The famous Greek philosopher Plato (426 - 347 BC) considered the beginning of all things to be ideas that transform matter into one or another object. In scientific debates, he often argued that every concrete thing is, as it were, “involved” in its idea. Such reasoning amused the cynic Diogenes from Sinop (404 - 323 BC) - the same one who lived in a huge clay barrel dug into the ground. One day, while he was eating dried figs, Plato approached him. “Take part too,” Diogenes kindly invited him. The sage ate several fruits, and it was then that his opponent demonstrated to him the difference between the world of ideas and the world of things.
“I said: take part,” he noted. - But I didn’t say: - eat...
Students ancient Greek philosopher Plato was once asked to define man, to which he replied: “Man is an animal on two legs, devoid of feathers.” However, after Diogenes of Sinope brought a plucked rooster to the Academy and presented it as Plato's man, Plato had to add to his definition: “And with flat nails.”
Plato was not only a philosopher, but also an Olympic champion. Twice he won competitions in pankration - a mixture of boxing and wrestling without rules.
Once, already an old man, Diogenes saw a boy drinking water from a handful, and in frustration threw his cup out of his bag, saying: “The boy has surpassed me in the simplicity of life.” He also threw away the bowl when he saw another boy who, having broken his bowl, was eating lentil soup from a piece of eaten bread.
When Alexander the Great came to Attica, he, of course, wanted to get to know the famous “outcast” like many others. Plutarch says that Alexander waited a long time for Diogenes himself to come to him to express his respect, but the philosopher spent his time calmly at home. Then Alexander himself decided to visit him. He found Diogenes in Crania (in a gymnasium near Corinth) while he was basking in the sun. Alexander approached him and said: “I - great king Alexander". “And I,” answered Diogenes, “the dog Diogenes.” “And why do they call you a dog?” “Whoever throws a piece, I wag, whoever doesn’t throw, I bark, whoever evil person- I bite.” “Are you afraid of me?” - asked Alexander. “What are you,” asked Diogenes, “evil or good?” “Good,” he said. “And who is afraid of good?” Finally, Alexander said: “Ask me whatever you want.” “Move away, you are blocking the sun for me,” said Diogenes and continued to bask. On the way back, in response to the jokes of his friends who were making fun of the philosopher, Alexander allegedly even remarked: “If I were not Alexander, I would like to become Diogenes.” Ironically, Alexander died on the same day as Diogenes, June 10, 323 BC. e.
When the Athenians were preparing for war with Philip of Macedon and bustle and excitement reigned in the city, Diogenes began to roll his barrel in which he lived through the streets. When asked why he was doing this, Diogenes replied: “Everyone is busy, so am I.”
One day, after washing, Diogenes was leaving the bathhouse, and acquaintances who were just about to wash were walking towards him. “Diogenes,” they asked in passing, “how is it full of people?” “That’s enough,” Diogenes nodded. Immediately he met other acquaintances who were also going to wash and also asked: “Hello, Diogenes, are there a lot of people washing?” “There are almost no people,” Diogenes shook his head. Returning once from Olympia, when asked whether there were many people there, he replied: “There are a lot of people, but very few people.” And one day he went out into the square and shouted: “Hey, people, people!”; but when the people came running, they attacked him with a stick, saying: “I called people, not scoundrels.”
One day Diogenes came to a lecture with Anaximenes of Lampsacus, sat in the back rows, took a fish out of a bag and raised it above his head. First one listener turned around and began to look at the fish, then another, then almost everyone. Anaximenes was indignant: “You ruined my lecture!” “But what is a lecture worth,” said Diogenes, “if some salted fish upset your reasoning?”
One day someone brought him to a luxurious home and remarked: “You see how clean it is here, don’t spit somewhere, it will be all right for you.” Diogenes looked around and spat in his face, declaring: “Where to spit if there is no worse place.”
Seeing an incompetent archer, Diogenes sat down near the target and explained: “This is so that it doesn’t hit me.”
