Great Ideas of Philosophy

Biographical NotesAeschylus (525–456 B.C.): Earliest of the three greatest Greek tragedians, the others being Sophocles and Euripides;known for his masterpiece, The Oresteia trilogy. Aeschylus’s greatest contribution to the theater was the addition ofa second actor to his scenes. Previously, the action took place between a single actor and the Greek chorus.Anaximenes (585–525 B.C.): Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who held that the air, with its variety of contents, itsuniversal presence, and its vague associations in popular fancy with the phenomena of life and growth, is the sourceof all that exists.Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274): Dominican priest and scholastic philosopher whose “natural law” theory definedlaw as an ordinance of reason, promulgated by one who is responsible for the good of the community. His treatiseson law would form the foundation of critical inquiry in jurisprudence for centuries, integrating classical andChristian thought.Aristotle (384–322 B.C.): Greek philosopher who, along with Plato, is often considered to be one of the two mostinfluential philosophers in Western thought. Aristotle most valued knowledge gained from the senses and wouldcorrespondingly be classed among modern empiricists. Thus, Aristotle set the stage for what would eventuallydevelop into the scientific method centuries later.St. Augustine (354–430 C.E.): Roman Catholic bishop and Christian Neo-Platonist who was a leader in thewidespread merging of the Greek philosophical tradition and Judeo-Christian religious and scriptural traditions.Avicenna (980–1037): Inspired by Aristotle’s Metaphysics, articulated a mode of philosophical reasoning thatwould virtually define medieval thought and scholasticism. Put Arab scholarship and Islamic thought at the centerof naturalistic and scientific thinking.Francis Bacon (1561–1626): Generally considered the “prophet” of Newton and the father once removed of theauthority of experimental science. Known for his groundbreaking Novum Organum (“New Method”), whichestablished the authority of observation in discovering the nature of the external world and the authority of theexperimental method as the way to select the correct from competing theories of causation.Roger Bacon (1214–1294): Thirteenth-century English scholar who stated the basic program of experimentalscience. Known for his Opus Maius, considered one of the foundational works in the modern scientific movement.George Berkeley (1685–1783): Bishop of Cloyne in Ireland and a scientist. Offered a critique of the Lockean viewin his A Theory Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, which attempts to defeat materialism and theskepticism it spawns by establishing the essentially mental preconditions for a material world to exist at all.Josef Breuer (1842–1925): Viennese neurologist who worked with Sigmund Freud on the theory of repression.Ernst Brucke (1819–1892): One of Sigmund Freud’s teachers, along with Hermann von Helmholtz, Karl Ludwig,and DuBois-Reymond.Edmund Burke (1729–1797): British political writer and statesman. Burke’s essay on the sublime, written in theperiod of the Enlightenment, prefigures the Hegelian worldview, defining the sublime as that which strikes awe andterror in the heart.Pierre Cabanis (1757–1808): One of the leaders of thought in the French materialist tradition, known for his seriesof essays on the relationship between the psychological and physical dimensions of human life.Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.): Roman orator, lawyer, politician, and philosopher who consideredphilosophical study most valuable as the means to more effective political action.Auguste Comte (1798–1857): French writer whose works—a series of essays published collectively under the titleA Course of Positive Philosophy—influenced John Stuart Mill. One of the fathers of a version of positivism.Etienne Condillac (1715–1780): Locke’s translator in France, who offers the model of the “sentient statue” whosecharacter, knowledge, and conduct are carved into it by a ceaselessly impinging environment.Condorcet (1743–1794): French philosopher whose Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the HumanMind, written while he was hiding from France’s new “liberators” during the Reign of Terror, delivers the idea of42©2004 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership