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Western philosophy is the philosophical thought and work of the Western world . Historically , the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture , beginning with Hellenic ( i . e . Greek ) philosophy of the Pre - Socratics such as Thales ( c . ___MASK40___  c . 546 BC ) and Pythagoras ( c . 570  c . 495 BC ), and eventually covering a large area of the globe . The word " philosophy " itself originated from the Hellenic : " philosophia " (  ), literally , " the love of wisdom " (  " philein ", " to love " and  " sophia ", " wisdom "). Alexander III of Macedon ( ___MASK90___ / 21 July ___MASK35___ BC  10 / ___MASK76___ June 323 BC ), commonly known as Alexander the Great (" Aléxandros ho Mégas " ), was a king (" basileus ") of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty . Born in Pella in ___MASK35___ BC , Alexander succeeded his father , Philip II , to the throne at the age of twenty . He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign through Asia and northeast Africa , and by the age of thirty he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world , stretching from Greece to northwestern India . He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered one of history ' s most successful military commanders . Alexander of Aphrodisias ( fl . ___MASK20___ AD ) was a Peripatetic philosopher and the most celebrated of the Ancient Greek commentators on the writings of Aristotle . He was a native of Aphrodisias in Caria , and lived and taught in Athens at the beginning of the 3rd century , where he held a position as head of the Peripatetic school . He wrote many commentaries on the works of Aristotle , extant are those on the " Prior Analytics ", " Topics ", " Meteorology ", " Sense and Sensibilia ", and " Metaphysics ". Several original treatises also survive , and include a work " On Fate ", in which he argues against the Stoic doctrine of necessity ; and one " On the Soul ". His commentaries on Aristotle were considered so useful that he was styled , by way of pre - eminence , " the commentator ". Plato ( Greek : " Plátn ", in Classical Attic ; ___MASK31___ / ___MASK66___ or 424 / 423  348 / ___MASK68___ ) was a philosopher in Classical Greece and the founder of the Academy in Athens , the first institution of higher learning in the Western world . He is widely considered the most pivotal figure in the development of philosophy , especially the Western tradition . Unlike nearly all of his philosophical contemporaries , Plato ' s entire " œuvre " is believed to have survived intact for over 2 , 400 years . Classical Greece was a period of around ___MASK20___ years ( 5th and 4th centuries BC ) in Greek culture . This Classical period saw the annexation of much of modern - day Greece by the Persian Empire and its subsequent independence . Classical Greece had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and on the foundations of western civilization . Much of modern Western politics , artistic thought ( architecture , sculpture ), scientific thought , theatre , literature , and philosophy derives from this period of Greek history . In the context of the art , architecture , and culture of Ancient Greece , the Classical period , sometimes called the Hellenic period , corresponds to most of the 5th and 4th centuries BC ( the most common dates being the fall of the last Athenian tyrant in 510 BC and the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC ). The Classical period in this sense follows the Archaic period and is in turn succeeded by the Hellenistic period . Athens (" Athína " ) is the capital and largest city of Greece . Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world ' s oldest cities , with its recorded history spanning over ___MASK63___ , 400 years , and its earliest human presence starting somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennia BC . Classical Athens was a powerful city - state that emerged in conjunction with the seagoing development of the port of Piraeus , which had been a distinct city prior to its 5th century BC incorporation with Athens . A centre for the arts , learning and philosophy , home of Plato ' s Academy and Aristotle ' s Lyceum , it is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy , largely because of its cultural and political impact on the European continent , and in particular the Romans . In modern times , Athens is a large cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic , financial , industrial , maritime , political and cultural life in Greece . In 2015 , Athens was ranked the world ' s 29th richest city by purchasing power and the 67th most expensive in a UBS study . Herminus ( Greek :  ; 2nd century ) was a Peripatetic philosopher . He lived in the first half of the 2nd century . He appears to have written commentaries on most of the works of Aristotle . Simplicius says he was the teacher of Alexander of Aphrodisias . We learn from Alexander ' s commentary on the Prior Analytics that Herminus had worked on Aristotle ' s syllogistic system , adding innovations which Alexander disapproved of . His writings , of which nothing remains , are frequently referred to by Boethius , who mentions a treatise by him , On Interpretation ( Greek :   ) , as also Analytics and Topics . A Stoic philosopher called Herminus is mentioned by Longinus in the preface to his book On Ends . This Herminus had been a teacher when Longinus was young ( c . 