what is western philosophy?

Question

yeah i need to know im very interested in this but im not sure what it really means..some people say you just basically ask questions and stuff but i need more info

Answer 1

It's the philosophy that arose in the West - that is to say, Europe and the Americas. It has its roots in Ancient Greece (where the better-known names include Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle), and later spread throughout Europe and beyond. Most (but not all) Western Philosophy - at least after the time of Christ - presupposes a generally Christian worldview.

Western philosophy has addressed such questions as: What does it mean to be good? What is the ideal governmental system? What is truth? What is beauty? What is being? Is there a God?

Influential names in Western Philosophy include churchmen such as Boethius, Augustine, Anselm, Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas; "Enlightenment" thinkers such as Descartes, Hume and Kant; and more recent writers such as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, and Heidegger.

Answer 2

What about this:

It would be difficult if not impossible to find two philosophers who would define philosophy in exactly the same way. Throughout its long and varied history in the West, philosophy has meant many different things. Some of these have been a search for wisdom (the meaning closest to the Latin philosophia, itself derived from the Greek philosoph, “lover of wisdom”); an attempt to understand the universe as a whole; an examination of humankind's moral responsibilities and social obligations; an effort to fathom the divine intentions and the place of human beings with reference to them; an effort to ground the enterprise of natural science; a rigorous examination of the origin, extent, and validity of human ideas; an exploration of the place of will or consciousness in the universe; an examination of the values of truth, goodness, and beauty; and an effort to codify the rules of human thought in order to promote rationality and the extension of clear thinking. Even these do not exhaust the meanings that have been attached to the philosophical enterprise, but they give some idea of its extreme complexity and many-sidedness.

Answer 3

Western Philosophy basically means that people think as individuals. When you think as an individual, you don't believe that help is needed and that a person if responsible for themeselves. For example, say someone fails at a job: western philosophy says that they failed because they didn't try enough.

Answer 4

It begins with Plato and follows down through Descartes and Hume and then Kant. By the time you get though Kant, ask again and you can do Benedict de Spinoza and Hegal. Continue, if you must, until you die in Ludwig Wittgenstein's arms.

Answer 5

Think about what Eastern Philosophy is about. What is distinctive about the Chinese? Japanese? Muslims? Shaolins?

Now see if you can think of distinctive things about western demographics. This will give you the best ideas and concepts about this subject.

Answer 6

wow! who can answer such a great question, i guess western culture is being more open minded , straight forward , aggresive than eastern, which Chinese,Japs,Koeran are more tolerence n forgiving, the American likes to bomb other countries, i can only hope there will be no more g.bush , world peace!

Answer 7

Western culture has greatly deteriorated. It modern western culture the thoughts behind most peoples thinking are "me"and "I want"

Answer 8

Western phil. covers many different things.Such as western medicine treats the illness u r having with drugs.where as eastern phil. treats what is causing the illness and they use more natural methods such as herbs proper diet,acupuncher,and various methods.Western cultures tend 2 believe there is a god 2 whom we r all seperated from.where as eastern belives we r one with god.

Answer 9

God takes care of those who take care of themselves. The capitalistic pig idealism, look after #1.

Answer 10

did you know every philosophy trying to master virtue and to not go against nature and also to have tranquil, restful its just simple as that do not try make life difficult.