Let’s look at the pattern we use:

A normal quest in our western culture generally includes a history of philosophy. The pattern comes uniquely from that set by the first to teach a history of philosophy as we now do. That philosopher was Hegel. The very concept of going through “stages” both as individuals and as a society can be found in his description of the History of Philosophy.

A typical sequence used today includes:

History of Philosophy

Pre-history	Pre-Socratics	Socrates	Plato	Aristotle
Post-Aristotelians	Augustine	Early Middle Ages	Islam	Late Middle Ages
Modern	18th century	19th century	Existentialism	Postmodern