A History Survey on the Rising of the Philosophy Schools in Polis Athens in the 4th Century BC

Abstract

The first Philosophy school appeared in Polis Athens in the 4th century BC, the education ideal it advocated appealed to numerous intellectual elites from the Mediterranean area, they together made contributions for the classical Greek Culture era with Athens as its center. The economy, culture, political system, scientific research, artistic creation had reached their peaks during this time in Athens. They played an important role in human’s civilization history. By a history survey on the rising of the philosophy schools, here summarized the main historical conditions it needed were: the development of social division of labor and slave-owning economy, the formation and development of democracy of the city-state, the growth of population, the differentiation of social class and the philosophy ideological trend; the further clarification for the social soil it needed for the nurturing and growth of the philosophy schools as the institution of higher education in Athens, helped us to expand the understanding for the social basis of the evolution of the higher education institutions.