Timeline of Western philosophers
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A wide-ranging list of philosophers from the Western traditions of philosophy. Included are not only philosophers (Socrates, Plato), but also those who have had a marked importance upon the philosophy of the day.
The list stops at the year 1950, after which philosophers fall into the category of Contemporary philosophy.
Contents |
Western and Middle Eastern philosophers
Classical philosophers
600-500 BCE
- Thales of Miletus (c. 624 – 546 BCE). Of the Milesian school. Believed that all was made of water.
- Anaximander of Miletus (c. 610 – 546 BCE). Of the Milesian school. Famous for the concept of Apeiron, or "the boundless".
- Anaximenes of Miletus (c. 585 – 525 BCE). Of the Milesian school. Believed that all was made of air.
- Pythagoras of Samos (c. 580 – c. 500 BCE). Of the Ionian School. Believed the deepest reality to be composed of numbers, also believed that souls are immortal.
- Xenophanes of Colophon (c. 570 – 480 BCE). Sometimes associated with the Eleatic school. Politically anti-militant, and epistemically skeptical.
500-400 BCE
- Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 535 – c. 475 BCE). Of the Ionians. Emphasized the mutability of the world, which he understood to be analogous to fire.
- Parmenides of Elea (c. 515 – 450 BCE). Of the Eleatics. Believed that change is impossible.
- Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (c. 500 – 428 BCE). Of the Ionians. Pluralist.
- Empedocles (492-432 BCE). Eclectic cosmogonist. Pluralist.
- Protagoras of Abdera (c. 481 – 420 BCE). Sophist. Early advocate of relativism.
- Hippias (middle of the 5th century BCE). Sophist.
- Gorgias. (c. 483 – 375 BCE). Sophist. Early advocate of solipsism.
- Socrates of Athens (c. 470 – 399 BCE). Emphasized virtue ethics. In epistemology, understood dialectic to be central to the pursuit of truth.
- Leucippus of Miletus (First half of the 5th century BCE). Atomist, Determinist.
- Democritus of Abdera (c. 450 – 370 BCE). Atomist.
- Archelaus. A pupil of Anaxagoras.
- Melissus of Samos. Eleatic.
- Cratylus.
- Ion of Chios.
- Echecrates.
- Timaeus of Locri.
400-300 BCE
- Antisthenes (c. 444 – 365 BCE). Founder of Cynicism. Maintained that the wise cannot be fooled. Pupil of Socrates.
- Aristippus of Cyrene (c. 435 – 366 BCE). A Cyrenaic. Advocate of ethical hedonism.
- Xenophon (c. 427 – 355 BCE). Philosopher of history.
- Plato (c. 427 – 347 BCE). Famed for view of the transcendental forms. Advocated polity governed by philosophers.
- Diogenes of Sinope (c. 399 – 323 BCE). Cynic.
- Xenocrates (c. 396 – 314 BCE). Disciple of Plato.
- Aristotle (c. 384 – 322 BCE). A polymath whose works ranged across all philosophical fields.
- Pyrrho of Elis (c. 360 – 270 BCE). Skeptic.
- Strato of Lampsacus (c. 340 BCE–c. 268 BCE). Atheist, Materialist.
- Euclid (c. 325 – 265 BCE). Founder of Euclidean geometry.
Hellenistic Philosophers
300-200 BCE
- Epicurus (c. 341 – 270 BCE). Materialist Atomist, hedonist.
- Zeno of Citium (c. 333 – 264 BCE). Founder of Stoicism. Anarchist. Held that the acceptance of objectivity allows the overcoming of passions.
- Timon (c. 320 – 230 BCE). Pyrrhonist, skeptic.
- Chrysippus of Soli (c. 280 – 207 BCE). Major figure in Stoicism.
200-100 BCE
- Carneades (c. 214 – 129 BCE). Academic skeptic. Understood probability as the purveyor of truth.
100-0 BCE
Roman Era Philosophers
0-100 CE
- Cicero (c. 106 BCE – 43 BCE)
- Philo (c. 20 BCE – 40 CE). Believed in the allegorical method of reading texts.
- Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BCE – 65 CE). Stoic.
100-200 CE
- Epictetus (c. 55 – 135). Stoic. Emphasized ethics of self-determination.
- Marcus Aurelius (121–180). Stoic.
200-400 CE
- Sextus Empiricus (fl. during the 2nd and possibly the 3rd centuries CE). Skeptic, Pyrrhonist.
- Plotinus (c. 205 – 270). Neoplatonist. Had a holistic metaphysics.
- Porphyry (c. 232 – 304). Student of Plotinus.
- Iamblichus of Syria (c. 245 – 325). Late neoplatonist. Espoused theurgy.
