MAJOR SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT
ARISTOTELIANISM
    A philosophy originated by the Greek thinker Aristotle ( 384 - 322 BC ), who stressed that virtue was a mean or middle way between opposing extremes. He classified everything in a 'ladder of nature', with inanimate matter at the bottom and man at the top.
CYNICISM
    Originated by the Geek philosopher Diogenes ( about 400 - 325 BC ), who advocated a simple, self-sufficient life as the best way of achieving happiness. His scorn for mankind gave rise to the present meaning of cynicism.
DIALECTIC
    Method of discovering the truth by proceeding from an assertion, or thesis, to a denial, or antithesis, and reconciling the two through a synthesis, which becomes in its turn a new thesis. For instance, mankind is basically good ( thesis ); mankind is basically bad ( antithesis ); man is both good and bad ( synthesis ). The dialectical system was delivered by the German philosopher Georg Hegel ( 1770 - 1831 ) and later used by Karl Marx ( 1818 - 83 ) to develope his theory of Dialectical Materialism.
EMPIRICISM
    Seventeenth century British philosophy that all knowledge is derived fron sensory experience, by observing and experimenting. Proponents included Francis Bacon ( 1561 - 1626 ), John Locke ( 1632 - 1704 ) and David Hume ( 1711 - 76 ).
EPICUREANISM
    Philosophy originated by the Athenian thinker Epicurus ( 341 - 270 BC ), who argued that good was pleasure and that evil was pain. But he also stressed the importance of virtue and moderation in all things.
EXTENTIALISM
    Philosophical doctrine which emphasises the freedom of human beings to make choices - and to assume responsibility for the consequences - in a world in which there are no absolute values outside man himself. Proponents include the Dane Soren Kierkegaard ( 1813 - 55 ), the German Martin Heidegger ( 1889 - 1976 ), and the Frenchmen Jean-Paul Sartre ( 1905 - 80 ) and Albert Camus ( 1913 - 60 ).
HUMANISM
    Renaissance philosophy, revived in the 20th century, which rejects belief in all forms of the supernatural.
IDEALISM
    Doctrine that matter is an illusion and that the only reality is that which exists mentally. Proponents include the German philosopher Georg Hegel ( 1770 - 1831 ) and the Irish philosopher Bishop George Berkeley ( 1685 - 1753 ).
LOGICAL POSITIVISM
    School of 20th-century thinking which tried to base knowledge on sense-experience - that is, observations - governed by scientific principles. Alternatively called the Vienna Circle, after its city of origin. Leaders include the German Motitz Schlick ( 1882 - 1936 ) and the Austrian mathematician Kurt Godel (1906 - 78 ).
MARXISM
    Nineteenth-century philosophy, sometimes called Dialectical Materialism, which interprets history as a struggle between opposing economic forces. According to its originator, the German thinker Karl Marx ( 1818 - 83 ), the ultimate result of this struggle is the emergence of a classless society; Communism. The German philosopher Friedrich Engels (1820 - 95 ) helped to develop the philosophy.
PRAGMATISM
    Nineteenth-century American doctrine that the meaning or value of an idea lies only in its practical consequence; what its leading proponent Charles Pierce ( 1839 - 1914 ) called 'it's bearing upon the conduct of life'. Other proponents include Willian James ( 1842 - 1910 ) and John Dewey ( 1859 - 1952 ).
PREDESTINATION
    Doctrine that the events of everyone's life are determined beforehand by God, and that free will is an illusion. It was introduced by St Augustine ( 354 - 430 ) to the early Christian Church.
RATIONALISM
    Seventeenth-century European philosophy that reason is the only true source of knowledge. The opposite of empiricism. Main proponents included the Dutch thinker Benedict Spinoza ( 1632 - 77 ) and the German philosopher Gottfried von Leibniz ( 1646 - 1716 ).
SCEPTICISM
    Greek doctrine that everything is open to doubt. Later adopted by the French philosopher Rene Descartes ( 1596 - 1650 ) who - as a starting point - doubted everything except the workings of his own mind.
STOICISM
    Philosophy that virtue - not honour, nor family, nor possessions - is the only worthy aim in life, and that a virtuous man can achieve happiness however adverse his circumstances. Proponents included the Greek thinker Zeno of Citium ( about 334 - 262 BC ) and the Roman statesman Seneca ( about 4 BC - AD 65 ).
TRANSCENDENTALISM
    Nineteenth-century doctrine that philosophy must extend beyond the limits of experience. Proponents included the American writer and naturalist Henry David Thorneau ( 1817 - 62 ) and the American essayist and poet Ralf Waldo Emerson ( 1803 - 82 ).
UTALITARIANISM
    The belief that good consists in creating the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Main proponents included the British philosophers Jeremy Bentham ( 1748 - 1832 ), James Mill ( 1773 - 1836 ), Stuart Mill ( 1806 - 73 ) and Henry Sidgwick ( 1838 - 1900 ).

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