After reading Sophie's World and blogging about each of the philosophers, we feel that we have learned a lot about philosophy, and hope that we have helped you to learn about thousands of years of philosophy in one helpful blog! At the very least, we hope that each of these philosophers have given you something to think about and you have begun to extract yourself from the "rabbit's fur". Thanks for reading!Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Final Thoughts
After reading Sophie's World and blogging about each of the philosophers, we feel that we have learned a lot about philosophy, and hope that we have helped you to learn about thousands of years of philosophy in one helpful blog! At the very least, we hope that each of these philosophers have given you something to think about and you have begun to extract yourself from the "rabbit's fur". Thanks for reading!
Modern Times
Major Representative Philosophers: Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir
Classification: existentialism
Meaning: singularly concerned with humanity
Nietzsche: wanted to re-evaluate all values. He wanted to return to the real world because he felt that Christianity and traditional philosophy had turned away from the real world. He rejected “supernatural expectations”.
Sartre: said that “existentialism is humanism.” He analyzed the human situation without God. He was interested in the existence of man, which he felt should take priority over anything that man might otherwise be. He felt that man created his own nature. We must decide for ourselves how to live. We haven’t asked to be created as free individuals but we are; therefore, we are forced to make choices. We are totally responsible for everything we do. He also said that life must have meaning but it is we who create this meaning. “Our own lives influence the way we perceive things.”
Beauvoir: denied the existence of a basic female nature or a basic male nature. She felt that women and men must reject prejudices, and that women are as independent as they choose to be.
Classification: existentialism
Meaning: singularly concerned with humanity
Nietzsche: wanted to re-evaluate all values. He wanted to return to the real world because he felt that Christianity and traditional philosophy had turned away from the real world. He rejected “supernatural expectations”.
Sartre: said that “existentialism is humanism.” He analyzed the human situation without God. He was interested in the existence of man, which he felt should take priority over anything that man might otherwise be. He felt that man created his own nature. We must decide for ourselves how to live. We haven’t asked to be created as free individuals but we are; therefore, we are forced to make choices. We are totally responsible for everything we do. He also said that life must have meaning but it is we who create this meaning. “Our own lives influence the way we perceive things.”
Beauvoir: denied the existence of a basic female nature or a basic male nature. She felt that women and men must reject prejudices, and that women are as independent as they choose to be.
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| Jean-Paul Sartre |
Romanticism
Major Representative Philosophers: Johann Gottfried von Herder, Schelling, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Soren Kierkegaard, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud
Classification: Universal Romanticism and National Romanticism
Meaning: Universal Romanticism is concerned with nature, the world soul, and artistic genius. National Romanticism is concerned with the history, language, and culture of the people.
Schelling: wanted to “unite mind and matter.” He thought that there was a world spirit that existed in both nature and the human mind. He saw a connection between living and nonliving things.
Herder: believed that “history is characterized by continuity, evolution, and design.” He thought that each time period had its own value, and each nation had its own soul.
Hegel: also believed in a world spirit, but only a human spirit. He believed that “all knowledge is human knowledge”. He did not believe in eternal truths because he felt that things change throughout history. Things are either right or wrong depending on their historical context. He thought that human knowledge is always expanding. He said that the study of history shows that “humanity is moving towards greater rationality and freedom.” He thought that in every philosophy, there were two contrasting viewpoints, but that the best philosophy combines both. He said “that which is right survives.” He emphasized “the importance of the family, civil society, and the state.” He said that the world spirit becomes conscious of itself in 3 stages: subjective spirit (individual), objective spirit (family, civil society, and the state), and the absolute spirit (art, religion, and philosophy).
Kierkegaard: Was concerned with the individual. He believed that there was no passion and commitment in the world. He thought that Christianity was so important that it either had to control our lives or have nothing to do with our lives. He said we should search for individual truths instead of universal truths. He said that we only truly exist when we are making choices. He thought that the philosophical questions could only be answered through faith, not reason. He believed in 3 stages of life: aesthetic, ethical, and religious. The aesthetic stage is living for the moment. The ethical stage is making moral choices. The religious stage is faith.
