Solution to Puzzle #15:

PHILOSOPHER 1 – RENÉ DESCARTES

Years ago I noticed that many of the things which I believed to be true were in fact false. As a result, everything that I based on these beliefs was questionable. And once I realized this, I decided that I should get rid of all my beliefs and opinions, and construct my knowledge from the beginning on a firm foundation.

PHILOSOPHER 2 – FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

A human being is like a rope that is stretched between an animal and a noble person. He is a process – the process of dangerous crossing, a dangerous not-yet, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous shaking and stopping. What is great in the human being is that he is a bridge and not a goal. What can be loved in him is that he is in transition.

PHILOSOPHER 3 – JEAN-PAUL SARTRE

What do I mean when I say that my existence comes before my essence? I mean that first of all I exist – I appear in the world, and only afterwards I define myself. A person cannot be defined, because at the beginning he is nothing. Only afterwards he will be something, and he will be whatever he himself will make of himself. Therefore, there is no human nature, because there is no God to determine it.

PHILOSOPHER 4 – LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN

Think about the tools in a tool-box: the hammer, the pliers, the saw, the screw-driver, the ruler, the glue, the nails the screws. Different words have different functions just as each of those tools has a different function. Normally we don’t notice these differences because the words sound similar and appear similar on paper, and because we don’t see in front of us the kind of work they do. This is so especially when we do philosophy.

PHILOSOPHER 5 – HERACLITUS

Reason is valid forever, but people are unable to understand it, even after they have heard it. So although everything in the world happens according to Reason, people don’t seem to appreciate it. Some people are not aware of their own actions when they are awake as if they were asleep.