12 Philosophers and Their Guiding Principles

Confucius

Was a chinese philosopher, teacher, and political figure largely considered the father of the eastern style of thought. His teachings focused on creating ethical social relationships, setting educational standards, and promoting justice and hobesty

Kong Qui or K’ung Fu-Tzu

Confucius is also referred to as

Ren

Confucius social philosophy was based on the principle of _____ — loving others

Confucius

His social philosophy was based on the principle of ren — loving others — and he believed that this could be achieved using the golden rule: “what you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others”

Socrates

Was a greek philosopher and is considered the primary source of western thought.

Plato, Xenephon

Socrates two students are:

Socrates

He could neither read nor write

Socratic method

His “_________” laid the groundwork for western system of logic and philosophy, delivering a belief that through the act of questioning, the mind can manage to find the truth

Socrates

He believed that philosophy should achieve practical results for the greater well-being of society

Socrates

He emphasized the idea that the more a person knows, the greater his or her ability to reason and make choices that will bring true happiness

Plato

A greek philosopher and was a student of Socrates and later became a teacher of Aristotle

Priori

Plato was a _____, a rational philosopher who sought knowledge logically rather than from the senses

Academy in Athens

Plato went on established one of the first institutions of higher learning in the Western world

Plato

His logic explored justice, beauty, and equality and contained discussions in aesthetics, politics, language, and cosmology

Cosmology

The science of the origin and development of the universe

Aristotle

Considered one of the greatest thinkers in politics, psychology, and ethics. He learned from Plato after enrolling at his academy

17

What age did Aristotle enrolled at Plato’s academy?

Alexander the Great

Later, Aristotle went on to tutor _________

Posteriori

Aristotle focused on _______ routes of knowledge, a term popularized by Immanuel Kant where conclusions are formed based on actual observation and data

Aristotle

His intellectual knowledge spanned every known field of science and arts prompting him to idealize the Aristotelian syllogistic

Aristotelian syllogistic

A belief that logical argument applies deductive reasoning to arrive at a conclusion based on two or more propositions assumed to be true

Dante

Was a medieval Italian poet and moral philosopher regarded as the father of the modern Italian language

The divine comedy

Dante was best remembered for his poetic trilogy, __________ which compromised of sections that represented three tiers of the Christian afterlife

Purgatory, Heaven, Hell

The divine comedy compromised of sections that represented three tiers of the Christian afterlife:

Dante

His important theoretical works included discussions of rhetoric surrounding moral philosophy and political thought

Blaise Pascal

Was a french mathematician, physicist, and religous philosopher who laid the fountain for the modern theory of probabilities

Modern theory of probabilities

A branch of mathematics concerned with the analysis of random phenomena

Les provinciales, Louis de Montalte

Pascal published ________ under the pseudonym _______, a series of 18 letters that defended Jansenist over Jesuit theologies

Blaise Pascal

He also propagated a religous doctrine that taught the experience of God through the heart rather than through reason, contrary to the beliefs of Rene Descartes

John Locke

Was an English philosopher and Enlightenment thinker who came to be known as the father of Classical Liberalism

John Locke

His most notable work, Essay Concerning Human Understanding, offers an analysis of the human mind and its acquisition of knowledge

John Locke

His thinking emphasized the notion that we should acquire ideas through our experience of the world. His logic later influenced philosophers like Voltaire and Rousseau

Voltaire

Is largely considered one of the greatest French Enlightenment writers. One of his most famous work was Candide

Francois Arouet

_________, better known for his pen name "Voltaire”

Candide

A satirical novella that pokes fun at the philosophical optimism proclaiming that all disaster and human suffering is part of a benevolent cosmic plan

Voltaire

His outright skepticism of the government and church caused great controversy during his time, he remained a progressive thinker regarding issues of civil rights and advocated for the importance of freedom of religion, speech, and the right to a fair trial

Immanuel Kant

Was a German philosopher whose thinking revolved around metaphysics, a philosophical study that examines the fundamental nature of reality

Immanuel Kant

Hist best known work, Critique of Pure Reason, determines the limits and scope of metaphysics, combining reason with experience that moves beyond that of traditional philosophy

Immanuel Kant

Was one of the foremost thinkers of the Enlightenment, and a large part of his work addresses the question, “What can we know?” He argued that we can only have knowledge of things that are possible to experience.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Was an english writer and intellect who advocated for women’s equality within society. As an ardent feminist, she believed both men and women should be treated as equal

Mary Wollstonecraft

Her best known publication, a Vindication of the Rights of Woman, is considered the first great feminist treatise

Mary Wollstonecraft

Was a fierce advocate for women’s right, arguing that women deserve the same fundamental rights as men and should have an education commensurate with their position in society

Ayn Rand

Russian-american author and philosopher who rejected collectivist values in favor of individual self-interest, an ideal evident in her first novel We the Living

Objectivism

Ayn Rand promoted the philosophy of _________, which she describes as “the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absoulute”

Ayn Rand

While she was a passionate advocate of the philosophy of objectivism, her political philosophy placed emphasis on individualism, the constitutional protection of individual rights to life, liberty, and property, and limited government

Simone de Beauvoir

Is a French writer, existentialist philosopher, and social theorist who paved the way for modern feminist movement

Simone de Beauvoir

Her most notable book, the second sex, discusses the treatment of women throughout history and the oppression they endured

Simone de Beauvoir

While her novels focused on existentialist themes, her philosophies were heavily influenced by the historical materialism of Karl Marx and the idealism of Immanuel Kant