Curated playlist
Philosophers of education
- PlatoPlato never speaks in his own voice in his dialogues. Socrates does the talking in every one but the Laws.
- AristotleOnly around a third of Aristotle's original writings survive, and none was meant to be published.
- Jean-Jacques RousseauRousseau refused a king's pension after Louis XV loved his opera. Friends were exasperated by his choice.
- Leo TolstoyLeo Tolstoy spent his last hours on a train, preaching non-violence to strangers.
- Karl MarxKarl Marx left an estate valued at just 250 pounds when he died in 1883. He died stateless in London at 64.
- Lev VygotskyLev Vygotsky's work was banned in the Soviet Union after he died at 37. His ideas on learning still spread worldwide.
- John LockeJohn Locke's phrase "long train of abuses" appears word for word in the Declaration of Independence.
- Baruch SpinozaBaruch Spinoza was expelled from his Jewish community at twenty-three, and it still refuses him back.
- SocratesSocrates wrote nothing, so everything known about him comes from other people.
- MenciusMencius said a tyrant king was no longer a ruler at all. The Chinese philosopher put common citizens above rulers.
- ConfuciusTold his stables had burned, Confucius asked only, "Was anyone hurt?" He did not ask about the horses.
- Sun TzuDid Sun Tzu, the reputed author of The Art of War, even exist? Scholars have doubted it since the 12th century.
- Giovanni Pico della MirandolaAt 23, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola offered to pay any scholar's way to Rome to debate his 900 theses.