The Socratic Problem In studying Socrates as an educator, we must first come to grips with the sources of our information about Socrates and their methodological complexities, which are known as the “Socratic problem.” Because we have no writing whatsoever by Socrates himself, we must rely on the extant literature...
Who Is Immanuel Kant? Immanuel Kant (22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was an influential Prussian German philosopher in the Age of Enlightenment. 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. In his view, the mind shapes and structures experience, with all human...
Who Is Baruch Spinoza? Baruch Spinoza (Benedito de Espinosa, Benedict de Spinoza; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Sephardi origin. One of the early thinkers of the Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and the universe, he came to be considered one...
Who Is Augustine Of Hippo? Augustine of Hippo (13 November 354 – 28 August 430 AD) was a Roman African, early Christian theologian and Neoplatonic philosopher from Numidia whose writings influenced the development of the Western Church and Western philosophy, and indirectly all of Western Christianity. He was the bishop of...
Who Is Niccolò Machiavelli? Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was an Italian diplomat, politician, historian, philosopher, writer, playwright and poet of the Renaissance period. He has often been called the father of modern political philosophy and political science. For many years he served as a...
Who Is Muhammad Iqbal? Sir Muhammad Iqbal (محمد اِقبال; 9 November 1877 – 21 April 1938), widely known as Allama Iqbal, was a poet, philosopher and politician, as well as an academic, barrister and scholar in British India who is widely regarded as having inspired the Pakistan Movement. He is called the “Spiritual Father of Pakistan.” He...
Women In Philosophy Women have engaged in philosophy throughout the field’s history. While there were women philosophers since ancient times, and a relatively small number were accepted as philosophers during the ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary eras, particularly during the 20th and 21st century, almost no woman philosophers have entered...
Sage (philosophy) A sage (sophos), in classical philosophy, is someone who has attained the wisdom which a philosopher seeks. The first to make this distinction is Plato, through the character of Socrates, within the Symposium. While analyzing the concept of love, Socrates concludes Love is that which lacks the object it seeks. Therefore, the philosopher (meaning lover of...
Ibn Rushd (Averroes) Ibn Rushd (ابن رشد; full name أبو الوليد محمد ابن احمد ابن رشد, Abū l-Walīd Muḥammad Ibn ʾAḥmad Ibn Rušd; 1126 – 11 December 1198), often Latinized as Averroes, was a Muslim Andalusian philosopher and judge who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, medicine, astronomy, physics, Islamic...
Who Is Plato? Plato (Plátōn, 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was an Athenian philosopher during the Classical period in Ancient Greece, founder of the Platonist school of thought, and the Academy, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. He is widely considered the pivotal figure in...
Religious And Philosophical Views Of Albert Einstein This article covers the religious and philosophical views of Albert Einstein in detail. Albert Einstein‘s religious views have been widely studied and often misunderstood. Einstein stated that he believed in the pantheistic God of Baruch Spinoza. He did not believe in a personal God who concerns...
Who is Albert Einstein? Albert Einstein (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics (alongside quantum mechanics). His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. He is best known...
Who is Al-Ghazali? Al-Ghazali (full name أبو حامد محمد بن محمد الطوسي الغزالي, Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad aṭ-Ṭūsī al-Ġazālī; latinized Algazelus or Algazel; c. 1058 – 19 December 1111) was one of the most prominent and influential philosophers, theologians, jurists, and mystics of Sunni Islam. He was of Persian origin. Some muslims consider him to...
Who Is Al-Farabi? Al-Farabi (ابو نصر محمد بن محمد فارابي Abū Naṣr Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al Fārābī; known in the West as Alpharabius; c. 872 – between 14 December, 950 and 12 January, 951) was a renowned philosopher and jurist who wrote in the fields of political philosophy, metaphysics, ethics and...
Who Is Avicenna? Avicenna (also Ibn Sīnā or Abu Ali Sina; ابن سینا; c. 980 – June 1037) was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, thinkers and writers of the Islamic Golden Age. He has been described as the father of early modern medicine. Of the 450 works he is known...
Lao Tzu (Laozi) Laozi (老子; literally “Old Master”), also rendered as Lao Tzu and Lao-Tze, was an ancient Chinese philosopher and writer. He is the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching, the founder of philosophical Taoism, and a deity in religious Taoism and traditional Chinese religions. A semi-legendary figure, Laozi was usually portrayed as a...
Who Is Sun Tzu? Sun Tzu (孫子; Sunzi) was a Chinese general, military strategist, writer and philosopher who lived in the Eastern Zhou period of ancient China. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War, an influential work of military strategy that has affected Western and East Asian philosophy and...
Who Is Socrates? Socrates (Sōkrátēs, c. 470 – 399 BC) was a classical Greek (Athenian) philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, and as being the first moral philosopher of the Western ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, he made no writings, and is known chiefly through...
Socrates, Xenophon, And Plato Empedocles In the fifth century BC the Pythagorean school continued, and Parmenides in Elea contributed to metaphysics. Zeno also of Elea let his mind trap himself into thinking one could never get somewhere, because by going half-way there each time one would get closer but never...
God Is Dead ‘God is Dead’ also known as The Death of God is a widely quoted statement by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche used the phrase to express his idea that the Enlightenment had eliminated the possibility of the existence of God. However, proponents of the strongest form of the Death...