In this function, the power to punish
is not essentially different from that of curing or educating (Michael
Foucault, 1926-1984)Like all that great philosophers, Foucault didn't pretend to know all the answers. This Frenchman was an academic who constantly questioned the nature of things. With interests on human nature, he rejected common assumptions. Instead, he chose to study how humans and science functioned in society, and he did this by using history and sociology to reach his conclusions. He believed that the concept of madness is purely an invention of the age of reason.
In books like Madness and Civilization an The Order of Things; an Archeology of the Human Science, he said that there exist multiple reasons for anything that happens in life, in any given historical society. Moreover, one of his most famous hypotheses is that man, because of the incredible advancement made in all fields of knowledge in the past two centuries, is soon bound to be extinct.
Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains (Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712-1778)
Rousseau was a man for whom freedom was Principal. Born in Switzerland, he worked in France and later in England. Acquainted with both Voltaire (they disagreed with each other’s works and apparently hated each other) and Diderot (a friend of Rousseau’s), philosopher Rousseau was one of the most important figures of the French Enlightenment. His works are The Social Contract and L’Emile. In the field of education, he theorized that parents should only aid their children in their natural growth. But it’s politics that truly made Rousseau famous. He saw governments as people’s desire for balance and common good. “people’s general will” as he called it. His major philosophical statement is that mas is born inherently good but it’s society that corrupts him.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. and worry not that no one knows of you; seek to be worth knowing (Confucius, 551-479 B.C.)
Confucius was a wise and learned man. He taught children at an early age before getting a job at the ministry of justice. His presence there made the Chinese city state morally honorable but internal struggles forced him away. Although he returned to politics later on, he spent most of his life travelling across China with some disciples, teaching about the art of government. He wrote a series of works about what is now known as Confucianism. But it's in the piece called The Analects that his teachings are the most obvious. He believed that a ruler's first objective should be to ensure the welfare of his people. Being morally upright and living live according to strict guidelines favoring harmony is still the backbone of Confucianism today.
The unexamined life is not worth living. The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance (Socrates, 469-399 B.C.)
Socrates is responsible for laying the groundwork of Western thought. He was one of the original Greek philosophers. His core contribution is the development of what is now known as the Socratic Method. This process consists of asking for definitions of abstract concepts and then finding contradictions in the answers. This dialectic method allowed him to deduce that all transgression of wrong doing is always unintentional, and is based on lack of knowledge. Interestingly, Socrates never wrote any of his beliefs; Plato is the source of most of his wisdom. Accused of corrupting the youth of Athens, Socrates was sentenced to death by drinking poison.
