Sophists

By Kahn, Charles H.

The Sophists were itinerant educators, the first professors of higher learning, who appeared in Greece in the middle and later fifth century bc. The earliest seems to ...

Latin America, philosophy in

By Oliver, Amy A.

Geographically, Latin America extends from the Mexican–US border to those regions of Antarctica to which various Latin American countries have laid claim. It includes the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Philosophy ...

Ancient philosophy

By Sedley, David

The philosophy of the Greco-Roman world from the sixth century bc to the sixth century ad laid the foundations for all subsequent Western philosophy. Its greatest ...

Buddhist philosophy, Korean

By Cho, Sungtaek

Buddhism was transmitted to the Korean peninsula from China in the middle of the fourth century ad. Korea at this time was divided into three kingdoms: Kokuryô, ...

Medieval philosophy

By MacDonald, Scott; Kretzmann, Norman

Medieval philosophy is the philosophy of Western Europe from about ad 400–1400, roughly the period between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance. Medieval philosophers are the ...

Chinese philosophy

By Hall, David L.; Ames, Roger T.

Any attempt to survey an intellectual tradition which encompasses more than four thousand years would be a daunting task even if it could be presumed that the reader ...

Education, history of philosophy of

By Curren, Randall R.

The philosophy of education may be considered a branch of practical philosophy, aimed ultimately at the guidance of an important aspect of human affairs. Its questions thus arise ...

Consequentialism

Consequentialism is sometimes taken to be a moral view according to which acts are to be assessed solely by the value of their consequences, in contrast to deontological ...

Prodicus (fl. late 5th century BC)

By Kahn, Charles H.

Prodicus was a Greek Sophist from the island of Ceos; he was active in Athens. He served his city as ambassador and also became prominent as a professional ...

Protagoras (c.490–c.420 BC)

By Kahn, Charles H.

Protagoras was the first and most eminent of the Greek Sophists. Active in Athens, he pioneered the role of professional educator, training ambitious young men for a public ...

Antiphon (late 5th century BC)

By Hobbs, Angela

Antiphon was a Greek Sophist. His most famous work, On Truth, partially survives in two substantial papyrus fragments, plus a number of purported quotations. It sets up a ...

Knowledge argument

By Alter, Torin

The knowledge argument is an argument against physicalism, the view that the world is wholly physical. It was developed by Frank Jackson (1943–) and is based on the ...

Thrasymachus (late 5th century BC)

By Hobbs, Angela

Thrasymachus, a Greek Sophist and orator, is known principally for his role in book 1 of Plato’s Republic, in which he argues that justice is simply a social ...

Thucydides (fl. c.400 BC)

By Woodruff, Paul

A Greek historian with philosophical interests, Thucydides wrote about the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta (431–404 bc). He elaborates on the decisions of war in brilliantly ...

Forms, Platonic

By Brennan, Tad

Plato thought that in addition to the changeable, extended bodies we perceive around us, there are also unchangeable, extensionless entities, not perceptible by the senses, that structure the ...

Gorgias (late 5th century BC)

By Kahn, Charles H.

The most important of the fifth-century bc Greek Sophists after Protagoras, Gorgias was a famous rhetorician, a major influence on the development of artistic prose and a ...

Callicles (late 5th century BC)

By Hobbs, Angela

Callicles, although known only as a character in Plato’s Gorgias (the dramatic date of which is somewhere between 430 and 405 bc), was probably an actual historical ...

Physis and nomos

By Hobbs, Angela

In the fifth and fourth centuries bc a vigorous debate arose in Greece centred on the terms physis (nature) and nomos (law or custom). It ...

Dissoi logoi

By Burnyeat, M.F.

Dissoi logoi (‘Twofold Arguments’) is the title scholars apply to a short anonymous collection of arguments for and against various theses. The work, in Greek, is (questionably) dated ...

Neuron doctrine

By Hardcastle, Valerie Gray

The neuron doctrine refers to the idea that neurons are the fundamental units of the nervous system and that understanding the activity of these cells is all that ...

Plato (427–347 BC)

By Schofield, Malcolm

Plato was an Athenian Greek of aristocratic family, active as a philosopher in the first half of the fourth century bc. He was a devoted follower of ...

Plato (427–347 BC)

Plato was an Athenian Greek of aristocratic family, active as a philosopher in the first half of the fourth century bc. He was a devoted follower of ...

Telesio, Bernardino (1509–88)

By Kessler, Eckhard

Bernardino Telesio was a philosopher from southern Italy. He was one of the Renaissance philosophers who developed a new philosophy of nature: his most important book was called ...

Hippias (late 5th century BC)

By Kahn, Charles H.

The Greek Sophist Hippias of Elis is a familiar figure in Plato’s dialogues. He served his city as ambassador, and he earned a great deal of money from ...

Antisthenes (c.445–c.365 BC)

By Schofield, Malcolm

Antisthenes was one of the most devoted followers of Socrates. As a young man he was heavily influenced by the display speeches of Gorgias the rhetorician and the ...