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History of Western philosophy
Western philosophy
Pre-Socratic · Ancient Medieval · Renaissance · Modern Contemporary 16th · 17th · 18th · 19th · 20th Century
See also
Religious philosophy Christian · Jewish  · Islamic  · Hindu  · Buddhist
Eastern philosophy Babylonian · Indian · Iranian Chinese · Japanese · Korean
Western culture · Western world
v t e

This page lists some links to ancient philosophy. In Western philosophy, the spread of Christianity through the Roman Empire marked the ending of Hellenistic philosophy and ushered in the beginnings of Medieval philosophy, whereas in Eastern philosophy, the spread of Islam through the Arab Empire marked the end of Old Iranian philosophy and ushered in the beginnings of early Islamic philosophy.

Ancient Chinese philosophy[link]

Chinese philosophy is the dominant philosophical thought in China and other countries within the sinosphere, including Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.

Schools of thought[link]

Hundred Schools of Thought[link]

The Hundred Schools of Thought were philosophers and schools that flourished from 770 to 221 BC, an era of great cultural and intellectual expansion in China. Even though this period - known in its earlier part as the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period - in its latter part was fraught with chaos and bloody battles, it is also known as the Golden Age of Chinese philosophy because a broad range of thoughts and ideas were developed and discussed freely. The thoughts and ideas discussed and refined during this period have profoundly influenced lifestyles and social consciousness up to the present day in East Asian countries. The intellectual society of this era was characterized by itinerant scholars, who were often employed by various state rulers as advisers on the methods of government, war, and diplomacy. This period ended with the rise of the Qin Dynasty and the subsequent purge of dissent. The Book of Han lists ten major schools, they are:

• Confucianism, which teaches that human beings are teachable, improvable and perfectible through personal and communal endeavour especially including self-cultivation and self-creation. A main idea of Confucianism is the cultivation of virtue and the development of moral perfection. Confucianism holds that one should give up one's life, if necessary, either passively or actively, for the sake of upholding the cardinal moral values of ren and yi.^[1]
• Legalism, which maintained that human nature was incorrigibly selfish; accordingly, the only way to preserve the social order was to impose discipline from above, and to see to a strict enforcement of laws. The Legalists exalted the state above all, seeking its prosperity and martial prowess over the welfare of the common people.
• Taoism, a philosophy which emphasizes the Three Jewels of the Tao: compassion, moderation, and humility, while Taoist thought generally focuses on nature, the relationship between humanity and the cosmos; health and longevity; and wu wei (action through inaction). Harmony with the Universe, or the source thereof (Tao), is the intended result of many Taoist rules and practices.
• Mohism, which advocated the idea of universal love: Mozi believed that "everyone is equal before heaven", and that people should seek to imitate heaven by engaging in the practice of collective love. His epistemology can be regarded as primitive materialist empiricism; he believed that human cognition ought to be based on one's perceptions – one's sensory experiences, such as sight and hearing – instead of imagination or internal logic, elements founded on the human capacity for abstraction. Mozi advocated frugality, condemning the Confucian emphasis on ritual and music, which he denounced as extravagant.
• Naturalism, the School of Naturalists or the Yin-yang school, which synthesized the concepts of yin-yang and the Five Elements; Zou Yan is considered the founder of this school.^[2]
• Agrarianism, or the School of Agrarianism, which advocated peasant utopian communalism and egalitarianism.^[3] The Agrarians believed that Chinese society should be modeled around that of the early sage king Shen Nong, a folk hero which was portrayed in Chinese literature as "working in the fields, along with everyone else, and consulting with everyone else when any decision had to be reached."^[3]
• The Logicians or the School of Names, which focused on definition and logic. It is said to have parallels with that of the Ancient Greek sophists or dialecticians. The most notable Logician was Gongsun Longzi.
• The School of Diplomacy or School of Vertical and Horizontal [Alliances], which focused on practical matters instead of any moral principle, so it stressed political and diplomatic tactics, and debate and lobbying skill. Scholars from this school were good orators, debaters and tacticians.
• The Miscellaneous School, which integrated teachings from different schools; for instance, Lü Buwei found scholars from different schools to write a book called Lüshi Chunqiu cooperatively. This school tried to integrate the merits of various schools and avoid their perceived flaws.
• The School of "Minor-talks", which was not a unique school of thought, but a philosophy constructed of all the thoughts which were discussed by and originated from normal people on the street.
• Another group is the School of the Military that studied strategy and the philosophy of war; Sunzi and Sun Bin were influential leaders. However, this school was not one of the "Ten Schools" defined by Hanshu.

