In their quest for the ultimate symbols to represent reality, an integral of their philosophical pursuits, the Greeks developed an esoteric tradition that although was not inconsistent with the pantheistic tradition within which it coexisted, was relatively independent from it…. Read More ›
Throughout this work we have emphasized the influence of Aristotle, perhaps more so than any other (Western) philosopher – even relative to his teacher Plato. His importance and relevance as it relates to the development and evolution of Western philosophy,… Read More ›
It must be understood that Psychology as a discipline, at least how we think of it today, did exist in antiquity. There were fairly well thought systems of belief however that framed Psychology, the study of the Soul, within the context… Read More ›
The East-West division with respect to worldviews and ways of thinking clearly has significant limits in interpretative utility despite its proliferation and widespread use in the academic and intellectual community, in the West in particular. Having said that it is… Read More ›
Ever since the dawn of civilization mankind has created mythological, semantic and metaphysical paradigms within which the nature of existence and knowledge itself, along with the underlying order of the heavens and the earth and all its creatures within it,… Read More ›
One cannot properly explore the evolution of metaphysics and theology in Western civilization and its metamorphosis into science, without having some level of understanding of its development and evolution after the so-called fall of the Roman Empire through the Middle Ages,… Read More ›
Aristotle is arguably one of, if not the, most influential philosophers in the history of Western civilization, outlining in painstaking detail not only a fully formed and comprehensive system of reason and logic, but also a comprehensive system metaphysics, what some… Read More ›
So from what intellectual and socio-political and cultural context did the works and schools of Plato and Aristotle emerge? Where did their ideas come from, even if they are altogether unique in their language, tenets and ideas and even if… Read More ›
There has been and continues to be much scholarly debate as to what extent the classical Greek philosophical tradition, what we call Hellenic philosophy herein, which classically begins with a study of the so-called “Pre-Socratics”, the bulk of which are… Read More ›
There are many parallels that can be drawn between early Hellenic and Upanishadic philosophy. In particular, we find many similarities between the philosophy presented by Plato in his Middle Period as he developed and fine-tuned his theory of forms – in particular… Read More ›
The first systematic treatment of philosophy, and arguably the most influential, in the West can be found in works of Plato, in particular in his works the Phaedo, the Republic and the Timaeus which are by most accounts the most influential of… Read More ›
One of the best indications of the influence of Socrates on the development of Western philosophy, what the Hellenes, or Greeks, termed philosophia, his ideas being primarily represented by the writings of his best known pupil Plato, is the more modern… Read More ›
As a specific example of how a word, a concept, can be disfigured and lose its fullness and richness of meaning as it moves through successive languages of translation and cultural evolution, let’s look at how the Hebrew word Torah, which… Read More ›
Perhaps Plato’s greatest contribution to Western philosophy is the idealism embedded in his Theory of Forms, which in essence breaks down existence itself as not only a physical world of inanimate and animate objects, but a theory of knowledge and understanding which is… Read More ›
One of the most preeminent philosophical principles that underpins Western thought, one of the foundational presumptions of modern Science in fact, is the notion of causality, or what we refer to more specifically within the context of 20th century Science… Read More ›
