Final answer:
The classical approach in philosophy entails presentist, contextualist, and hermeneutic views, interpreting philosophical texts for contemporary relevance, historical context, and a combination of both, respectively. Classical philosophy, influenced by ancient Egyptians and Babylonians, includes contributions from Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and their exploration of metaphysics, theory of forms, and doctrine of the four causes.
Step-by-step explanation:
Theories in the classical approach to philosophy
The classical approach to the history of philosophy includes several theories, namely the presentist approach, the contextualist approach, and the hermeneutic approach. The presentist approach looks at philosophical texts in search of arguments relevant to today's philosophical concerns, but may be critiqued for judging past philosophers by contemporary standards and creating potential anachronisms. The contextualist approach focuses on interpreting philosophers' ideas within the historical and cultural contexts in which they were written, providing deeper historical understanding but potentially overlooking the lasting value of philosophical inquiry. The hermeneutic approach combines elements of the first two by seriously considering the historical context of texts while acknowledging our contemporary interpretation.
Patients of classical philosophy trace its roots to ancient Egypt and Babylonia, such as the influence of Egyptian scholarship on Greek philosophers like Pythagoras and Plato. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are seminal figures in this tradition, contributing significantly to metaphysics, the theory of forms, and the doctrine of the four causes, respectively. Later philosophical traditions, including Jewish, Christian, and Islamic philosophy, attempted to reconcile theological principles with philosophical reasoning, contrasting with the more secular approach of classical Greek and Roman philosophers.