A philosopher likes to live his/her life in a certain way. Most of the times, their way of life are controversial.
Their school of thought is certainly not the same as others have. They dedicate their lives into finding out questions to answers that are not easy to find.
They live by their own principles and philosophy.
So, if you ask me to name the greatest philosopher in the history, I would most certainly name one of them:
Confucius (551–479 B.C.)
Confucius is one of the philosophers who self educated himself.
He was born is the state of Lu in China. He is believed to be the best teachers in the history till now.
The learned man lived by his own philosophy. Believed to have descended from a nobel but impoverished family, he had learned a lot from his life.
He dedicated his life’s work in restructuring the almost fallen down old rituals and values.
The man had spent his years trying to edit the Chinese early classic literature.
His golden rule was “Do not do unto others what you do not want done to yourself” and I guess this is another beautiful principle you need to live by.
Plato (428–348 B.C.)
During the classical period in the ancient Greece there were many school of thoughts. That was a period of huge development in the literature and development of western philosophy.
The best way to remember Plato is to consider him the father of the western philosophy.
His teacher socrates and him are one of the best known philosophers from this period of time.
What we should not forget is that plato was also an athlete. People widely know him as a wrestler, I know it might be a little odd to believe at first.
However, he supposedly got his name plato because of his broad shoulders and chest.
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)
Aristotle was a follower and student of plato. He was a widely known polymath.
People mostly know him for his work in science, literature, psychology, economics and politics.
The most notable part in his history is that he tutored, Alexander the great after Plato had died.
He also established a library in the Lyceum, which let him produce hundreds of his work.
Epicurus (342 – 270 B.C.)
Known for his work on Epicureanism, Epicurus was a sage and a philosopher.
He was born in the island of samos and later went to Athen. This was where his father taught him literature.
It is interesting to note that he was against the ideas of Platonism and he made his own school of thought.
He and his followers believed in a simple life. They discussed about philosophy and also allowed women to join in their conversations.
It is believed that he was a prolific writer and had written almost 300 books.
However, we have lost most of his work. At present, we only have 3 letters written by him and 2 collection of quotes.
René Descartes (1596–1650):
René Descartes was a French Philosopher who followed the works of Plato and Aristotle.
The philosopher was also a Mathematician and a scientist. He is believed to be one of the founders of modern philosophy.
He laid down the foundation of 17th century rationalism. But Hobbes and Locke later criticized his work.
People also know Descartes as the father of analytical geometry which has significantly helped in the understanding of calculus.
The scientific revolution was possible due to a lot of his work in science.
John Locke (1632–1704):
Locke was a modern day philosopher and a physician. We widely know him as the founder of Liberalism.
His work has deeply shaped the modern day politics and philosophy.
The United States Declaration of Independence has vastly reflected his work in politics and philosophy.
His work in politics, religion and psychology has been a base for a lot of the modern findings and principles.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1694):
As a woman in the field of philosophy, Juana had a very difficult time proving herself right.
She started her learning in a very young age. Juana was one of the most intellectual woman of her time.
She was born in a prestigious family of the Spanish Colony in Mexico but had to grow up without her father.
She begged her mother to let her attend the higher education in disguise. At that time, schools only offered higher education to men.
So, she instead started educating herself in her grandfathers library.
She mastered her intellect herself. Since she wanted her independence she joined the church.
But her story took a bad turn when bishops at that period restrained her from writing in the way that she did.
She had to give up writing and later she dedicated her life to taking care of the sickly.
Even though she might not have been able to fully show what she was worth, she has inspired many women to come forward and be independent.
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