Philosophy Figures

Question 1

St. Thomas Aquinas

Answer 1

(1225-1274) 13th century Christian philosopher. Wrote “The Five Ways,” which outlined five proofs for the existence of God.

Question 2

Aristotle

Answer 2

(384-322 B.C.E.) Plato’s student who criticized the theory of Forms and developed a systematized logic.

Question 3

Augustine of Hippo

Answer 3

(354-430) 4th- and 5th- century bishop, philosopher, and neoplatonist.

Question 4

George Berkley

Answer 4

(1685-1753) Irish idealist philosopher who viewed mental representations and impressions as fundamental.

Question 5

René Descartes

Answer 5

(1596-1650) Important French rationalist philosopher and mathematician. Saw mind and body as distinct (Cartesian dualism). He is also famous for the quote “I think, therefore I am.”

Question 6

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Answer 6

(1770-1831) German idealist philosopher known for his theory of dialectic: “The thesis combines with the antithesis to form the synthesis of the two.” Also known for his teleological orientation.

Question 7

Martin Heidegger

Answer 7

(1889-1976) German philosopher who had a major influence on existentialism.

Question 8

Thomas Hobbes

Answer 8

(1588-1679) British materialist philosopher who viewed human existence as “nasty, brutish, and short.”

Question 9

David Hume

Answer 9

(1711-1776) Scottish empiricist philosopher. Questioned the necessity of the connection between cause and effect.

Question 10

Edmund Husserl

Answer 10

(1859-1938) German philosopher known as the father of phenomenology.

Question 11

William James

Answer 11

(1842-1910) American empiricist philosopher and psychologist. Known for his description of the flow of ideas as a “stream of consciousness.”

Question 12

Immanuel Kant

Answer 12

(1724-1804) German idealist philosopher best known for the “categorical imperative,” which states that a moral agent acts only in ways that could become universal laws.

Question 13

Søren Kierkegaard

Answer 13

(1813-1855) Danish existentialist philosopher.

Question 14

Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz

Answer 14

(1646-1716) German rationalist philosopher and mathematician.

Question 15

John Locke

Answer 15

(1632-1704) English empiricist philosopher who put forth many of the basic ideas of empiricism, including tabula rasa. Important figure in Age of Enlightenment.

Question 16

John Stuart Mill

Answer 16

(1806-1873) English empiricist philosopher known for his ethical writings on utilitarianism.

Question 17

Friedrich Nietzsche

Answer 17

(1844-1900) German philosopher best known for his concept of the Ubermensch (superman).

Question 18

William of Occam

Answer 18

(c. 1285-c. 1349) Fourteenth-century English philosopher who developed the notion of “parsimony.” According to Occam’s Razor, simpler explanations are preferable to more complex ones.

Question 19

Blaise Pascal

Answer 19

(1623-1662) French philosopher, mathematician, and theologian best known for “Pascal’s Bargain,” which argues for believe in the existence of God.

Question 20

Plato

Answer 20

(c. 427-347 B.C.E.) Greek philosopher who studied under Socrates and developed a theory of Forms in which things in this world are mere reflections or shadows of objects of knowledge, which are universals. His writings form the basis of much of Western philosophy.

Question 21

Pythagoras

Answer 21

(c. 570-c. 495 B.C.E.) Pre-Socratic philosopher and mathematician.

Question 22

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Answer 22

(1712-1778) French Romantic philosopher and philosopher of education.

Question 23

Bertrand Russell

Answer 23

(1872-1970) British philosopher and linguist.

Question 24

Gilbert Ryle

Answer 24

(1900-1976)British philosopher of language and logical positivist.

Question 25

Jean Paul Sartre

Answer 25

(1905-1980) French existentialist philosopher.

Question 26

Socrates

Answer 26

(c. 470-399 B.C.E.) Greek philosopher whose oral teachings were transcribed in part by his student, Plato.

Question 27

St. Anselm of Canterbury

Answer 27

(c. 1033-1109) Christian philosopher. Developed an ontological argument for the existence of God.

Question 28

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Answer 28

(1889-1951) Austrian philosopher who began as a logical positivist and later developed important ideas in the philosophy of language.