Master Ancient Philosophy: 77 Flashcards from Thales to Confucius, the Upanishads and Zoroaster

Most "ancient philosophy" courses stop at Athens. Flip It deck QY9828 – Ancient Philosophy doesn't: its 77 cards run from Thales to Boethius, then cross to the Upanishads, Confucius, Laozi and Zarathustra. That breadth is the deck's strength, and also why it is easy to drown in. The fix is to study it as a map of the Axial Age (card 1: 7th–3rd century BCE), not as a list of names.

A sample of the real cards

What you will cover

Milesian School, Thales, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides and the Eleatics, Empedocles' four elements, Democritus and atomism, the Sophists and Protagoras, Socrates and the Socratic method, Plato's Forms and the Cave, Aristotle's Four Causes, the Academy and the Lyceum, Stoicism (Epictetus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius), Epicureanism and Lucretius, Cynicism and Diogenes, Pyrrhonian and Academic skepticism, Neoplatonism (Plotinus, Hypatia), Philo, Cicero, Augustine, Boethius; the Vedas, Upanishads, Brahman, Atman, maya, karma, moksha, the six orthodox schools, Samkhya, Patanjali, Shankara, the Buddha, Nagarjuna, Mahavira; Confucius, ren and li, Mencius, Mozi, Han Fei, Zhuangzi and the Hundred Schools; the Avesta.

Study it as five regions, not 77 cards

The deck is grouped by tradition, but the last eight cards (70–77) belong elsewhere: Milesian School, atomism, Academy, Lyceum, Academic Skepticism and Lucretius go back with the Greeks, karma and moksha with the Indian block. Move them first, then learn one region per session: Pre-Socratics → Classical Athens → Hellenistic and Roman → India → China and Persia. Note that card 33 (Peripatetic School) and card 73 (Lyceum) say the same thing: keep one.

Then build contrast pairs, which is where exam questions come from: Heraclitus (flux) vs Parmenides (nothing changes), Mencius (good nature) vs Xunzi (selfish nature), Confucian ritual vs Mohist frugality, Samkhya dualism vs Advaita non-dualism.

Two traps to fix in your cards

• The two Zenos. The deck has Zeno of Elea, the paradox maker, but no card for Zeno of Citium (c. 334–262 BCE), who founded Stoicism. Add him, or you will mix them up under pressure. Likewise, Epicureanism has no Epicurus card and Cynicism no Antisthenes: write the missing founders.
• Undefined terms. Mahavira "founded or heavily influenced Jainism", but Jainism is never defined, and samsara appears only inside the moksha card. Add a one-line card for each (Jainism: non-violence, many-sidedness; samsara: the cycle of rebirth) before you drill the Indian block.

Want the later story? Our guide to Famous Philosophers runs from Socrates to Peter Singer.

Open Flip It and search for QY9828 to start the deck.