Timeline of Famous Philosophers

Pre-socratic Philosophers:

Philosopher	Date	School	Important Ideas
Thales	624-546 B.C.	Milesians	'Everything is made of Water'
Anaximander	610-546 B.C.	Milesians	Reality is composed of some fundamental 'stuff'
Anaximenes	585-528 B.C.	Milesians	'Everything is made of Air'
Pythagoras	571-496 B.C.	Pre-Socratic	Mathematical truths have to be proved, not just accepted
Heraclitus	c. 500 B.C.	Pre-Socratic	Everything is in a constant state of flux - "You can never step in the same river twice'
Parmenides	515-450 B.C.	Pre-Socratic	All that exists is the immediate present
Zeno	490-430 B.C.	Pre-Socratic	Inrtoduced paradoxes of space and time
Empodocles	490-430 B.C.	Pre-Socratic	'The world is made of earth, air, fire and water (four elements) - this remained accepted until Medieval times
Anaxagoras	500-428 B.C.	Pre-Socratic Atomists	Everthing consists of an infinite number of small things
Democritus	460-370 B.C.	Pre-Socratic Atomists	Matter is composed of 'uncuttable' atoms, which explain the objective qualities of the world - pre-empts 20th century atomic Physics

The Big Three:

Socrates	470-399 B.C.	Socratic	Socratic Method (the 'Elenchus'), Socratic Irony
Plato	427-347 B.C.	Platonism	Platonic Realism (Ideal Forms)
Aristotle	384-322 B.C.	Aristotelianism	The Golden Mean, Reason, Logic

Hellenistic Age:

Epicurus	341-270 B.C.	Epicureanism	Hedonism
Cicero	106-43 B.C.	Stoicism	Golden Age Latin
Seneca	4 B.C.-65A.D.	Stoicism	Holistic ethics, 'philosophy is practical goodness' Trust reason, distrust human emotions
Pyrrho	360-272B.C.	Pyrrhonian skepticism	'Unwise to believe in anything', invention of Skepticism
Diogenes	42-322 B.C.	Cynicism	Archetypal cynical philosopher
Sextus Empiricus	c. 200 A.D.	Pyrrhonian skepticism	'All knowledge is relative and so untrustworthy'

The Rise of Theology...