 |
| A Sampling of Philosophers through the Ages |
A Sampling of Philosophers through the Ages
The following samples provide just a glimpse of the work by some of the world’s greatest thinkers. While a sentence or two cannot possibly convey the extent and depth of a philosophy, it is hoped that these glimpses will inspire you to delve further into topics of special interest, and to contemplate the development of your own personal philosophy.
1. Thales of Miletus (Greece, c600 BCE) – sought a naturalistic explanation for observable phenomena rather than attributing events and observed properties to the whims of gods.
2. Carvaka (India, c600 BCE) – developed a rationalist and skeptical philosophy that emphasized the material world of the present. He rejected the Vedas (roughly the equivalent of the Hindu bible), denied the existence of an afterlife, the supernatural, and knowledge gained through experience. He proposed that the only purpose of life was to avoid pain and attain sensual pleasure.
3. Lau Tzu (China, c600 BCE) – the founder of Taosim. The individual should seek to avoid materialism, act spontaneously, achieve inner peace, and commune with nature. People should turn away from the folly of human pursuits and instead discern and follow the natural flow of life.
4. Pythagoras (Greece, 570 – 480 BCE) – developed a theory of music based on simple ratios and attempted to extend the use of ratios to explain the ultimate nature of reality.
5. Kung Fu-Tzu (China, c550 BCE) – also known as Confucius. He composed The Way of Goodness that focused on the attributes one should strive for in order to stay on the path towards good conduct within a civil society. Society works best under the guidance of a good ruler. Individuals should evaluate potential actions to decide if those actions can be completed without violating what is right.
6. Socrates (Greece, 470 - 399 BCE) – was concerned with practical questions of how we ought to conduct our lives. He asked probing questions to analyze what others claimed to know. He proposed that the greatest danger to society was the suspension of critical thought.
7. Plato (Greece, 427 – 347 BCE) – was a student of Socrates. There is a realm of eternal forms that provides the patterns that we experience through our senses. This universal form of man was later adapted by Christianity to represent the image of God.
8. Aristotle (Greece, 384 – 322 BCE) – was a student of Plato and a tutor of Alexander the Great. The concept of purpose could be used to explain all phenomena, and the purpose of man is to reason well in accordance with virtue. He emphasized the interpretation of nature based on observation and classification. Aristotle’s reputation was such that many of his conclusions were treated as absolute truths and much of his interpretation of nature was incorporated into Christian theology. For example, placing the Earth at the centre of the universe was espoused by Aristotle, and was advocated by Christian doctrine until the Copernican revolution in the 1600’s.
9. Epicurus (Greece, 341 – 270 BCE) – supported the atomic theory of Democritus and added the concept that the observable universe was due to collisions among atoms. The pursuit of happiness was the elimination of pain, there was no afterlife, and there were no avenging gods. He formulated the problem of evil associated with the concept of an all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful god.
The following samples provide just a glimpse of the work by some of the world’s greatest thinkers. While a sentence or two cannot possibly convey the extent and depth of a philosophy, it is hoped that these glimpses will inspire you to delve further into topics of special interest, and to contemplate the development of your own personal philosophy.
1. Thales of Miletus (Greece, c600 BCE) – sought a naturalistic explanation for observable phenomena rather than attributing events and observed properties to the whims of gods.
2. Carvaka (India, c600 BCE) – developed a rationalist and skeptical philosophy that emphasized the material world of the present. He rejected the Vedas (roughly the equivalent of the Hindu bible), denied the existence of an afterlife, the supernatural, and knowledge gained through experience. He proposed that the only purpose of life was to avoid pain and attain sensual pleasure.
3. Lau Tzu (China, c600 BCE) – the founder of Taosim. The individual should seek to avoid materialism, act spontaneously, achieve inner peace, and commune with nature. People should turn away from the folly of human pursuits and instead discern and follow the natural flow of life.
4. Pythagoras (Greece, 570 – 480 BCE) – developed a theory of music based on simple ratios and attempted to extend the use of ratios to explain the ultimate nature of reality.
5. Kung Fu-Tzu (China, c550 BCE) – also known as Confucius. He composed The Way of Goodness that focused on the attributes one should strive for in order to stay on the path towards good conduct within a civil society. Society works best under the guidance of a good ruler. Individuals should evaluate potential actions to decide if those actions can be completed without violating what is right.
6. Socrates (Greece, 470 - 399 BCE) – was concerned with practical questions of how we ought to conduct our lives. He asked probing questions to analyze what others claimed to know. He proposed that the greatest danger to society was the suspension of critical thought.
