Thales about 624 B.C.E - 547 B.C.E. Known as the first western philosopher. Thales said Water is the Primary Principle Thought the Earth was spherical.
Socrates 469 - 399 B.C.E. Was known as the gadfly of Athens. Initiated the “Socratic Method” Was sentenced to death for corrupting the minds of the youth
Plato 427 - 347 B.C.E. A student of Socrates. Founded the Academy, the first university. The Allegory of the Cave
The Allegory of the Cave
Aristotle 384 – 347 B.C.E. Student of Plato, Alexander the Great’s prof. wrote about everything: poetics, rhetoric, ethics, politics, meteorology, physics, mathematics, metaphysics, anatomy, physiology, and logic Doctrine of the Mean
St. Augustine 354-430 C.E. Tried to synthesize Christianity and Greek philosophy. Argued against skeptics and for human freedom.
Thomas Aquinas 1225 - 1274 Developed rational arguments for God’s existence Thought that reason can lead the mind to God
Thomas Hobbes 1588-1679 Wrote “Leviathan” express his moral and political views Social Contract Theory Ethical Egoism
René Descartes 1596-1650 The first modern philosopher The method of doubt “I think, therefore I am”
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) Philosopher, logician, diplomat. Developed calculus
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) Enlightenment philosopher Developed deontological ethics Divided the reality into the noumenal and phenomenal realms
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) Father of utilitarianism Developed the hedonic calculus Had himself stuffed
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) Refined utilitarianism Champion of individual liberty Argued for the political empowerment of women His wife, Harriet, had a strong influence on his work.
Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970) Influential analytic philosopher Mentor to Wittgenstein Tried to reduce mathematics to logic
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889- 1951) Author of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus “The world is all that is the case. What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence.”
Robert Nozick 1938-2002 Judith Jarvis Thomson b. 1929
A General Map of the Terrain
Epistemology (the theory of knowledge) What is truth? What is knowledge? What are the limits of reason? How reliable is sensory experience as a source of knowledge?
Metaphysics (the theory of reality) What is ultimately real? Are there other kinds of reality besides the physical world? What is the mind? Are we free or determined?
Philosophy of Religion Is there a God? Can the existence of God be proven? How? What is the relationship between faith and reason? Is there life after death?
Ethics What makes an action right or wrong? Are there any absolute or objective moral principles? Are moral judgments based on knowledge, feelings, or intuition? Does morality depend on religion?
Applied Ethics: Biomedical Ethics Business Ethics Environmental Ethics
Social and Political Philosophy What is the ideal political state? What is the purpose of the state? What are the proper limits of a government’s power? What makes a government legitimate?
Aesthetics (philosophy of art) What is art? What is beauty? Should art have a moral, political, or spiritual function?
Miscellaneous Fields Philosophy of Science Philosophy of Law Philosophy of Mathematics History of Philosophy Philosophy of Language Logic