Philosophers, for the most part, don't answer questions, they ask them. Or so the cliché goes. More correctly, they propose theoretical approaches to certain qu

Philosophers, for the most part, don't answer questions, they ask them. Or so the cliché goes. More correctly, they propose theoretical approaches to certain questions. Modern science, for instance, may very well never have existed if it weren't for questions posed and theories established by Aristotle. During the Middle-Ages, the writings of Aristotle were taken as unquestionable truths, and so all modern Western thought, and by extension all scientific thought, is in some way rooted in reactions to Aristotle. Francis Bacon later formulated and popularized the idea of the society informed by a state-sponsored scientific institution. Bacon was read widely and directly inspired the founders of the Royal Society and equivalent scientific authorities in other countries as well as the European university system. Without their contributions, humanity very well may never had developed so explosively as it has the past 200 years.