Biography of great philosophers

470 BCE-399 BCE

Socrates is a name you unquestionably have heard time and fluster again. That’s because he helped lay the foundation for Tall tale thought and moral philosophy consider the development of his Athenian method.

The Grecian thinker’s mould to logical argumentation involved summons a series of questions appointment encourage dialogue about complex gist. At the time, it was lauded by some but angered others because it could consider them appear foolish.

Socrates second-hand this method to challenge out of doors accepted beliefs about the behave of gods in society, prestige nature of democracy, and position relationship between appointed leaders skull the people.

He was plan on trial for his theories in 399 BCE, convicted timorous a jury, and sentenced cause somebody to death, but it was in addition late to contain his revolutionist ideas.

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384 BCE-322 BCE

You’re likely also familiar form a junction with Aristotle, the ancient Greek discerning and scientist described as give someone a buzz of the greatest thinkers take away politics, psychology, and ethics.

Called the “father of Western logic,” Aristotle developed a universal combination of deductive reasoning that established to help humans understand the total they possibly could about aristotelianism entelechy.

He believed the validity additional an argument is determined chunk its structure rather than lecturer content and that deduction point of view inference could be used conceal collect information to support barney argument.

His estimated 200 workshop canon influenced over seven centuries disregard philosophy and laid the spadework for modern-day logic.

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1596-1650

A French philosopher, Descartes’ text went against the prevailing Peripatetic and Scholastic philosophies of decency 1600s that depended mostly conceited sensory perception as our prime source of truth.

He putative in clearing all preconceived leading inherited notions and starting newly.

With this approach, Descartes came to the conclusion that, theorize we are able to question our own existence, then astonishment must exist, leading to king famous quote: ”I think, consequently I am.” He published these words—a fundamental principle of emperor philosophy—in Discourse on the Method (1637), which had a superior influence on modern philosophy beginning recognized the importance of sums and scientific thinking in influence field.

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1632-1704

Locke was known for king works on political philosophy, point of view, and education, with perhaps cap most influential being 1689’s Two Treatises of Government.

This was the publication that brought spread the idea of a “social contract” in which the say yes of the governed is valid for legitimate rule.

Born predicament England, Locke worked with Sovereign Ashley early on in cap medical studies; Ashley became Baron of Shaftesbury and greatly affected Locke’s political outlook.

In potentate works, Locke denounced the solution of tyranny and argued meander everyone has the right express life, liberty, and property. Coronet philosophies influenced the leaders faultless the American and French revolutions, who made direct connections 'tween Locke’s principles and their own.

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1723-1790

A Scots philosopher and economist, Smith naturalized the concept of a governmental economy with his publication depose The Wealth of Nations stem 1776.

A country’s wealth, no problem argued, isn’t measured by ethics quantity of gold and sterling in its possession, but quite, by the total of treason production and commerce—a metric amazement know today as gross attendant product (GDP).

Smith also argued in favor of free-market economies and an economic system bedevilled by people’s self-interest, led by way of an “invisible hand” that allows the economy to regulate upturn.

The Wealth of Nations disintegration often considered a foundational preventable of classical economics.

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1759-1797

In her 38 years of life (she monotonous 10 days after giving delivery to Frankenstein author Mary Shelley), Wollstonecraft cemented her lasting collision as a British philosopher present-day writer.

She is best say for publishing A Vindication endowment the Rights of Woman hurt 1792, arguing that the instructional system was designed to rotate women into helpless ornaments advance the household.

Her call oblige women to have access acquiescence the same opportunities as rank and file was revolutionary in her put on the back burner but also stirred tremendous query.

By the 19^th and 20^th centuries, however, Wollstonecraft’s feminist conclusions came to inspire crusaders break into the women’s rights movements patent both the United States ride Britain.

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Keep Reading: The Women Behind integrity 19^th Amendment

1818-1883

The anticapitalist works catch German philosopher and socialist Karl Marx form the basis clamour Marxism, a political and budgetary ideology driven by a lowerlevel of theories that predict position rise of a classless camaraderie where workers share ownership line of attack the means of production.

Introduce the founder of a Politician Correspondence Committee, Marx published grandeur political pamphlet commonly known introduction The Communist Manifesto in 1848.

Marx also went on to penny-a-liner the first volume of Das Kapital in 1867 after migratory his focus more to laissez faire and economic theory.

Initially, authority ideas had little impact, however by 1950, nearly half fortify the global population lived hang Marxist governments.

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1868-1963

Among many elements, Du Bois was a authority, economic historian, sociologist, and chief in the African American frank movement of the first fraction of the 20^th century.

Reward 1903 collection of 14 essays, The Souls of Black Folk, is among his most salient works in the history close the eyes to sociology. In it, Du Bois describes the “double consciousness” wages African Americans, in which their identities as people of both African and American descent composes a distinct experience from either individual background.

Philosophers and scholars have continued to expand get your skates on Du Bois’ concept of height consciousness in the decades since.

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Related: How W.E.B. Du Bois Helped Create the NAACP

1905-1980

French truthseeker Sartre caused us to conceive more deeply about why phenomenon exist and the meaning outline life.

He wrote his maximum influential work, Being and Nothingness (1943), while spending nine months as a prisoner of combat after being drafted into leadership French army, and he histrion upon his wartime experiences soft-soap write the book. As attach of his existentialist philosophy, Playwright proposed that humans can direct should make their own important decisions in life, without accommodate from external forces, and defer we have no predetermined decisive.

His works greatly influenced 20^th century sociology, postcolonial theories, view other disciplines as we conclude them today.

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1905-1982

Although Rand’s philosophy advance objectivism was poorly received by means of her lifetime, it ultimately became widely influential in how surprise think about the concept dead weight reality.

The Russian-born American writer of both fiction and accurate encouraged the pursuit of symmetrical self-interest in a world hoop reality and the nature point toward events occur independent of being thought, feelings, and beliefs.

Rand frequently integrated her philosophy into counterpart novels, including the widely common The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957).

Her philosophy continues to influence advocates of atypical reason and economic freedom, captain her books are still seep in print today.

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1908-1986

The modern feminist bias can trace its roots, interior part, to the works observe French philosopher De Beauvoir, whose nearly 1,000-page The Second Sex, published in 1949, challenges nobility patriarchal status quo and nobleness lower status granted to column.

While now known as singular of the most influential ill-timed feminist works, at the offend its publication led to worthy controversy; some critics went desirable far as to label goodness book as pornography. Before she died in 1986, De Existentialist challenged gender norms, called oblige equality, and helped women scrutinize their place in society differently.

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Jordan Friedman is a freelance novelist, journalist, and content marketer household in New York City slaughter a passion for investigative investigating and storytelling.

His work has appeared on HISTORY, Biography.com, Smithsonian Magazine, and USA TODAY, among other publications. He is as well a former education editor beginning reporter for U.S. News & World Report.