Marx: didn’t want to interpret the world—he wanted to change it. He thought that it was the material factors in society to determine the way we live and think. He felt that material changes affect history. He believed in 3 levels in the basis of society: society’s conditions of production (resources available), means of production (equipment and tools) and mode of production (division of labor). He felt that society decided what was right and wrong, and that change could only come from revolution. He was against capitalism because he felt that man should work for himself and for his own benefit. He thought that capitalism exploited the worker. He wanted a classless society.
Darwin: believed that all living things evolved from simpler species and that this evolution is the result of natural selection. Natural selection is essentially the survival of the fittest. He said that man came from different variations of earlier species. Every organism today is the best in its species because only the best have survived.
Freud: developed psychoanalysis, which is a “description of the human mind, in general, as well as a therapy for nervous and mental disorders. Irrational impulses, called human drives, often influence what we do. He said that we have a pleasure principle, called the id, which we learn to regulate in our adult life. He said that there is a lifelong conflict between desire and guilt. He said that there is a deep unconsciousness in us of everything we have repressed. we can try to repress thoughts, but they can show up through slips of the tongue. He said we can rationalize things to ourselves if the real reason we want to do something is unacceptable. We also project, which is to transfer characteristics we are trying to repress in ourselves to other people. He said that “our unconscious tries to communicate with our conscious through dreams.” He felt that “all dreams are wish fulfillments.” Inspiration is when artists “lift the lid” on the unconscious. He stressed the importance of artists being able to let go.
Classification: Universal Romanticism and National Romanticism
Meaning: Universal Romanticism is concerned with nature, the world soul, and artistic genius. National Romanticism is concerned with the history, language, and culture of the people.
Schelling: wanted to “unite mind and matter.” He thought that there was a world spirit that existed in both nature and the human mind. He saw a connection between living and nonliving things.
Herder: believed that “history is characterized by continuity, evolution, and design.” He thought that each time period had its own value, and each nation had its own soul.
Hegel: also believed in a world spirit, but only a human spirit. He believed that “all knowledge is human knowledge”. He did not believe in eternal truths because he felt that things change throughout history. Things are either right or wrong depending on their historical context. He thought that human knowledge is always expanding. He said that the study of history shows that “humanity is moving towards greater rationality and freedom.” He thought that in every philosophy, there were two contrasting viewpoints, but that the best philosophy combines both. He said “that which is right survives.” He emphasized “the importance of the family, civil society, and the state.” He said that the world spirit becomes conscious of itself in 3 stages: subjective spirit (individual), objective spirit (family, civil society, and the state), and the absolute spirit (art, religion, and philosophy).
Kierkegaard: Was concerned with the individual. He believed that there was no passion and commitment in the world. He thought that Christianity was so important that it either had to control our lives or have nothing to do with our lives. He said we should search for individual truths instead of universal truths. He said that we only truly exist when we are making choices. He thought that the philosophical questions could only be answered through faith, not reason. He believed in 3 stages of life: aesthetic, ethical, and religious. The aesthetic stage is living for the moment. The ethical stage is making moral choices. The religious stage is faith.
Marx: didn’t want to interpret the world—he wanted to change it. He thought that it was the material factors in society to determine the way we live and think. He felt that material changes affect history. He believed in 3 levels in the basis of society: society’s conditions of production (resources available), means of production (equipment and tools) and mode of production (division of labor). He felt that society decided what was right and wrong, and that change could only come from revolution. He was against capitalism because he felt that man should work for himself and for his own benefit. He thought that capitalism exploited the worker. He wanted a classless society.
Darwin: believed that all living things evolved from simpler species and that this evolution is the result of natural selection. Natural selection is essentially the survival of the fittest. He said that man came from different variations of earlier species. Every organism today is the best in its species because only the best have survived.
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| Karl Marx |
Enlightenment
Major Representative Philosophers: Immanuel Kant, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Olympe de Gouge
Classification: Rationalism
Meaning: Rationalism is the belief in human reason. Kant was both a rationalist and an empiricist (belief in the human senses).
Rousseau, Montesquieu, Voltaire: proposed the Seven Points of the French Enlightenment. They opposed authority because they thought that everyone should find their own answers to philosophical questions. They had strong faith in human reason. They believed in education because they thought that poverty was caused by ignorance. They believed in cultural optimism, which is the belief that humanity would improve once reason and knowledge were widespread. They wanted everyone to return back to nature, or a simpler life. They thought it was “irrational to imagine a world without God.” They felt that human rights were freedom of the press, freedom of the speech, and abolition of slavery.
