CONTENTS. CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. B.C. 591-Age of Thales. B.C. 559-Age of Anaximines and Anaximander. B.C. 504-Heraclitus and Parmenides flourished. B.C. 480-Anaxagoras. B.C. 445-Empedocles. B.C. 431-Democritus. Hippocrates. B.C. 404-Protagoras. Lipsias. B.C. 400-Death of Socrates. B.C. 396-Aristippus. Archytas. B.C. 390-Plato. Iphicrates. B.C. 377-Diogenes. B.C. 343-Speusippus. Protogenes. Aristotle. B.C. 301-Zeno. Pyrrho. Philemon. Crantor. SCHOOLS OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY. INTRODUCTION. REFLECTION, the characteristic of humanity, which distinguishes it from the instinctive impulses of the animal, has led men, in all ages, to investigate their own nature, and the external and internal influences by which it is affected. Philosophy, or the love of wisdom, which originates in this spirit of inquiry, claims for its legitimate object the elevation of the intellectual and moral powers; since the subjects of thought with which it is conversant have an ennobling tendency. They consist in the contemplation of the highest spiritual essence, God; the soul of man; and matter, which comprehends the relations of the body. It is evidently necessary to an instructive perusal of the following pages, to possess a clear |