The Contemporary philosophers Most famous and influential are people whose minds have lived in the twenty-first century, a stage marked by the development of technology and the media that have changed the lives of human beings.
In modern society where few are preoccupied with"being"and rather busy trying to"have", philosophers offer us new ideas or new interpretations of old ideas.
On the other hand, modern philosophy is characterized by new themes. For example, climate change or the relationship between man and animals.
Top 17 Most Influential Contemporary Philosophers
1- Mauricio Hardie Beuchot
Author of more than 100 works, Mexican philosopher Mauricio Hardie Beuchot proposes analogical hermeneutics as an intermediate structure between univocity and equivocality.
For Beuchot the equivocality is the difference between the application and the meaning of things. It is a relative and subjective criterion, whereas univocity is the identity of things, which does not depend on their meaning or application. It is an objective criterion.
Beuchot's philosophy is interpretive and does not assume extreme positions. Its goal is that in philosophizing there is a main interpretation about the problem and secondary interpretations that detail the main idea. The theory of Mauricio Beuchot arises during the National Congress of Philosophy of Morelos, Mexico, in 1993.
His ideas have been influenced by Enrique Dussel's analytical method and C. Peirce's analogy. His philosophy raises the possibility of interpretation and recovers the notion of Aristotle's Frónesis.
Beuchot is a member of the Philological Research Institute (IIFL), the Mexican Academy of History, the Mexican Academy of Language and the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas.
2- Dany-Robert Dufour
The French philosopher Dany-Robert Dufour has excelled by his studies of symbolic processes, language, psychoanalysis and political philosophy. He works at the University of Paris and in other countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Colombia.
The main theme of his works is the subject in postmodern society and the problems that he faces. In his works Le Divin Marché , La révolution culturelle libérale Y La Cité perverse -libéralisme et pornographie , The philosopher argues that contemporary society is based on amoral principles and the cultural crisis has made it possible for economic crises such as 2008 to emerge.
Modern society has mutated in an alarming way and the subject in it has no models, no leaders. This era is"the end of the great stories"and lacks foundation. In other works the author broadens concepts of thinkers such as Plato, Freud and Kant on the incompleteness of man, who needs culture to complete himself.
His first book Le Bégaiement des maîtres Debate and broad ideas of the structuralist philosophers of the mid-twentieth century.
Roberto Esposito
"Why, at least until today, does a policy of life always threaten to become death-dealing?" Roberto Esposito continues the reflection in his works on the relationship between politics and life. Before Esposito, the philosophers Michel Foucault and Rudolf Kjellén had developed this concept.
Roberto Esposito is also a professor and editor and consultant of scientific journals. He works at the Italian Institute of Human Sciences in Florence and Naples and at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the Oriental Institute of Naples. Coedita magazine"Political Philosophy"and is one of the founders of the Center for Research on the European political lexicon.
She was also a scholar with the magazines"MicroMega","Theory and Oggetti", History and Political Theory necklace Ediciones Bibliopolis,"Comunità e Libertà"by Laterza and Per la storia della filosofia politica.
He is a member of the International College of Philosophy of Paris. Among his most outstanding works are Third person. Politics of life and philosophy of the impersonal , Communitas. Origin and destiny of the community Y Bios. Biopolitics and philosophy .
4- Gary Lawrence Francione
Do animals have rights? This thinker, founder and director of the Rutgers Animal Rights Law Center, is a professor of law at Rutgers University. He has developed the abolitionist theory of non-human animal rights and is a specialist in animal rights.
He considers that the idea that animals are the property of the human being is wrong. Animals, like humans, are inhabitants of the earth and have rights. This thinker promotes Veganism And rejects the consumption of any animal product.
Their work focuses on demonstrating that animals are not the property of the human being and also have rights. His ideas are more radical than those of animal advocates struggling for animal welfare which, according to Lawrence, is not the same as animal law. Among his most famous works are Animals as People Y Animals, Property and Law .
5- Kwasi Wiredu
Can you philosophize in native African languages? In the middle of the 20th century the colonial period ends and the African peoples begin a search for their identity. The African philosopher Kwasi Wiredu known for his reflections on the postcolonial epoch.
