What is philosophy?

is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when
considered as an academic discipline.

Famous philosopher who contributed in history

Aristotle(384–322 BCE)

Aristotle is among the most important and influential thinkers and teachers in human history,
often considered — alongside his mentor, Plato — to be a father of Western Philosophy.” Born in
the northern part of ancient Greece, his writings and ideas on metaphysics, ethics, knowledge, and
methodological inquiry are at the very root of human thought. Most philosophers who followed —
both those who echoed and those who opposed his ideas — owed a direct debt to his wide-
ranging influence. Aristotle’s enormous impact was a consequence both of the breadth of his
writing and his personal reach during his lifetime.

In addition to being a philosopher, Aristotle was also a scientist, which led him to consider an
enormous array of topics, and largely through the view that all concepts and knowledge are
ultimately based on perception. A small sampling of topics covered in Aristotle’s writing includes
physics, biology, psychology, linguistics, logic, ethics, rhetoric, politics, government, music, theatre,
poetry, and metaphysics.

Aristotle’s Big Ideas

Asserted the use of logic as a method of argument and offered the basic methodological template
for analytical discourse;

Espoused the understanding that knowledge is built from the study of things that happen in the
world, and that some knowledge is universal — a prevailing set of ideas throughout Western
Civilization thereafter;

Defined metaphysics as “the knowledge of immaterial being,” and used this framework to
examine the relationship between substance and essence

Socrates (470–399 BCE)

A necessary inclusion by virtue of his role as, essentially, the founder of Western Philosophy,
Socrates is nonetheless unique among entrants on this list for having produced no written works
reflecting his key ideas or principles. Socrates is best known as a teacher of thought and insight, it
is perhaps appropriate that his most widely recognized contribution is a way of approaching
education that remains fundamentally relevant even today. The so-called Socratic Method, which
involves the use of of questioning and discourse to promote open dialogue on complex topics and
to lead pupils to their own insights, is on particular display in the Platonic dialogues. His inquisitive
approach also positioned him as a central social and moral critic of the Athenian leadership, which
ultimately led to his trial and execution for corrupting the minds of young Athenians.

Socrates’ Big Ideas

Argued that Athenians were wrong-headed in their emphasis on families, careers, and politics at
the expense of the welfare of their souls;
Is sometimes attributed the statement “I know that I know nothing,” to denote an awareness of
his ignorance, and in general, the limitations of human knowledge;

Believed misdeeds were a consequence of ignorance, that those who engaged in nonvirtuous
behavior did so because they didn’t know any better.

Plato (428/427?–348/347? BCE)

Greek philosopher and teacher Plato did nothing less than found the first institution of higher
learning in the Western World, establishing the Academy of Athens and cementing his own status
as the most important figure in the development of western philosophical tradition. As the pupil of
Socrates and the mentor to Aristotle, Plato is the connecting figure in what might be termed the
great triumvirate of Greek thought in both philosophy and science. Plato founded political
philosophy, introducing both the dialectic and dialogic forms of writing as ways to explore various
areas of thought. (Often, in his dialogues, he employed his mentor Socrates as the vessel for his
own thoughts and ideas.) While he was not the first individual to partake of the activity of
philosophy, he was perhaps the first to truly define what it meant, to articulate its purpose, and to
reveal how it could be applied with scientific rigor. This orientation provided a newly concreted
framework for considering questions of ethics, politics, knowledge, and theology.

Plato’s Big Ideas

Expressed the view, often referred to as Platonism, that those whose beliefs are limited only to
perception are failing to achieve a higher level of perception, one available only to those who can
see beyond the material world;

Articulated the theory of forms, the belief that the material world is an apparent and constantly
changing world but that another, invisible world provides unchanging causality for all that we do
see;

Held the foundational epistemological view of “justified true belief,” that for one to know that a
proposition is true, one must have justification for the relevant true proposition.

Pythagoras (570 BC–495 BC)

Pythagoras founded a philosophical school which gained a vast following. This included many
prominent women: some modern scholars think that Pythagoras wanted women to be taught
philosophy alongside men. Though he is known far more for his theories and ideas in mathematics
than in philosophy. He is best known in the modern day for the Pythagorean Theorem, a
mathematical formula which states that the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to
the sum of the squares on the other two sides. Pythagoras concluded that mathematics and music
were interconnected and that knowledge of one area led to an understanding of the other,
according to the University of Connecticut (opens in new tab). He also believed that music had
healing properties and would often play his lyre for the sick and dying.