Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: Who are the three most important eastern philosophers?
The Dao De Jing (Tao-Te-Ching, c. 4th century BCE), traditionally attributed to Laozi, and the Nan Hua Jing (Zhuang Zi) are considered the key texts of the tradition.[119] The first organized form of Taoism, the Tianshi (Celestial Masters') school arose in the 2nd century CE. Xuanxue ("deep learning", also "Neo-Taoism") was a major philosophical movement influenced by Confucian scholarship, which focused on the interpretation of the Yijing, Daodejing, and Zhuangzi and which flourished during the third to sixth centuries CE.[120] The most important philosophers of this movement were He Yan, Wang Bi, the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, Ge Hong and Guo Xiang.[121] Thinkers like He Yan and Wang Bi focused on the deep nature of Tao, which they saw as being best exemplified by the term "Wu" (nothingness, non-being, negativity).[122]
Not long after their formation, the Western Philosophical Association and portions of the American Psychological Association merged with the American Philosophical Association to create what is today the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States: the American Philosophical Association. The association has three divisions: Pacific, Central and Eastern. Each division organises a large annual conference. The biggest of these is the Eastern Division Meeting, which usually attracts around 2,000 philosophers and takes place in a different east coast city each December. The Eastern Division Meeting is also the USA's largest recruitment event for philosophy jobs, with numerous universities sending teams to interview candidates for academic posts. Among its many other tasks, the association is responsible for administering many of the profession's top honors. For example, the Presidency of a Division of the American Philosophical Association is considered to be a professional honor and the American Philosophical Association Book Prize is one of the oldest prizes in philosophy. The largest academic organization devoted to specifically furthering the study of continental philosophy is the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy.
As a committed empiricist, Anderson argued that there is only one realm of "being" and it can be best understood through science and naturalistic philosophy. He asserted that there is no supernatural god and that there are no non-natural realms along the lines of Platonic ideals. He rejected all notions that knowledge could be obtained by means other than descriptions of facts and any belief that revelation or mysticism could be sources for obtaining truth. He was arguing that traditional Christian concepts of good and evil were only meant for slaves and that, in actuality, the idea of morality was empty. For Anderson, the term "good" was valid when applied objectively to human activities which were free, critical and creative but the more common subjective applications were to be avoided or exposed as deceptive. Not surprisingly, Anderson's influence was both extensive and controversial as he constantly examined and fearlessly criticised hallowed beliefs and institutions.
He is, arguably, the most important philosopher who has worked in Australia. Certainly he was the most important in both the breadth and depth of influence. Among the philosophers who got their original intellectual formation from Anderson are John Passmore, John Mackie, A.J. ('Jim') Baker, David Stove and myself. There are lots more. But for every student who became a philosopher there were far, far, more in the law, in medicine, in journalism, in other academic disciplines, that were profoundly influenced by him. I am inclined to think that, especially in the thirties and forties of the last century, Anderson was the person who set the agenda, and set the tone, for intellectual discussion in Sydney. – David Armstrong (2005)
Brian Leiter (; born 1963) is an American philosopher and legal scholar who is Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Chicago Law School and founder and Director of Chicago's Center for Law, Philosophy & Human Values. A review in "Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews" described Leiter as "one of the most influential legal philosophers of our time", while a review in "The Journal of Nietzsche Studies" described Leiter's book "Nietzsche on Morality" (2002) as "arguably the most important book on Nietzsche's philosophy in the past twenty years."
He left a very rich corpus of philosophical and theological works that reveals influence from the works of Ibn Sīnā, Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī and al-Ghazali. Two of his works titled "Mabāhith al-mashriqiyya fī ‘ilm al-ilāhiyyāt wa-'l-tabi‘iyyāt" ("Eastern Studies in Metaphysics and Physics") and "al-Matālib al-‘Aliya" ("The Higher Issues") are usually regarded as his most important philosophical works.
As a teenager with a home chemistry set, Bynum became interested in the ultimate nature of the universe, an interest that was reinforced by a high school chemistry teacher who taught "the new chemistry" of the 1950s, and also by an English teacher who assigned philosophical writing exercises to her students. After high school, Bynum studied chemistry at the University of Delaware (1959 to 1963), where, in 1961, philosopher Bernard Baumrin created the Delaware Seminars in Philosophy of Science featuring lectures by world-famous philosophers of science, such as Carl Hempel, Adolph Grunbaum, and Ernest Nagel. Impressed by the Delaware Seminars, Bynum added philosophy as a second field of study, and Baumrin became his logic teacher and mentor. At that time, Bynum developed a strong interest in the life and work of philosopher/ mathematician Gottlob Frege. As an undergraduate at the University of Delaware, Bynum was surprised to learn that, although Gottlob Frege was considered by many to be "the greatest logician since Aristotle", very little was known about Frege's life, and some of his most important logical writings had never been translated into English. Bynum vowed to write Frege's biography and translate Frege’s most important logical works, if the opportunity arose to do so.
