Cicero, a Roman philosopher The Stoics were a group of philosophers who first began teaching their ideas in the Hellenistic period. Stoicism was founded by a man named Zeno, who lived from 335-263 [...]
Weighing the souls of the dead Philosophy means the love of wisdom. But what does that mean? It's hard to separate philosophy from religion. And it's also hard to draw a [...]
Theater of Miletus, where Anaximander the mathematician lived Where was Anaximander from? Anaximander the mathematician was born about 610 BC in the Greek city of Miletus, in what is now Turkey. So [...]
Greek philosophy at a symposium: men talking at a party - Loan Ant.103.18.The Fitzwilliam Museum The beginnings of philosophy In the 500s BC, people all over Europe and Asia became [...]
"Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism are one" (Song Dynasty, ca. 1100 AD) The first major philosopher who lived in China was Lao Tzu (if he really existed). He lived about 600 [...]
What was Confucius' philosophy? Confucius' philosophy Confucius was a philosopher in ancient China, about 500 BC. That was about the same time as Buddhism was getting going in India and [...]
Confucius life: Later portrait of Confucius, from the provincial museum of Shandong, China Confucius' childhood The philosopher Confucius' main interest was to figure out ways for the government to do [...]
Eastern Zhou man fighting a dragon (ca. 300 BC) Central Asian cavalry attacks In 771 BC, skillful fighters from the northwest invaded Zhou Dynasty China; they may have been the [...]
In 1500 AD, most people in China prayed to their traditional gods. The most accepted philosophy was Taoism. But many other people were Buddhists, and rejected Taoism. Because of the Mongol Empire [...]
Jurchen history: A pottery vase from the Jin Dynasty, ca. 1200 AD (Musee Guimet, Paris) Where did the Jurchen come from? Unlike most of the people living in north Asia, [...]
