10 Greatest American Philosophers

10 Greatest American Philosophers

John Dewey

John Dewey, an important scholar of America contributed his works to psychology and philosophy, but his greatest influence was like 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. During America’s early days of education, the major focus was on memorization that is why he focused more on practical learning that rote learning. Because of his influence other people started to focus on teaching children ways of thinking critically.

John Rawls

John Rawls, an important political thinker of the 20th century came back after contributing in World War 2 and earned a PhD degree from Princeton, in moral philosophy. He is known for his emphasis on protection of democratic liberalism in his book A Theory of Justice. In his book, he tries to find balance between the two apparently conflicting ideas of equality and liberty. He eventually concludes that it is necessary to describe justice as fairness. According to his point of view, government and society should give equal opportunities to everyone. He views both laissez-faire capitalism and strict communism as unfair and attempts to create a balance between equality and liberty.

Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards is greatest inspirations on American protestant theology. He was born in Connecticut in 1703. He was among the frontrunners of the Puritan movement. According to Puritans, Bible should be considered final words on what people must do, and shunned the Catholic traditions because they did not come directly from the Bible. Edwards attended Yale University when he was 13 years old, and wrote widely on religious topics varying from ethics to metaphysics. His most effective idea was defense of theological determinism, in which he talked over the final reason of everything that occurs-which is God. He had positive as well as negative effects in his theory. It was for both good and evil.

Cornel West

Cornel West, a famous African American thinker, has served at Princeton, Harvard and Yale. West is an active political activist and social commentator. He had most of beliefs rooted from his Christian background. West’s most prominent works, Race Matters-a book in which he had a number of essays written right after the Rodney King beating. His book focuses on the poverty problems faced by African American, and debated against the advices given from black leaders who did not feel the responsibility of solving the matter.

Michael Sandel

Michael Sandel, is the most famous political thinkers who worked as a professor at Harvard. He is famous for his books and lectures. Sandel class on justice at Harvard had over 1000 students. He believed that of we wanted to be good citizens we had to deal with ethical choices. During his lectures, he engaged his students into discussions and gave them confidence to question the reason behind their beliefs. He reasoned that nobody can actually be neutral, and everyone will have significant judgments of every matter. This is why he focused on such topics to make people realize the importance of confrontation with our beliefs that further involve people in discussion leading to deep reflection over something that turns out to be good.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an important philosopher of American Transcendentalism. He had inspired many later thinkers. Nature one of his greatest writings, he talks about nature being an intercessor between the divine and man. He was a true believer in the authority of an individual over a group of people. Emerson also believed that individuals get corrupted by groups and thus it is important to choose what is essential for us. His emphasis on the individuals had a great impact on people as well as American intellectuals.

Charles Sanders Peirce

Charles Sanders Peirce, a chemist, mathematician, and geodist focused on scientific philosophy. His major area of focus was mainly the study of logic. Peirce had a wide range of interests, and wrote on different subjects such as astronomy and economics. In many of his famous writings, Peirce reasoned that to determine truth, the only reliable method that can be used is the scientific method. He is recognized as the founder of pragmatism. He debated against determinism and said different degrees of habit are displayed by the universe, but even the same input has different results.

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson is known for being among the founders of the United States. He served the country as the third President. Jefferson was the president and a member of the American Philosophical Association. He defended democracy, and debated for equality of people. Unluckily, his idea that “all men are created equal” did not result the way he had wished for because he himself was a slave owner. Due to his influence, he is among the most prominent political philosophers in American history.

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau worked as teacher, surveyor, lecturer, naturalist, but he considered himself as a writer. His important writings are his nonfiction essays and philosophical. He argued in an essay written on civil disobedience that individuals have the ability to determine things that are right or wrong for them. This relates to laws and unwritten mainstream beliefs. He thought it is important for individuals to think for themselves. He asked people not to follow him, but to discover things that are vital for them. His teachings made him a modern philosopher of America.

William James

William James contributed to both physiology and psychology. The Principles of Psychology, a 1,200 page book was greatly influenced by both Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. His book not only focused on psychology, but also personal reflection and philosophy that inspired many philosophers, including Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell. He wrote about religion from a relativist position. He is considered as an inspiration for many thinkers in American history. He has written about many subjects and mixed the concepts together. His writings have influences many philosophers all over the world.