Since independence, the continent has undergone economic, political and cultural reconstruction. The dilemma between the forms of government and the social and cultural organization (tribes) of the African peoples is reflected in the works of Wiredu. Its goal is to restore the cultural identity that was fragmented during the colonization of Western countries.
Because the collective collective life of African peoples was not destroyed during the colony, Wiredu understands that it is possible to define what Africa is and who the Africans are. Wiredu raises the need for the mental decolonization of peoples by this he speaks of the consensus among African governments.
Wiredu seeks respect for human rights, traditions and culture. According to Wiredu, in order for Africans to decolonize their minds, the use of traditional languages is necessary.
By thinking in their own language and reflecting on problems the concepts used in philosophical discourse that have no meaning in any African language will be translated or created. This will allow the development of the language, which in the end is the basis of thought.
6- David P. Gauthier
He developed neo-Hobbesian contractualist moral theory in his book The Moral by Agreement . In addition to Hobbs' ideas, his theory is based on Game Theory and Rational Choice Theory.
David P. Gauthier believes that people should agree on the definition of what a moral attitude is. According to the author morality must be based on reason.
Gauthier is also a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Among his books stand out Selfishness, morality and liberal society Y Rousseau: The Sentiment of Existence .
7- Julian Nida-Rümelin
When acting, is it rational to think about which action has the best consequences? Does the end justify the means? This practical philosopher discusses in his works ethical, social, state and law problems.
He specializes in ethics, rationality, cultural theories, political philosophy, theories of science and epistemology.
His doctoral thesis explores the relationship between morality and rationality according to the theory of decision. His works discuss the importance of"acting rationally"and study models of consequentialist action.
In his works The logic of collective decisions Y Critique of consequentialism Makes a critique of the postulate"is rational that has better consequences".
The German Julian Nida-Rümelin is one of the most influential philosophers in Germany. Among his best-known ideas is his theory of democracy.
Nida-Rümelin was Minister of Culture during the chancellery of Gerhard Schröder. In his work"Democracy and truth"criticizes skepticism in the field of politics and contradicts the school of Carlo Schmitt and political decisionism.
8- Michel Onfray
Ethical hedonism. This French philosopher, founder of the Popular University of Caen, belongs to a group of individualistic and anarchist intellectuals. Michel Onfray has written 30 works on his ethical hedonistic project.
Many of his ideas are utopian and his works promulgate the creation of a new society based on the libertarian capitalism, the commune and the ideas of Proudhon.
Many consider that the philosopher promotes a libertarian socialism. According to Onfray, capitalism is inherent to the earth and is related to the scarcity and value of material goods. Onfray argues that there have been different capitalisms: liberal capitalism, antiliberal capitalism, Soviet capitalism, fascist capitalism, warlike capitalism, Chinese capitalism and others.
That is why the libertarian capitalism that Onfray proposes would be the fair distribution of wealth. Among his works are The belly of the philosophers. Critique of Dietary Reason , P Politics of the rebel. Treaty of Resistance and Consumption or The desire to be a volcano. Hedonistic journal .
9- Slavoj Žižek
The real, the symbolic and the imaginary. The Slovenian cultural critic, philosopher, sociologist and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek stood out for his work on the thinking of Jacques Lacan and the dialectical materialism that is used to exemplify the theory of popular culture.
According to Žižek, there are 3 categories that explain contemporary culture. The real, the imaginary and the symbolic. Žižek's studies draw on many examples of expressions of popular culture such as films and books.
The real, according to Žižek, is not reality, but a nucleus that can not be symbolized, that is, changed by language. The symbolic is the language and its constructions and the imaginary is the perception of the self.
Žižek combines Marxist methodology with Lacanian psychoanalysis to study contemporary cultural expressions.
10- Jacques Rancière
Jacques Rancière is a disciple of Louis Althusser and, together with Étienne Balibar and other authors, he wrote the book To read the Capital. His ideological differences over the French May separated him from Althusser. Among his first works are the works La Parole ouvrière , La Nuit des prolétaires Y Le Philosophe et ses pauvres .
In his work The ignorant teacher. Five lessons for intellectual emancipation Describes the revolutionary method as an educational process pursuing equality. His works on aesthetics like in Malaise dans l'esthétique Y L'espace des mots . One of his recent monographs is focused on the study of cinema.
