Key Greek Philosophical Schools

Why This Matters

Greek philosophical schools aren't just ancient history—they're the foundation of Western thought, and you're being tested on how these thinkers approached fundamental questions about knowledge, ethics, reality, and the good life. The AP exam expects you to recognize not just what each school believed, but how their methods and conclusions differed. Understanding whether a philosopher trusted reason over observation, or valued inner tranquility over external achievement, reveals the deeper intellectual currents that shaped literature, politics, and culture for millennia.

These schools also speak to each other across centuries, building on, critiquing, and transforming earlier ideas. Neoplatonism reimagines Platonism; Stoicism and Epicureanism offer competing answers to the same question about happiness. Don't just memorize definitions—know what problem each school was trying to solve and what method they used to solve it. That's what separates a 3 from a 5.

---

Schools of Metaphysical Idealism

These schools argue that ultimate reality exists beyond the physical world we perceive—whether as abstract Forms, mathematical structures, or divine emanation.

Platonism

• The Theory of Forms—true reality consists of abstract, eternal Ideas (like Beauty, Justice, Goodness) that physical objects merely imitate
• Dialectic method emphasizes rigorous philosophical dialogue as the path to knowledge, moving from opinion toward truth
• Soul's immortality allows access to the realm of Forms through contemplation, making philosophy a kind of spiritual practice

Pythagoreanism

• Numbers as cosmic foundation—mathematical relationships reveal the underlying structure and harmony of the universe
• Integration of philosophy and spirituality creates a complete way of life emphasizing order, proportion, and ethical discipline
• Transmigration of souls links moral behavior to cosmic consequences, with reincarnation reflecting one's ethical progress

Neoplatonism

• The One stands as the ultimate, ineffable source from which all reality emanates in hierarchical layers
• Emanation theory explains existence as flowing outward from the divine, creating degrees of reality from pure spirit to matter
• Soul's return to unity with the divine becomes the goal of philosophical and mystical practice

---

Schools of Empirical Investigation

This approach grounds knowledge in observation of the natural world rather than abstract reasoning about invisible realities.

Aristotelianism

• Empirical observation forms the basis of knowledge—study the world as it actually is, not as abstract theory suggests
• Telos (purpose) defines the essence of everything; understanding what something is for reveals its true nature
• The Golden Mean guides ethical life, locating virtue between extremes of excess and deficiency (courage between recklessness and cowardice)

---

Schools of Practical Ethics and Happiness

These Hellenistic schools focus less on metaphysics and more on a pressing practical question: how should we live to achieve tranquility and fulfillment?

Stoicism

• Virtue as the only true good—external circumstances (wealth, health, reputation) are "indifferent" and cannot affect your wellbeing
• Dichotomy of control teaches acceptance of fate; focus only on what you can control (your judgments and actions), not external events
• Cosmopolitanism views all humans as citizens of a single rational world order, connected by shared reason

Epicureanism

• Pleasure as the highest good—but defined as ataraxia (tranquility) and the absence of pain, not hedonistic indulgence
• Elimination of fear, especially fear of death and the gods, is essential; death is simply non-existence, nothing to dread
• Friendship and community provide the deepest, most sustainable pleasures, making social bonds central to the good life

---

Schools of Radical Critique

These schools challenge conventional assumptions—whether about knowledge itself or about social values—pushing philosophy toward skepticism and countercultural living.

Cynicism

• Rejection of social conventions—wealth, status, and material possessions distract from authentic virtue and happiness
• Life according to nature means radical simplicity and self-sufficiency, often demonstrated through shocking public behavior
• Virtue through action rather than theory; Cynics like Diogenes used provocative acts to expose hypocrisy and false values

Skepticism

• Epoché (suspension of judgment) responds to the impossibility of certain knowledge—withhold belief rather than commit to error
• Intellectual humility emerges from recognizing that every argument has a counter-argument of equal force
• Tranquility through doubt—paradoxically, giving up the search for certainty brings peace of mind

---

Quick Reference Table

---

Self-Check Questions

1. Which two schools both emphasize the soul's immortality but differ in whether they ground reality in Forms or in mathematical relationships?

2. How do Stoicism and Epicureanism offer different solutions to the same problem of achieving inner peace?

3. If an FRQ asks you to trace the development of Platonic thought, which later school would you discuss, and what key concept did it add?

4. Compare and contrast Cynicism and Skepticism: both reject conventional beliefs, but what fundamentally distinguishes their approaches?

5. Aristotle famously broke with his teacher Plato. What methodological difference defines this break, and how does it affect each philosopher's approach to ethics?