- Augustine of Hippo (c. 354 – 430). Original Sin. Church father.
- Proclus (c. 412 – 485). Neoplatonist.
Medieval Philosophers
500-800 CE
- Boethius (c. 480–524).
- John Philoponus (c. 490–570).
800-900 CE
- Al-Kindi (c. 801 – 873). Major figure at Islamic philosophy. Influenced by Neoplatonism.
- John the Scot (c. 815 – 877). neoplatonist, pantheist.
900-1000 CE
- al-Faràbi (c. 870 – 950). Major Islamic philosopher. Neoplatonist.
- Saadia Gaon (c. 882 – 942).
- al-Razi (c. 865 – 925). Rationalist. Major Islamic philosopher. Held that God creates universe by rearranging pre-existing laws.
1000-1100 CE
- Ibn Sina (Avicenna) (c. 980 – 1037). Major Islamic philosopher.
- Ibn Gabirol (Avicebron) (c. 1021–1058). Jewish philosopher.
- Anselm (c. 1034–1109). Christian philosopher. Produced ontological argument for the existence of God.
- al-Ghazali (c. 1058–1111). Islamic philosopher. Mystic.
1100-1200 CE
- Peter Abelard (c. 1079–1142). Scholastic philosopher. Dealt with problem of universals.
- Abraham ibn Daud (c. 1110–1180). Jewish philosophy.
- Peter Lombard (c. 1100–1160). Scholastic.
- Averroes (Ibn Rushd, "The Commentator") (c. 1126-December 10, 1198). Islamic philosopher.
- Maimonides (c. 1135–1204). Jewish philosophy.
- St Francis of Assisi (c. 1182–1226). Ascetic.
1200-1300 CE
- Robert Grosseteste (c. 1175–1253).
- Albert the Great (c. 1193–1280). Early Empiricist.
- Roger Bacon (c. 1214–1294). Empiricist, mathematician.
- Thomas Aquinas (c. 1221–1274). Christian philosopher.
- Bonaventure (c. 1225–1274). Franciscan.
- Siger (c. 1240 – c. 1280). Averroist.
- Boetius of Dacia. Averroist, Aristotelian.
1300-1400 CE
- Ramon Llull (c. 1232–1315) Catalan philosopher
- Duns Scotus (c. 1266–1308). Franciscan, Scholastic, Original Sin.
- Meister Eckhart (c. 1260–1328). mystic.
- John Wycliffe (c. 1320–1384).
- Nicole Oresme (c. 1320-5 – 1382). Made contributions to economics, science, mathematics, theology and philosophy.
- Marsilius of Padua (c. 1270–1342). Understood chief function of state as mediator.
- William of Ockham (c. 1288–1348). Franciscan. Scholastic. Nominalist, creator of Ockham's razor.
- Gersonides (c. 1288–1344). Jewish philosopher.
- Jean Buridan (c. 1300–1358). Nominalist.
- Hasdai Crescas (c. 1340 – c. 1411). Jewish philosopher.
1400-1500 CE
- Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464). Christian philosopher.
- Lorenzo Valla (1407–1457). Humanist, critic of scholastic logic.
- Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499). Christian Neoplatonist, head of Florentine Academy and major Renaissance Humanist figure. First translator of Plato's complete extant works into Latin.
- Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494). Renaissance humanist.
Early Modern Philosophers
1500-1550 CE
- Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536). Humanist, advocate of free will.
- Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527). Political realism.
- Copernicus (1473–1543).
- Sir Thomas More (1478–1535). Humanist, created term "utopia".
- Petrus Ramus (1515–1572).
- Martin Luther (1483–1546). Major Western Christian theologian.
1550-1600 CE
- Teresa of Avila (1515–1582). Spanish mystic.
- Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592). Humanist, skeptic.
- Giordano Bruno (1548–1600). Advocate of heliocentrism.
- Francisco Suarez (1548–1617). Politically proto-liberal.
- John Calvin (1509–1564). Major Western Christian theologian.
- Pierre Charron (1541–1603).
1600-1650 CE
- John Milton(1608-1674)
- Francis Bacon (1561–1626). Empiricist.
- Hugo Grotius (1583–1645). Natural law theorist.
- Galileo Galilei (1564–1642). Heliocentrist.
- Herbert of Cherbury. Nativist.
- René Descartes (1596–1650). Heliocentrism, dualism, rationalism.
- Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655). Mechanicism. Empiricist.
- Marin Mersenne (1588–1648). Cartesian.
- Baltasar Gracián (1601–1658). Spanish catholic philosopher
- Queen Kristina (1626–1689).
- Pierre de Fermat (c. 1601–1665). Probability theorist.
