Advice and Information for the World Traveller on Many Destinations

The concept of “European philosophy” is as broad a concept as world philosophy in general. As part of the umbrella concept of Western thought, European philosophy is rooted in ancient Greek philosophy and is interdependent with Christianity. Early European beginnings can be traced to the civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, known as the Greco-Roman world. The thinking of Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, and other ancient philosophers laid the foundations for the advent of Christendom, which spanned Europe by the early Middle Ages, following the demise of the Holy Roman Empire. The Renaissance, from the 14th to 17th centuries, through to the Enlightenment in the 18th century, served as landmark philosophical periods, upon which modern European culture is drawn. Without question, the works of Descartes and Locke are viewed as great influences upon modern European thought.

Religious philosophy has had a changing face in Europe in recent years. Demographic studies have shown that while Christian belief and the belief in a god were once powerful philosophical bases in Europe, much has changed. Theism has given way to atheism as a new liberal secularism has taken root. Democracy, with its foundations in Ancient Greece, remains a prominent style of government, as is reflected in the European Union’s criterion that member states must have democratic governments. Communism, once the thorn in the side of much of Eastern Europe, has since crumbled to form a kind of social democracy, with liberalism, secularism, and humanism the new battle-cry.