0:03 philosophy is fundamental to everyone on
0:05 some level we all philosophize because
0:07 it is in our nature to ponder the
0:09 meaning of our lives and the world
0:11 around us the process of meaningful
0:13 thought allows us to question things
0:16 develop ideas and ultimately progress as
0:18 a society this is represented in the
0:20 Greek word for philosophy philosophia
0:23 which translates to love for wisdom for
0:24 thousands of years some of the greatest
0:26 philosophers have contributed thoughts
0:27 and insights that have influenced
0:30 developments in science learn
0:33 governments societies Human
0:35 Relationships there have been so many
0:37 notable philosophers over the years but
0:40 who are the truly great philosophers the
0:42 thinkers whose ideas provoked change and
0:45 opened up completely new possibilities
0:46 the first records of the most
0:47 influential philosophers go all the way
0:49 back to ancient Greece and China in
0:51 ancient Greece Socrates is considered to
0:53 be one of the most important
0:55 philosophers in history as his ideas
0:56 laid the foundation for Western
0:58 philosophy similarly in China the
1:00 teachings of confucious laid the
1:02 foundation for Eastern philosophy in
1:04 fact he was so influential that many
1:06 regard Confucianism as both a religion
1:08 and a philosophy let's take a look at
1:10 both and then work our way forward
1:13 Socrates was born in 469 B.C while he
1:15 didn't write down any of his ideas his
1:17 followers and students took note of his
1:18 speeches before publishing them and
1:20 spreading the word socrates's philosophy
1:22 was based on the pursuit of an ethical
1:25 and moral life he was particularly
1:27 interested in how to best live one's
1:29 life he believed that in order to live a
1:30 good life one has how to develop moral
1:33 virtues such as Justice courage and
1:36 wisdom Socrates was especially focused
1:38 on the acquisition of knowledge as he
1:40 believed that through wisdom came true
1:42 virtue these ideas were massive
1:44 Inspirations for his followers one of
1:45 whom was also able to become one of the
1:48 great philosophers as well Plato but
1:50 we'll come back to him later confucious
1:53 lived from 551 to 479 bcee and his
1:55 philosophy still shapes much of the
1:56 culture in East Asian countries
2:00 including China Taiwan Korea Japan and
2:02 Vietnam however many of his ideas are
2:05 applicable to any society for confucious
2:07 was dedicated to the pursuit of living a
2:09 virtuous life not unlike Socrates
2:11 confusious was focused on people
2:13 becoming their best possible selves
2:15 while also living harmoniously with
2:17 others his disciples and students wrote
2:19 down his musings on how to build good
2:21 character and they've been a Mainstay of
2:23 several cultures ever since perhaps the
2:25 foundation of confucius's teachings is
2:27 the classic notion that we should not do
2:29 unto others what you would not want
2:31 others to do to you he also believed
2:33 that education was the key to developing
2:36 wisdom which in turn led to Virtue if a
2:38 person was virtuous that would enhance
2:39 social harmony which was Paramount in
2:42 his ideas the concept of harmonious
2:44 group is one that is Central to many
2:46 East Asian cultures where the
2:48 Cooperative group is considered more
2:50 important than the individual getting
2:52 back to Greece Plato lived from 428 to
2:56 347 BCE and is regarded as the father of
2:58 Western philosophy he was a prolific
3:00 writer and wrote many detail essays on a
3:02 broad range of topics from government
3:05 and education to reality truth and
3:07 nature Plato was especially interested
3:09 in the theory of reality which he wrote
3:11 about extensively in his most famous
3:13 book The Republic in it he reasons that
3:15 the physical world is not actually the
3:17 real world and instead our Ultimate
3:20 Reality exists beyond our physical world
3:21 another theme that gripped play though
3:23 was the concept of everyone having to
3:25 balance their moral Soul he thought that
3:27 each person had the power to determine
3:29 right from wrong in order to become
3:32 truly morally centered humans Plato was
3:34 opposed to the Greek style of democracy
3:37 and argued for a more inclusive Society
3:38 where every person works for the whole
3:40 of society this included a greater
3:42 sharing of wealth and increased status
3:44 of women following in the steps of
3:46 Socrates and Plato came arguably the
3:48 greatest philosopher of them all
3:50 Aristotle Aristotle lived from 384 to
3:54 322 BCE and his ideas and his theories
3:55 have helped to shape future
3:56 civilizations right up until the present
3:59 day to say he was a prolific thinker is
4:01 a bit of an understatement Aristotle
4:03 contributed groundbreaking insights into
4:05 the fields as diverse as metaphysics
4:08 ethics Logic the Mind science moral
4:10 philosophy moral psychology political
4:12 philosophy and Aesthetics he was also
4:15 the first true empirical scientist that
4:17 we know of he recognized and introduced
4:20 these specific scientific Fields biology
4:23 chemistry botony physics embryology
4:25 zoology after distinguishing these
4:27 different fields Aristotle then
4:28 performed a comprehensive studies and
4:30 documentation work that is still
4:33 relevant today in 350 CE in Alexandria
4:35 Egypt one of the world's first brilliant
4:37 mathematicians was born she was hpaa
4:39 daughter of the famed Egyptian
4:41 philosopher Theon HIPAA lived in a time