One day Diogenes began to give a philosophical lecture in the city square. Nobody listened to him. Then Diogenes screeched like a bird, and a hundred onlookers gathered around. “This, Athenians, is the price of your mind,” Diogenes told them. - When I told you smart things, no one paid attention to me, and when I chirped like an unreasonable bird, you listen to me with your mouth open.
Diderot's condescension towards people sometimes reached incomprehensible limits, to the point of selflessness. So, one day some young blackmailer came to him, handed him a thick notebook and asked him to read it. The manuscript turned out to be an evil and furious satire on Diderot.?
“Dear sir,” Diderot told him, “I don’t know you, I could not do you any harm; tell me, how should I explain your attacks on me?
“I simply have nothing to eat,” the young man admitted.
He hoped that Diderot would give him money to get rid of it.
“Well,” said Diderot calmly, “you are not the first to resort to this method of subsistence.” Many are willing to pay for silence. But the fact is that you can gain much more benefit from your notebook. Please contact the Duke of Orleans with her. He can’t stand me and he’ll pay well for libeling me, much better than I would pay myself. Dedicate your satire to him, bind it well, put his coat of arms on the binding and present it to him; you can be sure that he will be generous to you
“But I don’t know the Duke at all and I won’t be able to write a dedication to him,” said the blackmailer.
Diderot immediately sat down at the table and wrote a dedication. The fraudster took his manuscript, did everything as Diderot advised him, received a generous handout from the Duke and even came to thank Diderot.
Denis Diderot forgot days, months, years and the names of loved ones.
Ancient sources report funny story in the life of the great philosopher Ancient Greece Aristotle and his young student, King Alexander the Great. The latter actively comprehended the sensory world and came under the strong influence of the hetera Felida. Seeing the detrimental nature of this connection for the state, Aristotle asked Fellis to leave Alexander. Felida agreed to do this, but on the condition that Aristotle would ride her around the room on his back, that is, become a “horse”. Seeing no other ways to solve the problem, Aristotle agreed.
In the midst of the “races,” Alexander entered the room and saw Felida riding the philosopher. Aristotle was very embarrassed and, turning to Alexander, said:
- You see what she does to me, an old, wise man. Now imagine what it will turn you into.
This lesson was enough for the king.
One man once tormented Aristotle with his absurd stories and his numerous sayings:
“Well, isn’t this amazing, Aristotle?”
To which the irritated philosopher replied:
“That’s not surprising, but the fact that someone with legs is still standing next to you.”
Another man, after a long and empty chat, said to Aristotle:
“I spoke to you, philosopher.”
To which he replied:
“No, I swear by Zeus, I didn’t even notice.”
One French doctor, having arrived from Russia, began to tell Voltaire that his good opinion about Russia is greatly exaggerated. Voltaire did not want to prove his opinion: “My friend! I’m so afraid of the cold weather, but the Russians give me lovely fur coats!”
Voltaire highly appreciated the scientific works of Dr. Haller, a Swiss anatomist and physiologist.
One day he was told that Haller did not speak so well of the works of Voltaire himself. Voltaire responded:
- It is the destiny of mortals to make mistakes. Maybe we're both wrong.
Voltaire was once asked the question: “What is the difference between good and beautiful?” Voltaire, after thinking, gave the answer: “The good requires proof, but the beautiful does not.”
Voltaire was asked the question: “What is your relationship with God?”, to which he replied: “We greet each other, but we don’t talk.”
Voltaire was once asked the question: “Is there anything in the world that your irony has not yet raised?” Voltaire responded unpredictably: “Of course it exists! My personal person is unlikely to be the target of irony.”
The young man asked Socrates:
- Sage, tell me, should I marry or not?
- Do as you wish - you will still regret it.
Once, even after receiving a kick, Socrates endured it, and when someone was surprised, he replied: “If a donkey kicked me, would I sue him?”
One day a man came to Socrates and said:
- Do you know what your friend says about you?
Socrates answered him:
- Before you tell me this news, sift it through three sieves. The first is the sieve of truth. Are you sure that what you are about to tell me is true?
- Well, I heard it from others.
- See, you're not sure. The second sieve is the sieve of goodness. Will this news make me happy, will it be pleasant for me?
- Not at all.
