12. Greatest philosophers

	Classical				Sophism, Cynicism, Epicureanism
1	469 BC	399 BC	Socrates		The founding father of philosophy. Known mostly only through Plato, he is renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics. He also made contributions to the field of epistemology (nature of knowlesge) and logic. He was convicted of heresy and corruption to local youth because of his discussions on self-analysis and sentenced to death by drinking Hemlock
2	428 BC	347 BC	Plato		Plato was originally a student of Socrates, and was as much influenced by his thinking as by what he saw as his teacher’s unjust death. He is one of the most important Greek philosophers. He founded the Academy in Athens, an institution devoted to research and instruction in philosophy and the sciences. His works on philosophy, politics and mathematics were very influencial and laid the foundations for Euclid’s systematic approach to mathematics.
3	384 BC	322 BC	Aristotle		a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology. Together with Plato and Socrates (Plato’s teacher), Aristotle is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. He was the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality and aesthetics, logic and science, politics and metaphysics.
4	205	270	Plotinus		Is widely considered the founder of Neoplatonism
5	354	430	St. Augustine		Augustine is one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity. Augustine was heavily influenced by the Neoplatonism of Plontius. He framed the concepts of sin and just war. Augustine developed the concept of the Church as a spiritual City of God, distinct from the material City of Man. Augustine’s City of God was closely identified with the church, and was the community which worshipped God.
	Medieval				Scholasticism
6	1225	1274	Aquinas	Thomas	Was an Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church. He was immensely influential in the tradition of scholasticism
7	1596	1650	Descartes	Rene	Dubbed the “father of modern philosophy”. a major figure in 17th century continental rationalism, later advocated by Spinoza and Leibniz, and opposed by the empiricist school of thought consisting of Hobbes, Locke and Hume.
8	1632	1677	Spinoza	Baruch de	Rationalism
9	1588	1679	Hobbes	Thomas	Empiricist
	1632	1704	Locke	John	Considered the first of the British empiricists, he is equally important to social contract theory. His work had a great impact upon the development of epistemology and political philosophy. Locke’s theory of mind is often cited as the origin of modern conceptions of identity and the self, figuring prominently in the work of later philosophers such as Hume, Rousseau and Kant.
	Modern				Epistemology
10	1646	1716	von Leibniz	Gottfried	Rationalism
11	1711	1776	Hume	David	Influenced by Locke on empiricism. He was a source of inspiration for those in political philosophy and economics as an early and subtle thinker in the liberal tradition.
12	1724	1804	Kant	Immanuel	Last influential philosopher during the “age of enlightenment”. Kant suggested that metaphysics can be reformed through epistemology. He suggested that by understanding the sources and limits of human knowledge we can ask fruitful metaphysical questions like the principle of causality.
13	1770	1831	Hegel	Georg	Idealim
14	1813	1855	Kierkegaard	Soren	Beginning of existentialism
15	1798	1857	Comte	Auguste	Logical positivism
16	1788	1860	Schopenhauer	Arthur	Renunciation of desire
17	1806	1873	Mill	J. Stuart	Utilitarianism, empiricism
18	1818	1883	Marx	Karl	Marx’ ideas are credited as the foundation of modern communism. He argued that capitalism, like previous socioeconomic systems, will inevitably produce internal tensions which will lead to its destruction. Just as capitalism replaced feudalism, he believed socialism will, in its turn, replace capitalism, and lead to a stateless, classless society called pure communism.
19	1825	1895	Huxley	Thomas
20	1844	1900	Nietzsche	Friedrich
21	1844	1910	Rousseau	J.J.	Romanticism – revolt against rationalism
22	1842	1910	James	William	Pragmatism, the religious experience
23	1839	1914	Peirce	Charles	Originated concept of pragmatism
24	1853	1952	Santayana	George	Animal faith
25	1883	1969	Jaspers	Karl	Existentialism
26	1872	1970	Russell	Bertrand	Ethical relativism
27	1889	1976	Heidegger	Martin	Existentialism
28	1905	1980	Sartre	John Paul	Existentialism

~ by djlowes on November 22, 2009.