Philosophers — Week1

Copyright: Sanjay Basu

Philosophy has long been humanity’s attempt to make sense of our existence through reason and contemplation. Across cultures and eras, philosophers have tackled life’s biggest questions about knowledge, ethics, society, and the nature of reality itself. This series of articles aims to provide brief glimpses into some of history’s most influential thinkers from both the Eastern and Western philosophical traditions.

Beginning in ancient times, we explore the ideas of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, and Laozi, who laid the foundations for so much philosophical thought that followed. The medieval period saw influential figures like St. Augustine and Adi Shankara fuse philosophy with religion and spirituality.

As philosophy progressed, the early modern period brought revolutionary thinkers like Descartes, Hobbes, Wang Yangming, and others who challenged long-held assumptions and pioneered new ways of thinking. The dizzying intellectual heights achieved by luminaries like Kant, Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche marked philosophy’s modern era in the West while the East saw visionaries like Tagore and Suzuki synthesize Eastern wisdom for the contemporary world.

Up to the present day, philosophy has progressed through the pioneering work of diverse thinkers who proved the power of conceptual analysis and rigorous reasoning to illuminate the human condition. This weekly series hopes to inspire readers to join the ongoing quest for truth and meaning by briefly surveying some of philosophy's greatest minds. The ideas contained here are mere glimpses into vastly rich philosophies, but they hint at the thinkers’ lasting insights that still shape thought today.

I will cover the life and works of the following Western and Eastern philosophers chronologically:

Ancient Eastern Philosophers

• Charvaka or Carvaka (600 BCE estimates)
• Mahavira (c. 599 — c. 527 BCE)
• Gautama Buddha (c. 563 — c. 480 BCE)
• Confucius (c. 551–479 BCE)
• Laozi (c. 500 BCE)
• Zhuangzi (c. 369–286 BCE)

Ancient Western Philosophers

• Socrates (c. 470–399 BCE)
• Plato (c. 428–348 BCE)
• Aristotle (384–322 BCE)
• Epicurus (341–270 BCE)

Medieval Western Philosophers

• St. Augustine (c. 354–430)
• St. Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274)
• William of Ockham (c. 1287–1347)

Medieval Eastern Philosophers

• Adi Shankara (c. 788–820)
• Ramanuja (c. 1017–1137)
• Zhu Xi (1130–1200)

Early Modern Eastern Philosophers

• Wang Yangming (1472–1529)
• Miyamoto Musashi (c. 1584–1645)
• Sorai Ogyū (1666–1728)

Early Modern Western Philosophers

• René Descartes (1596–1650)
• Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)
• John Locke (1632–1704)
• David Hume (1711–1776)
• Immanuel Kant (1724–1804)

19th Century Western Philosophers

• G.W.F. Hegel (1770–1831)
• Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855)
• Karl Marx (1818–1883)
• Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)

19th-20th Century Eastern Philosophers

• Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835–1901)
• Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941)
• Nishida Kitaro (1870–1945)
• D.T. Suzuki (1870–1966)
• Mao Zedong (1893–1976)
• Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986)

20th Century Western Philosophers

• Bertrand Russell (1872–1970)
• Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
• Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980)
• Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986)

This week, I am keeping it short and covering Charvaka and Socrates.

Unfortunately, very little is concretely known about the originator of the Charvaka or Carvaka school of Indian philosophy, as the original texts have been lost to history. Here is a summary of what is generally believed about this tradition:

Thought to have been founded sometime around 600 BCE, the Charvaka school represents one of the earliest known materialist and skeptic philosophies in India. The founder is believed to have been named Charvaka, or Carvaka, or Brihaspati, but very limited verifiable information exists about the actual life of the founder.

A notable mention — Ajita Kesakambali, a contemporary of Buddha, advocated materialist philosophy similar to Charvaka school.

Charvaka philosophy rejected the notion of gods, an afterlife, and the authority of the Vedas, advocating for direct sense perception as the means to knowledge. They were critical of the priestly class.

Metaphysically, Charvakas believed reality only consisted of the four material elements (earth, air, fire, and water) combining in different ways. Consciousness arose from the material body rather than an immaterial self or atman.

Ethically, Charvakas supported a hedonistic lifestyle of seeking pleasure here on earth. The purpose of life was the enjoyment of sensual pleasures since death was seen as final.

Epistemologically, direct perception was the only valid means of knowledge in Charvaka's philosophy. Inference and testimony were rejected as unreliable.

Charvaka texts have been lost, but their ideas are known from references in writings by philosophers who opposed their views such as Sankara and Madhava. The Sarva-darśana-saṅgraha summarizes the Charvaka position.

While the details of the founder remain obscure, the Charvaka school represents one of India's earliest materialistic and anti-religious philosophies. The growth of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain philosophies overshadowed their influence over time.

More than a hundred years later, the world came across Socrates (c. 470–399 BCE), a Greek philosopher from Athens credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. Despite leaving no writings of his own, he is renowned for his influence on Greek thought through his teachings and the accounts of his life written by his students, particularly Plato.

Socrates was born to a stonemason and sculptor in Athens and served in the Athenian army as a hoplite, fighting in the Peloponnesian War. After leaving military service, he devoted himself to philosophy, questioning Athenians about their moral convictions and believing himself on a divine mission from the oracle at Delphi to seek wisdom. Socrates is known for his Socratic method of using probing questions and dialogue to expose contradictions in thinking and arrive at truths. He would engage others in dialogue in the marketplace and other public areas of Athens, as depicted in Plato’s Dialogues. Accused of corrupting the youth of Athens with his challenges to accepted morality, Socrates was ultimately sentenced to death by drinking hemlock poison in 399 BCE.

Key ideas attributed to Socrates include:

= A dedication to truth and moral rectitude even in the face of opposition
= The belief that virtue is based on knowledge and that no person knowingly does wrong
= The Socratic method of inquiry through questioning and logical reasoning
= A critique of Greek moral relativism and sophistry
= The belief in a soul that survives bodily death

Socrates did not leave any writings himself, but his ideas and methods were captured in various dialogues and accounts written by his students, especially Plato. Important Socratic dialogues include Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo, in which Plato dramatizes Socrates’ final days on trial and execution in Athens. Socrates’ enduring legacy is as an exemplar of philosophical inquiry who prized truth and morality above all.

Next week, I will go over the life and works of four philosophers, two each from the Ancient Eastern and Western World.