- And finally, the third sieve is the sieve of benefit. Will this news be useful?
- I doubt.
- You see, you want to tell me news that has no truth or goodness, and besides, it is useless. Why say it then?
The famous Plato was not only a philosopher. He was also an Olympic champion. He won the pankration competition twice. This is a mixture of wrestling and boxing. By another participant Olympic Games was Pythagoras. He was a champion in fist fighting.
Rousseau, standing bareheaded in the sun, forced his brain to work more intensely. Schiller constantly kept his feet in cold water, working on his works.
The French philosopher, educator and writer Diderot forgot the names of his closest people, days and months, as well as years.
The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer refused to pay at hotels and became furious and angry if his last name was written after two paragraphs.
In 347 BC. after the death of Plato, Aristotle became a mentor to the son of the Macedonian king, the future Alexander the Great.
Socrates despised luxury. He believed that what is necessary in life is only valuable.
Socrates at the age of 70, in 399 BC. e. convicted, sentenced to death and executed.
The very first collection described in scientific work, was Aristotle's collection. He was a great plant collector. He collected and described many plants from different countries. The collection was mainly supplied great Alexander Macedonian.
Ancient legends said that the famous Diogenes lived in a barrel. But, in reality, his shelter was a very large clay vessel - pithos. It was buried in the ground and grain was stored there.
Distrust and extreme suspicion of people distinguished Arthur Schopenhauer. He was very afraid that he would die from a contagious disease, so in case of a possible epidemic, he quickly changed his place of residence.
Pythagoras was nicknamed this because he was a great orator. Translated from Greek language"Pythagoras" means "persuasive by speech." After his first public lecture, 2 thousand people followed him. His followers were vegetarians and did not sacrifice animals, since Pythagoras believed that souls transmigrated into the bodies of people and animals.
It is believed that Pythagoras invented the “mug of greed” so that all slaves would drink equally, because there was little water on Samos. It had to be poured to a certain limit. When this mark was exceeded, the water completely flowed out of this mug.
Greek philosopher, mathematician and astronomer Archytas of Tarensky created the first aircraft in the 4th century BC e. Its shape was similar to a bird, and with the help of a steam jet it could fly 200 meters.
Socrates did not write down a word of his teaching. Today we know his thoughts thanks to the notes of his student Plato.
The floor of the famous French philosopher and writer Montesquieu was full of dents and indentations from the constant twitching of his legs.
Confucius considered the highest goal of human activity to be service to the people, and therefore he was always a poor petty official. Only after his death did followers of his teachings begin to write down his thoughts, and Confucianism began to conquer successive Chinese dynasties.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT PHILOSOPHERS
The famous Plato was not only a philosopher. He was also an Olympic champion. He won the pankration competition twice. This is a mixture of wrestling and boxing. Another participant in the Olympic Games was Pythagoras. He was a champion in fist fighting.
Rousseau, standing bareheaded in the sun, forced his brain to work more intensely. Schiller constantly kept his feet in cold water while working on his works.
The French philosopher, educator and writer Diderot forgot the names of his closest people, days and months, as well as years.
The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer refused to pay at hotels and became furious and angry if his last name was written after two paragraphs.
In 347 BC. after the death of Plato, Aristotle became a mentor to the son of the Macedonian king, the future Alexander the Great.
Socrates at the age of 70, in 399 BC. e. convicted, sentenced to death and executed.
The very first collection described in a scientific work was Aristotle's collection. He was a great plant collector. He collected and described many plants from different countries. The collection was mainly supplied by the great Alexander the Great.
Ancient legends said that the famous Diogenes lived in a barrel. But, in reality, his shelter was a very large clay vessel - pithos. It was buried in the ground and grain was stored there.
Distrust and extreme suspicion of people distinguished Arthur Schopenhauer. He was very afraid that he would die from a contagious disease, so in case of a possible epidemic, he quickly changed his place of residence.
Pythagoras was nicknamed this because he was a great orator. Translated from Greek, “Pythagoras” means “persuasive by speech.” After his first public lecture, 2 thousand people followed him. His followers were vegetarians and did not sacrifice animals, since Pythagoras believed that souls transmigrated into the bodies of people and animals.
