Axial Age

E402746

The Axial Age is a term for the pivotal period roughly between the 8th and 3rd centuries BCE when major philosophical and religious traditions independently emerged across different civilizations, fundamentally shaping later human thought.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Axial Age canonical 3
Axial Age (approximately 800–200 BCE) 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (54)

Predicate Object
instanceOf historical period
historiographical concept
philosophical concept
alsoKnownAs Achsenzeit
associatedWithRegion Ancient China
Ancient Greece
linked to: Greek Antiquity

Ancient India
linked to: ancient India

Ancient Israel
Iranian cultural sphere
associatedWithThinker Aristotle
Confucius
Jeremiah
Laozi
Mahavira
Plato
Second Isaiah
Siddhartha Gautama
linked to: Shakyamuni Buddha

Socrates
Zarathustra
linked to: Zoroaster
associatedWithTradition Buddhism
Confucianism
Daoism
linked to: Taoism

Greek philosophy
Hebrew prophecy
Hindu Upanishadic thought
Jainism
Zoroastrianism
early Judaism
characterizedBy critique of traditional mythic worldviews
development of abstract philosophical reasoning
emergence of major philosophical traditions
emergence of major world religions
independent developments in multiple civilizations
new forms of ethical reflection
rise of universalizing moral ideas
coinedBy Karl Jaspers
describedInWork The Origin and Goal of History
hasCentralTheme ethical responsibility
justice and social order
nature of ultimate reality
question of the good life
relationship between humans and the divine
influenced global ethical thought
later philosophical systems
later world religions
subjectOfDebate chronological boundaries
degree of cross-cultural connection
validity as a unified historical period
timeSpanApproximateEnd 3rd century BCE
timeSpanApproximateStart 8th century BCE
usedInDiscipline comparative philosophy
philosophy of history
religious studies
sociology of religion

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Karl Jaspers notableConcept Axial Age
The Origin and Goal of History timePeriodDiscussed Axial Age (approximately 800–200 BCE)
linked to: Axial Age