Early Imperial China[link]

The founder of the Qin Dynasty, who implemented Legalism as the official philosophy, quashed Mohist and Confucianist schools. Legalism remained influential until the emperors of the Han Dynasty adopted Daoism and later Confucianism as official doctrine. These latter two became the determining forces of Chinese thought until the introduction of Buddhism.

Confucianism was particularly strong during the Han Dynasty, whose greatest thinker was Dong Zhongshu, who integrated Confucianism with the thoughts of the Zhongshu School and the theory of the Five Elements. He also was a promoter of the New Text school, which considered Confucius as a divine figure and a spiritual ruler of China, who foresaw and started the evolution of the world towards the Universal Peace. In contrast, there was an Old Text school that advocated the use of Confucian works written in ancient language (from this comes the denomination Old Text) that were so much more reliable. In particular, they refuted the assumption of Confucius as a godlike figure and considered him as the greatest sage, but simply a human and mortal

The 3rd and 4th centuries saw the rise of the Xuanxue (mysterious learning), also called Neo-Taoism. The most important philosophers of this movement were Wang Bi, Xiang Xiu and Guo Xiang. The main question of this school was whether Being came before Not-Being (in Chinese, ming and wuming). A peculiar feature of these Taoist thinkers, like the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, was the concept of feng liu (lit. wind and flow), a sort of romantic spirit which encouraged following the natural and instinctive impulse.

Buddhism arrived in China around the 1st century AD, but it was not until the Northern and Southern, Sui and Tang Dynasties that it gained considerable influence and acknowledgement. At the beginning, it was considered a sort of Taoist sect, and there was even a theory about Laozi, founder of Taoism, who went to India and taught his philosophy to Buddha. Mahayana Buddhism was far more successful in China than its rival Hinayana, and both Indian schools and local Chinese sects arose from the 5th century. Two chiefly important monk philosophers were Sengzhao and Daosheng. But probably the most influential and original of these schools was the Chan sect, which had an even stronger impact in Japan as the Zen sect.

Philosophers[link]

• Taoism
  • Laozi (5th–4th century BC)
  • Zhuangzi (4th century BC)
  • Zhang Daoling
  • Zhang Jue (died 184 AD)
  • Ge Hong (283 AD – 343 AD)
• Confucianism
  • Confucius
  • Mencius
  • Xun Zi (c. 312 BC – 230 BC)
• Legalism
  • Li Si
  • Li Kui
  • Han Fei
  • Shang Yang
  • Shen Buhai
  • Shen Dao
• Mohism
  • Mozi
  • Song Xing
• Logicians
  • Deng Xi
  • Hui Shi (380 BC - 305 BC)
  • Gongsun Long (c. 325 BC – c. 250 BC)
• Agrarianism
  • Xu Xing
• Naturalism
  • Zou Yan (305 BC – 240 BC)
• Neotaoism
  • Wang Bi
  • Guo Xiang
  • Xiang Xiu
• School of Diplomacy
  • Guiguzi
  • Su Qin (380 BC -284 BC)
  • Zhang Yi (bef. 329 BC–309 BC)
  • Yue Yi
  • Li Yiji (268 BC - 204 BC)
• School of the Military
  • Sunzi (c. 500 BC)
  • Sun Bin (died 316 BC)

Ancient Greek philosophy[link]

Graphical relationship among the various pre-socratic philosophers and thinkers; red arrows indicate a relationship of opposition.

Raphael's School of Athens, depicting an array of ancient Greek philosophers engaged in discussion.