It is believed that Pythagoras invented the “mug of greed” so that all slaves would drink equally, because there was little water on Samos. It had to be poured to a certain limit. When this mark was exceeded, the water completely flowed out of this mug.
The Greek philosopher, mathematician and astronomer Archytas of Taren created the first flying machine in the 4th century. BC e. Its shape was similar to a bird, and with the help of a steam jet it could fly 200 meters.
Socrates did not write down a word of his teaching. Today we know his thoughts thanks to the notes of his student Plato.
The floor of the famous French philosopher and writer Montesquieu was full of dents and indentations from the constant twitching of his legs.
Confucius considered the highest goal of human activity to be service to the people, and therefore he was always a poor petty official. Only after his death did followers of his teachings begin to write down his thoughts, and Confucianism began to conquer successive Chinese dynasties.
“I know that I don’t know anything,” widely famous saying Socrates. In addition to him, Plato recorded another Socratic phrase: “I always say that I know nothing, except perhaps one very small science - eroticism (the science of love). And I’m terribly strong at it.”
The Italian philosopher Cardano imagined that all governments were spying on him, and the meat that was served to him was specially impregnated with wax and sulfur.
The young man asked Socrates:
Sage, tell me whether I should marry or not.
Do what you want - you will still regret it.
When Karl Marx lay ill in bed shortly before his death, a maid asked him if he would like to leave some wise advice for future generations. Marx replied: “Get out of here! Last words are for fools who said little during their lifetime.”
Voltaire is often credited with the phrase: “I do not share your beliefs, but I am ready to die for your right to express them.” In fact, it was first used only in 1906 by the author of Voltaire’s biography, the English writer Evelyn Hall, who very freely paraphrased some of the philosopher’s thoughts.
American composer Jack Nitzsche, who wrote the music for such films as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and 9 1/2 Weeks, died on August 25, 2000. By a strange coincidence, exactly 100 years ago, on August 25, 1900, his namesake Friedrich Nietzsche died.
French politician Simone Weil was a prisoner of Auschwitz as a child and survived. Another Simone Weil, a French philosopher, as a sign of sympathy for prisoners of Nazism, limited her food intake to the level of rations in concentration camps, which led to her premature death.
10 Greatest Philosophers in History
It should be noted, first of all, that philosophy in its traditional sense is a science, and philosophers (like Aristotle) used their rationality to obtain information and scientific conclusions about the world around us. Only recently has philosophy begun to be considered a separate science.
John Locke
He is called the father of liberalism due to his efforts to promote the principles of humanism and individual freedom. They say that true liberalism, faith in equal rights before the law, begins precisely with Locke. His three natural rights were and are life, liberty and property. Locke did not approve of the European idea of aristocracy with its hereditary rights to land. The philosopher himself is responsible for the lack of aristocrats in America. And although Europe still has vestiges of the past in the form of kings and queens, this practice of inheritance has already disappeared. The real democratic idea came from John Locke.
Epicurus received a not very good reputation as a teacher of self-indulgence and indulgence in the excessive pleasures of life. He was loudly criticized by many Christian polemicists (those who waged war against any non-Christian thought), especially in the Middle Ages. Epicurus was considered an atheist.
Zeno of Citium
He may not be as famous as others, but Zeno founded the Stoic school. Stoicism is based on the idea that anything that makes us suffer is actually an error in our judgment and that we should always be in complete control of our emotions. Rage, delight, depression are shortcomings, so we are emotionally weak only when we allow ourselves to be. In other words, the world is what we make it.
Avicenna
His full name is Abu Ali Hussein ibn Abdallah ibn Sina. He lived in the Persian Empire from 980 to 1037 AD. In addition to his philosophical career, Avicenna was also an outstanding physicist. His 2 famous works are Medicines and the Canon of Medicine.
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas will forever be remembered in history as the man who possibly proved the existence of God by declaring that the universe must have been created by someone, since everything has a beginning and an end. All philosophers after him tried to either support or refute his theory.
