What is philosophy? Now isn't that a loaded question. According to dictionary.com, philosophy is "the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct." Philosophers study concepts that form the foundation of our knowledge and understanding. They conceptualize life and its truths in a way similar to a physicist or chemist, who studies the core of our world and its fundamental interactions. They philosophize for many reasons - to learn, to understand, to build strong foundations on which to study more or understand more, or any number of other reasons.
There are a number of well known philosophers that throughout the ages have had different impacts on their society and have swayed ours today. Here are some links to lists of philosophers:
The Ancient Greek Philosophers
Socrates
Athens
(c.469-399 BCE) Socrates is remembered more for how he taught than for what he taught. He liked to appear ignorant and ask a lot of questions, thus helping people to find answers on their own -- a technique that became known as the Socratic Method. He is also remembered for his death. Accused of corrupting youth and disbelieving in the gods, he was sentenced to commit suicide by drinking poison. Socrates left behind no writings and everything we know about him is based on what Plato and his other students wrote.
Plato
Athens
(428-327 BCE) A student of Socrates, Plato founded The Academy in Athens and became one of the greatest figures in the entire history of philosophy. He believed in the existence of ideal forms, residing beyond the physical world and known by reason alone, upon which our world of senses is based. He expressed this theory most clearly in his famous piece "The Myth of the Cave".
Aristotle
Athens
(c.384-322 BCE2) A student of Plato, Aristotle is perhaps the most influential of all the ancient Greek philosophers. He is famous for his empirical approach to studying nature, his theory of four causes (material, formal, efficient and final), and his development of formal logic. He was also a tutor for Alexander the Great.
Modern Philosophers
Rene Descartes
French
(1596-1650) Descartes is often called the father of modern philosophy. Together with Spinoza (see below) and Gottfried Leibniz, he is considered one of the three great continental rationalists. He is also known for espousing a dualistic worldview.
Descartes made many important contributions to the field of mathematics but is perhaps most famous for his saying "Cogito ergo sum" (Latin for "I think, therefore I am"). Basically, he wanted to know whether or not there was anything in this world that we could really know for sure. He started by doubting everything, even his own existence. However, he came to the conclusion that if he was thinking about the question, "Do I exist?" then he must exist, otherwise there wouldn't be an "I" to ask the question.
Voltaire
French
(1694-1778) Voltaire was the pen name for Francois-Marie Arouet, one of the key figures of the Enlightenment era. His ideas on civil liberties and social reform helped pave the way for the French and American revolutions. As a deist, he focused more on understanding nature through the use of reason as opposed to making appeals to authorities such as the church.
Immanuel Kant
German
(1724-1804) Kant is often considered to be the most important modern philosopher. This is because he built a bridge between rationalism and empiricism. He believed that all knowledge comes from the senses but is filtered through our rational minds. Therefore there is a difference between how things really are (the thing in itself) and how things are experienced by us (the thing for me).
Karl Marx
German
(1818-1883) Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto, which opens with the lines, "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles" and thus laid the groundwork for modern communism and socialism
Jean-Paul Sartre
French
(1905-1980) Sartre is probably the most famous existentialist and is known for the phrase "existence precedes essence". Instead of starting with the idea of purpose and then humans existing because of that purpose, existentialists start with the existence of humans and emphasize that human's must create their own meaning and purpose.
Sartre's lover, Simone de Beauvoir was also a famous philosopher and an important feminist.
Important Philosophers to Adventure Education
John Dewey
American
(1859-1952) was a psychologist, philosopher, educator, social critic and political activist. He was born in Burlington, Vermont, on 20 October 1859. Dewey graduated from the University of Vermont in 1879, and received his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1884. He started his career at the University of Michigan, teaching there from 1884 to 1888 and 1889-1894, with a one year term at the University of Minnesota in 1888. In 1894 he became the chairman of the department of philosophy, psychology, and pedagogy at the University of Chicago. In 1899, John Dewey was elected president of the American Psychological Association, and in 1905 he became president of the American Philosophical Association. Dewey taught at Columbia University from 1905 until he retired in 1929, and occasionally taught as professor emeritus until 1939. During his years at Columbia he traveled the world as a philosopher, social and political theorist, and educational consultant. Among his major journeys are his lectures in Japan and China from 1919 to 1921, his visit to Turkey in 1924 to recommend educational policy, and a tour of schools in the USSR in 1928. Of course, Dewey never ignored American social issues. He was outspoken on education, domestic and international politics, and numerous social movements. Among the many concerns that attracted Dewey's support were women's suffrage, progressive education, educator's rights, the Humanistic movement, and world peace. Dewey died in New York City on 1 June 1952.
John Muir
American
(1838-1914) was America's most famous and influential naturalist and conservationist. He is one of California's most important historical personalities. He has been called "The Father of our National Parks," "Wilderness Prophet," and "Citizen of the Universe." He once described himself more humorously, and perhaps most accurately, as, a "poetico-trampo-geologist-botanist and ornithologist-naturalist etc. etc. !!!!" Legendary librarian and author Lawrence Clark Powell (1906-2001), (anticipating an event that was not to occur until 2006), said of him: "If I were to choose a single Californian to occupy the Hall of Fame, it would be this tenacious Scot who became a Californian during the final forty-six years of his life." More recently, famed documentary film maker Ken Burns said, "As we got to know him... he [John Muir] ascended to the pantheon of the highest individuals in our country; I'm talking about the level of Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King, and Thomas Jefferson, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Jackie Robinson -- people who have had a transformational effect on who we are."
David A. Kolb
American
(1939-)
David A. Kolb is Professor of Organizational Behavior in the Weatheread School of Management. He joined the School in 1976. Born in 1939, Kolb received his Batchelor of Arts from Knox College in 1961, his MA from Harvard in 1964 and his PhD from Harvard in 1967. Besides his work on experiential learning, David A. Kolb is also known for his contribution to thinking around organizational behaviour (1995a; 1995b). He has an interest in the nature of individual and social change, experiential learning, career development and executive and professional education.
Willi Unsoeld
American
(1926-1979)1963, was one of the first Americans to climb Mt. Everest, via a more difficult route.He played a leading role in the Pacific Crest Outward Bound School before moving to Evergreen College. He was a charismatic and inspiring spokesperson for the outdoor education movement in North America. Unsoeld's philosophy focused on:knowing the sacred in nature,the importance of risk in education and getting personal experience rather than relying on the experience of others,all rolled into good humor.
Kurt Hahn
American
(1886-1974)was a key figure in the development of experiential education. He was the founder of the the Atlantic College, the first United World College, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, Gordonstoun, Outward Bound, and Salem. In addition, many other institutions, such as the Atlantic Challenge, the Kurt Hahn Trust, and Round Square, were initiated by others who were inspired by his ideas.
0 comments:
Post a Comment