7. Plato (Greece, 427 – 347 BCE) – was a student of Socrates. There is a realm of eternal forms that provides the patterns that we experience through our senses. This universal form of man was later adapted by Christianity to represent the image of God.
8. Aristotle (Greece, 384 – 322 BCE) – was a student of Plato and a tutor of Alexander the Great. The concept of purpose could be used to explain all phenomena, and the purpose of man is to reason well in accordance with virtue. He emphasized the interpretation of nature based on observation and classification. Aristotle’s reputation was such that many of his conclusions were treated as absolute truths and much of his interpretation of nature was incorporated into Christian theology. For example, placing the Earth at the centre of the universe was espoused by Aristotle, and was advocated by Christian doctrine until the Copernican revolution in the 1600’s.
9. Epicurus (Greece, 341 – 270 BCE) – supported the atomic theory of Democritus and added the concept that the observable universe was due to collisions among atoms. The pursuit of happiness was the elimination of pain, there was no afterlife, and there were no avenging gods. He formulated the problem of evil associated with the concept of an all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful god.
How can evil exist in the presence of such a being? 10.Marcus Aurelius (Rome, 121 – 180 CE) – expressed concern for slaves, the poor, and the imprisoned. Divine will had given man the ability to reason, and it was within the grasp of man to be in concert with the rational purpose of the universe. He was a stoic and believed that the only infallible good is virtue as expressed in wisdom, justice, courage, and moderation.
11.Al-Suhrawardi (Iran, 1154 – 1191) – developed the Illuminationist philosophy, an extended analogy between the flow of light and the complexities of life.
Experience was gained through the senses and through mystical thought. To achieve self-awareness one must engage in a variety of ascetic activities such as forty-day retreats and vegetarianism.
12.St. Thomas Aquinas (Sicily, 1225 – 1274) – explicitly reconciled the philosophy of Aristotle with that of the Catholic Church. He devised five proofs for the existence of God: there must be something that is the ultimate cause of all change; there must be a first cause; something cannot arise from nothing so there must have always been an original something; there must be some original good from which all other good is derived; and all things aims towards some ultimate goal implying that there is a guiding influence.
13.David Hume (England, 1711 – 1776) – proposed that knowledge is based on relationships among sensory inputs. The existence of God, the self, and logical necessity are man-made creations to provide models for explaining sensory perceptions. Inductive reasoning is the process that leads us to make generalizations from observing a number of similar cases, but inductive reasoning does not necessarily lead us to the truth.
14.Jean-Jacques Rousseau (France, 1712 – 1778) – was the leading philosopher of the enlightenment, the age of reason, and the Romantic Movement. The general will is the composite will of all citizens, with each citizen pursuing his/ her own interests. He was an advocate of direct democracy to formulate the public will, and stated that individuals in a democracy had the responsibility to follow the general will. He labelled this concept the social contract.
15.Immanuel Kant (Germany, 1728 – 1804) – had a passion for mathematics, logic, and science. He published Critique of Pure Reason (1781) in which he discussed the principles underlying objective judgements of reality. In Critique of Practical Reason (1788) he provided a rational justification for ethical judgements. In order for humans to interpret the world, the human mind has to impose structures on the stream of sensory data reaching the mind. Substance and cause/effect could only be applied within a spatial and temporal framework.
16.Adam Smith (Scotland, 1723 – 1790) - published The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations. In a free market economy, if every individual works solely for his own benefit, then there will be unintended consequences to the benefit of society at large.
17.Mary Wollstonecraft (England, 1759 – 1797) – was the first prominent feminist. In her book, Vindication of the Rights of Women, she states that women’s natural abilities are suppressed in a male-dominated society. She called for better education for women, the abolition of the monarchy, and reduction in the powers of the Church. She declared that slavery and the ill treatment of the poor were immoral.
18.John Stuart Mill (England, 1806 – 1873) – published A System of Logic and Utilitarianism. He claimed that the fundamental guide to moral action is the principal of greatest happiness. Individuals should strive to increase pleasure and reduce pain. Morality is sometimes required to deter specific kinds of conduct. What is right is good, and what is good promotes the greatest happiness for all.
19.Alfred North Whitehead (England, 1861 – 1947) – co-author with Russell of Principia Mathematica. He rejected materialism. The study of science cannot be separated from its cultural, social, and political environment. Nature is simply that which is perceived. Science should address the relations between perceptual events, rather that abstract aspects of matter.
20.John Dewey (America, 1859 – 1952) – was a pragmatist. Truth corresponds to successful rules for action. Knowledge is a state that occurs when humans develop habits of behaviour that have proven successful. He divided the reasoning process into five steps: devote effort to resolve a disturbance; extract significant elements; construct competing hypotheses; rank the hypotheses; and use experiments to weed out unacceptable hypotheses.
