Philosophical Traditions and Schools of Thought
Major philosophical traditions: ancient Greek philosophy, Eastern philosophy (Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism), Enlightenment rationalism and empiricism, and existentialism.
The data
Traditions
| Name | Period | Key thinkers | Central questions | Legacy | Key concepts | Schools | Core virtues | Social structure | Core belief | Method | Famous argument | Hume skepticism | Core themes | Famous quote | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient Greek Philosophy | 6th century BCE - 6th century CE |
|
| Foundation of Western philosophy; logic, ethics, metaphysics, political theory | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | ||||||||||
| Buddhist Philosophy | 5th century BCE - present | null | null | null |
|
| null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | ||||||||||
| Confucianism | 6th century BCE - present |
| null | null | null | null |
| Five relationships: ruler-subject, father-son, husband-wife, elder-younger brother, friend-friend | null | null | null | null | null | null | ||||||||||
| Rationalism (17th-18th century) | null |
| null | null | null | null | null | null | Reason is the primary source of knowledge; certain truths are innate or deducible by pure reason | Deductive reasoning from self-evident first principles (like mathematics) | Descartes' method of doubt → 'I think, therefore I am' as indubitable foundation | null | null | null | ||||||||||
| Empiricism (17th-18th century) | null |
| null | null | null | null | null | null | All knowledge originates in sensory experience; no innate ideas | Inductive reasoning from observation and experiment | null | Causation is not observable; we only see constant conjunction. Induction cannot be rationally justified. Self is just a 'bundle of perceptions'. | null | null | ||||||||||
| Existentialism (19th-20th century) | null |
| null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null |
| Sartre: 'Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.' |
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