Before engaging in the analysis of particular features and development trends of any scientific picture, the historical framework for the development of these trends should be established with the necessary degree of accuracy. Only such an approach ensures the continuity of analysis with the conditions that accompanied the development of this scientific phenomenon.
Under the term "ancient philosophy" the philosophical heritage of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome is synthesized.
For more than two millennia, the formation and development of the main philosophical schools and directions of the ancient world took place, and during this period the volume of human wisdom, knowledge, which is simply phenomenal in magnitude and significance, has accumulated, which simply cannot be overestimated. In the historical aspect during the development of ancient philosophy there are four, quite clearly distinguishable, periods.
The pre-Socratic period of the formation of ancient philosophy is, first of all, characterized by the fact that in his time, in fact, the nucleation and formation of the phenomenon that we call "ancient philosophy" took place. The most famous representatives are Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, who stood at the origins of the formation of the famous Milesian school. At the same time, atomists also worked - Democritus, Leucippus, who laid the foundations of dialectics. Vividly, the features of ancient philosophy were manifested in the writings of representatives of the Elean school, primarily Heraclitus of Ephesus. In this period, the first method of philosophical knowledge was formulated - the declaration of their views and the desire to justify them as a dogma.
Attempts to explain natural phenomena, knowledge of the essence of the Cosmos and the human world, substantiation of the fundamental principles of the universe - these are the problems of ancient philosophy that interested the "pre-Socratics".
The classical, or as it is also called - the Socratic period - was the heyday of ancient philosophy, it was at this stage that the most distinctive features of ancient philosophical thinking manifested themselves most vividly.
The main “actors” of this period were the great sophists Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. The main features of the ancient philosophy of this stage were that the thinkers made an attempt to delve deeper into the circle of the problems that were discovered by their predecessors. First of all, their contribution to the development of the methodology should be noted, instead of declarative-dogmatic knowledge, they used the method of dialogue and evidence, which caused the rapid development within the framework of a unified philosophical knowledge of whole areas, which later stood out as independent sciences - mathematics, physics, geography and others. The thinkers of the classical period (as the Socratic period of the development of philosophy is also called in literature) talked a little less about the problems of the fundamental principles of the world, but, having put forward an idealistic picture of the world, laid the foundation for a great discussion about the priority of the teachings of materialism and idealism. In their teachings, the features of ancient philosophy were manifested in the fact that the inclusion of the gods in the scientific interpretation of ideas about the creation of the world and nature was allowed. Plato and Aristotle were the first to show interest in the relationship between society and the state.
Further, the history of ancient philosophy was continued by representatives of the Stoic teachings, the Academy of Plato, and the philosophical creations of Epicurus. This period was named in accordance with the name of the period of development of Greek civilization - Hellenistic. It is characterized by a weakening of the role in the development of philosophical knowledge of the Greek component itself.
Distinctive characteristics of the Hellenistic stage are that the crisis of value criteria has led to the denial and even rejection of previous authorities, including the gods. Philosophers urge a person to look for sources of his strength, physical and moral, to search in himself, sometimes bringing this desire to the point of absurdity, which is reflected in the teachings of the Stoics.
The Roman period, some researchers call the stage of the death of ancient philosophy, which in itself sounds rather absurd. Nevertheless, one should recognize the fact of a certain decline in ancient philosophy, its erosion in the philosophical doctrines of other regions and peoples. The most prominent representatives of this stage were Seneca and the late Stoics, Marcus Aurelius, Titus Lucretius Car. In their views, the features of ancient philosophy were manifested in increased attention to issues of aesthetics, nature, the priority of state problems over the problems of man himself. During this period, the leading position of the idealistic picture of the world with respect to the materialistic one is emerging. With the advent of Christianity, ancient philosophy gradually merged with it, eventually forming the fundamental principles of medieval theology.
Of course, each of the considered stages had its own characteristics. But ancient philosophy also has properties that have a transtemporal character - characteristic of all periods. Among these, one can name the isolation of ancient philosophical thought from issues of specific material production, the desire of philosophers to position themselves in society as carriers of “absolute” truths, cosmocentrism, and at the last stages - its mixture with anthropocentrism. Ancient philosophy at all stages of its development was closely interconnected with the theological worldview.
