A thinker is a person who has studied extensively at all levels of scholarship or whose ideas are sufficient to establish a system of thought. People with unique ideas and wisdom in ancient and modern China and abroad can be called thinkers, but we generally refer to those philosophers who have had a particularly great influence.
Their research covers a wide range of topics, including religion, philosophy, political science, psychology, education, sociology, economics, history, anthropology, law, etc. Some thinkers are even involved in military theory, biology, cosmology, and so on.
Over the millennia, there have been many famous thinkers in the world, and the ten most famous of them are as follows.
10. John Locke
John Locke (1632–1704) was an English philosopher and physician widely regarded as one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers and popularly known as the father of "liberalism." His work greatly influenced the development of epistemology and political philosophy.
9. Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet, 1694-1778, pen name Voltaire, French Enlightenment thinker, writer and philosopher, known as "the king of French thought", "the best poet of France", and "the conscience of Europe". As a purveyor of new ideas, he was known as the titan of the Enlightenment. Voltaire was a brilliant writer and a scholar of history, including drama, poetry, fiction, politics, history, philosophy, and science.
8. Engels
Friedrich Engels, 1820-1895, was a German thinker, philosopher, revolutionary, educator, and military theorist, and a great teacher and leader of the proletariat and working people all over the world, and one of the founders of Marxism.
7. Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was a German philosopher, writer, and founder of classical German philosophy. He was the last major philosopher of the Enlightenment and a representative of German thought. He is considered one of the most influential thinkers in the West after Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. His teachings have had a profound influence on modern Western philosophy.
6. Marx
Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German thinker, political scientist, philosopher, economist, revolutionary theorist, historian and sociologist. He was one of the founders of Marxism, the organizer and leader of the First International, one of the founders of Marxist political parties, a revolutionary teacher of the proletariat and working people of the world, a spiritual leader of the proletariat, and a founder of the international communist movement.
5. Socrates
Socrates, 469 BC ~ 399 BC, was one of the founders of Greek (Athenian) philosophy. Socrates' depictions of art, literature, and popular culture have made him one of the most widely recognized figures in the Western philosophical tradition. His ideas had a strong influence on philosophers in later antiquity and modern times.
4, Lao Tzu
Lao Tzu, c. 571-470 BC, was an ancient Chinese thinker, philosopher, writer and historian, founder and main representative of the Taoist school. Laozi's thought has a profound impact on the development of Chinese philosophy, and its core is the dialectic of simplicity. His posthumous work, Tao Te Ching, is one of the world's most widely published and distributed works.
3. Aristotle
Aristotle, 384~322 BC, an ancient philosopher, an ancient Greek, one of the great philosophers, scientists and educators in the ancient history of the world, can be called the master of Greek philosophy. He was a pupil of Plato and a teacher of Alexandria. As an encyclopedic scientist, he has contributed to almost every discipline.
2. Plato
Plato, 427 BC - 347 BC, was a great philosopher of ancient Greece and one of the greatest philosophers and thinkers in all of Western culture. Among the concepts he created or developed were: Platonic thought, Platonism, Platonic love, etc.
1、孔子
Confucius, 551 BC - 479 BC, a native of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period, was an ancient Chinese thinker, politician, educator, and founder of Confucianism. Confucius's influence on later generations was far-reaching and long-lasting, and his quotations "The Analects" are regarded as Confucian classics. His "benevolence" and "propriety" have become important guidelines for national governance and personal self-cultivation; The idea of "education without class" has enabled the Chinese civilization to be infinitely inherited; The systematic collation of ancient documents not only gives its own ideals, but also makes the cultural heritage of the Chinese nation have a profound and broad connotation.
These thinkers have had a profound impact on many fields such as philosophy, political science, ethics, and more, and their theories and writings are still widely studied and discussed today.