Andrea Parati

ABM 12-2

PHILOSOPHERS

1. John Locke

Born on August 29, 1632, in Wrington, Somerset, England, went to Westminster school and then Christ
Church, University of Oxford. At Oxford he studied medicine, which would play a central role in his life. He
became a highly influential philosopher, writing about such topics as political philosophy, epistemology, and
education. Locke's writings helped found modern Western philosophy.

JOHN LOCKE’S 5 MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS AND ACCOMPLISHMENT

1. His book, the Essay, is one of the most influential works in philosophy
2. He is regarded as the founder of modern philosophical empiricism
3. He wrote the influential political work Two Treatises of Government
4. His political views influenced the American Declaration of Independence
5. John Locke is considered the Father of Liberalism

2. Karl Marx
 Karl Marx, in full Karl Heinrich Marx, (born May 5, 1818, Trier, Rhine province, Prussia [Germany]—died
March 14, 1883, London, England), revolutionary, sociologist, historian, and economist. He published (with
Friedrich Engels) Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei (1848), commonly known as The Communist
Manifesto, the most celebrated pamphlet in the history of the socialist movement. He also was the author of
the movement’s most important book, Das Kapital. These writings and others by Marx and Engels form the
basis of the body of thought and belief known as Marxism.

KARL MARX’S 5 MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

1.He put forward the theory of alienation concerning the worker under capitalism
2. He authored the famous Marxist theory of historical materialism
3.His concept of class struggle was highly influential
4.Karl Marx co-authored the Communist Manifesto
5.Communist Manifesto is considered one of the most influential political manuscripts ever

3. Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei (February 15, 1564 to January 8, 1642) was an Italian astronomer, mathematician,
physicist, philosopher and professor who made pioneering observations of nature with long-lasting
implications for the study of physics. He also constructed a telescope and supported the Copernican theory,
which supports a sun-centered solar system. Galileo was accused twice of heresy by the church for his
beliefs, and wrote a number of books on his ideas.

5 MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF GALILEO GALILEI

1.He invented a hydrostatic balance

2.Galileo invented a forerunner to the modern thermometer
3.He is credited with the invention of an improved military compass
4.Galileo discovered that pendulums were isochronous
5.He is considered as the father of observational astronomy

4. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

(born June 21 [July 1, New Style], 1646, Leipzig [Germany]—died November 14, 1716, Hannover
[Germany]), German philosopher, mathematician, and political adviser, important both as a metaphysician
and as a logician and distinguished also for his independent invention of the differential and integral
calculus.

Leibniz's Contributions To Philosophy

Leibniz is known among philosophers for his wide range of thought about fundamental philosophical
ideas and principles, including truth, necessary and contingent truths, possible worlds, the principle of
sufficient reason (i.e., that nothing occurs without a reason), the principle of pre-established harmony (i.e.,
that God constructed the universe in such a way that corresponding mental and physical events occur
simultaneously), and the principle of noncontradiction (i.e., that any proposition from which a contradiction
can be derived is false). Leibniz had a lifelong interest in and pursuit of the idea that the principles of
reasoning could be reduced to a formal symbolic system, an algebra or calculus of thought, in which
controversy would be settled by calculations.

5. Voltaire
 Born in 1694, in Paris, France, Voltaire established himself as one of the leading writers of the
Enlightenment. His famed works include the tragic play Zaïre, the historical study The Age of Louis XIV and
the satirical novella Candide. Often at odds with French authorities over his politically and religiously
charged works, he was twice imprisoned and spent many years in exile. He died shortly after returning to
Paris in 1778.

Voltaire's Philosopy Ideas and Contributions to the Enlightenment. Voltiare's main contribution
to the Enlightenment was freedom of speech, press and religion and opposition to monarchy,
militarism and slavery.