GST 112 - PHILOSOPHY & THE PHILOSOPHER

 DO YOU Know Your Philosophers???

Philosophy is a knotty subject matter. However, we can say that, it is the searchfor meaning, for more understanding, for answers to the questions that surround our very own existence, purpose and even the world around us.

Philosophers are simply individuals who engage in this activity. Men and Women, both young and old who question the very essence of things. Now, while we know philosophy, many of us are not familiar with ‘philosophers’ hence this ‘study note’ is to bring these philosophers to your doorstep. We may not, however, be able to exhaust all the philosophers as it were but we bring you ‘key philosophers’ that examiners often test candidates on. So fasten your seatbelts as we move!

POPULAR PHILOSOPHERS	THEIR IDEAS
1.      ARISTOTLE [384 – 322 BC]	He is one of the most powerful thinkers and teachers in human history. He was a scientist and he is regarded as the father of LOGIC, REASONING, EPISTEMOLOGY, METAPHYSICS, ETHICS, etc. His mentor was Plato. Aristotle claimed that he loved Plato but he actually loved the truth better. It was Aristotle: ·         Who said the ‘soul’ was an eternal source of motion and he called this soul ‘entelechia’. ·         That defined philosophy as a ‘search into the ultimate reality and that man through natural reason can penetrate the ontos-logos [the essence of being]’ and capable therefore of enwisdomizing himself. ·         Who defined ‘metaphysics’ as the knowledge of immaterial being.
2.      CONFUCIUS [551 – 479 BC]	He was a Chinese teacher, author and philosopher. He propounded a belief centered on both personal and governmental morality through features such as justice, sincerity, and positive relationships with others. He was also an advocate for ‘strong family bonds’, ‘respect for elders’, ‘respect for ancestors’ and ‘fidelity in marriage’.
3.      RENE DESCARTES [1596 – 1650]	·        He was a French philosopher, mathematician and scientist. ·        He was born in France but spent twenty years of his life in the Dutch Republic as a member of the Dutch States Army. ·        He is recognized as the father of ‘analytical geometry’.
4.      SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS [1225 – 1274]	·        He was a Dominican friar, theologian and Doctor of the church in the 13th Century. ·        He was born in the Lazio, Italy and his most important contribution to Western Philosophy is the ‘theory of Natural Theology’. ·        He is widely considered as one of preeminent models of Catholic Priesthood and his thoughts and theories are still very much relevant in theological discourses.
5.      DAVID HUME [1711 – 1777]	·        He was a Scottish-born Historian, Economist and Philosopher. ·        Hume alongside John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and Sir Francis Bacon belong to the Empiricist School of Thought.
6.      IMMANUEL KANT [1724 – 1804]	·        He was born in Prussia, Germany. ·        He was one of the leading figures in third epoch also known as ‘modern philosophy’. ·        It was He who asserted that the idea of time and space, cause and effect are vital to human experience. More so, he was of the opinion that our idea of the world is conveyed only by our ‘senses’.
7.      LAO – TZU	·        There is a lot of varying ideas or claims as to when Lao – Tzu lived and taught but it is widely believed that the ‘old rabbi’ founded philosophical ‘Taoism’. ·        Taoism is strongly rooted in religion and philosophy. ·        He championed the awareness of one’s self through ‘meditation’. ·        He urged individuals to achieve a state of wu wei which translates into ‘freedom from desire’. This is one of the fundamental principles of Buddhism.
8.      JOHN LOCKE [1632 – 1704]	·        He was an English Physicist and Philosopher ·        He was an important contributor to the developmental process of the ‘theory of social contract’. ·        He is regarded as the father of ‘liberalism’. ·        He brought the coinage ‘tabula rasa’ to imply that the human mind is born empty and via experience it gets sharpened. ·        He established ‘introspection’ as one of the sources of knowledge.
9.      NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI [1469-1527]	·        His full name is Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli. ·        He was an author, public servant and a philosopher in Italy. He was an empiricist. ·        He is regarded by some as the father of ‘modern political science’. ·        He asserted that while it would be best to be both loved and feared however, it is more secure to be feared. ·        He saw ambition, competition and war as inevitable aspects of human nature.
10.   KARL MARX [1818 – 1883]	·        He was born in Germany ·        He was an Economist, Political Theorist and Philosopher. ·        He was exiled from his native country at some point and he then moved to London where he started working with Friedrich Engels, a fellow German. ·        He advocated an idea called ‘historical materialism’. ·        He opined that society developed through ‘class struggle’ and this in itself will be the undoing of capitalism. ·        He mentioned that Capitalism is a ‘production system in which there exist inborn conflicts of interest, between the ruling class [bourgeoisie] and the working class [proletariat]’.
11.   JOHN STUART MILL [1806 – 1873]	·        He was an advocate for the preservation of individual rights. ·        He was a British Economist, Civil Servant and Philosopher. ·        He mentioned that there is need for a system of ‘constitutional checks and balances’ on state authority in order to ensure the security of ‘political liberties’.
12.   FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE [1844 – 1900]	·        He was one of the most gifted minds in human history. ·        He was a German, a poet, a cultural critic and philosopher. ·        He promoted ‘perspectivism’ which held that truth is not objective but it is the consequence of various factors effecting individual perspective. ·        He strongly believed in one’s creative capacity to resist social norms and cultural conventions and subscribe to life on the basis of a greater set of virtues.
13.   PLATO [428/427BC – 348/347 BC]	·        He was a Greek Philosopher and Teacher ·        He found the foremost Institution of Higher Learning in the Western World and established the Academy of Athens. ·        He was a student of Socrates and a mentor to Aristotle. ·        It can be argued to a great extent that he founded ‘political philosophy’. ·        He propounded the ‘Theory of Forms’ which holds that the ‘material world’ is an apparent and ever-changing world however another unseen world provides unchanging causation for all that is seen.
14.   JEAN-PAUL SARTRE [1905 – 1980]	·        He was a French novelist, activist and Philosopher. ·        A leading figure in the ‘existentialist movement’ in the 20th century. He supported Marxism and Socialism. ·        He believed that man was condemned to be FREE. This he predicated on the singular idea that there is no creator who is responsible for our actions hence each man alone is responsible for everything he does. ·        He opined that all mortals must be ‘death conscious’ because it promotes an authentic life, which he described as ‘life expended in the search of experience other than knowledge’.
15.   SOCRATES [470 – 399 BC]	·        He is regarded as the ‘father of Western Philosophy’. ·        He had students but the two most impressive and conspicuous ones include: Plato and Xenophon. ·        He was a Greek Philosopher and had no written works. ·        He upheld the maxim ‘I know that I know nothing’ to denote a consciousness of his ignorance. ·        He is the voice behind the popular saying ‘man know thyself’ and ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’. The latter is widely known as the Socratic Dictum.