Ancient Philosophers

The early Greek philosophers saw the world around them and asked questions about it. Instead of attributing its creation to anthropomorphic gods, they sought rational explanations. One idea the Pre-Socratic philosophers had was that there was a single underlying substance that held within itself principles of change. This underlying substance and its inherent principles could become anything. In addition to looking at the building blocks of matter, the early philosophers looked at the stars, music, and number systems. Later philosophers focused entirely on conduct or ethics. Instead of asking what made the world, they asked what was the best way to live.

Here are a dozen of the major Presocratic and Socratic philosophers.

Ancient Greek Picture Gallery
Ancient Roman Picture Gallery

_{DK = Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker by H. Diels and W. Kranz.}