Western Philosophers and Their Impact on Worldview Coursework

The present chart reflects the strength of the influence of these philosophers on my worldview. 1 is the least influential thinker, and 10 is the most influential one.

1. Boethius. His philosophy is based on the belief in God and his ancient understanding of the universes construction. It shows people in the fifth century BC viewed the world but does not affect my world picture.
2. Saint Augustine. Saint Augustine is one of the most prominent Christian thinkers. I disagree with his philosophy because it is focused on theology and Christian teaching and does not consider other perspectives on life.
3. Thomas Aquinas. I disagree with Aquinass purely Christian perspective on the world. Thomas Aquinas was given third place for the argument that God is the immovable mover that is curious.
4. Rene Descartes. His philosophy is based on the theory of innate knowledge, according to which all people are born with the knowledge that was given to them by God. This theory is not convincing because I think people gain knowledge through education and practice.
5. Isaac Newton. This philosopher deserves 7th place for combining the two distinct fields of philosophy and mathematics and making scientific discoveries.
6. Plato. Plato deserves this position in raking for his work The Republic, where he discusses the notions of good and evil and describes what a perfect government looks like.
7. David Hume. I share the central idea of Humes philosophy that experience is an essential element of cognition.
8. Immanuel Kant. Immanuel Kant is the author of the theory of freedom, according to which without freedom, it is impossible to act morally. This idea is complex; however, I share this view in general terms.
9. Socrates. One of the ideas of Socrates that heavily affected my worldview is that the reason why people do something wrong lies in their ignorance. From this, I infer that it is senseless to argue when someone acts incorrectly because it is more reasonable to make such a person ponder what is better for him.
10. Aristotle. I consider Aristotle the most influential philosopher because of his theory of the golden mean. According to this theory, virtue lies between two extremes. In other words, to be virtuous, a person should search for a balance between the two vices (Dhiman, 2020). This theory reminds me that there is no reason to be reckless all the time because such reasoning brings no positive outcomes.

Reference

Dhiman, S. (2020). Achieving happiness at work: Insights from Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. In J. Marques (Ed.) The Routledge companion to happiness at work (pp. 335-343). Routledge.