Master Timeline
12,000 Generations Ago Neanderthals and denisovans in the genus Homo had a common ancestor about 370,000 BCE (current estimates range from 250,000 to 500,000 BCE). Though neanderthals, denisovans, and sapiens share a common ancestor, they didn’t evolve directly from each other. That common ancestor from which all three evolved from was likely a later Homo […]
Neanderthal-Denisovan Split Read More »
13 Generations Ago 30 Phil, Chapter 26: Voltaire and Modern Journalism Voltaire was a French Enlightenment philosopher born François-Marie Arouet. He was an advocate of civil liberties and satirized intolerance, and religious dogma in a time one was punished with censorship, jail, banishment, or worse. Some of my favorite Voltaire quotes translated from French: Those
Hume teaches that belief should be earned. Do not believe nothing, and do not believe everything. Let confidence rise with evidence, logic, testing, and lived experience.
16 Generations Ago 30 Phil, Chapter 25: Spinoza and Monism The Dutch philosopher Spinoza was a lens grinder by profession, a proponent of Rationalism, and an early founder of Enlightenment. My favorite concept of Spinoza’s is that God is nature, and nature is God. For me, whenever I read God in prayers and such I
94 Generations Ago Zeno is considered the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy. When events occur in life, people react. Life is a series of events and immediate reactions. A stoic introduces a third middle step, a judge step. On their life journey, a stoic strives for a series of event-judge-react experiences. When you introduce
Zeno of Citium (334-262 BCE) Read More »
The Xia Dynasty is the first documented government of ancient China. The first to adopt dynastic succession. In modern times, it was regarded as a myth created later by Chinese historians, but 20th-century excavations uncovered sites which corresponded to descriptions in earlier historians’ accounts. This fact is an important lesson on understanding how little survived
Xia Dynasty (2070-1600 BCE) Read More »
103 Generations Ago The Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras was born in Ancient Greece on the island Samos which is about a mile off the coast of modern Turkey. History looks at Pythagoras as an educator and philosopher as well as a cult leader. He discovered the musical octave, used deductive reasoning, and embraced an
Pythagoras (570-495 BCE) Read More »
Life is full of hard choices. In situational ethics, clear-cut right and wrong tend to give way to reducing harm or choosing the lesser of two evils.
Augustine of Hippo Read More »
20 Generations Ago (from 2020 CE) Montaigne was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. In addition to furthering skepticism, he also extended stoicism. He also extended literary style by promoting the essay format and by breaking norms of his day. For example, talking about himself in his own writing. My favorite translated Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) Read More »
12 Generations Ago 30 Phil, Chapter 28: Kant and Kantianism The German philosopher Immanuel Kant (22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a central figure of the Enlightenment which put reason as the tool of choice when discussing God, nature, and humanity. Some of my favorite translated quotes include: All our knowledge begins with
81 Generations Ago The stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger has the distinction that more of his writings survived the test of time and is therefore a valuable primary source for stoic philosophy. Some of my favorite translated Seneca quotes: Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. All cruelty springs from weakness. Religion is
Seneca the Younger (4 BCE – 65 CE) Read More »
The stoic philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero was one of Rome’s greatest orators and had an immense influence on the Latin language. Some of my favorite translated Cicero quotes: If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the
Cicero (106-43 BCE) Read More »
Epictetus stressed that philosophy is a way of life and not simply analytical. The stoic philosopher Epictetus was cited by Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations. Epictetus was one of the future emperor’s teacher’s during childhood up to the age of 14. Although no writings by Epictetus are known, his students documented his beliefs and sayings
Epictetus (50-135 CE) Read More »
Live better by building a life of care, friendship, and shared dignity. Epicureanism reminds us that flourishing is not a solo project. The people around you shape your peace, your joy, and your moral life.
95 Generations Ago 30 Phil, Chapter 10: Pyrrho of Elis and Skepticism Pyrrho, the skeptic, believed no one knows anything. Everything can be questioned. The best approach is to keep an open mind. Like Socrates, Pyrrho himself left no writings. We know of his teachings through his students and later writers. Phrases that best represent
The Greeks knew the Earth is spherical. For example, Pythagoras (570-495 BCE), Aristotle (384-322 BCE), and Euclid (circa 450 BCE) wrote about the Earth as a sphere. Eratosthenes (276-194 BCE) even calculated the circumference of the Earth to within 1%. He also wrote about the idea that India could be reached by sailing westward from
96 Generations Ago 30 Phil, Chapter 9: Aristotle and Empiricism Aristotle was the greatest Greek philosopher and covered nearly all subjects including physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theatre, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics, politics, meteorology, geology, and government. His Aristotelian philosophy characterized by deductive logic and an analytic inductive method. Some of
98 Generations Ago 30 Phil, Chapter 8: Plato and Rationalism Plato was a Greek philosopher born in Athens. He was a student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle. Plato’s Theory of Forms asserts that the reality is only a shadow, or image, of the true reality of the Realm of Forms — abstract, perfect,
106 Generations Ago Thales of Miletus was a Greek philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer. Considered by many including Aristotle to be the first philosopher in the Greek tradition. He is also considered the father of science by many. Some of my favorite translated sayings are: Know thyself. A multitude of words is no proof of a
Thales of Miletus (624 – 546 BCE) Read More »
99 Generations Ago Socrates was a Greek philosopher and is frequently credited as the founder of Western philosophy. He left no writings, but his student Plato documented his philosophy. Some of my favorite translated sayings attributed to Socrates: Enjoy yourself — it’s later than you think. He who is not content with what they have
Socrates (469 – 399 BCE) Read More »
