Robert Boyle (1627—1691) Robert Boyle was one of the most prolific figures in the scientific revolution and the leading scientist of his day. He was a proponent of the mechanical philosophy which sought to explain natural phenomena in terms of matter and motion, rather than appealing to Aristotelian substantial forms and qualities. He was a champion of experimental science, claiming that theory should conform to

Nyāya Nyāya (literally “rule or method of reasoning”) is a leading school of philosophy within the “Hindu umbrella”—those communities which saw themselves as the inheritors of the ancient Vedic civilization and allied cultural traditions. Epistemologically, Nyāya develops of a sophisticated precursor to contemporary reliabilism (particularly process reliabilism), centered on the notion of “knowledge-sources” (pramāṇa), and a conception of epistemic responsibility which allows for default, unreflective

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) Nietzsche était un philosophe allemand, essayiste, et critique culturel. Ses écrits sur la vérité, moralité, langue, esthétique, théorie culturelle, histoire, nihilisme, pouvoir, conscience, et le sens de l'existence ont exercé une énorme influence sur la philosophie occidentale et l'histoire intellectuelle. Nietzsche parlait de « la mort de Dieu,» et prévoyait la dissolution de la religion traditionnelle et de la métaphysique. Certains interprètes de Nietzsche pensent qu'il a embrassé le nihilisme,

Nasir Khusraw (1004—1060) Abu Mo’in Hamid al-Din Nasir ibn Khusraw is an important figure in the development of Ismaili philosophy. Much of his biography and philosophical ideology has been obtained through fragmented texts, both in poetry and prose. Born into a politically connected family, Khusraw was well-educated and in the sciences and humanities. Having spent most of his life occupying prestigious positions within the Sajuq

Zhong Hui (Chung Hui, 225–264 C.E.) Zhong Hui (Chung Hui) was a major philosophical figure during China’s early medieval period (220-589 CE). An accomplished interpreter of the Laozi and the Yijing, Zhong Hui contributed significantly to the early development of xuanxue—literally “learning” (xue) of the “dark” or “mysterious” (xuan) Dao ("Chemin"), but sometimes translated as “Neo-Daoism“. He also was a major political figure whose ambition

Michel Foucault (1926–1984) Michel Foucault was a major figure in two successive waves of 20th century French thought–the structuralist wave of the 1960s and then the poststructuralist wave. By the premature end of his life, Foucault had some claim to be the most prominent living intellectual in France. Foucault’s work is transdisciplinary in nature, ranging across the concerns of the disciplines of history, sociologie, psychologie,