PHILOSOPHY

I think of this site as a "mindscape". I invite you to explore the world and thoughts of twenty-four thinkers who have made some major contribution to the way western civilisation has come to view itself. This is in no way designed as an academic analysis of their works. Rather, it aims to provide a glimpse into their personal and historical backgrounds and into their major ideas.

We are all thinking beings. Moreover, a great deal of our thinking time is dedicated to understanding ourselves. This is a basic characteristic of humanity. Wherefrom comes this overwhelming sense of self-importance? Why do we find ourselves so interesting? What shapes the way we think:
Our immediate and personal background?
Our cultural heritage?
The very structure of the human mind (whatever that might be)?
Any or all of the above?
These are some of the questions that inspired my own personal journey of exploration into the realm of philosophy. I do not claim to have discovered the ultimate answers (though some of those included here have made such claims). My journey is not yet at an end. Indeed, I plan to be a lifelong traveller in these realms. In the words that Tennyson puts into the mind of that other, far more renowned traveller, Ulysses:

"I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'
Gleams that untravell'd world, whose margin fades
Forever and forever as I move."

I invite you start your own journey, create you own pathway, enjoy the thoughts of others, think your own thoughts. All that you will require is a little thinking time, a little imagination, a computer of course (oh, and a mastery of the back button in your browser for when you head down a side pathway and wish to return immediately to your starting place). I have tried to construct signposts to assist you in your navigation, but the road you choose to travel is yours alone. You may choose to start by browsing through the more memorable pearls of wisdom of the ancients in the Quotable Quotes section; or perhaps begin by scrolling through the Glossary of mind-boggling terms that our thinkers and academics have devised to make their thoughts more comprehensible. There is of course an Index which lists all twenty-four of the thinkers profiled. (There are brief biographies of almost thirty others, but you'll have to discover them along the way.) Even here, you may choose to explore an individual fully or you may follow through one of the many themes that they (and I) have found of common interest.

Some of my own thoughts inspired by the lives and writings these men can be found in the section entitled Everyday Philosophy.

CLICK HERE TO START YOUR JOURNEY