The Sense of the Past
Essays in the History of Philosophy
Chapter One
THE LEGACY OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY
THE GREEKS AND THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
The legacy of Greece to Western philosophy is Western philosophy. Here it
is not merely a matter, as in science, of the Greeks having set out on
certain paths in which modern developments have left their achievements
far behind. Nor is it just a matter, as in the arts, of the Greeks having
produced certain forms, and certain works in those forms, which succeeding
times would-some more, some very much less-look back to as paradigms of
achievement. In philosophy, the Greeks initiated almost all its major
fields-metaphysics, logic, the philosophy of language, the theory of
knowledge; ethics, political philosophy, and (though to a much more
restricted degree) the philosophy of art. Not only did they start these
areas of enquiry, but they progressively distinguished what would still be
recognized as many of the most basic questions in those areas. In
addition, among those who brought about these developments there were t ... read full excerpt from The Sense of the Past: Essays in the History of Philosophy ebook