21.Ludwig Wittgenstein (Vienna, 1889 – 1951) – wrote Tractatus Logico- Philosophicus. He examined the connections among language, thought, and reality. The meaning of linguistic statements must be determined by the nature of the world. Words are tools that we employ to describe reality. A context is also required to convey the meaning of words.
22.John-Paul Sartre (France, 1905 – 1980) – wrote Being and Nothingness. He was an existentialist – existence precedes essence. Man exists first and then struggles to define the meaning of life. There is no God to provide purpose; individuals have to choose the life they think best.
11.Al-Suhrawardi (Iran, 1154 – 1191) – developed the Illuminationist philosophy, an extended analogy between the flow of light and the complexities of life.
Experience was gained through the senses and through mystical thought. To achieve self-awareness one must engage in a variety of ascetic activities such as forty-day retreats and vegetarianism.
12.St. Thomas Aquinas (Sicily, 1225 – 1274) – explicitly reconciled the philosophy of Aristotle with that of the Catholic Church. He devised five proofs for the existence of God: there must be something that is the ultimate cause of all change; there must be a first cause; something cannot arise from nothing so there must have always been an original something; there must be some original good from which all other good is derived; and all things aims towards some ultimate goal implying that there is a guiding influence.
13.David Hume (England, 1711 – 1776) – proposed that knowledge is based on relationships among sensory inputs. The existence of God, the self, and logical necessity are man-made creations to provide models for explaining sensory perceptions. Inductive reasoning is the process that leads us to make generalizations from observing a number of similar cases, but inductive reasoning does not necessarily lead us to the truth.
14.Jean-Jacques Rousseau (France, 1712 – 1778) – was the leading philosopher of the enlightenment, the age of reason, and the Romantic Movement. The general will is the composite will of all citizens, with each citizen pursuing his/ her own interests. He was an advocate of direct democracy to formulate the public will, and stated that individuals in a democracy had the responsibility to follow the general will. He labelled this concept the social contract.
15.Immanuel Kant (Germany, 1728 – 1804) – had a passion for mathematics, logic, and science. He published Critique of Pure Reason (1781) in which he discussed the principles underlying objective judgements of reality. In Critique of Practical Reason (1788) he provided a rational justification for ethical judgements. In order for humans to interpret the world, the human mind has to impose structures on the stream of sensory data reaching the mind. Substance and cause/effect could only be applied within a spatial and temporal framework.
16.Adam Smith (Scotland, 1723 – 1790) - published The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations. In a free market economy, if every individual works solely for his own benefit, then there will be unintended consequences to the benefit of society at large.
17.Mary Wollstonecraft (England, 1759 – 1797) – was the first prominent feminist. In her book, Vindication of the Rights of Women, she states that women’s natural abilities are suppressed in a male-dominated society. She called for better education for women, the abolition of the monarchy, and reduction in the powers of the Church. She declared that slavery and the ill treatment of the poor were immoral.
18.John Stuart Mill (England, 1806 – 1873) – published A System of Logic and Utilitarianism. He claimed that the fundamental guide to moral action is the principal of greatest happiness. Individuals should strive to increase pleasure and reduce pain. Morality is sometimes required to deter specific kinds of conduct. What is right is good, and what is good promotes the greatest happiness for all.
19.Alfred North Whitehead (England, 1861 – 1947) – co-author with Russell of Principia Mathematica. He rejected materialism. The study of science cannot be separated from its cultural, social, and political environment. Nature is simply that which is perceived. Science should address the relations between perceptual events, rather that abstract aspects of matter.
20.John Dewey (America, 1859 – 1952) – was a pragmatist. Truth corresponds to successful rules for action. Knowledge is a state that occurs when humans develop habits of behaviour that have proven successful. He divided the reasoning process into five steps: devote effort to resolve a disturbance; extract significant elements; construct competing hypotheses; rank the hypotheses; and use experiments to weed out unacceptable hypotheses.
21.Ludwig Wittgenstein (Vienna, 1889 – 1951) – wrote Tractatus Logico- Philosophicus. He examined the connections among language, thought, and reality. The meaning of linguistic statements must be determined by the nature of the world. Words are tools that we employ to describe reality. A context is also required to convey the meaning of words.
22.John-Paul Sartre (France, 1905 – 1980) – wrote Being and Nothingness. He was an existentialist – existence precedes essence. Man exists first and then struggles to define the meaning of life. There is no God to provide purpose; individuals have to choose the life they think best.
