Philosophy is a word that literally means “love of wisdom” in ancient Greek. This doctrine arose many thousands of years ago and gained particular popularity in Hellas. Greek (and later Roman) philosophy developed under the influence of both mythology and emerging science at the time.
However, not only in the ancient world developed such a system of worldview. The ancient inhabitants of India and the Chinese also had their own philosophy. In particular, Buddhism first arose as the teaching of Prince Gautama and only much later acquired the form of a religion. The thoughts of Lao Tzu and the sage Confucius still influence the minds of the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire.
History of philosophy is a discipline that studies the stages of development of this science. It reveals the links between the individual schools of this doctrine. The history of philosophy as a separate discipline arose in the period of antiquity and was a critical analysis of the views of predecessor thinkers. The first such descriptions should be considered the works of Aristotle. He left to posterity a wide panorama of the views and thoughts of hiscompatriots. After him, such skeptical philosophers as Sextus Empiricus and Diogenes Laertes engaged in similar work. The writings of these authors are outstanding literary monuments of that time, but they are neither systematic nor chronological in their description of events.
The history of philosophy received a new impetus in development in the Middle Ages and especially in the Renaissance that followed. At first it was work with the writings of the first apologists of Christianity, the reconstruction of their ideas. Subsequently, the views of the ancient sages, Plato and Aristotle, began to arouse particular interest. Since in the Middle Ages philosophy was closely connected with the teachings of the church, Aristotle was even elevated to the rank of a saint, despite the fact that he was a pagan. However, during the Renaissance, religion was already gradually losing its position. Philosophy at that time developed in close connection with art. The aesthetic approach dominated in shaping the views of the humanists. And the philosophy of the so-called New Age (seventeenth century) was based largely on science. This, in particular, determined the approach of the humanists of the Enlightenment, whose activities were often aimed at criticizing theology and religion.
Gradually, new disciplines appeared in European universities. In particular, training courses in the history of philosophy. However, they were superficial and did not provide the necessary amount of knowledge. The most systematic history of philosophy in summary appearedfrom the pen of the famous thinker Hegel. The ideas of this scientist influenced to a large extent the development of the entire discipline. Hegel believed that, on the whole, the history of philosophy is a reflection of a systematic and consistent process in which the best thinkers of the past and present participated. His ideas were picked up by a new galaxy of researchers. By the end of the nineteenth century, the history of philosophy finally took shape in a separate, full-fledged discipline. In particular, this is the achievement of such scientists as Fischer, Erdman, Zeller.
The modern history of Western philosophy includes not only the systematization of ancient works, but also the research of the philosophers of the Renaissance and our time. This discipline ensures the accumulation and preservation of knowledge that has come down to our days. In particular, she studies Indian, Chinese, ancient philosophy. In addition, it provides a kind of connection between generations. The thinkers of the past, as well as their works, are becoming the subject of intellectual research for the latest philosophers.
