Philosophies and Ideologies 600 BCE to 600 CE

Confucius lived in a particularly turbulent time in Chinese history, during the Warring States Period when rival states were engaged in centuries of constant war and competition. His writings were primarily designed to restore order to Chinese society by emphasizing filial piety, loyalty, and obedience to the state.

Sparta is a prominent and noteworthy city-state in the history of Ancient Greece. Spartan society is primarily remembered for its emphasis on combat aptitude and its successful military campaigns. The Spartan army was instrumental in fending off Persian invasion during the Persian Wars. It is was also responsible for the destruction of Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War.

Hippocrates, who lived from 460 BCE until 370 BCE, is widely considered the father of western medicine for his contributions to the Hippocratic schools of medicine as well as the Hippocratic Oath. He is also credited with making major advances in the clinical medicine as well as condensing existing medial knowledge into more usable medical texts. Additionally, Hippocrates was the first western physician to categorize diseases into various categories including acute and chronic.

Taoism encourages people to live in accordance and harmony with nature. An ideal Daoist state would feature people living in small, self-sufficient communities.

The primary goal of the Chinese philosophical tradition known as legalism was to strengthen the power and authority of the central state and encourage obedience to the government. Legalism was highly effective at supporting the growth of the power of Qin Shi Huangdi in the immediate aftermath of the Warring States Period, but became unpopular due to its disregard for Chinese traditional values.

The Qin Dynasty rose to power during the Warring States Period of Chinese history. It became powerful as a result of a series of legalism reforms enacted in the fourth century BCE. But, the Qin’s strict adherence to legalism made them extremely unpopular once in power. All of these groups (with the obvious exception of advocates for legalism) might have been critical of the rule of Qin Shi Huangdi, but Confucian scholars definitely would have been. Confucianism and legalism were rival schools of thought and Confucian scholars would have been appalled by the Qin’s strict adherence to legalism.

The Byzantine Empire emerged from the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century. However, the Byzantines were fascinated with ancient Greek culture and viewed themselves as the inheritors and continuation of both the Roman Empire and the Hellenistic world. Much of Byzantine law, philosophy, science, and society was modeled on that of Ancient Greece.

Stoicism is an ancient Greek philosophy that was founded in the third century BCE. It maintains that the highest virtue in life is the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom. For this reason it is often contrasted against Epicureanism (with its emphasis on the pursuit of pleasure), but this contrast is somewhat unfair and is based on a modern interpretation of Epicureanism as a debauched hedonistic philosophy.

According to legalism the power of government is derived from the productivity of its agriculture and the strength of its army. Legalism is a Chinese philosophy and theory of politics that is primarily concerned with encouraging and maintaining state authority and strong centralized government.

Epicureanism is an ancient Greek system of philosophy that was first developed by Epicurus in the fourth century BCE. Epicureanism was centered around the pursuit of pleasure through modesty, knowledge, self-control, and study.