Confucius
Supported significant principles of ethics and politics at the same time as the Greeks. We believe that the Greeks invented democracy, but Confucius wrote in his works that the best government is one that rules using ritual and the natural morality of the people, and not through bribery and coercion. Sounds natural to us, but he wrote it in 500-400 BC. This is the same principle of democracy that the Greeks developed: the main thing is the morality of the people, therefore the people rule.
Rene Descartes
Today he is considered the father of modern philosophy. He created analytical geometry based on the so-called coordinate method. He discovered the laws of refraction and reflection. Descartes defended the idea of dualism, which is defined as the power of the mind over the body. One can gain strength by ignoring the weakness of the human body and relying on the endless power of the mind. Descartes' most famous saying: I think, therefore I exist.
Apostle Paul
Jesus founded Christianity, but without Paul the religion would either have died out within a few hundred years or would have remained too insular to spread throughout the world as Christ wanted. There were many quarrels between Paul and Peter. Peter insisted that at least one or two Jewish traditions remain in the new faith. Paul said that faith in Christ is all that is needed, and there is no need for any customs in the form of refusing certain foods or circumcision. All the apostles wanted to preserve Christianity for themselves as a form of Judaism to which only Jews belonged. Paul was against this, arguing that Christ is the absolute good that the world has ever seen, and since he and his Father are omnipotent, the grace of Christ is powerful to save everyone, be they Jew, Gentile, or anyone else.
Plato lived in 428-348 BC. and founded the world's first Western school, the Academy of Athens. One of his most famous statements: Until philosophers become kings or kings begin to truly and correctly philosophize, until then there is no salvation from evils and suffering for the human race. He means that a person ruling a state or city must be wise.
Aristotle
Aristotle was the first thinker to create a comprehensive system of philosophy that covered all spheres of human development: sociology, philosophy, politics, logic, and physics. He said that existence has 4 principles: matter, form, efficient cause and purpose. Aristotle expressed his thoughts on every subject, abstract or concrete, and modern philosophy almost always bases its principles, ideas, concepts or discoveries on Aristotle's teachings.
1. “I know that I know nothing,” is a well-known saying of Socrates. In addition to him, Plato recorded another Socratic phrase: “I always say that I know nothing, except perhaps one very small science - eroticism (the science of love). And I’m terribly strong at it.”
2. Plato was not only a philosopher, but also an Olympic champion. Twice he won competitions in pankration - a mixture of boxing and wrestling without rules.
3. The Italian philosopher Cardano imagined that all governments were spying on him, and the meat that was served to him was specially impregnated with wax and sulfur.
4. It was said about Montesquieu that on the floor near the table where he studied, one could notice indentations from the constant twitching of his legs.
5. Rousseau made his brain work harder by standing in the sun with his head uncovered. Friedrich Schiller always kept his feet in cold water while working on his works.
6. Denis Diderot forgot days, months, years and the names of loved ones.
7. Arthur Schopenhauer became furious and refused to pay hotel bills if his last name was written after two paragraphs.
8. Disciples of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato once asked him to define a person, to which he replied: “A person is an animal on two legs, devoid of feathers.” However, after Diogenes of Sinope brought a plucked rooster to the Academy and presented it as Plato's man, Plato had to add to his definition: “And with flat nails.”
9. Queen of France Marie Antoinette is credited with the phrase “If they don’t have bread, let them eat cake!”, which she allegedly said after learning that the peasants were starving. But this phrase was first recorded by Jean-Jacques Rousseau even before the birth of Marie Antoinette. Apparently, it was said by some other queen or princess, but there is no clear answer as to who exactly.
10. After the death of Plato in 347 BC. e., Aristotle became a mentor to the son of the king of Macedonia, the future Alexander the Great.
11. The young man asked Socrates:
- Sage, tell me whether I should marry or not.
- Do as you wish - you will still regret it.
12. Socrates deeply despised luxury, believing that only what is necessary for life is valuable.
13. It is reliably known that in 399 BC. BC, when Socrates was about 70 years old, he was convicted, sentenced to death and executed.
14. First famous watch were sundial, which originated from the gnomon. But sundials have one major drawback - they need the sun, that is, if it is cloudy or night, the sundial cannot be used.
