticismes; Markus Gabriel, Antike und moderne Skepsis zur Einführung|url=https://www.academia.edu/1774036|journal=Rhizai. A Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science|volume=6|issue=1|page=107}}{{rp|111}}</ref> While the objective of the Pyrrhonists was the attainment of [[ataraxia]], after Arcesilaus the Academic skeptics did not hold up ataraxia as the central objective. The Academic skeptics focused on criticizing the [[dogma]]s of other schools of philosophy, in particular of the dogmatism of the [[Stoics]]. They acknowledged some vestiges of a moral law within, at best but a plausible guide, the possession of which, however, formed the real distinction between the [[Sage (philosophy)|sage]] and the fool.<ref name="Smith:Arcesilaus" /> Slight as the difference may appear between the positions of the Academic skeptics and the Pyrrhonists, a comparison of their lives leads to the conclusion that a practical philosophical moderation was the characteristic of the Academic skeptics<ref name="Smith:Arcesilaus" /> whereas the objectives of the Pyrrhonists were more psychological.

==== Middle Platonism ====
{{Main|Middle Platonism}}
Following the end of the skeptical period of the Academy with [[Antiochus of Ascalon]], Platonic thought entered the period of [[Middle Platonism]], which absorbed ideas from the Peripatetic and Stoic schools. More extreme [[syncretism]] was done by [[Numenius of Apamea]], who combined it with [[Neopythagoreanism]].<ref>Eduard Zeller, ''Outlines of the History of Greek Philosophy'', 13th Edition, page 309</ref>

==== Neoplatonism ====
{{Main|Neoplatonism}}
Also affected by the neopythagoreans, the [[Neoplatonism|neoplatonists]], first of them [[Plotinus]], argued that mind exists before matter, and that the universe has a singular cause which must therefore be a single mind.{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=124}} As such, neoplatonism became essentially a [[religion]], and had great impact on [[Neoplatonism and Gnosticism|Gnosticism]] and [[Neoplatonism and Christianity|Christian theology]].{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=124}}

== Transmission of Greek philosophy in the medieval period ==
{{Main|Arab transmission of the Classics to the West}}
{{See also|Early Islamic philosophy|Latin translations of the 12th century}}
During the [[Middle Ages]], Greek ideas were largely forgotten in Western Europe due to the decline in [[literacy]] during the [[Migration Period]]. In the [[Byzantine Empire]], however, Greek ideas were preserved and [[Byzantine philosophy|studied]]. [[Islamic philosophy|Islamic philosophers]] such as [[Al-Kindi]] (Alkindus), [[Al-Farabi]] (Alpharabius), Ibn Sina ([[Avicenna]]) and Ibn Rushd ([[Averroes]]) also reinterpreted these works after the [[caliph]]s authorized the gathering of Greek manuscripts and hired translators to increase their prestige. During the [[High Middle Ages]] Greek philosophy re-entered the West through both [[Latin translations of the 12th century|translations from Arabic to Latin]] and original Greek manuscripts from the [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref>Lindberg, David. (1992) ''The Beginnings of Western Science''. University of Chicago Press. [https://books.google.com/books?id=dPUBAkIm2lUC&pg=PA162 p. 162].</ref> The re-introduction of these philosophies, accompanied by the new Arabic commentaries, had a great influence on [[Medieval philosophy|Medieval philosophers]] such as [[Thomas Aquinas]].