Olympe de Gouge: demanded equal rights for men and women.
Immanuel Kant: combined the beliefs of the rationalists and empiricists by stating that while our knowledge of the world comes from our sensation, reason helps us to determine how we perceive the world around us. He believed that “time and space are two forms of intuition.” He believed in the law of causality because we perceive everything as a matter of cause and effect. We can’t know what the world is like; we can only know what the world is like for us. He felt that all human beings always look for the cause of every event. He believed that two elements contribute to our knowledge of the world, material of knowledge (external conditions) and form of knowledge (internal conditions). He believed that the answers to the big philosophical questions are unknowable because we have never experienced them, but it is in human nature to ask these questions. He says that for every philosophical question, there are two contrasting viewpoints that are equally reasonable. However, we can assume that God exists because of faith, not reason. We cannot comprehend ourselves or the universe. He felt that the difference between right and wrong was a matter of reason and innate. He believed that our moral code is that we shouldn’t do anything that we wouldn’t want others to do to us, and that we should not exploit people. Goodwill determines whether an action was morally right. When we follow our “practical reason”, we make moral choices, and we exercise our free will because it is we who make the moral law that we conform to.
Classification: Rationalism
Meaning: Rationalism is the belief in human reason. Kant was both a rationalist and an empiricist (belief in the human senses).
Rousseau, Montesquieu, Voltaire: proposed the Seven Points of the French Enlightenment. They opposed authority because they thought that everyone should find their own answers to philosophical questions. They had strong faith in human reason. They believed in education because they thought that poverty was caused by ignorance. They believed in cultural optimism, which is the belief that humanity would improve once reason and knowledge were widespread. They wanted everyone to return back to nature, or a simpler life. They thought it was “irrational to imagine a world without God.” They felt that human rights were freedom of the press, freedom of the speech, and abolition of slavery.
Olympe de Gouge: demanded equal rights for men and women.
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| Immanuel Kant |
The Baroque
Major Representative Philosophers: Thomas Hobbes, Leibniz, René Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, David Hume, John Locke, George Berkeley
Classification: Materialism (Hobbes), Rationalism (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz) Empiricism (Locke, Berkeley, Hume)
Meaning: Materialism is a philosophy that all real things come from material substances. Rationalism is the belief in human reason. Empiricism is the belief in human senses.
Thomas Hobbes: believed that everything in the world was made up of particles of matter. Even the soul comes from the movement of particles in the brain.
Leibniz: believed that the material world could be broken up but the soul was not divisible.
Descartes: father of Modern Philosophy. He tried to answer all the major questions of philosophy in one, cohesive system. He was concerned with the relationship between the body and mind, and what we can know or “certain knowledge.” He believed that spirit and matter were completely separate. He also believed that we cannot know things unless we can perceive them. He believed that we could prove the existence of God simply because we could not have the idea of God if God did not exist. He believed in two forms of reality, through (mind) and extension (matter). He believed that they were independent of each other. Man, however, has both thought and matter because man has a mind and body. He said the human body is the perfect machine. He believed that the mind and body are linked through a special brain organ.
Spinoza: denied that the Bible was inspired by God; instead, he proposed a critical reading of the Bible. He identified nature with God. He believed that “God is all, and all is in God.” He believed that in order to be happy, we need to be free of our feelings. He believed in one reality, called substance. Everything in the world can be reduced to one single substance. God manifests himself as both thought and matter, though. He believed that God is the inner cause of everything that happens, because everything that happens happens out of necessity. He believed that outer circumstances influence our growth. He also believed that man does not control everything. He said that we can only achieve true happiness if we realize that everything is one.
Locke: was concerned with where we get our ideas from and if we can rely on our senses. He believed that before we are born, our mind is an empty slate. As we experience things, we form complex ideas. Repeated experiences allow us to identify and know things. He believed that we also learn things because of thinking, reasoning, and doubting. He established primary (unchanging) and secondary (subject to opinion) qualities. He believed in natural rights. He believed that we could prove the existence of God through reason. He advocated equality of the sexes and division of power.
