-
470 BCE
Socrates
Socrates is hailed as one of the founders of Western philosophy, however, very little is known about him as a historical figure and philosopher. The best account of life and work of one of the most influential philosophers of all times is given by the later classical writers, Despite that, the mentioned writers reveal that the ancient Greek philosopher made important contributions to philosophy as well as epistemology and logic. He is the inventor of the so-called Socratic method or elenchus -
427 BCE
Plato
Plato was a philosopher who was born in Greece somewhere around 428 BCE to a family of the political and social elite. Since Plato was somewhat associated with this group, he had the opportunity to study many different subjects from many different teachers until he famously became a disciple of Socrates. Socrates was executed a few years later in 399 BCE for corrupting the youth and failing to observe the gods. -
384 BCE
Aristotole
Aristotle is a towering figure in ancient Greek philosophy, making contributions to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and theatre. He was a student of Plato who in turn studied under Socrates. He was more empirically-minded than Plato or Socrates and is famous for rejecting Plato's theory of forms. -
354 BCE
Augustine
St. Augustine is a fourth century philosopher whose groundbreaking philosophy infused Christian doctrine with Neoplatonism. He is famous for being an inimitable Catholic theologian and for his agnostic contributions to Western philosophy. He argues that skeptics have no basis for claiming to know that there is no knowledge.He is the first Western philosopher to promote what has come to be called "the argument by analogy" against solipsism. -
1225
Thomas Aquinas
Philosopher and theologian St. Thomas Aquinas was born circa Roccasecca, Italy. Combining the theological principles of faith with the philosophical principles of reason, he ranked among the most influential thinkers of medieval Scholasticism. An authority of the Roman Catholic Church and a prolific writer, “Angelic Doctor” contributed to the Catholic philosophical tradition, even though he was not primarily a philosopher, but a theologian, as most Catholic “philosophers” were. -
1561
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon was an English philosopher and statesman, who served as Attorney General, and as Lord Chancellor of England. His works are credited with developing the scientific method, and remained influential through the scientific revolution.Bacon has been called the father of empiricism.[6] His works argued for the possibility of scientific knowledge based only upon inductive reasoning and careful observation of events in nature. -
Rene Descartes
Rene Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher was born in 1596. It was partly because of his contribution that western philosophy and mathematics flourished. In recognition of his contribution, he is often referred as “father or founder father of modern philosophy”. He is also considered as precursor of rationalist school of thought.In mathematics, his contribution lies chiefly in geometry that’s why today he is known as father of analytical geometry. -
08John Locke
The English philosopher and political theorist John Locke (1632-1704) laid much of the groundwork for the Enlightenment and made central contributions to the development of liberalism. Trained in medicine, he was a key advocate of the empirical approaches of the Scientific Revolution. His political theory of government by the consent of the governed as a means to protect “life, liberty and estate” deeply influenced the United States’ founding documents. -
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher who is a central figure in modern philosophy. In his doctrine of transcendental idealism, he argued that space, time and causation are mere sensibilities; "things-in-themselves" exist, but their nature is unknowable. is one of the most influential philosophers in the history of Western philosophy.His contributions to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics have had a profound impact on almost every philosophical movement that followed him. -
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher and an important figure of German idealism. He achieved wide recognition in his day and while primarily influential within the continental tradition of philosophy has become increasingly influential in the analytic tradition as well.Hegel's principal achievement was his development of a distinctive articulation of idealism, sometimes termed absolute idealism. -
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin,12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist best known for his contributions to the science of evolution. His proposition that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors is now widely accepted, and considered a foundational concept in science. He introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection. -
John Dewey
John Dewey (October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey is one of the primary figures associated with the philosophy of pragmatism and is considered one of the fathers of functional psychology has made, arguably, the most significant contribution to the development of educational thinking in the twentieth century.
