I intend to; danke, Werner. <"Der Mensch ist,was er isst"> Or, as Wittgenstein put it: Wovon man nicht essen kann, daruber muss man hungrig bleiben!"
100th death-anniversary of the painter Anselm Feuerbach,brother of Ludwig the philosopher.Issued Jan.10th,1980.
Do we have a Painters on Stamps thread? Vermeer my fav tho I also like Van Gogh and some of the impressionists.
Issued Aug.15,1949 for Goethe´s 200th birth anniversary. A poet,a statesman and an important philosopher.Today the Steiner Society is very much influenced by the nature-philosophy of Goethe.Many stamps with his portraits were issued mainly in Germany.
Stamps issued 1927,1934,1959 and 1962. Schiller was a poet,military-doctor and philosopher.Today his most poular poem is "Die Ode an die Freude".It was set into music by Beethoven in the 4th set of the IX. Symphony.Nowadays the anthem of Europe. Although qualified as a professor of philosophy,he "only" could teach as a professor for history.As a philosopher he was very much influenced by Immanuel Kant,but was critical of Kant´s pure rationality in thinking.
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729 - 1781) One of Germany´s greatest poets,Master of the Seven Free Arts. As a philosopher of the Enlightment he was he was a friend of Moses Mendelssohn.His religion-criticism made him a forerunner of Kant,although the two never met. Stamps issued Nov.1st,1926 and June 28th,1961.
Alas, the U.S. hasn't had a great number of philosophers...but, then, its history is shorter than Germany, Great Britain or China. Still, it hasn't played a very big part in our history - somewhat unfortunately IMHO. Too many people here today are, as the Russian's would say 'Ne Kulturnie.' I suppose the most well-known are William James (pragmatism), Charles Peirce, (pragmaticism), John Dewey and Ayn Rand. I am especially impressed with Peirce's work. I was a fan of Ayn Rand as a teen...then I grew up. (Side note: Pragmatism was originally Peirce's term, but soon James used it in a way Peirce felt was different than his. Ergo, pragmaticism -'A word so ugly it is unlikely anyone will take it away.') Here is Dewey -
It is a widespread prejudice not only in Europe,that the US are the Roman Empire of our times.Their main interest is in economical and practical problem solutions.I personally think,there is some truth in it.When looking for philosophers on stamps,I found very few US stamps.While inventors and generals were plenty. Back to german philosophers: Moses Mendelssohn,a philosopher of the enlightenment.He was a forerunner of the Haskala or Jewish Enlightenment. His friend Lessing memorialized him in his play "Nathan der Weise". Stamp issued Aug.9th,1979.
200th birth anniversary of Hegel,issued March 20th,1970. Hegel led the way,away from the philosophy of the pure reason of Kant,to a more emotional thinking.He believed that the evolution of mankind neccessarily would lead to a better world on the long run.Many other german philosophers followed suit.Either bringing god and religion into play again,or like Marx,going for a mainly materialistic way.
Let's hope so. Carl Sagan once said, in answer to Fermi's Question, that intelligent life self-destructs before it becomes intelligent enough not to self-destruct.
Here's a famous Canadian philosopher and futurist, Marshall Mcluhan. I was very impressed with his ideas back in the 1970s. Today, even more so with Twitter, Facebook and the like bringing a new angle to, "The medium is the message." Next, perhaps a Russian philosopher. My ATF is Ouspensky, Kant on acid.
I have to admit,that I did not know nothing about McLuhan till today.There is a rather detailed article in German on Wikipedia. After having read that article,I am somewhat confused,what philosophic content is to find in McLuhan´s publications. That the evolvement of communication tools changes the world in that way,that the more people are reached by such a tool, the more it changes the recipients,seems to me to be just common sence.Or is that practical philosophy ?
I would consider it in the realm of philosophy, though clearly not metaphysics or epistemology. Keep in mind his work was a half-century ago, so prescient in many ways. I agree it is obvious today, but not so much at that time.
issued Feb.16th,1978,commemorating the 100th birth-anniverary of Martin Buber,a jewish/german religion- and sociology- philosopher.
I don't think we've had an Italian philosopher here... St. Thomas Aquinas, made a small step in the Middle Ages towards the renaissance. "How many angels can stand on the end of a pin." His a priori arguments for the existence of God are still being debated by some, as is the synthetic-analytic dichotomy which these eventually gave rise to in Kant, et al.
Another stamp in commemoration of Thomas. "Thomas lecturing pupils." issued Feb.15th,1974 The german connection: he was a student and assistant of Albertus Magnus in Cologne 1248 - 1252.
The third student counting from the left looks as if he doesn't have his assignment done. I remember the feeling! Don
Stamps issued May 8th,1980 and Sept.18th,1961 Albertus Magnus,latinized from Albert Gross was the teacher of Thomas Aquinas in Paris and later in Cologne from 1245 to 1252.At the Cologne university Thomas became Albertus Magnus´assistant. Magnus´philosophy connected Aristoteles with Christianity,put in simple words,as did Thomas also. Not my world,as I think philosophy and religion are opposites and brought together are like fire and water.
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975),german-jewish,(later US-citizen), philosopher.She herself claimed not to be a philosopher,but a historian.However she is widely regarded as the most eminent german female philosopher of the 20th century.
