The Worldly Philosophers

Throughout The Confessions, Saint Augustine of Hippo plays a big role in influencing Christianity. Augustine took ideas from pre-Christian thinkers, and was very influential in getting those ideas about Christianity out to the world. Augustine was very effective in getting his ideas about Christianity out; he was effective at getting his points across, especially when he compared his ideas to Ovid, the idea of internal verses external, and the concept of fate. In The Confessions, Augustine and…

traditions and status quos that they had in the past. Some of the main philosophers that had an impact on the Enlightenment was John Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Pierre Bayle. Each of these philosophers started to make new traditions and status quo in the social, political, intellectual, military, and religious aspects of the eighteenth century. The book The Enlightenment written by Margaret C. Jacob, helps show the philosophers views on the three trends that are presented in the…

Imagine living in Greece around 600 and 300 B.C.E. when Greek rationalism emerged. Now imagine living in China during the warring states period when Chinese philosophies emerged. Do you think life in both of these different regions would be more similar or different? Which region would you rather live in Greece or China? Why? Okay, well during the time Greek rationalism and the Chinese philosophies like Legalism, Daoism, and Confucianism, emerged they shaped the political systems and most…

words. As we look back in history to the Greeks, and those of the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras, we find that many individual thinkers and philosophers shone through their new ideas and thoughts. Many of these philosophical thinkers shaped our learning today. I believe that, during the greek times, philosophers were influenced by humanism. The philosophers of these days used more logic and rational type of thinking. They reasoned and observed the world around them. Others discovered and…

John Locke was a political philosopher and social psychologist, often called the “Father of Liberalism”. He believed the right to government depended upon the people. He also claimed the natural right of man were the right to life, liberty, and property. Locke believed in religious freedom as well. He believed in an idea called “state of nature”. “State of nature” means all men are allowed to “order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds…

Many of our worldly concept’s today were not recently discovered. Many of the past philosopher’s, dating back to 500 BCE, predicted the things we know today. Just like people today, many philosopher’s had their difference of opinion. However, unlike today’s society, these philosophers did not have the resources to prove their theories. Heraclitus and Parmenides, both pre-Socratic philosophers, are known for their concepts and philosophical principles. These two, Greek philosophers’ had a similar…

figures have contributed their ideas to. The perceptions of what it means to be virtuous and how to attain virtue varies from philosophy to philosophy. Two of the most well-known figures that have laid forth their ideas on moral virtue are the Greek philosopher Aristotle and the Christian deity Jesus Christ. Though these two leaders are famous for their dissertations concerning virtue, their principles differ greatly. In Jesus’ The Sermon on the Mount, he presents his teachings concerning how to…

ascension of Philosopher-Kings in his ideal city described in The Republic. Similarly, it depicts superbly the stages of his Simile of the Line, a philosophical tool utilized to demonstrate the four basic levels of cognition. He describes these levels in ascending order as Imagination, Belief, Thought, and ultimately, Understanding (Plato 202). Plato places the first two cognitive levels in what he terms the visible realm, a state of existence relying solely on material, or worldly, goods and…

and existence,” whereas moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy which focuses on and investigates the ideas of right and wrong as well as good and evil behavior. A German philosopher who researched and examined moral judgments was Friedrich Nietzsche. Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the most influential German philosopher, who contributed greatly to the field of philosophy through his writings. One of his most important piece of work of all time is the “On the Genealogy of Morals.” On the…

One of the most renowned philosophers, Jean-Jacques Rousseau once asked, “what is the source of our happiness...?”. He believed that the answer was “the simple feeling of existence… [and] as long as this state lasts we are self-sufficient like God” (Critchley 449). The quest for happiness has been the greatest interest of humans since ancient history. However, what is happiness? “The New English Dictionary… offers the famously unhelpful [definition:] ‘state of pleasurable content of mind, which…