Philosophers[link]

Presocratic philosophers[link]

• Milesian School

Thales (624 BC–ca. 546 BC)

Anaximander (610-546 BC)

Anaximenes of Miletus (c. 585-c. 525 BC)

• Pythagoreans

Pythagoras (582-496 BC)

Philolaus (470-380 BC)

Alcmaeon of Croton

Archytas (428-347 BC)

• Heraclitus (535-475 BC)

• Eleatic School

Xenophanes (570-470 BC)

Parmenides (510-440 BC)

Zeno of Elea (490-430 BC)

Melissus of Samos (c 470 BC–unknown)

• Pluralists

Empedocles (490-430 BC)

Anaxagoras (500-428 BC)

• Atomists

Leucippus (first half of 5th century BC)

Democritus (460-370 BC)

Metrodorus of Chios (4th century BC)

• Pherecydes of Syros (6th century BC)

• Sophists

Protagoras (490-420 BC)

Gorgias (487-376 BC)

Antiphon (480-411 BC)

Prodicus (465/450-after 399 BC)

Hippias (middle of the 5th century BC)

Thrasymachus (459-400 BC)

Callicles

Critias

Lycophron

• Diogenes of Apollonia (c. 460 BC-unknown)

Classical Greek philosophers[link]

• Socrates (469-399 BC)
• Euclid of Megara (450-380 BC)
• Antisthenes (445-360 BC)
• Aristippus (435-356 BC)
• Plato (428-347 BC)
• Speusippus (407-339 BC)
• Diogenes of Sinope (400-325 BC)
• Xenocrates (396-314 BC)
• Aristotle (384-322 BC)
• Stilpo (380-300 BC)
• Theophrastus (370-288 BC)

Hellenistic philosophy[link]

• Pyrrho (365-275 BC)
• Epicurus (341-270 BC), see: Epicureanism
• Metrodorus of Lampsacus (the younger) (331–278 BC)
• Zeno of Citium (333-263 BC)
• Cleanthes (331-232 BC)
• Timon (320-230 BC)
• Arcesilaus (316-232 BC)
• Menippus (3rd century BC)
• Archimedes (c. 287-212 BC)
• Chrysippus (280-207 BC)
• Carneades (214-129 BC)
• Clitomachus (187-109 BC)
• Metrodorus of Stratonicea (late 2nd century BC)
• Philo of Larissa (160-80 BC)
• Posidonius (135-51 BC)
• Antiochus of Ascalon (130-68 BC)
• Aenesidemus (1st century BC)
• Philo of Alexandria (30 BC–45 AD)
• Agrippa (1st century AD)

Hellenistic schools of thought[link]

• Cynicism
• Eclecticism
• Epicureanism
• Neo-Platonism
• Peripatetic School
• Skepticism
• Stoicism
• Sophism

Ancient Indian philosophy[link]

The ancient Indian philosophy is a fusion of two ancient traditions : Sramana tradition and Vedic tradition.

Vedic philosophy[link]

Veda Vyasa (contemporary painting) attributed to have compiled the Vedas

Indian philosophy begins with the Vedas where questions related to laws of nature, the origin of the universe and the place of man in it are asked. In the famous Rigvedic Hymn of Creation (Nasadiya Sukta) the poet says:

"Whence all creation had its origin, he, whether he fashioned it or whether he did not, he, who surveys it all from highest heaven, he knows--or maybe even he does not know."

In the Vedic view, creation is ascribed to the self-consciousness of the primeval being (Purusha). This leads to the inquiry into the one being that underlies the diversity of empirical phenomena and the origin of all things. Cosmic order is termed rta and causal law by karma. Nature (prakriti) is taken to have three qualities (sattva, rajas, and tamas).

• Vedas
• Upanishads
• Hindu philosophy

Sramana Philosophy[link]

Jainism and Buddhism are continuation of the Sramana school of thought. The Sramanas cultivated a pessimistic worldview of the samsara as full of suffering and advocated renunciation and austerities. They laid stress on philosophical concepts like Ahimsa, Karma, Jnana, Samsara and Moksa.

Classical Indian philosophy[link]

In classical times, these inquiries were systematized in six schools of philosophy. Some of the questions asked were:

• What is the ontological nature of consciousness?
• How is cognition itself experienced?
• Is mind (chit) intentional or not?
• Does cognition have its own structure?

