Historical Methods and Evolution of Philosophy
ITEM 1: Methods of Philosophy
Mayeutica-Dialectical: This method, created by Socrates in the 5th and 4th centuries BC and inherited by his disciple Plato, is characterized by uncovering the truth through dialogue. It implies that truth resides in everyone and is only reached through communication. It is the method that best defines the philosophical attitude.
Empirical-Rational: Used by Aristotle in the 4th century BC and by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century. It relies on sensory experience but goes further by applying reason to make nature intelligible. It assumes that human faculties (hearing, sensing, and reasoning) are not separate.
Rationalist: Used by Descartes in the 17th century. This method is universal and precise, similar to the axiomatic-deductive reasoning used in mathematics. It starts from a trust in reason, believing that with proper use, humans can attain truth and certain knowledge of reality.
Empiricist: Its main representative is Hume, an 18th-century author. He considers that the mind is a blank slate to be filled with information from the senses.
Transcendental: Created by the 18th-century thinker Kant. It emphasizes accounting for things rather than describing them. It implies that what matters is not the known but the knowing subject. This approach is maintained in philosophy thanks to authors such as Apel.
Analytic-Linguistic: Its leader is Wittgenstein, 20th century. The task of philosophy, according to this method, should be to solve the problems of language. It implies that analyzing language is to analyze human experience, as it is communicated and published.
Phenomenological: Created by Husserl in the 20th century. It is characterized by a return to things themselves, beyond all constructions and theories. It implies a full recovery from experience and the human world.
Hermeneutics: Used in the 20th century by Heidegger, Gadamer, and Ricoeur. It transforms the phenomenological method, maintaining that we can never ignore our culture.
ITEM 2: Philosophy and History
Ancient Philosophy
The origin of philosophy dates back to the 6th century BC in Ionia and the city of Miletus. Contact with other cultures led the first philosophers to seek a new model for interpreting nature. Over time, the Greeks became interested in humans, their moral life, and their community life. The Sophists were also interested in ethical and political issues. Plato, in the 4th century BC, was primarily interested in ethical and political issues and also proposed a theory of knowledge.
Medieval Philosophy (1st Century AD)
Found in three monotheistic versions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam), all medieval thinking revolves around God. Another problem is how to reconcile reason with the content of revelation—the problem of the faith-reason relationship. Notable figures include Arab and Jewish philosophers like Avicenna, Averroes, and Maimonides.
Modern Philosophy (15th-18th Centuries)
Characterized by Humanism: a concern for human beings and a claim for their dignity and value. Among the currents of modernity, Rationalism stands out, whose greatest representative was Descartes (17th century), who conceived of humans as autonomous beings who need the world to organize themselves. Empiricism, whose exponent is Hume (18th century), is interested in epistemological questions. Kant attempted to synthesize and overcome the work of rationalists and empiricists.
Contemporary Philosophy
The first phase takes place during the 19th century. Positivism is notable, including Comte, who believed that the natural world could be controlled and be more hostile to humans. In the second phase, from the 20th century, philosophical activity reflects the psychic situation created by the two world wars and the search for a meaning to life. A new humanism appears, seeking to analyze the meaning of the philosophical task.
- Neo-positivism: Focuses on science, knowledge, and dedication to language.
- Existentialism: Characterized by its belief in human freedom and the meaninglessness of human life.