- Robert Filmer (1588–1653).
1650-1700 CE
- Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679). Political realist.
- Joseph Glanvill (1636–1680).
- Arnold Geulincx (1624–1669). Important occasionalist theorist.
- Blaise Pascal (1623–1662). Physicist, scientist. Noted for Pascal's wager.
- Henry More (1614–1687).
- Geraud Cordemoy (1626-1684). Dualist.
- Pierre Nicole (1625–1695).
- Ralph Cudworth (1617–1688). Cambridge Platonist.
- Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673). Materialist, feminist.
- Antoine Arnauld (1612–1694).
- Richard Cumberland (1631–1718). Early proponent of utilitarianism.
- Jacques Rohault. (1617–1672) Cartesian.
- Simon Foucher (1644–1696). Skeptic.
- Robert Boyle (1627–1691).
- Nicolas Malebranche (1638–1715). Cartesian.
- Samuel von Pufendorf (1632–1694). Social contract theorist.
- Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677).
- Isaac Newton (1643–1727).
- Anne Conway, Viscountess Conway (1631–1679).
- John Locke (1632–1704). Major Empiricist. Political philosopher.
- Damaris Masham (1659–1708).
- John Toland (1670–1722).
- Pierre Bayle ( 1647–1706). Pyrrhonist.
1700-1750 CE
- Samuel Clarke (1675–1729).
- Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (1671–1713).
- John Norris (1657–1711). Malebranchian.
- Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716). Co-inventor of calculus.
- George Berkeley (1685–1753). Idealist, empiricist.
- Catherine Cockburn (1679–1749).
- Giambattista Vico (1668–1744).
- Bernard Mandeville (1670–1733).
- Francis Hutcheson (1694–1746). Proto-utilitarian.
- Joseph Butler (1692–1752).
- Christian Wolff (1679–1754). Determinist, rationalist.
- John Gay (philosopher) (1699–1745).
- David Hume (1711–1776). Empiricist, skeptic.
- Julien La Mettrie (1709–1751). Materialist, genetic determinist.
- David Hartley (1705–1757).
- Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689–1755). Skeptic, humanist.
1750-1800 CE
- Etienne de Condillac (1715-1780).
- Richard Price (1723–1791). Political liberal.
- Jean d'Alembert (1717–1783).
- Voltaire (1694–1778).
- Denis Diderot (1713–1784).
- John Wesley (1703–1791).
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778). Social contract political philosopher.
- Baron d'Holbach (1723–1789). Materialist, atheist.
- Claude Adrien Helvétius (1715–1771). Utilitarian.
- Adam Smith (1723–1790). Economic theorist, member of Scottish Enlightenment.
- Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826). Liberal political philosopher.
- Thomas Reid (1710–1796). Member of Scottish Enlightenment, founder of Scottish Common Sense philosophy.
- G.E. Lessing (1729–1781).
- Edmund Burke (1729–1797). Conservative political philosopher.
- Immanuel Kant (1724–1804). Deontologist, proponent of synthetic a priori truths.
- Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797). Feminist.
- Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832). Utilitarian, hedonist.
- Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786). Member of the Jewish Enlightenment.
- Sylvain Maréchal (1750–1803) Anarcho-communist, Deist
- Dugald Stewart (1753–1828).
- William Godwin (1756–1836). Anarchist, utilitarian.
- Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805).
- William Paley (1743–1805).
- Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814).
Modern Philosophers
1800-1850 CE
- Joseph de Maistre (1753–1821) Conservative
- Madame de Staël (1766–1817).
- F.W.J. von Schelling (1775–1854). German idealist.
- Thomas Robert Malthus (1766–1834). Malthusianist.
- Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834). Hermeneutician.
- P.S. de Laplace (1749–1827). Determinist.
- G.W.F. Hegel (1770–1831). German idealist.
- Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744–1829). Early evolutionary theorist.
- Comte de Saint-Simon (1760–1825). Socialist.
- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860). Pessimist.
- Richard Whately (1787–1863).
- Charles Babbage (1791–1871).
- John Austin (1790–1859). Legal positivist, utilitarian.
- Auguste Comte (1798–1857). Social philosopher, positivist.
- William Whewell (1794–1866).
- James Mill (1773–1836). Utilitarian.
- P.J. Proudhon (1809–1865). Anarchist.
- Bernard Bolzano (1781–1848).
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882). Transcendentalist, abolitionist, egalitarian, humanist.
- Ludwig Feuerbach (1804–1872).
- Max Stirner (1806-1856). Anarchist.
- Augustus De Morgan (1806–1871). Logician.
- John Stuart Mill (1806–1873). Utilitarian.
- Charles Darwin (1809–1882).