4:43 when the woman's role in society was
4:45 decidedly minor yet she overcame these
4:47 prejudices to establish herself as one
4:49 of the greatest minds of her time HIPAA
4:51 was a revered public speaker a
4:54 mathematician an astronomer a teacher
4:56 she taught the principles of mathematics
4:58 and astronomy and introduced the
5:00 astrolabe which was used help ships
5:02 navigate she wrote algebraic formulas
5:04 broke down mathematic basics for the
5:06 masses and developed devices used for
5:08 measuring fluids as we enter the Middle
5:10 Ages St Augustine of Hippo and his
5:12 theological philosophy shaped the path
5:13 for much of medieval and modern
5:15 Christian beliefs St Augustine was born
5:18 in 354 CE in what is now Algeria he
5:20 traveled and wrote extensively about a
5:22 wide range of topics ranging from Evil
5:25 versus good the pursuit of wisdom God
5:27 and creation and the workings of the
5:29 Mind Augustine firmly believed that a
5:31 true philosopher is a lover of God
5:34 because true wisdom is aligned with God
5:36 like some of the great philosophers
5:37 before him Augustine also taught the
5:39 importance of creating unity and peace
5:41 in society he wrote that by
5:43 understanding God people could acquire
5:44 the wisdom needed to create what he
5:47 called a social love while a large
5:48 amount of Augustine's philosophy was
5:49 centered around the human relationship
5:52 with God he was also fascinated with the
5:54 workings of the body and the mind this
5:55 was very much the focus of another of
5:58 the great philosophers Renee deart deart
6:01 was born in France in 1596 and he's
6:02 often been credited as the father of
6:04 modern philosophy one of his major
6:07 teachings was known as Mind Body dualism
6:08 this explored the notion that the human
6:10 mind and body are completely distinct
6:13 from each other deart saw the Mind as a
6:15 thinking thing that was an immaterial
6:17 matter there was a separate entity to
6:19 the physical being or the body he then
6:21 argued that the two could theoretically
6:24 exist without each other theart was also
6:25 fascinated with the notion of
6:28 discovering real truth that is truth
6:30 without any doubt he concluded that if
6:32 he was aware of his own thoughts then
6:34 there was no doubt of his existence this
6:36 Theory led to one of philosophy's most
6:39 famous and quoted quotes I think
6:41 therefore I am in the 17th century John
6:43 lck established himself as one of the
6:45 most influential political philosophers
6:46 of the modern era the English
6:48 philosopher helped pave the way for
6:50 liberalism with his famous writing the
6:52 two treatises of government in this he
6:54 disputed the claim that all people are
6:56 subjects to a monarch and that every
6:58 person has the right to life liberty and
7:01 property lock was a strong proponent of
7:03 limited government he conceived that
7:04 while some of you know some form of
7:06 government was necessary everyone was
7:08 entitled to a stable and comfortable
7:09 life without too much government
7:12 intervention Lock's views on a system of
7:13 Liberty for the people strongly influen
7:15 the founding Charter of the United
7:17 States and other democracies Emanuel
7:20 Kant lived from 1724 to 1804 and was
7:22 another of the great modern philosophers
7:24 one of kant's major beliefs was of human
7:27 autonomy he reasoned that human
7:28 understanding comes from the laws of
7:29 nature which lead to all of our
7:31 experiences and perceptions of the world
7:33 K went on to explain that scientific
7:35 knowledge morality and religious belief
7:37 are all sound because they're based on
7:40 human autonomy Friedrich nche was a 19th
7:42 century German philosopher who was also
7:43 interested in the concept of morality
7:46 nche famously wrote that God is dead
7:48 arguing that the development of Science
7:50 and Technology was killing Christianity
7:51 in one of his most well-known books
7:54 Beyond Good and Evil he proposes that
7:56 the morality that we know and live by is
7:58 no longer relevant in the modern world
8:00 as we move into the modern
8:02 Simon deor is surely one of the most
8:04 influential thinkers of the 20th century
8:05 and I might have butchered the name but
8:08 we're going to roll past that born in
8:11 France in 1908 they were a novelist
8:13 feminist activist prolifically on a
8:15 person's absolute freedom of choice and
8:17 the responsibility and consequences that
8:19 come with it she emphasized the
8:20 importance of choice being derived from
8:23 Individual spontaneity not outside
8:25 forces finally no mention of great
8:27 philosophers would be complete without
8:30 ludvig wienstein V Stein claimed that
8:31 the structure of language mirrors the
8:33 structure of reality he saw language as
8:35 a form of life he was fascinated with
8:37 how language is used and how it
8:39 represents the world around us he
8:40 thought that people reflect the world
8:42 they know through their language saying
8:44 the limits of my language means the
8:47 limits of my world these are just some
8:49 of the world's great philosophers there
8:51 have been and will continue to be many
8:53 more could be you too their theories and
8:55 ideas have significantly helped to shape
8:57 the world that we live in today it's
8:59 exciting to imagine how the philosophers
9:00 and think ERS of the future might
9:02 continue to ask questions offer insights
9:04 and change the way we see the world around
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