About the Philosophers

Daniel Dennett (Chapter 1)

Dennett, who teaches at Tufts University, is probably my favorite philosopher. His books are actually well written, which is a rare quality among philosophy texts. His works run the spectrum of philosophy, but his greatest influence lies in the philosophies of mind and science. If you want a fun philosophy book to read that does not require you to be a philosopher, pick up his book Elbow Room. If you are looking for something more weighty, but equally accessible, read Darwin's Dangerous Idea.

René Descartes (Chapter 2)

Though he lived from 1596 until 1650, Descartes's writings mark the beginning of modern philosophy. He was a French philosopher who emphasized a solipsistic approach to epistemology. He is the author of the famous quote "Cogito, ergo sum," or "I think, therefore I am."

Donald Davidson (Chapter 3)

Donald Davidson is among the most important philosophers of the late 20th century. He is particularly influential in the philosophy of language and action theory. He is currently a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. My senior thesis at Bates College was based on his writings.

Ludwig Wittgenstein (Chapter 4)

Ludwig Wittgenstein was a German philosopher who lived from 1889 until 1951. His primary contributions to philosophy were in the philosophy of language. He once wrote that "philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language."

Friedrich Nietzsche (Chapter 5)

Nietzsche, who lived in Germany from 1844 until 1900, is likely the most controversial "serious" philosopher. His writings have influenced nearly every kind of philosophy but have had their greatest impact—both positive and negative—in the area of ethics.

Martin Heidegger (Chapter 6)

Heidegger, another 20th-century German philosopher, made popular the movement started by Edmund Husserl known as phenomenology. Phenomenology attempts to understand things as they present themselves rather than to appeal to some sort of essential nature hidden from us. This movement eventually led to the most popularly known philosophical movement, existentialism.

David Kolb (Chapter 7)

David Kolb was my major adviser at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, where he is a Charles A. Dana Professor of Philosophy. He has written extensively on Hegelian philosophy and nonlinear writing in philosophy.

Immanuel Kant (Preface, Chapter 8)

Immanuel Kant may be the most influential philosopher of the second millennium. He was a German philosopher who lived from 1724 until 1804. He emphasized a rational approach to all philosophical pursuits. This rationalism has had its greatest impact in the area of ethics, where moral principles are, according to Kant, derived entirely from reason.

David Hume (Chapter 9)

David Hume was an 18th-century Scottish philosopher who wrote on a range of philosophical subjects. He is largely responsible for the school of philosophy known as empiricism.

Ruth Garrett Millikan (Chapter 10)

Ruth Garrett Millikan is a professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut. She is an influential modern philosopher in the philosophy of language and epistemology.

Noam Chomsky (Chapter 11)

Born in 1928, Noam Chomsky is perhaps the most famous living philosopher. While often known for his political activism—especially during the Vietnam era—his greatest contributions to philosophy lie in the philosophy of language.

Jean-Paul Sartre (Chapter 12)

Sartre was a novelist, a philosopher, and a member of the French Resistance during World War II. As a philosopher, he is best known as the force behind the existentialism movement. Existentialism goes beyond phenomenology in its claims about the essential nature of things. While phenomenology claims that we should not appeal to an essential nature of a thing in order to understand it, existentialism says that no such essential nature exists. A thing is exactly as it presents itself.