Basic Teachings of the Great Philosophers

Contents
......Page 7
Introduction......Page 15
I THE NATURE OF THE UNTVERSE......Page 19
The Views of the Early Greek Philosophers......Page 20
Plato's Theory of the Universe......Page 24
Aristotle’s Conception of the Universe......Page 26
Three Philosophers of Science: Whitehead......Page 0
The Universe According to the Greco-Religious Thinkers......Page 32
The Position of the Early Christian Thinkers......Page 33
The Positions of the Medieval Christian Thinkers......Page 34
The Views of the Forerunners of the Renaissance......Page 41
The Universe According to the Philosophers of the Renaissance......Page 43
Descartes' Conception of the Universe......Page 45
Spinoza's Theory of the Universe......Page 47
Leibnitz' Theory of the Universe......Page 53
Kant's Conception of the Universe......Page 54
The Views of the Later German Philosophers......Page 58
The Positions of John Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer......Page 61
The Views of Henri Bergson and George Santayana......Page 65
II MAN'S PLAGE IN THE UNIVERSE......Page 67
Mans Importance According to the Early Greek Philosophers......Page 68
Man's Importance According to the Early Christian Thinkers......Page 72
The Views of the Medieval Christian Thinkers......Page 73
As Seen by the Forerunners of the Renaissance......Page 76
The Positions of Bacon and Hobbes......Page 77
The Views of Descartes and Spinoza......Page 78
The Views of Leibnitz......Page 81
Kant s View of Man's Importance......Page 82
The Views of Later German Thinkers......Page 86
Man's Place According to Comte......Page 88
The Positions of Mill and Spencer......Page 89
III WHAT IS GOOD AND WHAT IS EVIL?......Page 94
Good and Evil According to the Early Greek Philosophers......Page 95
Good and Evil According to the Epicureans and Stoics......Page 100
The Position of the Greco-Religious Thinkers......Page 101
The Ethical Views of the Early Christian Thinkers......Page 102
The Views of the Medieval Christian Thinkers......Page 103
The Ethical Philosophy of Kant......Page 108
The Views of Fichte and Schopenhauer......Page 109
The Ethical Views of James and Dewey......Page 112
IV THE NATURE OF GOD......Page 114
The Views of the Early Greek Philosophers......Page 116
The Position of the Later Greek Thinkers......Page 120
The Greco-Religious Ideas About God......Page 121
The Early and Medieval Christian Conception of God......Page 122
The Nature of God According to Spinoza......Page 130
The Concept of God in the Thought of Kant......Page 134
The Views of James and Dewey......Page 138
V FATE VERSUS FREE WILL......Page 141
The Idea of Fate Among the Early Greek Thinkers......Page 143
The Views of the Later Greek Philosophers......Page 146
The Position of the Greco-Religious Thinkers......Page 148
Early and Medieval Christian Thinkers......Page 149
Fate and Free Will According to Voltaire and to Rousseau......Page 159
The Position of Mill and of Green......Page 164
The Views of James and Dewey......Page 165
VI THE SOUL AND IMMORTALITY......Page 167
The Soul as Viewed by the Early Greek Philosophers......Page 169
The Soul and Immortality According to Plato and Aristotle......Page 171
The Position of the Later Greek Thinkers......Page 173
The Early and Medieval Christian Conception of the Soul......Page 174
The Soul According to the Forerunners of the Renaissance......Page 176
The Views of Descartes and Spinoza......Page 177
The Soul and Immortality According to Kant......Page 181
Recent and Present-Day Conceptions of the Soul and Immortality......Page 184
VII MAN AND THE STATE......Page 189
The State as Viewed by the Early Greek Philosophers......Page 192
The Positions of the Later Greek Thinkers......Page 198
The Views of the Early Christian Thinkers......Page 200
The Views of the Medieval Christian Thinkers......Page 202
The State as Viewed by the Forerunners of the Renaissance......Page 206
Machiavelli's Conception of the State......Page 207
The Position of Voltaire and of Rousseau......Page 212
The Views of Mill and Spencer......Page 216
Nietzsche's Conception of the State......Page 218
The Views of Dewey and Recent Thinkers......Page 219
VIII MAN AND EDUCATION......Page 221
Education as Viewed by the Early Greek Philosophers......Page 223
The Roman Conception of Education......Page 226
Early Christian Conception of Education......Page 227
St. Benedict and the Monastic Way of Life......Page 228
Education in the Middle Ages and Early Renaissance......Page 229
Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation......Page 231
Comenius' Philosophy of Education......Page 232
Locke and Rousseau......Page 233
Pestalozzi's Conception of Education......Page 235
Herbart's View of Education......Page 236
Froebel's Conception of Education......Page 237
IX MIND AND MATTER......Page 240
Mind and Matter as Contrasted by the Early Greek Thinkers......Page 242
The Positions of Philo and St. Augustine......Page 247
According to the Medieval Christian Thinkers......Page 248
Roger Bacon and Paracelsus......Page 249
Francis Bacon and Hobbes......Page 250
Descartes and Spinoza......Page 252
Kant and Later German Philosophers......Page 255
X IDEAS AND THINKING......Page 260
What Thinking Meant to the Early Greek Philosophers......Page 261
The Views of the Later Greek Philosophers......Page 264
The Medieval Christian View......Page 265
Galileo and the Beginning of the Scientific Attitude......Page 267
James and Dewey......Page 274
XI SOME RECENT APPROACHES TO PHTLOSOPHY......Page 277
Kierkegaard and the Beginnings of Existentialism......Page 278
Logical Positivism......Page 282
Two Philosophers of the Spirit......Page 283
Some Current Philosophers in the Religious Tradition......Page 284
Conclusion......Page 286
Biographical Notes......Page 289
Index......Page 311