The Handy Western Philosophy Answer Book: The Ancient Greek Influence on Modern Understanding makes esoteric ideas and the jumble of names easy to understand, enriching readers' lives.

Table of Contents

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• THE BASICS
• PHILOSOPHY BASICS
• MAJOR SUBDIVISIONS OF PHILOSOPHY
• PHILOSOPHY BEFORE SOCRATES
• EARLY PHILOSOPHY
• THALES
• ANAXIMANDER
• ANAXIMENES
• HERACLITUS
• EMPEDOCLES
• ANAXAGORAS AND ARCHELAUS
• THE ATOMISTS: LEUCIPPUS AND DEMOCRITUS
• THE ELEATIC SCHOOL: PARMENIDES, ZENO, AND MELISSUS
• PYTHAGORAS
• THE SOPHISTS
• SOCRATES AND PLATO
• SOCRATES AND PLATO
• SOCRATIC ETHICS
• THE SOCRATIC METHOD
• PLATO'S ACADEMY
• PLATO'S THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
• PLATO'S THEORY OF FORMS
• THE ANALOGIES OF THE SUN AND THE DIVIDED LINE
• PLATO'S THEORY OF THE COSMOS
• PLATO'S MATHEMATICAL AND MUSICAL THEORY OF THE COSMOS
• PLATO'S ETHICS
• PLATONIC LOVE
• PLATO'S THEORY OF JUSTICE
• PLATO'S MODEL OF AN IDEAL SOCIETY
• PLATO'S PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
• PLATO'S THEORY OF THE JUST CITY-STATE
• PLATO'S THEORY OF THE SOUL
• THE ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE
• THE INEVITABLE DEGENERATION OF THE JUST CITY-STATE
• IT IS BETTER TO BE JUST THAN UNJUST
• ARISTOTLE AND THE AGE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT
• ARISTOTLE
• GREEK HISTORY IN THE AGE OF ARISTOTLE AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT
• ARISTOTLE'S POLITICAL VIEWS
• PLUTARCH, ARRIAN, AND ERATOSTHENES
• ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND GREEK PHILOSOPHY
• ARISTOTLE'S LIFE AFTER HIS DEPARTURE FROM PLATO'S ACADEMY
• ARISTOTLE'S THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
• ARISTOTLE'S WRITINGS
• ARISTOTLE'S REVISION OF PLATO'S THEORY OF FORMS
• ARISTOTLE'S LOGIC
• ARISTOTLE'S THEORY OF THE COSMOS
• ARISTOTLE'S THEORY OF CHANGE AND THE FOUR CAUSES
• ARISTOTLE'S THEORY OF THE SOUL
• ARISTOTLE'S ETHICS
• ARISTOTLE'S CONCEPTS OF LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP
• ARISTOTLE'S SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
• HELLENISTIC PHILOSOPHY
• BASICS OF HELLENISTIC PHILOSOPHY
• THE MUSEUM OF ALEXANDRIA
• THE STOIC THEORY OF THE COSMOS AND OF WHAT EXISTS
• THE EPICUREAN THEORY OF PHYSICS AND OF WHAT EXISTS
• THE EPICUREAN THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
• EPICUREAN ETHICS
• THE EPICUREAN THEORY OF THE SOUL
• THE EPICUREAN THEORY OF RELIGION AND THE GODS
• EPICUREAN PSYCHIATRY
• THE CYRENAIC SCHOOL OF HEDONISM
• CYNICISM
• THE MEGARIAN AND DIALECTICAL SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY
• STOICISM
• STOIC LOGIC
• STOIC THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
• THE STOIC THEORY OF THE SOUL OR PSYCHE
• STOIC ETHICS
• THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF THE STOICS
• ACADEMIC SKEPTICISM
• PYRRHONIST SKEPTICISM
• PHILOSOPHY SINCE THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
• TWENTIETH CENTURY PHILOSOPHY
• THE MAIN SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY
• ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY
• CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY
• GLOSSARY
• FURTHER READING