The Six schools of Indian philosophy are:

• Nyaya
• Vaisheshika
• Samkhya
• Yoga
• Mimamsa (Purva Mimamsa)
• Vedanta (Uttara Mimamsa)

Other traditions of Indian philosophy include:

• Hindu philosophy
• Buddhist philosophy

Buddha

• Jain philosophy
• Cārvāka (Sanskrit: चार्वाक) (atheist) philosophy. Also known as Lokāyata, it is a system of Hindu philosophy that assumes various forms of philosophical skepticism and religious indifference.It is named after its founder, Cārvāka, author of the Bārhaspatya-sūtras.

Ancient Indian philosophers[link]

Philosophers of Vedic Age (2000-600 BCE)[link]

• Rishi Narayana — seer of the Purusha Sukta of the Rig Veda.^[4]
• Seven Rishis — Atri, Bharadwaja, Gautama, Jamadagni, Kasyapa, Vasishtha, Viswamitra.^[5]
• Other Vedic Rishis — Gritsamada, Sandilya, Kanva etc.
• Rishaba — Rishi mentioned in Rig Veda and later in several Puranas, and believed by Jains to be the first official religious guru of Jainism, as accredited by later followers.
• Yajnavalkya — one of the Vedic sages, greatly influenced Buddhistic thought.
• Angiras — on of the seers of the Atharva Veda and author of Mundaka Upanishad.
• Uddalaka Aruni — an Upanishadic sage who authored major portions of Chāndogya Upaniṣad.
• Ashvapati — a King in the Later Vedic age who authored Vaishvanara Vidya of Chāndogya Upaniṣad.
• Ashtavakra — an Upanishadic Sage mentioned in the Mahabharata, who authored Ashtavakra Gita.

Philosophers of Axial Age (600-185 BCE)[link]

• Kanada (c. 600 BCE), founded the philosophical school of Vaisheshika, gave theory of atomism
• Mahavira (599–527 BCE) — heavily influenced Jainism, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism.
• Gautama Buddha (563 BCE - 483 BCE), founder of Buddhist school of thought
• Pāṇini (520–460 BCE), grammarian, author of Ashtadhyayi
• Kapila (c. 500 BCE), proponent of the Samkhya system of philosophy
• Pingala (c. 500 BCE), author of the Chandas shastra
• Chanakya (c.350 - c.275 BCE), author of Arthashastra, professor (acharya) of political science at the Takshashila University
• Patañjali (c. 200 BCE), developed the philosophy of Raja Yoga in his Yoga Sutras.
• Bādarāyaņa (c. 200 BCE), author of Brahma Sutras, expounding Advaita Vedanta.
• Shvetashvatara — Author of earliest textual exposition of a systematic philosophy of Shaivism.

Philosophers of Golden Age (184 BCE-600 CE)[link]

• Gotama (c. 2nd–3rd century CE), wrote Jaimini, author of Purva Mimamsa Sutras.
• Dignāga (c. 500), one of the founders of Buddhist school of Indian logic.
• Asanga (c. 300), exponent of the Yogacara
• Bhartrihari (c 450–510 CE), early figure in Indic linguistic theory
• Bodhidharma (c. 440–528 CE), founder of the Zen school of Buddhism
• Siddhasena Divākara (5th Century CE), Jain logician and author of important works in Sanskrit and Prakrit, such as, Nyāyāvatāra (on Logic) and Sanmatisūtra (dealing with the seven Jaina standpoints, knowledge and the objects of knowledge)
• Vasubandhu (c. 300 CE), one of the main founders of the Indian Yogacara school.
• Kundakunda (2nd Century CE), exponent of Jain mysticism and Jain nayas dealing with the nature of the soul and its contamination by matter, author of Pañcāstikāyasāra (Essence of the Five Existents), the Pravacanasāra (Essence of the Scripture) and the Samayasāra (Essence of the Doctrine)
• Nagarjuna (c. 150 - 250 CE), the founder of the Madhyamaka (Middle Path) school of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
• Umāsvāti or Umasvami (2nd Century CE), author of first Jain work in Sanskrit, Tattvārthasūtra, expounding the Jain philosophy in a most systematized form acceptable to all sects of Jainism.

