Greece Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Philosophy === {{Main|Ancient Greek philosophy|Modern Greek Enlightenment}} [[File:Πλάτωνας, Ακαδημία Αθηνών 6619.JPG|thumb|right|upright=.9|A statue of [[Plato]] in Athens]] Most western philosophical traditions began in [[Ancient Greece]] in the 6th century BC. The first philosophers are called "Presocratics", which designates that they came before [[Socrates]], whose contributions mark a turning point in western thought. The Presocratics were from the western or the eastern colonies of Greece and only fragments of their original writings survive, in some cases merely a single sentence. A new period of philosophy started with Socrates. Like the [[Sophists]], he rejected entirely the physical speculations in which his predecessors had indulged, and made the thoughts and opinions of people his starting-point. Aspects of Socrates were first united from [[Plato]], who also combined with them many of the principles established by earlier philosophers, and developed the whole of this material into the unity of a comprehensive system. [[Aristotle]] of [[Stagira (ancient city)|Stagira]], the most important disciple of Plato, shared with his teacher the title of the greatest philosopher of antiquity. But while Plato had sought to elucidate and explain things from the supra-sensual standpoint of the forms, his pupil preferred to start from the facts given to us by experience. Except from these three most significant Greek philosophers other known schools of [[Greek philosophy]] from other founders during ancient times were [[Stoicism]], [[Epicureanism]], [[Skepticism]] and [[Neoplatonism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/greekphi/|title=Ancient Greek Philosophy |publisher= Internet encyclopedia of philosophy|access-date= 23 March 2016}}</ref> [[Byzantine philosophy]] refers to the distinctive philosophical ideas of the philosophers and scholars of the [[Byzantine Empire]], especially between the 8th and 15th centuries. It was characterised by a Christian world-view, but one which could draw ideas directly from the Greek texts of [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], and the [[Neoplatonists]]. On the eve of the [[Fall of Constantinople]], [[Gemistus Pletho]] tried to restore the use of the term "Hellene" and advocated the return to the [[Olympian Gods]] of the ancient world. After 1453 a number of [[Greek scholars in the Renaissance|Greek Byzantine scholars]] who fled to western Europe contributed to the [[Renaissance]]. In modern period, [[Modern Greek Enlightenment|Diafotismos]] (Greek: Διαφωτισμός, "enlightenment", "illumination")<ref>Patiniotis M. (2015) "Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment: In Search of a European Identity," in Arabatzis T., Renn J., Simões A. (eds), ''Relocating the History of Science. Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science'', vol 312. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14553-2_9</ref> was the Greek expression of the [[Age of Enlightenment]] and its philosophical and political ideas. Some notable representatives were [[Adamantios Korais]], [[Rigas Feraios]] and [[Theophilos Kairis]]. Other modern era Greek philosophers or political scientists include [[Cornelius Castoriadis]], [[Nicos Poulantzas]] and [[Christos Yannaras]]. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page