1. Thales: believed that all things are composed of water, and water is the source of all things. This view may have been formed by seeing the process of evaporation of sea water. According to legend, his motto was: "Water is the best." Thales also claimed that God is present in all things. Thales had an important influence on Greek philosophy.
2. Heraclitus: Borrowing the concept of "harmony" from Pythagoras, he believes that there is a certain degree of harmony behind opposition and conflict, but coordination itself is not eye-catching. Think conflict animates the world. Heraclitus also believed that fire is the origin of all things, "everything is replaced by fire, and fire is replaced by everything." ?
3. Pythagoras: He believed that there are three types of people in society, and the soul is the result of reincarnation. But at the same time, beginning with Pythagoras, Greek philosophy began to produce a mathematical tradition. Pythagoras used mathematics to study musical rhythm, and the resulting concept of harmony also had a significant impact on later ancient Greek philosophers. Pythagoras was also the first person in the West to discover the Pythagorean Theorem.
4. Socrates: Socrates attached great importance to ethics. He was the first person in ancient Greece to propose using reason and thinking to find universal morality. He was the founder of moral philosophy. He emphasized morality. It is guided by reason, so "virtue is knowledge", believing that good comes from knowledge and evil comes from ignorance. In the history of European philosophy, the teleology of idealism was first proposed, believing that everything is created and arranged by God and embodies God's wisdom and purpose.
5. Plato: The main philosophical thought is the theory of ideals, which has a significant and far-reaching influence on Western philosophical thought. His original name was Aristocles, the fourth child in his family. The academy was greatly influenced by Pythagoras, and its curriculum was similar to the traditional topics of the Pythagoreans, including arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and acoustics. In 367 BC, Plato traveled again. At this time, the Academy had been established for more than 20 years.
6. Aristotle: believes that our understanding of the world comes from our senses. Therefore, Aristotle's philosophy actually created the subsequent scientific method. Aristotle's writings still exist today. Most of them are textbook-style documents, and many are even notes by Aristotle's students. In the early Middle Ages, due to the popularity of Neoplatonism, Aristotle's works were not translated.
7. Rousseau: Rousseau proposed that in the state of nature, people are essentially good and are noble savages. Good people are tortured and corroded by their social experiences. The development of society has led to the continuation of human misfortune. The emphasis on progress in the arts and sciences does not serve humanity well. It is believed that the accumulation of knowledge strengthens government rule and suppresses individual freedom. The development of material civilization has actually destroyed true friendship and replaced it with jealousy, fear and suspicion.
Extended information
Ancient Greece also gave birth to a large number of great philosophers, such as Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle , Archimedes, Epicurus and others. Scholasticism emerged in the Middle Ages, with St. Thomas Aquinas as its representative figure.
The "father of modern philosophy" Descartes formed his own system, integrating materialism and idealism, and had a profound impact on the history of philosophy.
After that, Western philosophers emerged in large numbers. Locke, Kant, Hume, Voltaire, Rousseau, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Marx and others were outstanding representatives among them. .