Philosophers have shaped the world and our school of thought for thousands of years and are still very relevant in our world today. The greatest philosophers of all time have left us plentiful resources to help us understand the human psyche and the world around us. Before we get to some of the most famous philosophers, let's see whatPhilosophyit implies
what is philosophy
Coming from the Greek words meaning "love of wisdom," philosophy can be viewed as the study of knowledge, existence, and reality.
The ideas of the philosophers revolve around ethics, nature, aesthetics, metaphysics, being, logic, knowledge and theory. Because philosophers consider human existence, their teachings outlive their time. Therefore, the teachings of the top ten philosophers are still valid today.
Top 10 philosophers
Let's take a look at some memorable teachings and background information about some of the greatest philosophers of all time.
1. Aristotle
Aristotle, one of the most famous Greek philosophers, was also a polymath who lived between 384 and 322 BC. in ancient Greece. It was taught by another famous philosopher, Plato.
Aristotle is often referred to as the first scientist in history. She is responsible for at least 200 tracts, of which about 31 are still in circulation today. His work spanned the disciplines philosophy of mind through ethics, political theory, aesthetics, and rhetoric, along with non-philosophical work on empirical biology; He was known for his theories on the observation of plants and animals, which were very detailed.
Today he is best known for his first logic, or systematic treatment of the principles of right thinking, along with his identification of the three main methods of rhetoric: ethos (ethics), pathos (emotions), and logos (logic). He also developed the theory of deduction, or as we call it today, the syllogism.
2. Lao-Tse
Another of the top ten philosophers, Lao-tse, developed a theory that is strongly linked to Taoism. He wrote the main book on Taoism around 500 BC. C. Ancient China. Taoism focuses on the balance of animals and humans and how they should coexist in the universe.
He also believed in spiritual immortality, in which your soul does not die but becomes one with the universe after death. Chi (or Qi) is the energy that guides the universe and he believed that we should exist in harmony.
Also from Taoism comes the balance of powers, known as yin and yang; This idea focuses on uniting forces such as light and darkness, heat and cold, and action and inaction, showing how opposites work together to make sense of the world.
In the 8th century AD, Taosim became the religion of the Tang Dynasty. Until it was banned when the communists took power in 1959, Taoism was one of China's major religions alongside Confucianism and Buddhism.
3. Juan Locke
John Locke, who lived in Europe in the 17th century, was an Oxford scholar who also researched medicine. He is best known for his work on the Enlightenment and his developments in liberalism.
Locke firmly believed in the rights of all people to life, liberty and property and refuted the divine right of kings. He also believed that if a ruler did not respect the people's rights, the people had the right to remove the king by force. First, he believed that it was a government's duty to exist for the people.
4. Carlos Marx
Karl Marx was a 19th-century German philosopher who developed Marxism. Marxism focuses on the social, political and economic theory that there is a struggle between the working class and the capitalists.
He firmly believed that the working class would one day overthrow the capitalist class in a revolution that would allow them to take control of the economy. He is known as a staunch supporter of communism.
5. Confucius
Confucius, a Chinese philosopher who lived between 770 and 481 BC. C., believed in living according to ethical and moral social standards. His desire to make education accessible to all and to establish teaching as a real profession is remembered. (It seems that the People's University and Confucius have something in common:we both believemaking education accessible to all).
He also founded Confucianism, a school of faith centered on ethics and personal morality. The four basic principles of Confucianism are known as its ethics. These include: justice, charity, non-harm and respect for autonomy. His five most frequently mentioned constant virtues are benevolence, sincerity, honesty, decency and wisdom.
6. Ralph Waldo Emerson
More recently, an American philosopher, lecturer, abolitionist, and essayist named Ralph Waldo Emerson has shaped society. He is best remembered for his essay on "Confidence".
He lived in the 19th century and was very similar to contemporary British Romantics in believing in the strong connection between God, man and nature. His work is life changing as it truly inspires the reader to trust their own judgment about everything.
7. Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant is a prominent modern philosopher who lived near the Baltic Sea between 1724 and 1804 and is known for his critiques of practical reason, pure reason, and judgment.
He preached that measuring whether actions are right or wrong depends on whether or not we have done our duty, not on the consequences of our actions. Using his basic law of morality, he concludes that moral reason overrides all other kinds of reason.
8. Epicurus
Epicureanism was founded by Epicurus, who lived between 341 and 27 BC. lived. He was a very influential Greek sage and philosopher. He believed that the goal of human life revolved around happiness, which resulted from the absence of mental disorders and physical pain.
His philosophy was that happiness is the supreme good of human life and that it is defined by the pursuit of pleasure, not the mere exercise of reason. He also believed that fear stems from irrational desires, and removing the fear of punishment and death allows one to be free from fear and find happiness.
8. Socrates
Often referred to as the founder of Western philosophy, Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens. He was the first to be considered a moral philosopher in the tradition of ethical thought. He has no lyrics and is remembered mainly for his posthumous accounts of Xenophon and Plato, his students.
It gave way to the emergence of the Socratic dialogue, a literary genre that seeks to teach through questions. 399 BC B.C., was sentenced to death for corrupting youth and for not acknowledging the city's official gods.
10. Friedrich Nietzsche
Another German philosopher is on the list. Friedrich Nietzsche had a major impact on the western world by sharing his writings on a variety of subjects, from science to art, culture, history and everything in between.
One of his main philosophies is known as nihilism, the idea that everything is meaningless, including life itself. The existentialist and surrealist movements that followed in his day also built on this idea.
Final thoughts (no pun intended!)
It is evident that many of these ideas and philosophies are still frequently mentioned in modern society. It is thanks to these philosophers that we have been able to truly study humanity and the ways in which we communicate with ourselves, with each other, with nature and with God.
The greatest philosophers of all time paved the way for oursThoughtand allowed us to ask ourselves questions in ways we might never have thought of. They left us guiding principles about how we behave in society, our ideas about government, poetry, education, mathematics, science and all the ways we learn more about the world.