Hume: wanted to return to a “spontaneous experience of the world.” He believed that we form complex ideas of things that do not really exist—we put wings on humans and call them angels, but we must rid ourselves of these ideas because they can’t be proven by reason. He felt that man had both impressions (“the immediate sensation of external reality”) and ideas (“recollection of such impressions”). He believed that we can only form complex ideas if we have experienced their simpler counterparts. For example, we can have a complex idea of heaven because we have experienced pearly gates and gold. Hume opposed ideas if they could not be traced back to something we are able to perceive with our senses. Hume shared a lot of similarities with Buddha in that he also believed that humans are constantly changing. He was an agnostic—he didn’t believe that humans could answer the question of whether God exists. He believed that we cannot ever be sure that something will always happen, even if we have experienced it many times. He also didn’t believe in the law of causality—he didn’t believe that there was a link between an action that follows another. He felt that we do things because of feelings, not reason. He did not believe that we can use reason to tell us how to act.
Berkeley: believed that “the only things that exist are those we perceive.” He thought that all of our ideas have a spiritual cause, and the spirit is God. He felt that “everything we see and feel is an effect of God’s power.” He finally came to the conclusion that we exist only in the mind of God. He questioned whether time and space really existed. He believed that “all we can know is that we are spirit.”
Classification: Materialism (Hobbes), Rationalism (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz) Empiricism (Locke, Berkeley, Hume)
Meaning: Materialism is a philosophy that all real things come from material substances. Rationalism is the belief in human reason. Empiricism is the belief in human senses.
Thomas Hobbes: believed that everything in the world was made up of particles of matter. Even the soul comes from the movement of particles in the brain.
Leibniz: believed that the material world could be broken up but the soul was not divisible.
Descartes: father of Modern Philosophy. He tried to answer all the major questions of philosophy in one, cohesive system. He was concerned with the relationship between the body and mind, and what we can know or “certain knowledge.” He believed that spirit and matter were completely separate. He also believed that we cannot know things unless we can perceive them. He believed that we could prove the existence of God simply because we could not have the idea of God if God did not exist. He believed in two forms of reality, through (mind) and extension (matter). He believed that they were independent of each other. Man, however, has both thought and matter because man has a mind and body. He said the human body is the perfect machine. He believed that the mind and body are linked through a special brain organ.
Spinoza: denied that the Bible was inspired by God; instead, he proposed a critical reading of the Bible. He identified nature with God. He believed that “God is all, and all is in God.” He believed that in order to be happy, we need to be free of our feelings. He believed in one reality, called substance. Everything in the world can be reduced to one single substance. God manifests himself as both thought and matter, though. He believed that God is the inner cause of everything that happens, because everything that happens happens out of necessity. He believed that outer circumstances influence our growth. He also believed that man does not control everything. He said that we can only achieve true happiness if we realize that everything is one.
Locke: was concerned with where we get our ideas from and if we can rely on our senses. He believed that before we are born, our mind is an empty slate. As we experience things, we form complex ideas. Repeated experiences allow us to identify and know things. He believed that we also learn things because of thinking, reasoning, and doubting. He established primary (unchanging) and secondary (subject to opinion) qualities. He believed in natural rights. He believed that we could prove the existence of God through reason. He advocated equality of the sexes and division of power.
Hume: wanted to return to a “spontaneous experience of the world.” He believed that we form complex ideas of things that do not really exist—we put wings on humans and call them angels, but we must rid ourselves of these ideas because they can’t be proven by reason. He felt that man had both impressions (“the immediate sensation of external reality”) and ideas (“recollection of such impressions”). He believed that we can only form complex ideas if we have experienced their simpler counterparts. For example, we can have a complex idea of heaven because we have experienced pearly gates and gold. Hume opposed ideas if they could not be traced back to something we are able to perceive with our senses. Hume shared a lot of similarities with Buddha in that he also believed that humans are constantly changing. He was an agnostic—he didn’t believe that humans could answer the question of whether God exists. He believed that we cannot ever be sure that something will always happen, even if we have experienced it many times. He also didn’t believe in the law of causality—he didn’t believe that there was a link between an action that follows another. He felt that we do things because of feelings, not reason. He did not believe that we can use reason to tell us how to act.
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| John Locke |
The Renaissance
Major Representative Philosophers: Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Nicolaus Copernicus, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, Martin Luther
Classification: individualism and humanism
Meaning: Individualism means a focus on the individual. Humanism means a focus on human values and concerns.
