10 Greatest American Philosophers

10 Greatest American Philosophers

John Dewey

John Dewey, a leading scholar in the American philosophical school of pragmatism. Though he made contributions to philosophy and psychology, but his greatest impact was as an educational reformer. According to Dewey, it is important to focus on classroom activities as they play an important role in learning abilities of a child as compared to rote learning. In the early days of American education, the major focus was on memorization that is why he focused more on practical learning that rote learning. The influence of Dewey and others started to move education towards focusing on teaching children how to think critically.

John Rawls

John Rawls, an important political thinker of the 20th century came back after serving in during World War 2 and got a PhD in moral philosophy from Princeton. He is best known for his defense of egalitarian liberalism in his work A Theory of Justice. In the book, he attempts to find common ground between the two seemingly conflicting concepts of liberty and equality. He ultimately concludes that it is important that we define justice as fairness. According to his point of view, society and government should be set up to give equal opportunities to each person. Rawls views both strict communism and laissez-faire capitalism as unjust and tries to find a balance between liberty and equality.

Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards, one of the greatest influences on American protestant theology was born in Connecticut in 1703. He was among the leaders of the Puritan movement. According to Puritans Bible itself should be the final word on what they should do, and shunned the Catholic traditions that did not come from the Bible directly. Edwards himself attended Yale University at age 13, and wrote extensively on religious topics ranging from metaphysics to ethics. His most influential idea was his defense of theological determinism, in which he said that God is the final cause of everything that happens. His theory had both positive and negative effects. So, for both good and ill, Edwards had a huge impact on American religion.

Cornel West

Cornel West, a famous African American philosopher, has taught at Princeton, Harvard and Yale. West is also a very active social commentator and political activist. Many of his major beliefs came from his Christian background. West’s most influential book was Race Matters, which was a series of essays that came out soon after the Rodney King beating. In his book, he talk over the problem of African American poverty, and debated against recommendations from black leaders that he felt were unlikely to solve the problem.

Michael Sandel

Michael Sandel, is the most popular political philosopher who worked as a professor at Harvard. He is famous for his lectures and books. Sandel class on justice at Harvard routinely has more than 1000 students. He believes that to be good citizens we must first deal with hard ethical choices. During his lectures, he engaged the audience and encouraged them to question why they believe what they believe. He argues that nobody can really be neutral, and everyone will always make significant judgments of some kind. And this is why it is important that we confront our beliefs and engage in deep reflection over what it means to be good.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the leading figure of American Transcendentalism, had a great influence on later thinkers. In his book Nature, he argues that nature acts as an intermediary between man and the divine. He believed we should look within ourselves to gain “transcendental” knowledge, we derive from our inner mentality. Emerson was a great believer in the supremacy of the individual over the group. Transcendentalists like Emerson believed that groups corrupt the individual, and thus it is crucial to decide for ourselves what is important. His focus on the individual greatly influenced the thought of American intellectuals and the public.

Charles Sanders Peirce

Charles Sanders Peirce, a chemist, mathematician, and geodist considered scientific philosophy, mainly the study of logic, was his major area of focus. Peirce had an extraordinary range of interests, writing on subjects as different as economics and astronomy. In many of his famous writings, he argued that the scientific method was the superior method for determining truth. He is recognized as the founder of pragmatism. He argued against determinism and believed that the universe displays degrees of habit, but there is variation even with the same input.

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson is best known for being one of the founding fathers of the United States. He served as the third President. Jefferson was a member and the president of the American Philosophical Association. He was a defender of democracy, and argued for a will of the people. Unfortunately, his belief that “all men are created equal” did not extend to non-white men, as he was a slave owner all his life. Because of his wide ranging influence, he is certainly one of the most important political philosophers in American history.

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau worked as teacher, surveyor, lecturer, naturalist, head of a pencil company, but Thoreau always thought of himself as a writer. His most influential writings would be his philosophical essays and nonfiction.  In an essay on civil disobedience, he argued that individuals have an obligation to determine what is right and what is wrong for them. This applies both to laws and unwritten mainstream beliefs. Thoreau believed it critically vital for individuals to think for themselves. He told people not to follow him, but to search inside themselves to discover what was important to them. His teachings made him a unique modern philosopher of America.

William James

William James contributed to both physiology and psychology. His 1,200 page book The Principles of Psychology was greatly influenced by both Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. His book included not only psychology, but also philosophy and personal reflection that influenced many important later philosophers, including Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell. James also wrote much about religion from a relativist position. Because of the great diversity of subjects that he wrote about, and the ways he mixed them together, he was one of the most influential thinkers in American history.