In the modern wilderness preservation movement, important philosophical roles are played by the writings of John Muir who had been activist in the late 19th and early 20th century. Along with Muir perhaps most influential in the modern movement is Henry David Thoreau who published Walden in 1854. Also important was forester and ecologist Aldo Leopold, one of the founders of the Wilderness Society in 1935, who wrote a classic of nature observation and ethical philosophy, "A Sand County Almanac", published in 1949. Other philosophical foundations were established by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thomas Jefferson.
After criticism for the first novel in the series asserted that Isabel was difficult to empathise with, McCall Smith aimed in this novel to show ""more of the human side of her"".
The title refers to ""three issues of great philosophical importance"" that test our moral inclinations. The ""philosophical resonance"" of friendship and lovers are evident; as McCall Smith says, ""Friendship involves philosophical issues. Lovers can certainly give rise to moral difficulties."" Chocolate represents ""temptation and our inability to resist temptation"" and is included for personal reasons, because the temptation of chocolate affects ""most of us ... me in particular.""
A consequence of the communist attitude towards the bourgeoisie elites in general, was the creation, for the first time in Romania's history, of a diaspora. Three individuals emerged as the most important Romanians abroad: playwright Eugen Ionescu (1909–1994) (who became known in France as Eugène Ionesco), creator of the Theatre of the Absurd and eventual member of the Académie française; religious historian and writer Mircea Eliade (1907–1986); and the essayist and philosopher Emil Cioran (1911–1996), the greatest French-writing master of style after Pascal. Fellow Romanian Ioan Petre Culianu continued Eliade's work with great success, in the United States. Another member of the diaspora who distinguished himself was the philosopher and logician Stephane Lupasco.
The communist rule in Romania, unlike most of the other countries of the Eastern bloc permanently repudiated the Romanians who had left their country and labelled them as traitors to the motherland. So, neither Mircea Eliade, nor Eugène Ionesco, nor Emil Cioran, whose works would be published in this country sporadically after 1960, could see their native land again. It was only after 1989 that the process of regaining the values of the diaspora and of reintegrating its personalities into this country's culture could be started seriously, a process marked in its turn by tension and disagreements.
Prince Grigore Sturdza (1821–1901) was a learned man, who had philosophical preoccupations. He published some philosophical works in French, among which "Les lois fondamentales de l'Univers"(1891) is the most important. The book's subject-matter is chiefly the astronomy, or the scientific cosmology, which eventually serves as a basis for metaphysical speculations.
The Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (SPEP) is a philosophical society whose initial purpose was to promote the study of phenomenology and existentialism but has since expanded to a wide array of contemporary philosophical pursuits, including critical theory, feminist philosophy, poststructuralism, critical race theory, and, increasingly non-Eurocentric philosophies. SPEP was created in 1962 by American philosophers who were interested in Continental philosophy and were dissatisfied with the analytic dominance of the American Philosophical Association. It has since emerged as the second most important philosophical society in the United States. Gail Weiss and Andrew Cutrofello are the current Co-Executive Directors of "SPEP".
José Gaos (26 December 1900 in Gijón, Spain – 10 June 1969 in Mexico City) was a Spanish philosopher who obtained political asylum in Mexico during the Spanish Civil War and became one of the most important Mexican philosophers of the 20th century.
The first of three Philosophical Societies was inaugurated in 1779, founded by Thomas Curtis with Edmund Rack once more at the helm, as secretary. With the aim of being "a select Literary Society for the purpose of discussing scientific and philosophical subjects and making experiments to illustrate them", the model for this venture would have been provincial discussion groups such as the Lunar Society. The Bath Philosophical Societies did not quite have the staying power of the Birmingham-based forum and after three incarnations quietly folded. Despite its failure to thrive the society could still boast influential and important subscribers including William Herschel, whose discovery of Uranus was made in 1781 whilst a resident of the city) and Joseph Priestley who at Bowood House in nearby Calne was embarking on his most important scientific investigations on different kinds of air (including his discovery of oxygen).
‘History of Azerbaijan Philosophy’, Mammadov's masterpiece of great importance among his writings is an outline of his researches concerning Azerbaijani philosophers’ and thinkers’ rich philosophical legacy revealed by him for more than thirty years. The book traces the development path of Azerbaijani philosophy's history. Ideological trends, doctrines, vision of their Azerbaijani proponents are analysed in the context of Eastern philosophical thinking. It is shown that though merely religious philosophy (mysticism and scholasticism) was spread in Christian world during feudalism, there existed non-religious philosophical doctrines such as pantheism and Illuminationism founded by Azerbaijani philosophers, as well as East Peripateticism in Muslim countries and these enriched philosophical history of the mankind.
Macquarrie is often categorised as both an existentialist and a systematic theologian. His most important philosophical influence is the work of Martin Heidegger. Macquarrie remains one of the most important commentators and explainers of Heidegger's work. His co-translation of "Being and Time" into English is considered the canonical version. He was also a notable English-language expositor on the theological and philosophical work of Rudolf Bultmann.
22. Thomas Aquinas has long been held “in singular honor” in the ecumenical councils, including those of Lyons, Vienne, Florence, and the Vatican. This high regard was most especially evident during the Council of Trent, in which his "Summa" was laid “upon the altar, together with sacred Scripture and the decrees of the supreme Pontiffs.”
