ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the several philosophical-religious systems that arose directly from the four river valley civilizations and which represented revolutionary breakthroughs in faith- and rational-based systems. It reviews briefly the major principles of Chinese philosophy, the Indian religions of Hinduism and Buddhism, Judaism, and Greek philosophy. The chapter provides some of the foundational features of Roman philosophy and examine the ascendance of Christianity across Europe and Islam throughout the Middle East and northern Africa. It also reviews briefly Islamic science and philosophy, both of which produced new knowledge and preserved the works of the Greek philosophers during the repressive region of Christianity in Western Europe. The chapter discusses the contributions of Rene Descartes and his maxim of “Dubito, ergo sum” and his foundational idea of undulatio reflexa, both of which served as points of departure for the modern period and the physiological foundations of psychology.
