Throughout the ages there have been people who have been light years above their time. Pondering as well as answering the questions of life and on the universal questions of humanity. I have personally selected a group of people spread out through generations, locations and eras who stand out among the greatest of the greats, in my opinion of course. Throughout life we are given choices, the only difference between these people and others is that, instead of striving to live, they strived to learn.

These three men are similar and share a common bond ,in the fact that; they chose to view, classify and analyze their world through logical means, instead of empirical reasoning; this type of thinking is what one can consider a philosophy. Looking at the etymological roots of the world philosophy (Philosophos) from the Greek context; we see that Philos means love and Sophos means wisdom, so its only fitting to consider philosophy a true love of wisdom. Western thought and these men are just extensions of this basic mindset that which, has affected and continues to shape our post-modern world.

• Aristotle
  Truly, one of the best of the Greecian philosophers, who advocated science based on observable facts. He proposed and emphasized the notion of rational policy and a more logic based view on the world. which greatly affected western thinking and thought. Being a student of Plato and eventually becoming the teacher of Alexander the Great, Aristotle delved into the very physical aspects of our world, existence and consciousness.
• Plato
  Born into a prominent Athenian family, his fascination for the political scene and his disillusionment with the Athenian government, made him attracted to the guise and tutelage of socrates who fosters questioning life, existence, meaning and form. After being witness to the death of his mentor and teacher socrates he fled Athens and eventually came back. In 387, he founded what many consider to be the first university in Europe, which advocated: biology, philosophy, astronomy and numerous other areas of enlightenment for that time period. He was truly one of the fathers of western thought and the world greatly benefited from his presence and mindset.
• Karl Marx
  The impact on this man on the modern twentieth century can never be denied or ignored. Marx was a german philosopher and economist who believed primarily in economics being the saving grace of the people and not simply the idealized and interpretational nature of greek logic and philosophy. Throughtout his life, he devoted himself to finding the solutions for and through government and used his insights to affect the way Russia and the rest of the world viewed an ideal state of government control and intervention.