Plato was a philosopher who was born in Greece somewhere around 428 BCE to a family of the political

and social elite.

Theory of Forms

Plato, through Socratic dialogue, challenged the notion of what is real and what isn't. The Theory of
Forms is the belief that the material world as it appears is only an image or copy of the ‘real’ world. This
Platonic realism recognises two worlds: one is the apparent world which is constantly in flux, and the
other a rigid and unseen world of forms, which may be responsible for the changes in the apparent
world.

Platonic epistemology

Epistemology, the theory of knowledge, is one of the most crucial subjects of philosophy, and Plato's
statement that ‘knowledge is justified true belief’ spawned nearly all future developments in the field

Justice

The Republic, a Socratic dialogue that primarily explored the concept of justice, is Plato's best-known
work and is regarded among the world's most influential works on philosophy and politics.

Theory of Education

Plato acknowledges education as the most important thing for creating an ideal state after justice. He
theorises that only by being educated can an individual realise his function in society and contribute to a
well-functioning society.

Aristotle (384—322 B.C.E.)

aristotleAristotle is a towering figure in ancient Greek philosophy, making contributions to logic,

metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and
theatre. He was a student of Plato who in turn studied under Socrates. Aristotle was the first to classify
areas of human knowledge into distinct disciplines such as mathematics, biology, and ethics. As the
father of the field of logic, he was the first to develop a formalized system for reasoning.Aristotle was the
founder of the Lyceum, a school of learning based in Athens, Greece; and he was an inspiration for the
Peripatetics, his followers from the Lyceum.
Socrates (ca. 469-399 BCE) is hailed as one of the founders of Western philosophy. He is the inventor of
the so-called Socratic method or elenchus which remains one of the most commonly used approaches
not only to answer the fundamental questions of philosophy but it also serves as a tool for scientific
research. Ironically, the most famous Socrates’ saying is “I only know that I know nothing”.

Epicurus (341 - 270 B.C.) was a Greek philosopher of the Hellenistic period. He was the founder ancient
Greek philosophical school of Epicureanism, whose main goal was to attain a happy, tranquil life,
characterized by the absence of pain and fear, through the cultivation of friendship, freedom and an
analyzed life. His metaphysics was generally materialistic, his Epistemology was empiricist, and his Ethics
was hedonistic.

St. Thomas Aquinas (AKA Thomas of Aquin or Aquino) (c. 1225 - 1274) was an Italian philosopher and
theologian of the Medieval period. He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology at the
peak of Scholasticism in Europe, and the founder of the Thomistic school of philosophy and theology.
Aquinas was the first to identify the Principle of Double Effect in ethical decisions, when an otherwise
legitimate act (e.g. self-defense) may also cause an effect one would normally be obliged to avoid (e.g.
the death of another).

Augustine (354—430 C.E.)

augustineSt. Augustine is a fourth century philosopher whose groundbreaking philosophy infused

Christian doctrine with Neoplatonism. He is the first Western philosopher to promote what has come to
be called "the argument by analogy"

Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC)

#1 HE REVIVED THE GREAT MORAL TEACHINGS OF THE SAGES OF THE PAST

#2 HE LAID THE FOUNDATION AND DEVELOPED THE INFLUENTIAL PHILOSOPHY CONFUCIANISM

#3 HE IS TRADITIONALLY CREDITED WITH HAVING AUTHORED OR EDITED THE “FIVE CLASSICS”

#4 HIS FIVE VIRTUES ARE AMONG CHINA’S MOST VALUED TRADITIONAL VIRTUES

#5 HIS TEACHINGS INSPIRED NEO-CONFUCIANISM WHICH IMPACTED CHINA FOR ALMOST 6 CENTURIES

#6 CONFUCIUS POSITIVELY INFLUENCED THE EDUCATION SYSTEM OF HIS COUNTRY

#7 HIS POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY WAS A GUIDING LIGHT TO MANY FUTURE RULERS

#8 CONFUCIUS SUCCESSFULLY PROPAGATED THE CONCEPT OF MERITOCRACYMERITOCRACY

#9 HIS EMPHASIS ON SOCIAL HARMONY FORMS THE BASE OF CHINESE SOCIETY

#10 HIS PHILOSOPHY IS AMONG THE THREE GREAT CHINESE TEACHINGS

Lao-Tzu ( 570 B.C. - 490 B.C.)

(also known as Laozi or Lao-Tze) was a Chinese philosopher credited with founding the philosophical
system of Taoism. He is best known as the author of the Tao-Te-Ching, the work which exemplifies his
thought. The name by which he is known is not a personal name but an honorific title meaning `Old
Man’ or `Old Teacher’ and there has been countless speculation as to whether an individual by that
name ever existed or whether Lao-Tzu is an amalgam of many different philosophers.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is one of the most influential philosophers in the history of Western
philosophy. His contributions to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics have had a profound
impact on almost every philosophical movement that followed him. The fundamental idea of Kant’s
“critical philosophy” – especially in his three Critiques: the Critique of Pure Reason (1781, 1787), the
Critique of Practical Reason (1788), and the Critique of the Power of Judgment (1790) – is human
autonomy.