Therefore, in Babylon (or Egypt - scientists cannot determine for sure) in the 16th century BC, a clepsydra - a water clock - was invented. The design of the clepsydra is extremely simple - water dripped through the hole, and on the glass you could tell what time it was by the mark. The great Plato created an alarm clock based on the clepsydra - the flowing water compressed the air in the lower container in which there was a fuse.
At a certain pressure, the fuse opened and compressed air rushed into the figure of the flutist, passing through the flute he caused a sharp sound that woke up Plato’s students, calling them to practice.
Aristotle was an avid collector, collecting and describing a large number of plants from many countries. The main supplier of his collection was Alexander the Great.
The statements of ancient philosophers are as relevant today as they were two and a half millennia ago. Does this mean that the world has changed little since then or that the truths they thought about are truly eternal? If an ordinary person asks himself the question, how do I understand philosophy, then, most likely, he will associate this word with the ancient sages, it is so ancient.
In fact, philosophers have lived in all centuries, and they exist in the 21st century, since answers to basic questions, for example, about the essence of being and the meaning of life, have not yet been found.
The meaning of the thought process
If we go back to the very beginning, the term philosophy is based on two Greek words: phileo, which means to love, and sophia - wisdom. Thus, philosophy was originally understood as the love of wisdom, not of one individual, but of an entire community:
- The basis of this science is thinking, not studying anything, not believing or feeling.
- Philosophy is not the result of one person’s awareness of the truth, it is a collective reflection on it. In ancient times, a thinker put forward his theory, the reality of which he had to substantiate with facts, and then others began to think about it, sometimes it was in disputes that the truth was born.
It is necessary to delve into history to understand how philosophy was originally understood. It was perceived as a tool for achieving the truth about the essence of things. In ancient times, it was difficult for people to grasp with their minds all the phenomena and relationships in the world around them. By observing some separate fragment of it, for example, the ebb and flow of the sea, they expanded their consciousness, filling it with the experience of studying nature.
It was the thought process that made a person intelligent, since unconditional reflex behavior was inherent in him initially. For example, in order not to get burned by something hot, people do not reason, but instinctively withdraw their hand from the fire.
When there is a delay in reaction between action and sensation, which is filled by thinking about how it is safer or more profitable to act, then this is a manifestation of a philosophical approach.
Philosophers of antiquity
The first, pre-philosophical period was a special section of culture, as it was associated with practical everyday life. For example, Confucius taught how to behave in society according to the rule: do not do to others as you would not want them to do to you. Such sages lived not only in Ancient China, but also India.
These people cannot yet be called philosophers; they were thinkers. By studying their statements, one can get an idea of how philosophy was originally understood by the people of that time.
Thales, who lived from 625 to 545 BC, is considered the first real philosopher. e. His statement that everything is water is the work of the mind alone, since he did not rely on other sources, for example, mythology.
Reflecting on this topic, he was based solely on his observations of the nature of things and tried to explain properties by studying them. He came to the conclusion that the root cause of all living and inanimate nature is water by studying its various states: solid, gaseous and liquid.
The students and followers of Thales continued to develop the ideas of their teacher, thereby laying the foundation of the first philosophical school, without which there would have been neither Heraclitus, who believed that you cannot enter the same river twice, nor Pythagoras, who found a numerical pattern among a huge number of things and phenomena.
The most prominent representatives of the philosophical schools of antiquity are Socrates and Plato, Aristotle and Epicurus, Seneca. They lived before our era, but were looking for answers to the same questions that concern modern people.
Philosophers of the Middle Ages
The main teaching of the Middle Ages was the dogmas of the church, so the main work of philosophers of this period was to search for evidence of the existence of the Creator.
Since philosophy was originally understood as the love of wisdom and the search for truth through the processes of reflection and observation of nature, then during the complete decline of scientific thought, it almost degraded.
During the long and dark period of the Middle Ages, all the most famous thinkers were either associated with the church or submitted to its will, which is unacceptable, since philosophy is special shape knowledge of the world with the help of thoughts free from attachments to any dogmas.
