Repaying the Debt
We owe a great debt to those on whose legacy we build. As we
study these contributors, it is important to remember them for what
their great contributions to reasoned thinking were, rather than dwell
on their beliefs and biases inherent in the times that they lived. We
should not judge them by the norms of their society, but by the
innovative thinking that they contributed to it. To repay them, all we
can do is start where they left off, working towards improving what
we find as best we can.
Socrates
Socrates, as represented in Plato's earliest dialogues and
corroborated elsewhere, represents a leader in the move of
humanity towards the use of a humble reasoning that would not be
overcome by insistence or cultural assumptions. He showed a
devotion so strong to the new democratic movement and the
rational way of thinking that he was willing to sacrifice his own life,
rather than leave this devotion in question. His example of
persistent and unpresumptuous methods of investigation became
the hallmark of many great discoverers that followed in reasoning
and science.
Confucius
Confucius, or Kung Fu Tsu, provided not only a means, but the
motivation for a reason-based society that positively influenced the
world over many ages of civilization. His focus on tangibly
improving society through personal effort opened up a new way of
thinking about society in general. His illustration of the principles of
social action and personal responsibility through cause and effect
provide the framework for the ongoing development of societies
through rational analysis. He took the nobleness of man from a
birthright to an accomplishment. He took the right of rulership from
the invocation of deities to the will of the people.
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei popularized the investigation of the natural world as
a means to developing our understanding. While he was
harassed by the powers of his day for promoting these ideas, he
did still profess to live within the constraints of his religious
authorities. But his contribution to a reason-based world view has
been extensive, primarily in the areas of applying mathematics to
physical problems, developing and using scientific instruments to
study nature, and being honest enough about what one discovers
to question one's own presumptions when contradictions arise.
His efforts began to bring the world of physics in a large part of the
world out of centuries of dogmatic affirmation.
Benedict de Spinoza
Benedict de Spinoza, while living in very myth-based societies,
demonstrated clearly how to critically review text in order to develop
a coherent understanding of what was happening. He offered us
methods of gaining insights into the understanding of the authors
by studying their word usage, progression of plot, and
inconsistencies in the world views that they presented. His rational
analysis provides an example that has helped generations speak
clearly about what was going on in their own cultural traditions and
in their societies. Spinoza also provided significant reasoning for
addressing personal responsibility outside the submission to
authority or myth systems.
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was one of the great social engineers of modern
democracy. His example supports the use of reason in political
activities and personal reflection. His push to maintain a
separation of church and state demonstrated an emphasis on the
reason-driven decision-making in government that he sought out
in his personal life. His "Jefferson Bible" demonstrates a good
method for personal interpreting and usage of our cultural heritage.
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin used Galileo's method of honestly analyzing and
describing the world to open up dramatic new insight into the study
of living things. He described the human species' place in the web
of life in a way that was the first to dramatically challenge myth
systems across the globe with tangible evidence, systematic
analysis, and logical rigor. Within his new framework, the origin of
species (including man), disease, behavior, physical attributes,
variations of fossils, and inheritance all became intelligible and
related through the understanding of a coherent process: evolution.
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud provided humanity with the first popular framework
for understanding the workings of the human mind without having
to invoke mythologies of the dominant culture and interpret mental
experiences according to legend-based presumptions. Freud, and
his intellectual progeny, like Karl Jung, opened up a new world of
psychology and psychoanalysis that has evolved far from its early
roots into a system that can improve the lives of individuals through
proactive treatments that are results-driven, practical, and revisable
based upon continued research.
Mary Shelley
With the writing of "Frankenstein," Mary Shelley allowed humanity to
address the choices, the risks, and the potential achievements of
society in light of the evolving tools and insights of science. By
carving the genre of science fiction from Milton and Ovid, she gave
humanity the creative means to dream self-aware of the future.
Frankenstein also lay the groundwork for countless authors that
have inspired people to pursue careers in science. Science fiction
is a system of envisioning the future that keeps the
decision-making in the hand of the audience. In this new tradition
we can creatively and inclusively pursue the future, presenting
proposals and other musings of the future honestly, for what they
are.
Ida B Wells-Barnett
Ms. Wells championed the abolition of lynching, segregation, racist
Jim Crowe practices, and the lingering racial bigotry that was
entrenched in society by the slavery practices from which she was
emancipated. As a young school teacher and later as a journalist
and author, she took the high road of reason by increasing public
awareness of the injustices that were being committed in America.
She practiced civil disobedience, used the legal system, helped
start social organizations like the NAACP, promoted women’s
rights, and ran for public office. She helped establish a new level of
public discourse and set new social norms for practicing civil rights
that continue to act as a foundation for the ethical standards of
modern society.
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Entries above © Erik Moore.
MOR - Great Contributors
Émilie du Châtelet
This brilliant French scientist and mathematician developed a
precursor to the Einsteinian equation E=MC² by formulating a
model of the idea of the energy of moving bodies as E≈MV². She
was a broad intellectual that absorbed and wrote literature and
philosophy, having extended discourse with Voltaire, translating
Newton's Principia into French, and performed experiments on fire
that investigated properties that we now call infra-red radiation.
She confronted the chauvinism of her time and created a new role
for woman intellectuals that is an inspiration to this day.
