Philosophers in the World :: Philosophy Philosophers Paperes

Philosophers in the WorldPhilosophers are often belief of as hopelessly inept in the real military personnel, the theoretical counterparts of the 90-pound wuss on the beach of the material world. Nothing could be more mistaken.As mentioned, Alexander the Great studied with Aristotle and then went on to conquer the world (well, the parts of the world the Greeks knew). Coincidence? Perhaps, but the extent to which other superannuated figures were influenced by philosophy is far less ambiguous. To take the most intelligible example, Socrates was committed to a life of social criticism and public debate, so much so that he was tried and executed by Athenian officials who felt threatened by his influence over the young. Consider also the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (the guy Richard Harris played in the movie Gladiator). As a young man, Aurelius was so motivated by his love of accuracy (the Emperor Hadrian nicknamed him Verissimus) that he turned from studying rhetoric to phi losophy. Conscientious to his subjects and bragging(a) to his enemies, Aurelius sold off personal items rather than raise taxes to fund the over-embellished expansion into Eastern Europe. Despite his dislike of violence (he made gladiators fleck with blunt tips), Aurelius spend much of his reign on the battlefield fighting German tribes on the Danube front The Meditations was written down as notes, sometimes in military camp at the end of a run down and bloody day. Like many other ancients, Aurelius took the philosophical life to be one lived in the world according to philosophical principles and values, drawing on Epictetus admonition Eat like a man, drink like a man, get dressed, get married, have children, lead the life of a citizen fate us all this, so that we can see whether or not you have really learned something from the philosophers. (Discourses III, 21, 5)One important thinker who exemplified Epictetus idealistic was John Locke. Bored with the scholastic curric ulum during his studies at Christ Church, Oxford, he spent much of his time as an undergraduate reading french literature. After receiving his B.A. in 1656, Locke plunged into the study of medicine and chemistry, later supervising a surgery to drain an abscess on Lord Ashleys liver (the deed probably saved Ashleys life). Locke saw his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, the venue classicus for modern empiricist philosophy, as providing part of the conceptual framework for the new scientific advances of Boyle, Huygens, and the incomparable Mr.