author NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI: Undercover Boss! "In taking a state a conqueror must arrange to commit ALL his cruelties at ONCE, so as not to have to recur to them every day."
academic THOMAS HOBBES: Navigating The Leviathan! Without civil society…humanity would fall into "War of All AGAINST All."
European AUGUSTE COMTE: High Priest of Science! Comte believed that the wave of instability and violence sweeping through Europe in the early 19th century was a direct result of religion's recent ASS-WHOOPING by science!
academic HEGEL & SCHOPENHAUER: Toxic Fanboys! Once upon a time there lived two professors and they both though IMMANUEL KANT was the greatest philosopher EVER!
academic DAVID HUME: The Empirical Strikes Back! Even when we THINK we observe cause-and-effect in ACTION…DO we, really?
European ST THOMAS AQUINAS: Apetite For Doctrine! Like a LOT of parents, the Count of Aquino was less than THRILLED when he learned that his son had switches MAJORS midway through COLLEGE.
academic HYPATIA: The Last? Or The First? SCIENCE isn't a MODERN invention. Our hunger to understand the WORLD… has been a part of each one of US from our earliest days.
European The (Mostly) Saintly ST AUGUSTINE! Aurelius Augustine was raised a CHRISTIAN by his devout mother, MONICA, but her faith didn't stick - at FIRST!
asian CONFUCIUS On A Rampage! Though known in the west as Confucius this legendary Chinese thinker is better known in his native land as MASTER KONG!
religion ISAAC LURIA: Rabbi Of The Mystic Arts! Our plane of existence is both the PROCESS and the OUTCOME of a process that hasn't stopped since God said "let there be light!"
asian LAO TZU: The Sage Of Tao! "The universe is SACRED. If you try to change it, you will RUIN it. If you try to HOLD it, you will LOSE it."
ancient EPICTETUS THE STOIC: The Unknown Philosopher! This philosopher's real name remains unknown - "Epictetus" simply means "slave".
omnipotence for dummies KIERKEGAARD: Enemy Of The Church! After repeated, vehement attacks on Denmark's state religion the most popular guy in Copenhagen was most definitely NOT Soren Kierkegaard… but he was having the time of his life!
greek EPICURUS: Principal Of Doctrines! "A happy and eternal being has no trouble himself and brings no trouble upon any other being; hence he is EXEMPT from movements of anger and partiality, for every such movement implies WEAKNESS!"
omnipotence for dummies GOTTFRIED LEIBNIZ: Living His Best Life! Gottfried Leibniz (co-inventor of Calculus) believed he had proven the existence of God through a rather complicated cosmology…
ancient DIOGENES THE CYNIC: Philosophy Goes To The Dogs! Diogenes believed that NATURE, not social convention, showed the way to a virtuous life.
omnipotence for dummies BARUCH SPINOZA: Clarity Is King! …had a poetically appropriate day job for a philosopher - he crafted glass lenses for telescopes so the heavens might be better viewed.
academic ARISTOTLE: Keeper Of The Philosophical Flame! Plato died…and many feared that his tradition of thinking and learning might die with him. No one yet realized that someone waited in the wings to pick up the torch…
religion GEORGE BERKELEY: If He Sees It, It Must Be Real! …was an Irish Anglican bishop who didn't believe in the existence of matter. Instead, he said: "To be is to be perceived."
ancient THE PRE-SOCRATICS: Pioneers Of Fancy Thinkin'! "…the FIRST Philosophers thought the nature of matter were the ONLY principles of ALL things."
omnipotence for dummies Featured RENE DESCARTES: He Thinks, Therefore He IS! We're proud to present the FATHER of Modern Philosophy…
ancient Featured BODHIDHARMA: Zen Master of Kung-Fu! Rumor had it that he was born to vast wealth…but he gave it all up to follow the path of The Enlightened One!
