Karl Heinrich Marx (1818 - 1883) was a Germanphilosopher,

political theorist and revolutionary of the 19th Century. Both

a scholar and a political activist, Marx is often called
the father of Communism, and certainly his Marxist theory
provided the intellectual base for various subsequent forms
of Communism.

Marxism, the philosophical and political school or tradition his

work gave rise to, is a variety
of radical or revolutionary Socialism conceived as
a reaction against the
rampant Capitalism and Liberalism of 19th Century Europe,
with working class self-emancipation as its goal. Among other
things, he is known for his analysis of history (particularly his concept of historical
materialism) and the search for a systemic understanding of socioeconomic change.

Although a relatively obscure figure in his own lifetime, his ideas began to exert a major
influence on workers' movements shortly after his death, especially with the Russian
Revolution of 1917. Despite the numerous debates among Marxists (and among political
philosophers in general) over how to interpret Marx's writings and how to apply his concepts
to current events and conditions, there are few parts of the world which have not
been significantly touched by Marx's ideas over the course of the 20th Century.

Socrates (c. 469 - 399 B.C.) was a hugely

important Greekphilosopher from the Classical period (often
known as the Socratic period in his honor). Unlike most of
the Pre-Socratic philosophers who came before him, who
were much more interested in establishing how the world works,
Socrates was more concerned with how people should behave,
and so was perhaps the first major philosopher of Ethics.

An enigmatic figure known to us only through other people's

accounts (principally the dialogues of his student Plato), he is
credited as one of the founders of Western Philosophy. He is
considered by some as the very antithesis of the Sophists of his
day, who claimed to have knowledge which they could transmit
to others (often for payment), arguing instead that knowledge should be pursued for its own
sake, even if one could never fully possess it.

He made important and lasting contributions in the fields

of Ethics, Epistemology and Logic, and particularly in the methodology of philosophy
(his Socratic Method or "elenchus"). His views were instrumental in the development of
many of the major philosophical movements and schools which came after him,
including Platonism (and the Neo-Platonism and Aristotelianism it gave rise
to), Cynicism, Stoicism and Hedonism.
 Plato (c. 428 - 348 B.C.) was a hugely
important Greekphilosopher and mathematician from
the Socratic (or Classical) period.

He is perhaps the best known, most widely studied and

most influential philosopher of all time. Together with
his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, he provided
the main opposition to the Materialist view of the world
represented by Democritus and Epicurus, and he helped to
lay the foundations of the whole of Western Philosophy.

In his works, especially his many dialogues, he

blended Ethics, Political
Philosophy, Epistemology, Metaphysics and moral psychology into
an interconnected and systematic philosophy. In addition to the ideas they contained (such as
his doctrine of Platonic Realism, Essentialism, Idealism, his famous theory of Forms and
the ideal of "Platonic love"), many of his writings are also considered superb pieces
of literature.

Plato was the founder of the famous Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher
learning in the western world. The philosophical school which he developed at the Academy
was known as Platonism (and its later off-shoot, Neo-Platonism).

Aristotle (384 - 322 B.C.) was an important Greekphilosopher

from the Socratic (or Classical) period, mainly based in Athens.
He is one of the most important founding figures in Western
Philosophy, and the first to create a comprehensive system of
philosophy,encompassing Ethics, Aesthetics, Politics, Metaph
ysics, Logic and science.

His own school of philosophy, known as Aristotelianism or

the Peripatetic School, influenced almost all later philosophical
thinking, particularly the Medieval movements such
as Scholasticism, Averroism and Avicennism. istotle developed
the earlier philosophical work of Socrates and Plato in a
more practical and down-to-earth manner, and was the first to
create a comprehensive system of philosophy,
encompassing Ethics, Metaphysics, Aesthetics, Logic, Epistemology, Politics and Science.H
e rejected the Rationalismand Idealism espoused by Platonism, and advocated the
characteristic Aristotelian virtue of "phronesis" (practical wisdom or prudence). Another
cornerstone of Aristotelianism is the idea of teleology (the idea that all things are designed
for, or directed toward, a final result or purpose).
 Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) was a German philosopher of
the Age of Enlightenment. He is regarded as one of the most
important thinkers of modern Europe, and his influence on
Western thought is immeasurable. He was the starting
point and inspiration for the German Idealism movement in
the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, and
more specifically for the Kantianism which grew up around
him in his own lifetime.

His works, especially those

on Epistemology, Metaphysicsand Ethics, such as his
masterworks the "Critique of Pure Reason" and the "Critique
of Practical Reason", achieved a complete paradigm shift and
moved philosophy beyond the debate between the Rationalists and Empiricists which had
dominated the Age of Reason and the early Age of Enlightenment, and indeed
to combine those two apparently contradictory doctrines.

His ideas and original thought have informed almost every philosophical movement since,
and he continues to challenge and influence philosophy (in both
the Analytic and Continental Philosophy camps) to this day.