23. Aquinas has been equally esteemed even among critics of the Church, “who openly declared that, if the teaching of Thomas Aquinas were only taken away, they could easily battle with all Catholic teachers.”
24. The “struggling innovators of the sixteenth century” philosophized without regard for faith. Their inventions were in accordance with their own whims, and so, naturally, there arose a great diversity of philosophies, “differing and clashing” even in those matters of human knowledge that are most important. Pope Leo fears that many philosophers were forsaking the solid philosophical foundation of antiquity and turning toward “a foundation open to change.” And another danger: while Leo affirms the important work of scholarship, he cautions that philosophical pursuits should not be characterized by “mere erudition”; what is required, rather, is an authentic development of learning.
During the Middle Ages, philosophy itself was in many places seen as opposed to the prevailing monotheistic religions, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The strongest philosophical tradition for some centuries was amongst Islamic philosophers, who later came to strongly influence the late medieval philosophers of western Christendom, and the Jewish diaspora in the Mediterranean area. While there were earlier Muslim philosophers such as Al Kindi, chronologically the three most influential concerning the intellect were Al Farabi, Avicenna, and finally Averroes, a westerner who lived in Spain and was highly influential in the late Middle Ages amongst Jewish and Christian philosophers.
During the 1st millennium BCE, the Vaisheshika school of atomism was founded. The most important proponent of this school was Kanada, an Indian philosopher who lived around 600 BCE. The school proposed that atoms are indivisible and eternal, can neither be created nor destroyed, and that each one possesses its own distinct (individuality). It was further elaborated on by the Buddhist school of atomism, of which the philosophers Dharmakirti and Dignāga in the 7th century CE were the most important proponents. They considered atoms to be point-sized, durationless, and made of energy.
Philosophical arguments and justifications are another important part of philosophical method. It is rare to find a philosopher, particularly in the Western philosophical tradition, who lacks many arguments. Philosophers are, or at least are expected to be, very good at giving arguments. They constantly demand and offer arguments for different claims they make. This therefore indicates that philosophy is a quest for arguments.
Explanation of terms based on appendix to the English edition of "Being and Nothingness" by translator Hazel Barnes"Being and Nothingness" is considered Sartre's most important philosophical work, and the most important non-fiction expression of his existentialism. The Christian existentialist Gabriel Marcel wrote that it was of "incontestable" importance and ranked among the most important contributions made to general philosophy. While Marcel noted the influence of Martin Heidegger on "the form at least" of Sartre's work, he also observed that Sartre diverged from the views expressed by Heidegger in "Being and Time" (1927) in important ways, and that Sartre's contributions were original. Marcel considered Sartre's analysis of bad faith "one of the most outstanding and solid" parts of "Being and Nothingness", writing that it prevented Sartre's arguments from being purely abstract. Marcel saw one of the most important merits of the work to be to show "that a form of metaphysics which denies or refuses grace inevitably ends by setting up in front of us the image of an atrophied and contradictory world where the better part of ourselves is finally unable to recognise itself." The philosopher Jean Wahl criticized Sartre's arguments about the topic of "nothing". The philosopher Frederick Copleston, writing in "A History of Philosophy" (1946–1986), described Sartre's view that all human actions are the result of free choice as "highly implausible", though he noted that Sartre had ways of defending his position. The British philosopher A.J. Ayer said that, apart from some psychological insights, the book was "a pretentious metaphysical thesis" and "principally an exercise in misusing the verb 'to be'."
Wolff's most important works are as follows:
Wolff's complete writings have been published since 1962 in an annotated reprint collection:
This includes a volume that unites the three most important older biographies of Wolff.
Naming and Necessity is a 1980 book with the transcript of three lectures, given by the philosopher Saul Kripke, at Princeton University in 1970, in which he dealt with the debates of proper names in the philosophy of language. The transcript was brought out originally in 1972 in "Semantics of Natural Language", edited by Donald Davidson and Gilbert Harman. Among analytic philosophers, "Naming and Necessity" is widely considered one of the most important philosophical works of the twentieth century.
It should be mentioned that this depiction of intellectual tradition in Islamic Lands is mainly dependent upon what West could understand (or was willing to understand) from this long era. In contrast, there are some historians and philosophers who do not agree with this account and describe this era in a completely different way. Their main point of dispute is on the influence of different philosophers on Islamic Philosophy, especially the comparative importance of eastern intellectuals such as Ibn Sina and of western thinkers such as Ibn Rushd.
Gilbert Ryle (1900–76) was a philosopher who lectured at Oxford and made important contributions to the philosophy of mind and to "ordinary language philosophy". His most important writings include "Philosophical Arguments" (1945), "The Concept of Mind" (1949), "Dilemmas" (1954), "Plato's Progress" (1966), and "On Thinking" (1979).
A larger list of political philosophers is intended to be closer to exhaustive. Listed below are some of the most canonical or important thinkers, and especially philosophers whose central focus was in political philosophy and/or who are good representatives of a particular school of thought.