Which Renaissance philosopher do you think developed the greatest contribution to humanity? Explain your answ

Answer 1

It is easy to understand which philosopher under this category held the most influence. First, Descartes, although plagued by contradictions, was by far the most influential philosopher to have come out of that period. One had to look no further than a library to see that no other person during that time has had more literature written around their ideas than he did. He is the most hated and the most loved. Today he is look at as not so important by many, who have regretfully missed the point, and forgotten as the father of modern day science. He is the author of the law of inertia (read the world), although newton was credited. He is the reason (all you have to do is be alive today to know this) why our world has shifted towards a dependence on science and nothing else. In philosophy there are said to be only 3 great philosophers–namely, Aristotle, Descartes, and Kant. A great deal of modern philosophy and science is revolved around the problems that Descartes sought to solve, but in the process opened a pandora's box. Thanks to Descartes for all of our modern day problems with the mind, and the unreliability of anything other than science. Cognitive science (as a science that is covered by various disciplines like psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, anthropology, etc.) is focused around a simple problem that Descartes created–the mind/body problem. Today you still have theories that assert dualism (functionalism), and you have those who have tried to prove that the mind is nothing more than a complex version of a computer (connectionism, Strong AI, identity theory). It is true that Copernicus and Galileo were strong factors in the shift towards modernity, however, it was Descartes that mathematized the world. It is his legacy that we are living today with the secularization of tradition. Some take it as bad and some don't. However, all you have to do is analyze the questions that science, and other philosophers, who have come after Descartes have asked. Hume presupposed Kant, but not before Descartes gave Hume reason to doubt. Kant also was given a task to critique reason by none other than our hero, and let's not forget the whole of the analytic tradition that were devoted to the scientific method espoused by Descartes. It is also obvious that I have not even mentioned how he developed a theory of optics that was instrumental to the way we understand our interaction with the world. Let us not even discuss his theory of ideas that caused the greatest problem for his successors. And with all of that said I am not even a fan of cartesian thought. I actually hated my Descartes class, but one can't get away from the issues he raised. The next time you see a movie, like the matrix, and even have a doubt in your mind that Descartes was the sole reason for that line of thinking, then you need to re-evaluate the question. Although, we must look at what is meant by the greatest contribution because he definitely contributed. However, is his contribution considered positive? One thing is for sure–he gave us newfound problems that we could of lived well enough without. One last thing, cartesian coordinate system. I think he did enough don't you?

Answer 2

Although it is a fact that there were many great thinkers during the Renaissance period, it could be said that not any single one of them contributed more than another. Sure, there were some that were better than the others, smarter, etc. But those people built off of things that other people had established. It was either something that they agreed with and tested further, or disagreed with and challenged. Either way they worked off of each others' findings; all of the thinkers together helped create the Renaissance. It wouldn't have happened with just one or two people.

Answer 3

He isn't a Renaissance thinker (in fact he's an Enlightenment thinker), but I believe John Locke made the biggest contribution to humanity. He was really the first to define the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of property. These ideals were central to the formation of the United States, and are even listed in the Declaration of Independence (though happiness took the place of property in the DoI). Though some might not believe the independence of America was a good thing, the nation has changed the course of human existence quite dramatically.

Answer 4

Although it would depend on your definition of when the Renaissance started and how you would classify someone as a philosopher but....

I would have to say that Johannes Gutenberg contributed the most by far. He was the guy who invented the printing press. Nearly all of our present technology and perhaps the Renaissance its self can be traced back to this one, relatively simple invention.

Answer 5

Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) who provided a major breakthrough with Oratio de Hominis Dignitate or Discourse on the Dignity of Man (1486), "the manifesto of the Renaissance", it invokes both Plato and Aristotle (Aristotle had been the favorite of the earlier middle ages) to argue for a concept of human worth which moved us beyond mere faith - as mankinds' "raison d'etre" - to the significance of the human ability to encompass all knowledge.

Answer 6

Rene DesCartes had the greatest impact of all the Renaissance philosophers with his Discourse on Method and his ability in mathematics.

DesCartes influenced Newton and others.

Answer 7

Galileo who wrote interior the Assayer ... "Philosophy is written in this grand e book, the universe ... that's written interior the language of arithmetic, and its characters are triangles, circles, and different geometric figures; ...". His mathematical analyses are a added progression of a convention employed by way of previous due scholastic organic philosophers, which Galileo discovered whilst he studied philosophy. in spite of the reality that he tried to stay dependable to the Catholic Church, his adherence to experimental outcomes, and their maximum elementary interpretation, brought about a rejection of blind allegiance to authority, the two philosophical and non secular, in concerns of technology. In broader words, this aided to split technology from the two philosophy and faith; a significant progression in human theory.

Answer 8

Easy, Francis Bacon for the scientific method

Unless you count Shakespeare's works which were written by the same person.

Answer 9

Quite the opposite. I think they hurt human development and culture.

Answer 10

Philosophy has never contributed sh*t to anything. It is a bunch of people who think in abstracts and think waaaayy to hard about meaningless sh*t