==See also==

* [[Ancient philosophy]]
* [[Byzantine philosophy]]
* [[Definitions of philosophy]]
* [[English words of Greek origin]]
* [[International scientific vocabulary]]
* [[List of ancient Greek philosophers]]
* [[Translingualism]]
* [[Transliteration of Greek into English]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book |last1=Baird |first1=Forrest E. |last2=Kaufmann |first2=Walter |year=2008 |title=From Plato to Derrida |publisher=Pearson Prentice Hall |location=Upper Saddle River, New Jersey |isbn=978-0-13-158591-1}}
* Kamtekar, Rachana. "The Soul's (After-) Life", ''Ancient Philosophy'' 36 (2016): 1–18.
* Campbell, Douglas R. "Plato's Theory of Reincarnation: Eschatology and Natural Philosophy", ''Review of Metaphysics'' 75 (4): 643–665. 2022.
* Nikolaos Bakalis (2005). ''Handbook of Greek Philosophy: From Thales to the Stoics Analysis and Fragments'', Trafford Publishing {{ISBN|1-4120-4843-5}}
* [[John Burnet (classicist)|John Burnet]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20150206043421/http://classicpersuasion.org/pw/burnet/index.htm ''Early Greek Philosophy''] (archived from [http://www.classicpersuasion.org/pw/burnet/index.htm the original], 6 February 2015), 1930.
* {{cite book |last=Freeman |first=Charles |year=1996 |title=Egypt, Greece and Rome |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-815003-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/egyptgreecerome00free |url-access=registration}}
*{{Cite book|last=Grayling|first=A. C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b0mHDwAAQBAJ|title=The History of Philosophy|date=2019-11-05|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-1-9848-7875-5|language=en}}
* William Keith Chambers Guthrie, ''A History of Greek Philosophy: Volume 1, The Earlier Presocratics and the Pythagoreans'', 1962.
* [[Søren Kierkegaard]], ''[[On the Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Socrates]]'', 1841.
* [[A.A. Long]]. ''Hellenistic Philosophy.'' University of California, 1992. (2nd Ed.)
* [[Martin Litchfield West]], ''Early Greek Philosophy and the Orient'', Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1971.
* [[Martin Litchfield West]], ''The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth'', Oxford [England]; New York: Clarendon Press, 1997.

== Further reading ==
* Clark, Stephen. 2012. ''Ancient Mediterranean Philosophy: An Introduction.'' New York: Bloomsbury.
* Curd, Patricia, and D.W. Graham, eds. 2008. ''The Oxford Handbook of Presocratic Philosophy.'' New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
* Gaca, Kathy L. 2003. ''The Making of Fornication: Eros, Ethics, and Political Reform in Greek Philosophy and Early Christianity.'' Berkeley: University of California Press.
* Garani, Myrto and David Konstan eds. 2014. ''The Philosophizing Muse: The Influence of Greek Philosophy on Roman Poetry.'' Pierides, 3. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
* Kamtekar, Rachana. “The Soul’s (After-) Life,” ''Ancient Philosophy'' 36 (2016): 1–18.
* Campbell, Douglas R. "Plato's Theory of Reincarnation: Eschatology and Natural Philosophy," ''Review of Metaphysics'' 75 (4): 643–665. 2022.
* Gill, Mary Louise, and Pierre Pellegrin. 2009. ''A Companion to Ancient Greek Philosophy.'' Oxford: Blackwell.
* Hankinson, R.J. 1999. ''Cause and Explanation in Ancient Greek Thought.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* [[Bettany Hughes|Hughes, Bettany]]. 2010. ''[[The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the Search for the Good Life]].'' London: Jonathan Cape.
* Kahn, C.H. 1994. ''Anaximander and the Origins of Greek Cosmology.'' Indianapolis, IN: Hackett
* Luchte, James. 2011. ''Early Greek Thought: Before the Dawn.'' New York: Continuum.
* Martín-Velasco, María José and María José García Blanco eds. 2016. ''Greek Philosophy and Mystery Cults.'' Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
* Nightingale, Andrea W. 2004. ''Spectacles of Truth in Classical Greek Philosophy: Theoria in its Cultural Context.'' Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
* [[Patricia O'Grady|O’Grady, Patricia]]. 2002. ''Thales of Miletus''. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.
* Preus, Anthony. 2010. ''The A to Z of Ancient Greek Philosophy.'' Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.
* Reid, Heather L. 2011. ''Athletics and Philosophy in the Ancient World: Contests of Virtue.'' Ethics and Sport. London; New York: [[Routledge]].
* Wolfsdorf, David. 2013. ''Pleasure in Ancient Greek Philosophy. Key Themes in Ancient Philosophy.'' Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.

== External links ==
{{Wikisource portal|Ancient Greek philosophy}}
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Ancient Greek philosophy
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*{{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.iep.utm.edu/greekphi/ Ancient Greek Philosophy], entry in the [[Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]
* [http://www.worldhistorycharts.com/ancient-greek-philosophers/ Ancient Greek Philosophers], Worldhistorycharts.com
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050629084248/http://www.adath-shalom.ca/greek_influence.htm The Impact of Greek Culture on Normative Judaism from the Hellenistic Period through the Middle Ages c. 330 BCE – 1250 CE]
* [https://plato.stanford.edu/index.html Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
* [https://hellenism.net/greece/ancient-greek-literature/greek-philosophers/ Ancient Greek Philosophy and important Greek philosophers], Hellenism.Net

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