The third part of our lectures is dedicated to social philosophy, which was developed in the area surrounding Athens during the 5th century, the famous Golden Age of antiquity. This section will try to shed some light on the transition from natural philosophy to socially-centered philosophical views through the introduction of the political and the ethical aspect. Apart from Socrates, who is in essence this movement’s dominant figure, one should not overlook the Sophists, as their role in developing philosophical thinking in general cannot be left out or undermined. Moreover, we will obviously attempt to examine the works of the (allegedly) two most well-known Greek philosophers; Plato and his disciple, Aristotle.

We must not forget, however, that philosophy did not stop at Aristotle’s death; on the contrary, several philosophy schools appeared and it is those schools that we ought to include in our research project. The Cynics, the Skeptics, Epicurus and his disciples, and lastly, the Stoics cannot be neglected. No series on Greek philosophy would be consistent had its legacy been disregarded.

Hence, the final part of our discussion will focus on how Greek philosophy transformed philosophical thinking since. From the colonies established by the Roman Empire, where the Greeks’ long-lasting mark is evident (Epictetus, Hypatia from Alexandria, Plotin from Lycopolis etc.), to the philosophers immediately influenced by the lesser known philosophy schools of the Greeks (Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Titus Lucretius Caro), and from there to the medieval world (St Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Boethius), German Idealism (Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel) and the present day. The last lecture can also be viewed as a brief recapitualtion of the whole series.