11- Mohammed Abed al-Jabri
How can the tradition survive? It is one of the questions that most worries the philosophers of the Arab world. Moroccan philosopher Mohammed Abed al-Jabri, a specialist in the thinking of the Islamic world, believes that only the Averroesm can answer this question. According to Abed al-Jabri, only the Arab philosophical tradition is capable of substantiating modern Islamic culture.
This philosopher considers that science and philosophy exist to explain religion and that only reason can help rebuild Islamic society and save traditions. His works include the Critique of Arab Reason.
12- John Gray
Is there progress? In his works False dawn. The delusions of global capitalism , Straw Dogs Y Black mass , The British philosopher John Gray criticizes anthropocentrism and humanism and rejects the idea of progress.
In his opinion, the human being is a devastating and voracious species that eliminates other living beings to ensure their survival and also destroys their own habitat.
Gray argues that morality is only an illusion and the human being is a self-destructive species. An example of the destructive tendencies of the human being have been apocalyptic ideas such as millenarianism in the Middle Ages or the utopian socialist and Nazi projects of the twentieth century.
The idea of progress and the quest to create a perfect society (utopia) have become a true religion for humanity that wants to achieve these goals at all costs.
13- Douglas Richard Hofstadter
Who am I? The American philosopher Douglas Richard Hofstadter addresses problems about identity, the concept of the self and the other. In his book I am a strange loop Hofstadter Poses that the"I"is an illusion or hallucination necessary for the human being.
Hofstadter applied the concept of Escher, Bach and Gödel of the strange loop in relation to the identity of the man. In his works he criticizes the theory that the soul is a"caged bird"that inhabits our brain. Hofstadter considers that our brain harbors not only our"I"but many copies of the"I's"of other people with whom the subject interacts.
14- Derek Parfit
The play Reasons and people Has had great influence in the development of modern philosophy. In his last book On What Matters , The British philosopher Derek Parfit continues the ideas of the book Reasons and People .
His books deal with rationality, personal identity, ethics and the relationship between these issues. Parfit believes in secular ethics and poses problems such as the correctness or wrongness of actions, that is, study practical ethics and ignore metaethics.
He was also a professor and work at Oxford University, New York University, Harvard University and Rutgers University.
Parfit deals with themes such as rational selfishness, consequentialism and common sense. His ideas debated the theory of rational egoism that says that the human being does not act in a way that his well-being is harmed. More Parfit contradicts this idea and says that man acts according to his desires.
15- Harry Gordon Frankfurt
Professor of the Universities of Rockefeller and Yale, Harry Gordon Frankfurt is one of the most popular philosophers today. His works deal with problems such as morality, recionalism, the philosophy of mint and other subjects.
Your book On bullshit Is an investigation of the concept"bullshit"in the current society. In 2006 Gordon published a continuation called"On truth", where it discusses how and why the present society has lost the interest in the truth.
In his work On freedom of will , The philosopher defends his idea that only man is free when he acts according to his will. Moreover, man is morally responsible even when he commits an immoral act against his will. Recently Gordon has published several works on love and care. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
16- Nassim Kuhllann
The founder of the new Indian sociology school and AC / DC structure theory Nassim Kuhllann has been noted for works as Meta-structural microirritations And L new capital Y Rules of the structural method of networks: The reality and analysis of social AC / DC . He is one of today's most prominent social thinkers, along with Mark Granovetter and Harrison White.
17- Byung-Chul Han
South Korean philosopher and essayist Byung-Chul Han is one of the most famous of the contemporary era. This professor of the University of the Arts of Berlin. In his works he deals with subjects such as work, technology, criticism of capitalism and hyper-transparency.
The main concept of his works is transparency, which Byung-Chul considers as the main cultural norm that has created the neoliberal system.
In his works The society of transparency , The Topology of Violence Y The society of tiredness , The philosopher is about human relationships, loneliness and suffering of people in modern society, violence today that adopts very subtle forms, individualism that does not allow us to dedicate ourselves to the non-self.
Byung-Chul argues that new technologies have created a"digital swarm"of individuals with no collective sense.