Great Thinkers

One of the benefits of studying Philosophy is that you get the opportunity to be exposed to some of the greatest minds in history. The ideas these people have shared with the world have shaped who we are today – our sciences, our societies, our relationships with each other and ourselves, and so much more. Learning those ideas can give you a unique perspective and spur you to personal growth. Here we have gathered just a small sample of these Great Thinkers – we hope you explore them to pique your curiosity!

Simone de Beauvoir- “I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for truth - and truth rewarded me.”

Simone de Beauvoir was a philosopher, novelist, feminist, public intellectual and activist, and one of the major figures in existentialism in post-war France. She is best known for her trailblazing work in feminist philosophy, The Second Sex, but her original contributions to existentialism and phenomenology can be found across her work. Beauvoir has made enduring contributions to the fields of ethics, social and political philosophy, existentialism, phenomenology and feminist philosophy and her significance as an activist and public intellectual are clear. Beauvoir’s life and work continue to inspire contemporary research and debate in the discipline of philosophy and beyond. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Want to learn more about Beauvoir? Consider these courses:

PHI 120: Perspectives in Philosophy
PHI 220: Ethics
PHI 314: Modern Social and Political Thought
PHI 330: Existentialism and Phenomenology
PHI 361: Feminist Philosophies
Immanuel Kant - "Enlightenment is our emergence from our self-imposed immaturity. This is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Have courage to use your own understanding!"

Immanuel Kant is the central figure in modern philosophy. He synthesized early modern rationalism and empiricism, set the terms for much of nineteenth and twentieth century philosophy, and continues to exercise a significant influence today in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, aesthetics, and other fields. The fundamental idea of Kant’s “critical philosophy” – especially in his three Critiques: the Critique of Pure Reason, the Critique of Practical Reason, and the Critique of the Power of Judgment – is human autonomy. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Want to know more about Immanuel Kant? Consider these courses:

PHI 120: Perspectives in Philosophy

PHI 220: Ethics

PHI 231: History of Modern Western Philosophy

PHI 370: Human Rights: Natural and Civil
Friedrich Nietzsche- “The snake that cannot cast its skin perishes. So too with those minds which are prevented from changing their views: they cease to be minds.”

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher who is famous for uncompromising criticisms of traditional European morality and religion, as well as of conventional philosophical ideas and social and political aspects of modernity. Many of these criticisms rely on psychological diagnoses that expose false consciousness infecting people’s received ideas. Nietzsche also used his analyses to support original theories about the nature of the self and provocative proposals suggesting new values that he thought would promote cultural renewal and improve social life by comparison to life under the traditional values he criticized. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Want to learn more about Nietzsche? Consider these courses:
PHI 120: Perspectives in Philosophy
PHI 220: Ethics
PHI 231: History of Modern Western Philosophy
PHI 310: Philosophy of Religion
PHI 330: Existentialism and Phenomenology
John Rawls - "Equal political liberty is not solely a means. These freedoms strengthen one’s sense of worth, enlarge our intellectual and moral sensibilities, and create a sense of duty upon which the stability of a just society depends.”

John Rawls could easily be argued to be the most influential philosopher of the 20th century. His works in political philosophy, particularly his ideas on what constitutes a just institution, are commonly required reading for first-year law students. His theory of justice as fairness describes a society of free citizens holding equal basic rights and cooperating within an egalitarian economic system. His theory of political liberalism explores the legitimate use of political power in a democracy and envisions how civic unity might endure despite the diversity of worldviews that free institutions allow. His writings on the law of peoples set out a liberal foreign policy that aims to create a permanently peaceful and tolerant international order. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Want to know more about John Rawls? Consider these courses:

PHI 120: Perspectives in Philosophy

PHI/PSC 314: Modern Social and Political Thought

PHI/PSC 318: Exploring Justice in Society

PHI/PSC 342: Philosophy of Law
Ludwig Wittgenstein- “Even if all possible scientific questions be answered, the problems of life have still not been touched at all.”

Considered by some to be the greatest philosopher of the 20th century, Ludwig Wittgenstein continues to influence current philosophical thought in topics as diverse as logic and language, perception and intention, ethics and religion, aesthetics and culture, and even political thought. At the start of World War I, Wittgenstein joined the Austrian army. He was taken captive and spent months of the war at a prison camp. It was during the war that he wrote the notes and drafts of his first important work. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Want to learn more about Wittgenstein? Consider these courses:
PHI 120: Perspectives in Philosophy
PHI 231: History of Modern Western Philosophy
PHI 366: Minds, Brains, Consciousness, and Intelligence

Great Thinkers

Simone de Beauvoir- “I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for truth - and truth rewarded me.”

Immanuel Kant - "Enlightenment is our emergence from our self-imposed immaturity. This is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Have courage to use your own understanding!"

Friedrich Nietzsche- “The snake that cannot cast its skin perishes. So too with those minds which are prevented from changing their views: they cease to be minds.”

John Rawls - "Equal political liberty is not solely a means. These freedoms strengthen one’s sense of worth, enlarge our intellectual and moral sensibilities, and create a sense of duty upon which the stability of a just society depends.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein- “Even if all possible scientific questions be answered, the problems of life have still not been touched at all.”