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470 BCE
Socrates
Socrates’ student Plato is traditionally considered the best source about the philosopher’s life and work although many scholars emphasis that it is very difficult to distinguish between Plato’s and Socrates’ philosophical views and even more difficult to create an accurate account of Socrates’ life. As a result, some consider Xenophon to be more reliable source of information about Socrates as a historical figure. -
427 BCE
Plato
Plato, through Socratic dialogue, challenged the notion of what is real and what isn't. The Theory of Forms is the belief that the material world as it appears is only an image or copy of the ‘real’ world. -
384 BCE
Aristotle
Aristotle, Greek Aristoteles, (born 384 BCE, Stagira, Chalcidice, Greece—died 322, Chalcis, Euboea), ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, one of the greatest intellectual figures of Western history. He was the author of a philosophical and scientific system that became the framework and vehicle for both Christian Scholasticism and medieval Islamic philosophy. -
354
Augustine
Augustine tries to reconcile his beliefs about freewill, especially the belief that humans are morally responsible for their actions, with his belief that one’s life is predestined. Though initially optimistic about the ability of humans to behave morally, at the end he is pessimistic, and thinks that original sin makes human moral behavior nearly impossible: if it were not for the rare appearance of an accidental and undeserved Grace of God, humans could not be moral. -
1225
Thomas Aquinas
His contribution to Catholic philosophy. It is clear beyond a doubt that the “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, 1st Viscount St Alban,[a] PC QC (/ˈbeɪkən/;[5] 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) 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. -
Rene Decartes
Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650) is widely regarded as the father of modern western philosophy. Apart from other things, he wrote some of the most influential works of modern philosophy which are still studied in universities across the world. He also formulated theories, developed concepts and made statements which became fundamental to Western philosophy. These include his most famous statement: “I think, therefore I am”. -
John Locke
ohn Locke was born in 1632 in Wrighton, Somerset. His father was a lawyer and small landowner who had fought on the Parliamentarian side during the English Civil War of the 1640s. Using his wartime connections, he placed his son in the elite Westminster School. -
Immanuel Kant
Kant also argued that his ethical theory requires belief in free will, God, and the immortality of the soul. Although we cannot have knowledge of these things, reflection on the moral law leads to a justified belief in them, which amounts to a kind rational faith. -
George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, (born August 27, 1770, Stuttgart, Württemberg [Germany]—died November 14, 1831, Berlin), German philosopher who developed a dialectical scheme that emphasized the progress of history and of ideas from thesis to antithesis and thence to a synthesis. -
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin is often cited as the greatest biologist in history. His most famous work, On the Origin of Species, explains the theory of evolution by natural selection, providing numerous supporting examples. Darwin believed that all of life on earth had descended from a common ancestor, whose offspring could vary slightly from the previous generation. -
John Dewey
John Dewey (1859 – 1952) has made, arguably, the most significant contribution to the development of educational thinking in the twentieth century. Dewey’s philosophical pragmatism, concern with interaction, reflection and experience, and interest in community and democracy, were brought together to form a highly suggestive educative form. J
