For more information try a book or magazine search |
|||||||||
|
| ||||||||
Plato (c. 428-348 B.C.) Athenian father of Western philosophy and student of Socrates, after whose death he traveled widely. Upon returning to Athens, he founded an academy, where he taught until he died. His writings are in the form of dialogues between Socrates and other Athenians. Many of Plato's views are set forth in The Republic , where an ideal state postulates philosopher kings, specially trained at the highest levels of moral and mathematical knowledge. Plato's other works analyzed moral virtues, the nature of knowledge, and the immortality of the soul. His views on cosmology strongly influenced the next two thousand years of scientific thinking.
Plotinus (205-270) Egyptian-born founder of Neoplatonism, who synthesized the ideas of Plato and other Greek philosophers. Plotinus believed all reality is caused by a series of outpourings (called emanations) from the divine source. Although not himself a Christian, he was a major influence on Christianity.
Pythagoras (c. 582-507 B.C.) Greek philosopher, mathematician, and mystic, founder of a religious brotherhood that believed in the immortality and the transmigration of the soul. Pythagoras may have been the first thinker to assert that numbers constitute the true nature of all things; he also may have coined the term philosophy .
Rousseau, Jean Jacques (1712-78) Swiss-French thinker born in Geneva. Rousseau has been enormously influential in political philosophy, educational theory, and the romantic movement. In The Social Contract (1762), he viewed governments as being expressions of the people's "general will," or rational men's choice for the common good. Rousseau emphasized man's natural goodness.
Russell, Bertrand (1872-1970) English philosopher and logician influential as an agnostic and a pacifist. Early work with Alfred North Whitehead gave birth to modern logic; they coauthored Principia Mathematica . Russell changed his views numerous times but always sought to establish philosophy, especially epistemology, as a science.
Santayana, George (1863-1952) Spanish-born American philosopher and poet; a student of William James. Santayana attempted to reconcile Platonism and materialism, studied how reason works, and found "animal faith," or impulse, to be the basis of reason and belief. Among his works are The Sense of Beauty and The Life of Reason .
Sartre, Jean Paul (1905-80) French philosopher, novelist, and dramatist; one of the founders of existentialism. Sartre was a Marxist through much of his life. He held that man is "condemned to be free" and to bear the responsibility of making free choices. His primary philosophical work was Being and Nothingness .
Schopenhauer, Arthur (1788-1860) German post-Kantian philosopher who held that although irrational will is the driving force in human affairs, it is doomed not to be satisfied. He believed that only art and contemplation could offer escape from determinism and pessimism. Schopenhauer strongly influenced Nietzsche, Freud, Tolstoy, Proust, and Thomas Mann. He wrote The World as Will and Representation .
Scotus, John Duns (c. 1266-1308) Scottish-born Scholastic philosopher who tried to integrate Aristotelian ideas into Christian theology. Scotus emphasized that all things depend not just on God's intellect but on divine will as well. He wrote On the First Principle .
Smith, Adam (1723-1790) Scottish philosopher and economist. The author of The Wealth of Nations , he believed that if government left the marketplace to its own devices, an "invisible hand" would guarantee that the results would benefit the populace. Smith has had enormous influence on economists into the present day.
For more information try a book or magazine search |
|||||||||
|
| ||||||||