Philosophers

[chrysostom]

Socrates believed you could learn something from anyone just by asking questions. Go ahead and ask a question. You might learn something. 

[chrysostom]

Kant on enlightenment.

What is wrong with enlightenment?

For Kant, Enlightenment is the capacity and courage to think for ourselves, and to resist tradition, convention or authority as sources of wisdom and knowledge. This idea has been, and continues to be, one of the most inspiring and also controversial in the history of philosophy.

Philosophers who believe in God.

[chrysostom]

Descartes 
The father of duality. The only reason we are talking about him is that he said, "I think, therefore I am". He even got that wrong. It should be, " I think, therefore God exists". 
His "duality" was about the separation of spirit and matter. He had a lady friend who, I do respect, asked him how the soul controlled the body. His answer was, "nevermind, it just does". 
Spinoza discovered the answer to the question Descartes's lady friend asked.  One Substance aka monism. Spinoza's belief was rejected by his family, his religion, and his village. He was run out of that village at the age of 23. 
The Hindu gurus, long before Spinoza, would say, "it is all an illusion of a non-dual nature".

[chrysostom]

Top Influential Philosophers Today

Have not heard about any of them. Have you? 

Maybe they have a special list for Catholics. 

Edited June 5 by chrysostom
added info

[JRexx]

I never really got into philosophers outside of liking the odd quote here and there. I am sure a lot of them have value and if their lessons make you a better person and make your life better, go for it. It just isn't something I ever got into all that heavy. 

[chrysostom]

11 hours ago, JRexx said:

I never really got into philosophers outside of liking the odd quote here and there. I am sure a lot of them have value and if their lessons make you a better person and make your life better, go for it. It just isn't something I ever got into all that heavy. 

In college I had to take at least two classes on philosophy and really enjoyed the first one. It was much later that I learned about Socrates and his method of asking questions. He believed you could learn something from anyone. 

[chrysostom]

EWTN has THE PHILOSOPHERS' BENCH where two philosophers from Boston College University sit on a bench and discuss various topics. Once in a while Dr. Peter Kreeft is with Dr. J. Budziszewski from Texas University. Most of the time Peter is with Ronald K. Tacelli.
Today science, women studies, etc. have pushed philosophy off the main stage. Can you say esoteric? 

Edited June 10 by chrysostom
added info

[chrysostom]

A word exercise.

existence substance essence sense cause effect reason logic purpose meaning nature understanding 

If these words have any meaning for you, chances are you might be a philosopher in the making. It is all about thinking and trying to make sense of the world we live in. It didn't start with Socrates but he did start asking questions and caused a lot of problems. He had to die because those in power didn't like the answers. 

[chrysostom]

Who could be against enlightenment? So many are but surely they are the immature. Grow up and think for yourself even though others will be threatened by it. Go ahead and ask the question. Why must you obey? You have a duty to question everything as well as to obey. You must think about this. You are free to do it.

Kant on Enlightenment

[tmcom]

10 hours ago, chrysostom said:

Who could be against enlightenment? So many are but surely they are the immature. Grow up and think for yourself even though others will be threatened by it. Go ahead and ask the question. Why must you obey? You have a duty to question everything as well as to obey. You must think about this. You are free to do it.

Kant on Enlightenment

Funny thing was l didn't know the date when reading that remarkable document even after more than 200 years some things don't change.

[chrysostom]

14 hours ago, tmcom said:

Funny thing was l didn't know the date when reading that remarkable document even after more than 200 years some things don't change.

Kant had respect for authority even when he didn't agree with what they were doing. He wrote something but didn't publish it until the King of Prussia died not out of fear but out of respect because he knew it would not be well received by the king. 

His document on enlightenment has not been accepted by most I think because it is a threat to authority. It shouldn't be because he stresses the  importance of obedience. 

[chrysostom]

Kant talks about duty and that is a good thing. It could be a general thing like respecting civil laws or it might be a specific duty to an activity that interests you. Either way it is a self imposed obligation you should pursue. 

"The Pirates of Penzance" aka "The Slave of Duty" is a very funny musical that mocks an unreasonable sense of duty.