The Evolution of Western Intellect

             Throughout the ages, man has believed himself to be self-sufficient. Starting in the Homeric Age, a gradual change in the intellectual thought of mankind began to occur. From the way they viewed God to the way they reasoned, man's search for the knowledge received an ever-changing role throughout the periods between the Age of Myth and the Enlightenment. The Age of Myth occurred around 600 B.C. It was a time when everybody believed in the supernatural. Gods and humans were considered to be equal. In fact, man and the gods would interact on a daily basis. The age is referred to as a pre-scientific era because of the popular belief in the supernatural.
             When Greece started developing philosophies about ethics and morality, a connection to the Age of Classical Philosophy was made. Socrates, a member of the Classical Philosophy Age, was the first philosopher to focus mainly on ethics and morality. (Philosophy 100 Essential Thinkers) Also, in both ages, polytheism was practiced, which was later challenged by Thales in the Age of Classical Philosophy. (Philosophy 100 Essential Thinkers) Yet, there was a difference between the ages. In the Age of Myth, people didn't question the existence of the gods, but in the Age of Classical Philosophy, they did.
             The Age of Classical Mythology occurred between 600 and 1 B.C. God and man weren't considered to be equal anymore because science replaced the supernatural. People believed there was a god that took care of creation and that there was an undefined force watching over them. This led to the practice of deism and animism. In the Age of Classical Philosophy, philosophers began to become more religious than philosophical, like in the Patristic Age. The afterlife was suddenly considered to be heaven and hell, not the atheistic views they had before. The focus on new beliefs and values united the people in the Patristic Age. (http://iep.utm.edu/p/parmenid.ht006D) The Patristic Age occurred during ...

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