Who'se Who in Philosophy

This list of philosophers is my attempt to summarize all the important ideas that have been thought about over the past 2,400 years. Philosophy is known for words, big words, many words. My goal here is to try and summarize the main ideas using as few words as possible (not an easy goal).

Philosophy in the Western world (that is, philosophy that was written down) began in Greece in the 600's BC with Thales, and continues today with the ideas of Pete Singer in the 21st century. And, despite what you may think, it can all be summarized, outlining the main ideas. I have written these summaries to do just that.

Philosophy is often overly complex and irrelevant to the man or woman on the street. It's often seen as the ultimate example of egg-heads sitting in an ivory tower, pondering their navels. But the ideas written down by Philosophers are responsible for most of how we live in the modern world.

The fact that we make money, can elect our leaders, can choose our religion, are surrounded by machines, and the idea that everyone has certain inalienable rights, all owe their existence to people who thought long and hard about the status quo, and wrote down ideas, which others later implemented.

Philosophy is the study of ideas. Ideas are the root of everything. All Science, Politics, Religion, Art, Economics, and Laws are expressions of an idea. Very few details of the modern world were taken for granted in the recent past, and only exist today because people in the past thought about them.

If we lived by our instincts, life would be governed by the law of the jungle. But because we analyze our instincts and argue for alternate ways to live, human society is very different than the law of the jungle. Philosophy is the study of this "project".

Incidentally, these thinkers are almost all "Western Philosophers". Philosophy is often focused on "The West" because Westerners are traditionally analytical, whereas people in "The East" are traditionally holistic.

A Western philosopher will stay awake all night trying to reconcile a contradiction, whereas an Eastern philosopher will often incorporate contradictions into a larger picture that transcends logic. This distinction is a topic unto itself, but these summaries stick to the traditional association between Philosophy and Western-style analysis.

By the way, one of the oldest questions in Philosophy is this: "Who cares? Why should I care about Philosophy?" If you're interested in my defense of the Art of Philosophy, and why you should care, read my Philosophy manifesto.

These names are listed historically, according to when they lived:

Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1274)

Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650)

Thomas Hobbes (1588 - 1679)

John Locke (1632 - 1704)

Blaise Pascal (1623 - 1662)

Baruch Spinoza (1632 - 1677)

Gottfried Leibniz (1646 - 1716)

George Berkeley (1685 - 1753)

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712 - 1788)

Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804)

David Hume (1711 - 1776)