The most famous thinkers of that time:
The main areas of philosophical debate at that time were the primacy of matter or idea, and the direction was theocentrism.
Renaissance
The main achievement of this period is the gradual liberation of people's minds from the influence of religion, which, in turn, led to the flourishing of sciences, arts, literature and invention.
What was originally understood as during the Renaissance began to be called the return of ancient ideas of humanism, which were based on anthropocentrism. Man becomes the center of the Universe, and his study comes to the fore. For example:
Thanks to the thinkers of this time, one can see how philosophy was originally understood in antiquity and how much its features changed when the teachings of the ancient sages were revised and reworked.
New time
The seventeenth century gave the world a whole galaxy of great philosophers who greatly influenced the development of human thinking in the future.
If philosophy was originally understood as the love of wisdom, now knowledge and its practical applications. The thinkers of this time were divided into 2 camps: empiricists and rationalists. The first belonged to:
- Francis Bacon, who argued that knowledge is power, enabled people to free themselves from prejudices and religious dogmas by studying the world from the particular to the general.
- believed that knowledge should be based on experience, namely contact with nature and its perception through the senses.
- John Locke was of the opinion that there is nothing in the human mind that is not originally in his senses. It is through sensations that a person understands the world, reflects on its nature and makes scientific conclusions.
Empiricists tended to rely on feelings when understanding the world and the influence of circumstances on a person’s life.
Rationalists
Unlike the empiricists, the rationalists had a different opinion, for example:
Using the examples of the theories of scientists of the 17th century, one can see how philosophy was originally understood (the love of wisdom among the ancients) and to what level of human thinking it reached.
18th century philosophers
The Age of Enlightenment gave birth to the new kind philosophical schools, where the main intellectual battle was fought between concepts such as materialism and idealism. Among the great thinkers of that time, especially famous:
- Voltaire, who was an opponent of absolute monarchical power and the influence of the church on the minds of people. He was a freethinker who argued that there is no God.
- Jean Jacques Rousseau was a critic of progress and civilization, which gave rise to states, which led to the division of people according to social status.
- represented the materialists. He believed that the whole world is moving matter, within which atoms move.
- Immanuel Kant, on the contrary, was an idealist. So he put forward and proved the theory that the world has a beginning, and the opposite theory, that the world has no beginning. He is famous precisely for his antinomies - philosophical contradictions.
If philosophy was originally understood as the love of wisdom and freedom of thought, then the enlighteners of the 18th century brought it beyond the limits of the human mind to the understanding of matter.
19th century
The most striking philosophical trend that influenced the subsequent development of this science was positivism, the founder of which was Auguste Comte. He believed that everything should be based only on positive knowledge based on experience gained through experimentation.
If philosophy is usually described as a theory based on a person’s knowledge of the world through reflection on it, then Comte declared that it is no longer needed, since everything should be based on knowledge supported by facts. His theories became the impetus for the development of new directions in philosophy already in the 20th century.
Philosophy in the 20th century
Karl Popper was the first to separate the concepts of science and philosophy. If in previous centuries there were disputes between thinkers on this issue, then Popper finally proved that philosophy is not a science, but special kind a culture that has its own way of understanding the world.
Today this culture has penetrated into all spheres. There is a philosophy of art, religion, history, politics, economics, etc.
Genesis and the picture of the world
In the 20th century, the concept of a picture of the world appeared and became popular. To know how to understand philosophy, one must understand what it is:
- Initially, it was the knowledge of existence through reflection on various phenomena occurring in the world and everything that fills it.
- The next stage is the study of man and his place in reality.
- The next stage is development scientific knowledge, isolating philosophy into a separate discipline.
No science, due to the fact that it studies only part of the surrounding world, can represent it as a whole. This is only accessible to philosophy, since it is not a science, but it can take the best knowledge from it and use it to compose a picture of the world.
Essence of Man
At all times, philosophers have been interested in the meaning human life and its purpose. Today, more is known about these categories than the sages of antiquity, but no one has yet received definitive answers. Therefore, philosophy continues to study man as a microcosm in the whole universal organism.
