David Portela loves philosophy, theology, technology, games, books and people. He serves in ministry in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Some philosophers have been grouped together since their works and ideas are covered by a shared source.
Vedantic Scriptures (c.800-c.1500? BCE)
Thales (c.625-c.545 BCE)
Anaximander (c. 610-546 BCE)
Pythagoras (c.580-500 BCE)
Anaximenes (d. 528 BCE)
Parmenides (c.515- after 450 BCE)
Anaxagoras (500-428 BCE)
Zeno of Elea (c.490-430 BCE)
Protagoras (c.485-c.420 BCE)
Democritus (c.460-c.370 BCE)
Diogenes (c.404-323 BCE)
This is a work in progress, and I’ll be adding to it and making modifications as I progress in my own reading and as I gather input from friends and commenters. The list is not meant to be comprehensive. There’s simply no way I (or anyone) will be able to read all the works by all the authors listed below, let alone give them the time and attention they need to be understood and absorbed. I’ve tried to pick works that will be representative of an author’s philosophy, but sometimes books have been chosen more because of their availability to me than because of the way they summarize or reflect an author’s views.
Some of us have become jaded to amoral points of view on the part of large corporations. We have witnessed so many instances of corporate greed (Enron, Nike’s labor practices, etc.) that it’s become a common element in the cultural psyche, not acceptable, but still normal.
Because of this, it’s a breath of fresh air to hear House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos’ words to Yahoo executives Jerry Yang and Michael Callahan: “While technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies.” I wish this line was heard more often in courtrooms and boardrooms around the world, because it is one that desperately needs to be repeated.