[[Image:Thales.jpg|thumb|[[Thales]] of Miletus]]
'''Greek Philosophy'''. It was [[Pythagoras]] (ca. 582 - 504 BC) who gave [[Philosophy ]] its name, "the love of wisdom". [[Presocratic Philosophy|Presocratic Philosophers]] were the first [[Greeks|Greek]] philosophers of the Western tradition. Their most well-known successors were [[Socrates]], who introduced the ''Maieutics''; his pupil [[Plato]], who believed reason was the key to knowledge and became a notable teacher in the [[Plato's Academy|Academy]], and [[Aristotle]], who believed that experience was the best way to gain knowledge. Aristotle eventually founded the [[Lyceum]]. ''Socrates, through Plato, influenced much of Christian theological thought and formed much of medieval philosophy. His concept of the soul and the importance of cultivating it, is central to understanding Western Culture.'' <ref>[http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Western:culture.htm Western culture]</ref>
After this philosophical golden age other systems appeared, like [[Cynicism]], [[Stoicism]], [[Epicureanism]] and [[Skepticism]].
:: ''Greek philosophers were among the first in the West to explore nature in a rational way and to make educated guesses about the creation of the world and the universe. This is why Greece is often referred to as the birthplace of Western culture.'' <ref> [http://www.thebigview.com/greeks/ Greek Philosophy] </ref>
At the closing period of Greek philosophy [[Neoplatonism]] was founded by [[Plotinus|Plotinus of Lycopolis]]; its ''emphasis is a scientific philosophy of religion, in which the doctrine of Plato is fused with the most important elements in the Aristotelian and [[Stoicism|Stoic]] systems. <ref> [http://www.iep.utm.edu/g/greekphi.htm#Skepticism Greek Philosophy] </ref>''
Western culture is the heir of the Greek Philosophy that came to our society through the ideals and works of the [[Hellenistic]] philosophers, the medieval [[Muslim]] philosophers, the European [[The Renaissance|Renaissance]] and the [[Enlightenment]].
== See also ==
[[Image:Socrates-Death.jpg|thumb|200px|Socrates-Death by [[Jacques Louis David|Jacques-Louis David]] (1787)]]
*[[Greek philosophers]]
*[[Platonism]]