230 ) . Flavius Odoacer ( ___MASK48___  ___MASK7___ ), also known as Flavius Odovacer , was a soldier who in 476 became the first King of Italy ( 476  ___MASK7___ ). His reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire . Though the real power in Italy was in his hands , he represented himself as the client of Julius Nepos and , after Nepos ' death in 480 , of the Emperor in Constantinople . Odoacer generally used the Roman honorific " patrician ," granted by the Emperor Zeno , but is referred to as a king in many documents and he himself used it at least once and on another occasion it was used by the consul Basilius . Odoacer introduced few important changes into the administrative system of Italy . He had the support of the Roman Senate and was able to distribute land to his followers without much opposition . Unrest among his warriors led to violence in 477  478 , but no such disturbances occurred during the later period of his reign . Although Odoacer was an Arian Christian , he rarely intervened in the affairs of the orthodox and trinitarian state church of the Roman Empire . Gisela Striker ( born ___MASK88___ ) is Professor Emerita of Philosophy and Classics at Harvard University . The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period ( starting in ___MASK51___ BC ). The emperors used a variety of different titles throughout history . Often when a given Roman is described as becoming " emperor " in English , it reflects his taking of the title " Augustus " or " Caesar ". Another title often used was " imperator ", originally a military honorific . Early Emperors also used the title " princeps " ( first citizen ). Emperors frequently amassed republican titles , notably " Princeps Senatus ", " Consul " and " Pontifex Maximus ". Aristotle (" Aristotéls "; ___MASK19___  ___MASK45___ BC ) was a Greek philosopher and scientist born in the city of Stagira , Chalkidice , on the northern periphery of Classical Greece . His father , Nicomachus , died when Aristotle was a child , whereafter Proxenus of Atarneus became his guardian . At seventeen or eighteen years of age , he joined Plato ' s Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of thirty - seven ( c . 347 BC ). His writings cover many subjects  including physics , biology , zoology , metaphysics , logic , ethics , aesthetics , poetry , theater , music , rhetoric , linguistics , politics and government  and constitute the first comprehensive system of Western philosophy . Shortly after Plato died , Aristotle left Athens and , at the request of Philip of Macedon , tutored Alexander the Great beginning in ___MASK49___ BC . Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius , commonly called Boethius ( English : ; also Boetius ; c . ___MASK54___  ___MASK15___ AD ), was a Roman senator , consul , " magister officiorum ", and philosopher of the early 6th century . He was born four years after Odoacer deposed the last Roman Emperor and declared himself King of Italy , and entered public service under Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great , who later imprisoned and executed him in ___MASK15___ on charges of conspiracy to overthrow him . While jailed , Boethius composed his " Consolation of Philosophy ", a philosophical treatise on fortune , death , and other issues , which became one of the most popular and influential works of the Middle Ages . The Prior Analytics is Aristotle ' s work on deductive reasoning , which is known as his syllogistic . Being one of the six extant Aristotelian writings on logic and scientific method , it is part of what later Peripatetics called the " Organon ". Modern work on Aristotle ' s logic builds on the tradition started in ___MASK87___ with the establishment by Jan Lukasiewicz of a revolutionary paradigm . The Jan Lukasiewicz approach was reinvigorated in the early 1970s in a series of papers by John Corcoran and Timothy Smiley  which inform modern translations of " Prior Analytics " by Robin Smith in ___MASK58___ and Gisela Striker in 2009 . Timothy John Smiley FBA ( born ___MASK78___ ) is a British philosopher , appointed Emeritus Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy at Clare College , Cambridge University .