Ancient Iranian philosophy[link]

Zarathustra as depicted in Raffael's The School of Athens beside Raffael who appears as the ancient painter Apelles of Kos (Ἀπελλῆς).

See also: Dualism, Dualism (philosophy of mind)

While there are ancient relations between the Indian Vedas and the Iranian Avesta, the two main families of the Indo-Iranian philosophical traditions were characterized by fundamental differences in their implications for the human being's position in society and their view on the role of man in the universe. The first charter of human rights by Cyrus the Great as understood in the Cyrus cylinder is often seen as a reflection of the questions and thoughts expressed by Zarathustra and developed in Zoroastrian schools of thought of the Achaemenid Era of Iranian history.^[6][7]

Schools of thought[link]

Ideas and tenets of Zoroastrian schools of the Early Persian philosophy are part of many works written in Middle Persian and of the extant scriptures of the zoroastrian religion in Avestan language. Among these are treatises such as the Shikand-gumanic Vichar by Mardan-Farrux Ohrmazddadan, selections of Denkard, Wizidagīhā-ī Zātspram ("Selections of Zātspram") as well as older passages of the book Avesta, the Gathas which are attributed to Zarathustra himself and regarded as his "direct teachings".^[8]

• Zoroastrianism
  • Zarathustra
  • Jamasp
  • Ostanes
  • Mardan-Farrux Ohrmazddadan^[9]
  • Adurfarnbag Farroxzadan^[10]
  • Adurbad Emedan^[11]
  • Avesta
  • Gathas
• Anacharsis
• Manichaeism
  • Mani (c. 216 AD – 276 AD)
• Mazdakism
  • Mazdak the Elder^[12]
  • Mazdak (died c. 524 or 528 AD)
• Zurvanism
  • Aesthetic Zurvanism
  • Materialist Zurvanism
  • Fatalistic Zurvanism

Philosophy and the Empire[link]

• Political Philosophy
  • Tansar
• University of Gundishapur
  • Borzouye
  • Bakhtshooa Gondishapuri
• Emperor Khosrau's philosophical discourses
  • Paul the Persian

Literature[link]

• Pahlavi literature

Early Roman and Christian philosophy[link]

See also: Jewish philosophy, Christian philosophy

Philosophers during Roman times[link]

Plotinus

• Cicero (106-43 BC)
• Lucretius (94-55 BC)
• Seneca (4 BC–65 AD)
• Paul of Tarsus (c. 5 AD-c. 67 AD)
• Musonius Rufus (30 AD–100 AD)
• Plutarch (45-120 AD)
• Epictetus (55-135 AD)
• Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD)
• Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD)
• Alcinous (philosopher) (2nd century AD)
• Sextus Empiricus (3rd century AD)
• Alexander of Aphrodisias (3rd century AD)
• Ammonius Saccas (3rd century AD)
• Plotinus (205-270 AD)
• Porphyry (232-304 AD)
• Iamblichus (242-327 AD)
• Themistius (317-388 AD)
• Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD)
• Proclus (411-485 AD)
• Damascius (462-540 AD)
• Boethius (472-524 AD)
• Simplicius of Cilicia (490-560 AD)
• Philoponus of Alexandria (490-570 AD)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Internet sources

Jonathan Barnes (born 26 December 1942) is a British scholar of ancient philosophy.

Education and career[link]

He was educated at the City of London School^[1] and Balliol College, Oxford University.^[2]

He taught for 25 years at Oxford University before moving to the University of Geneva. He was a Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, 1968–78^[3]; a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, 1978–94, and has been Emeritus Fellow of Balliol College since 1994.^[4]

He was Professor of Ancient Philosophy, Oxford University, 1989–94.^[5]

He was Professor of Ancient Philosophy at the University of Geneva 1994–2002.^[6]

He taught at the University of Paris- Sorbonne in France, and took his éméritat in 2006.

He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1987.^[7]

He is an expert on ancient Greek philosophy, and has edited the two-volume collection of Aristotle's works as well as a number of commentaries on Aristotle, the pre-Socratics and other areas of Greek thought.

