Foucault (1926 – 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, social theorist, and literary critic. He theorized the relationship between power and knowledge, and examined the forms of social control through societal institutions. He is often considered to be a...
The following description of Cicero’s life is mainly quoted from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. There is also a short description of his life in the context of ancient political philosophy at the Stanford Encyclopedia. The ancient historian Plutarch wrote...
About Schelling From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: “Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling (1775–1854) is, along with J.G. Fichte and G.W.F. Hegel, one of the three most influential thinkers in the tradition of ‘German Idealism’. Although he is often regarded...
Martin Heidegger was an important German philosopher in the 20th century, who is famous for his theories on existentialism and phenomenology. He was associated with existentialism, despite his efforts to distance himself from it. He had a strong influence on...
Emmanuel Levinas is one of the most interesting European thinkers in the 20th Century. He is Jewish and grew up in Russia, studies philosophy with Husserl and Heidegger in Freiburg, fights with the French Army against the Germans, looses his...
Descartes’ Life René Descartes (1596 – 1650) was born near Tours, in France, and was educated for nine years at a Jesuit college. After graduating with a law degree from Poitiers at the age of twenty-two, he traveled in Europe, and...
David Joseph Bohm lived from 20 December 1917 to 27 October 1992. He was an American theoretical physicist who contributed innovative and unorthodox ideas to quantum theory, philosophy of mind, and neuro-psychology. He is considered to be one of the...
Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862) was an American philosopher and political theorist. He is also knows as an abolitionist, a naturalist, a critic of development, and he resisted paying taxes. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection...
A brief overview of the reading: Jeremy Bentham’s (1748-1832) principle of utility is open to the objection that it may well sacrifice the rights of the minority for the sake of the happiness of the majority. John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), himself...
Roger Bacon (not Francis, who is another philosopher) is an early philosopher and scientist. He reflects on the scientific method, and struggles with the balance between science and religion. Biography of Roger Bacon (From the Stanford Encyclopedia) “Roger Bacon (1214/1220–1292),...
Source: How to make our Ideas Clear (1878), from: Writings of Charles S Peirce, Volume 3, Indiana University Press. I am quoting sections 2,3, and 4. II The principles set forth in the first of these papers lead, at once,...
LET US GO BACK to the times in which modern man and the modern philosopher still believed in themselves and in a philosophy, when, in the context of the transcendental motivation, they struggled for a new philosophy with the responsible...
Source: The Structure of Behavior, published by Beacon Press, 1967. I am quoting some passages from the introduction and the conclusion. Introduction: The problem of the relations of consciousness and nature Our goal is to understand the relations of consciousness...
Source: The Emergence of Logical Empiricism (1996). There is no longer any doubt nowadays, that theoretical philosophy has standing only in close connection with the sciences, whether it seeks in them a basis on which it attempts to build further,...
This short article by Dewey was first published in Philosophical Review, 3, 337-341. Pretty much all libertarians nowadays insist that their doctrine of freedom of will is quite distinct from the older theory of indifferent choice. They suggest that their...
Source: General View of Positivism (1830-42). from A General View of Positivism, translated by J H Bridges, Robert Speller and Sons, 1957. The excerpt is from Chapter 1: “Its Intellectual Character.“ Our doctrine, therefore, is one which renders hypocrisy and...