A
philosophical movement is the appearance of (or the increased popularity of) a
specific school of philosophy, an identifiable tradition of philosophy, or a marked
change in philosophical thought on a
particular subject. A
school is a group of people, especially philosophers, artists, or writers, whose thought, work, or style demonstrates a
common origin or influence or unifying belief. These are the famous
“-isms” of philosophy.
A movement or school may represent the
broad views of many
individual philosophers, even if they may not agree entirely in all respects, so it is more a
diffusely organized or
heterogeneous group of philosophers tending toward or favoring a generalized
common goal. It may also consist of intellectual thought by
several individuals on
several related ideas or
doctrines, and the
distinction between schools or movements, and
doctrines or theories is sometimes blurred.
For convenience, the major movements and schools can be classified under
three main sub-headings:
Within these, the
major movements and schools include:
