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universal intellect

Huda

Senior Member
Arabic-Egypt
Hi all

Would anyone help me choose one of these words:

Aristotle and Plato were the pioneers of human thought/thinking or universal intellect/thinking.

Thanks in advance
Hi all

Would anyone help me choose one of these words:

Aristotle and Plato were the pioneers of human thought/thinking or universal intellect/thinking.

Thanks in advance

I don't know what any of your choices might mean.
I don't know what any of your choices might mean.

I want to say that Aristotle, Plato and Socrates are pioneers in the field of philosophy and ........ all over the world
First Question: Are they pioneers of intellect or thinking or thought?
Second Question: Which adjective modify any of the above mentioned words when chosen? is it
universal or
international or
human

Thanks in advance
Last edited:
My difficulty is that I think of "intellect, thinking, and thought" as human attributes, and so I have a hard time thinking of any individuals as being pioneers in these. Aristotle, Plato and Socrates might be pioneers in a certain kind of thinking, or in systematizing ideas in a certain way, but I wouldn't think of them as pioneers of thought in general.

I assume that part of the difficulty is that these words don't mean to us what you have in mind. Could you explain in different words your idea of what they accomplished?
I'm going to explain.
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My difficulty is that I think of "intellect, thinking, and thought" as human attributes, and so I have a hard time thinking of any individuals as being pioneers in these. Aristotle, Plato and Socrates might be pioneers in a certain kind of thinking, or in systematizing ideas in a certain way, but I wouldn't think of them as pioneers of thought in general.

I assume that part of the difficulty is that these words don't mean to us what you have in mind. Could you explain in different words your idea of what they accomplished?

You are right. I might have used the wrong word. I mean that great philosophers shouldered the responsibility of conveying some facts and laying down some criteria inside their community by means of their logical thinking and their searching for the reasons for some phenomena.They established the fundamental place of logic in philosophy. So I want to say that they were "prominent figures in the field of human thought". I don't know if it is correct to say so with regard to the choice of words and collocations.
Thanks for your prompt attention
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Actually, I like this part of your explanation: They established the fundamental place of logic in philosophy. Because I have a stylistic preference for specificity, I would say something like:
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle established the fundamental place of logic in philosophy.
​
(I also would arrange the names in historical order.)

As for "prominent figures in the field of human thought", I think this will work if you substitute "history" or "development" for field. In that case, "human thought" can be understood to mean "philosophical thought and writing", rather than "thought processes" and would make more sense, to me at least.
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were prominent figures in the history/development of human thought.
​
I am sure you can think of ways to improve this.
Actually, I like this part of your explanation: They established the fundamental place of logic in philosophy. Because I have a stylistic preference for specificity, I would say something like:
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle established the fundamental place of logic in philosophy.
​
(I also would arrange the names in historical order.)

As for "prominent figures in the field of human thought", I think this will work if you substitute "history" or "development" for field. In that case, "human thought" can be understood to mean "philosophical thought and writing", rather than "thought processes" and would make more sense, to me at least.
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were prominent figures in the history/development of human thought.
​
I am sure you can think of ways to improve this.

Thanks a million Cagey. It took me ages to explain this. Anyway I prefer "history": prominent figures in the history of human thought.
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