Galilei: formulated the Law of Inertia, which states that a body remains in the state which it is in (at rest or in motion) as long as no other force compels it to change states. Also stated that when two forces work on a body simultaneously, the body will move on an elliptical path. Therefore, because of the forces of gravity and inertia, planets move on an elliptical path.
Kepler: determined that planets move in elliptical orbits and that planets speed up in their orbits as they get nearer to the sun. Also declared that the earth was a planet, just like the other planets. Finally, stated that the same physical laws apply everywhere in the universe.
Copernicus: determined that the earth moves around the sun, and not vice versa (“heliocentric world picture”). Also concluded that the earth turns on its own axis. Incorrectly believed that the sun was the center of the universe and that planets moved in circular orbits around the sun.
Bacon: stressed the importance and practical value of knowledge, especially in human observations of nature.
Newton: provided the final description of the solar system. Established the Law of Universal Gravitation: every object attracts every other object with the force that increases in proportion to the size of the objects and decreases in proportion to the distance between the objects. This attraction is universal.
Luther: denied that people needed the Church to receive God’s forgiveness and the necessity of priests, for man should become his own priest.
Classification: individualism and humanism
Meaning: Individualism means a focus on the individual. Humanism means a focus on human values and concerns.
Galilei: formulated the Law of Inertia, which states that a body remains in the state which it is in (at rest or in motion) as long as no other force compels it to change states. Also stated that when two forces work on a body simultaneously, the body will move on an elliptical path. Therefore, because of the forces of gravity and inertia, planets move on an elliptical path.
Kepler: determined that planets move in elliptical orbits and that planets speed up in their orbits as they get nearer to the sun. Also declared that the earth was a planet, just like the other planets. Finally, stated that the same physical laws apply everywhere in the universe.
Copernicus: determined that the earth moves around the sun, and not vice versa (“heliocentric world picture”). Also concluded that the earth turns on its own axis. Incorrectly believed that the sun was the center of the universe and that planets moved in circular orbits around the sun.
Bacon: stressed the importance and practical value of knowledge, especially in human observations of nature.
Newton: provided the final description of the solar system. Established the Law of Universal Gravitation: every object attracts every other object with the force that increases in proportion to the size of the objects and decreases in proportion to the distance between the objects. This attraction is universal.
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| Isaac Newton |
The Middle Ages
Major Representative Philosophers: St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas
Classification: Christian philosophy
Meaning: Reconciling philosophy with the teachings of the Church
St. Augustine: believed that there is an insurmountable barrier between God and the world. No one deserves God’s redemption, but God has chosen some to be saved. Our eternal destinies are already decided by God, even though we have free will. Believed that human history is a struggle between the Kingdom of God (the Church) and the Kingdom of the World (the state). The struggle has played out in history since the beginning of time. Shared many views with Plato, and could be classified as a Neoplatonist.
St. Thomas Aquinas: theologian and philosopher who tried to unite Aristotle’s philosophy and Christianity. There did not need to be any conflict between reason/philosophy and Christianity/faith. There are some truths that can be reached through faith and through reason, such as the existence of God. God has revealed Himself to mankind in two ways: the Bible and reason. Likewise, the Bible and our consciences can teach us how God wants us to live. Finally, Aquinas believed in a progressive degree of existence all the way from plants to God.
Classification: Christian philosophy
Meaning: Reconciling philosophy with the teachings of the Church
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| Saint Augustine |
St. Augustine: believed that there is an insurmountable barrier between God and the world. No one deserves God’s redemption, but God has chosen some to be saved. Our eternal destinies are already decided by God, even though we have free will. Believed that human history is a struggle between the Kingdom of God (the Church) and the Kingdom of the World (the state). The struggle has played out in history since the beginning of time. Shared many views with Plato, and could be classified as a Neoplatonist.
St. Thomas Aquinas: theologian and philosopher who tried to unite Aristotle’s philosophy and Christianity. There did not need to be any conflict between reason/philosophy and Christianity/faith. There are some truths that can be reached through faith and through reason, such as the existence of God. God has revealed Himself to mankind in two ways: the Bible and reason. Likewise, the Bible and our consciences can teach us how God wants us to live. Finally, Aquinas believed in a progressive degree of existence all the way from plants to God.
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