Philosophy 100 Essential Thinkers the Ideas that
have Shaped our World by Philip Stokes gives a broad based understanding of the
world’s philosophers. Each figure is given a few pages of explanation as well
as their relevant contribution to society. One can find a broad sense of
understanding as it relates to the overall concept of how philosophy has
impacted societal thinking and science.
Some may wonder what the benefit of philosophy is on
society. Without philosophy the basic components of modern understandings would
not have been built. For example, if one didn’t wonder if the world was round
we may never have traversed the ocean, built spacecraft, or had cell phones.
Philosophy is seen as critical thought and human expression and contributes to
both world affairs and societal development.
Philosophy doesn’t fit within a particular category
of study like science but is considered the concept formation before modern
science. It is the culmination of people who sat and thought about the nature
of the world, the nature of government, and the universe we live in. It is
those who have dared to ponder our very existence and say profound things like
Socrates, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
It moves into discussions such as ethics, logic, and
metaphysics. To the philosopher pondering how society should be formed, the analysis
of arguments and the nature of reality are intertwined with their lives. For example, Pythagoras of Samos
(570-480BC) believed that the ultimate nature of reality is a number. To him
all things could be deducted down to a number, analyzed, and experimented with.
Life is one big formula.
Many modern philosophers are more akin to
scientists. Lev Semenovich Vygotsky (1896-1934) discussions the connection
between thought and language, “The
structure of speech is not simply the mirror image of the structure of thought.
…..Therefore, precisely because of the contrasting directions of the movement,
the development of the internal and external aspects of speech form a true
unity.” This has led to concepts
such as the conceptual schema as impacting the way in which a person perceives the
world. In other words, we are a direct result of our social world.
Philosophers are lovers and creators. They seek to
step between the dichotomies of life and determine the glue that holds it all
together. They are those who dared to ask the question, “what if” while others
tracked down familiar paths. Without philosophy the world would look much the
same way as it did thousands of years ago. As Heraclitus (535-473 BC) once
stated about the constant changing world, "No man ever steps in the same
river twice".
Stokes, P. (2012). Philosophy 100 Essential Thinkers-The Ideas that have Shaped the World.
London, UK: Arcturus Publishing Limited
