Thought Throughout Time

Human ideas change over the course of history. Intellectuals, scientists, and philosophers of each period react to what has been previously said and thus contribute to the body of the existing knowledge. The citationary quality of human knowledge extends from repetition, confirmation, and reformation to problematization, competition and refutation. In order to have a deep grasp of man's historical development, it is necessary to know how men and women of different eras have contributed to the history of ideas. It is also necessary to reveal, through addressing different issues, how human knowledge, whether empirical or theoretical, has developed in the course of history, what ideas have been universally acknowledged and which ones have been local and short- lived.

We are not to judge whether man has moved along a progressive or regressive path. Theories and practices that have survived the test of time, and those that have gone out of fashion can equally be interesting to people who care about the betterment of the world in which they are living. In order to move into a better future, it is beneficial to have a review of the intellectual history, philosophical history and history of science. Such a historical perspective, can help us to remain detached and think without bias and prejudice about different people, cultures, periods and geographies.