He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1999.^[8]

Family[link]

He married in 1965 and has two daughters.^[8]

He is the brother of the novelist Julian Barnes, and he and his family feature in the latter's memoir Nothing to be Frightened Of (2008).

Writings[link]

• The Complete Works of Aristotle, 2 vols, 1984; reprinted with corrections, 1995 (General Editor)
• Posterior Analytics (translation and commentary on Aristotle), (1975) (revised edition, 1994)
• The Ontological Argument (1972)
• Presocratic Philosophers 2 Vols., 1979; 1 vol. revised edition, 1982
• Aristotle (1982)
• The Modes of Scepticism (1985), with Julia Annas
• Early Greek Philosophy (1987)
• The Toils of Scepticism (1990)
• The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle (1995)
• Logic and the Imperial Stoa (1997)
• Porphyry: introduction (2003)
• Truth, etc. (2007)
• Coffee with Aristotle (2008)

See also[link]

Biography portal

List of Old Citizens

References[link]

• Merritt Moseley, Understanding Julian Barnes, University of South Carolina Press (1997) - This provides family info on the Barnes family

External links[link]

• Works by or about Jonathan Barnes in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Bibliography
• Photo

Thomas McEvilley (born 1939, Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American art critic, poet, novelist and scholar, who was a distinguisted lecturer in art history at Rice University ^[1] and founder and former chair of the Department of Art Criticism and Writing at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.^[2]

Biography[link]

Thomas McEvilley studied Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, and classical philosophy in the classics programs of the University of Cincinnati^[1] where he received a B.A., and the University of Washington, where he received an M.A..^[3] He then returned to Cincinnati, where he received a Ph.D. in classical philology. He also retained a strong interest in modern art, reinforced by the modern artists of his acquaintance.

In 1969, McEvilley joined the faculty of Rice University, where he spent the better part of his teaching career.^[4] He has been a visiting professor at Yale University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, among others. He taught numerous courses in Greek and Indian culture, history of religion and philosophy. In 2008 he retired from teaching after 41 years, and now lives in New York City and in upstate New York in the Catskills.

He has received numerous awards, including the Semple Prize at the University of Cincinnati, a National Endowment for the Arts Critics grant, a Fulbright fellowship in 1993, an NEA critic’s grant, and the Frank Jewett Mather Award (1993) for Distinction in Art Criticism from the College Art Association.^[4][5]

McEvilley has been a contributing editor of Artforum and editor in chief of Contemporanea.^[3]

Work[link]

McEvilley is an expert in the fields of Greek and Indian culture, history of religion and philosophy, and art. He has published several books and hundreds of scholarly monographs, articles, catalog essays, and reviews on early Greek and Indian poetry, philosophy, and religion as well as on contemporary art and culture. ^{[1] [2] [4]}

Toward a Redefinition of Painting for the Post-Modern Era[link]

In his 1993 book The Exile’s Return: Toward a Redefinition of Painting for the Post-Modern Era, McEvilley made an important contribution to the late twentieth century "death of painting" debate. He stated that after two decades, painting revived around 1980. In its return from exile, painting has assumed a new theoretical basis in postmodern cultural theory, together with a new kind of self-awareness and interest in its own limitations. A number of contemporary artists such as Gerhard Richter and Glenn Brown demonstrate this new found self-reflexity and critical nature.^[6]

Heads it's Form, Tails it's not Content[link]

In the article "Heads its Form, Tails it's not Content" McEvilley describes a theoretical framework for the formal project presented by post-war critics such as Clement Greenberg, Michael Fried, and Sheldon Nodelman.^[7]

He argues that formalist ideas are rooted in Neoplatonism and as such deal with the problem of content by claiming that content is embedded within the form. However, the formalists desire a transcendentally free critique of art in the same way that Colin Rowe and Peter Eisenman explore the interiority of architecture.

Formalism is based on a linguistic model which Claude Lévi-Strauss argues is given content through the unconscious. In presenting formalism, one cannot ignore the content which accompanies the form.

Sculpture in the Age of Doubt[link]

In the book Sculpture in the Age of Doubt (1999), McEvilley described the intellectual issues surrounding the postmodern movement in the course of 20th-century sculpture.

The Shape of Ancient Thought[link]

In The Shape of Ancient Thought, McEvilley explores the foundations of Western civilization. He argues that today’s Western world must be considered the product of both Greek and Indian thought, and Western philosophy and Eastern philosophies. He explores how trade, imperialism, and currents of migration allowed cultural philosophies to intermingle freely throughout India, Egypt, Greece, and the ancient Near East.

This book spans thirty years of McEvilley's research, from 1970 to 2000.^[8]

See also[link]

Poetry portal

This section gives an overview of topics on which McEvilley has written.

Selected publications[link]

Books

• 1964, Party Going (First Novel)
• 1987, North of Yesterday (a Menippean Satire)
• 1991, Art and Discontent
• 1992, Art and Otherness
• 1993, Fusion: West African Artists at the Venice Biennale
• 1993, The Exile’s Return: Toward a Redefinition of Painting for the Post-Modern Era
• 1994, Der Erste Akt
• 1999, Sculpture in the Age of Doubt
• 2002, The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies
• 2007, The Triumph of Anti-Art
• 2008, Sappho
• 2010, Art, Love, Friendship: Marina Abramovic and Ulay, Together & Apart
• 2010, Yves the Provocateur: Yves Klein and Twentieth-Century Art

Essays

• Heads It’s Form, Tails It’s Not Content (TKTK)
• On the Manner of Addressing Clouds (TKTK)
• The Monochrome Icon
• “I Am” Is a Vain Thought
• Art History or Sacred History?
• Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief: ‘Primitivism’ in Twentieth-Century Art at the Museum of Modern Art
• The Selfhood of the Other
• Another Alphabet: The Work of Marcel Broodthaers
• History, Quality, Globalism
• Penelope’s Night Work: Negative Thinking in Greek Philosophy
• Arrivederci, Venice: The Third World Biennials
• The Tomb of the Zombie
• Paul McCarthy: Performance and Video Works: the Layering (2008)
• Here Comes Everybody (1994)
• James Lee Byars and the Atmosphere of Question

Monographs

Thomas McEvilley wrote monographs on Yves Klein (1982), Pat Steir, Leon Golub (1993), Jannis Kounellis (1986), James Croak (1999), Dennis Oppenheim, Anselm Kiefer, Dove Bradshaw (2004).

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c} Thomas McEvilley, G. Roger Denson (1996), Capacity: : History, the World, and the Self in Contemporary Art and Criticism. Routledge. ISBN 90-5701-051-8: This information is given on the backpage of this book.
2. ^ ^{a b} McPherson & Company Publishers
3. ^ ^{a b} School of VISUAL ARTS, graduate programs 2007-2008, Retrieved 4 April 2008.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Thomas McEvilley (2004). "Art and Cognition.". Slought Foundation Online Content. 11 December 2004, retrieved 4 April 2008
5. ^ "Awards". The College Art Association. http://www.collegeart.org/awards/matherpast. Retrieved 11 October 2010. 
6. ^ Victoria Reichelt (2005), Painting’s Wrongful Death: The revivalist practices of Glenn Brown, Institution Griffith University, retrieved 4 March 2008.
7. ^ Thomas McEvilley (1996), "Heads its Form, Tails it's not Content", in: Artforum 21.3 ( Nov.1982) : 50-61. Later collected in: Capacity: The History, the World, and the Self in Contemporary Art and Criticism, by Thomas McEvilley and G.Roger Denson. Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 90-5701-051-8. Page 22-44.
8. ^ McEvilley, Thomas (2002). The Shape of Ancient Thought. Allworth Communications. ISBN 1-58115-203-5. 

External links[link]

• Thomas McEvilley. "Art and Cognition.". Slought Foundation Online Content. 11 December 2004.
• Short biography from Mcpherson&co.
• Martínez Celaya Early Work 2006 Text by Thomas McEvilley
• Thomas McEvilley on 'The Shape of Ancient Thought' Video by Michael Kasino for Thomas McEvilley