- Margaret Fuller (1810–1850). Egalitarian.
- Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855). Existentialist.
- Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862). Transcendentalist, pacifist, abolitionist.
1850-1900 CE
- Sojourner Truth (c. 1797–1883). Egalitarian, abolitionist.
- Karl Marx (1818–1883). Socialist, formulated historical materialism.
- Harriet Taylor Mill (1807–1858). Egalitarian, utilitarian.
- Friedrich Engels (1820–1895). Egalitarian, dialectical materialist.
- Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet (1788–1856).
- J. S. Mill (1806–1873). Utilitarian.
- Hermann Lotze (1817–1881).
- Herbert Spencer (1820–1903). Nativism, libertarianism, social Darwinism.
- John Venn (1834–1923).
- Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906). Feminist.
- Mikhail Bakunin (1814–1876). Revolutionary anarchist.
- Franz Brentano (1838–1917). Phenomenologist.
- Henry Sidgwick (1838–1900). Rationalism, utilitarianism.
- Richard Dedekind (1831–1916).
- W. K. Clifford (1845–1879). Evidentialist.
- Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914). Pragmatist.
- Edward Caird (1835–1908). Idealist.
- Ernst Mach (1838–1916). Philosopher of science, influence on logical positivism.
- T.H. Green (1836–1882). British idealist.
- Gottlob Frege (1848–1925). Influential analytic philosopher.
- Wilhelm Dilthey (1833–1911).
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900). Naturalistic philosopher, influence on Existentialism.
- Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) (1832–1898).
- Bernard Bosanquet (1848–1923). Idealist.
- Giuseppe Peano (1858–1932).
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902). Egalitarian.
- David George Ritchie (1853–1903). Idealist.
- Émile Durkheim (1858–1917). Social philosopher.
- William James (1842–1910). Pragmatism, Radical empiricism.
- Josiah Royce (1855–1916). Idealist.
- F.H. Bradley (1846–1924). Idealist.
- Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923). Social philosopher.
- Thorstein Veblen (1857–1929). Social philosopher.
- Sigmund Freud (1856–1939). Creator of psychodynamic philosophy of mind.
- Max Weber (1864–1920). Social philosopher.
- Henri Bergson (1859–1941).
- John Dewey (1859–1952). Pragmatism.
- Alexius Meinong (1853–1920). Logical realist.
- Cook Wilson (1849–1915).
- Henri Poincaré (1854–1912).
- Pierre Duhem (1861–1916).
- Edmund Husserl (1859–1938). Founder of phenomenology.
- Samuel Alexander (1859–1938). Perceptual realist.
- Jane Addams (1860–1935). Pragmatist.
- Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattison (1856–1931).
- G.E. Moore (1873–1958). Common sense theorist, ethical non-naturalist.
- Benedetto Croce (1866–1952).
- Carl Jung (1875–1961). Founded analytical psychology.
- Emma Goldman (1869–1940). Anarchist.
- Hans Vaihinger (1852–1933). Specialist in counterfactuals.
- Rosa Luxemburg (1870–1919). Marxist political philosopher.
- Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936).
- Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913). Linguistic structuralist.
- J. M. E. McTaggart (1866–1925). Idealist.
- George Herbert Mead (1863–1931). Pragmatism, symbolic interactionist.
- Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947). Logician.
- Martin Buber (1878–1965). Jewish philosopher, existentialist.
1900-2000 CE
- George Santayana (1863–1952). Pragmatism, naturalism; known for many aphorisms.
- Bertrand Russell (1872–1970). Analytic philosopher, atheist, influential.
- Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951). Analytic philosopher, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, influential.
- Giovanni Gentile (1875–1944). Idealist and fascist philosopher.
- Georg Lukács (1885–1971). Marxist philosopher.
- C. D. Broad (1887–1971).
- A.O. Lovejoy (1873–1962).
- W.D. Ross (1877–1971). Deontologist.
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955). Christian evolutionist.
- Nikolai Berdyaev (1874–1948). Existentialist.
- Hans Kelsen (1881–1973). Legal positivist.
- Moritz Schlick (1882–1936). Founder of Vienna Circle, logical positivism.
- Otto Neurath (1882–1945). Member of Vienna Circle.
- Frank P. Ramsey (1903–1930). Proposed redundancy theory of truth.
- Ernst Cassirer (1874–1945).
- Nicolai Hartmann (1882–1950).
- Karl Barth (1886–1968).
- Walter Terence Stace (1886–1967)
- Martin Heidegger (1889–1976). Phenomenologist.
- Jacques Lacan (1901–1981). Structuralism.
- Kurt Gödel (1906–1978). Vienna Circle.
- Ralph Barton Perry (1876–1957).
- Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937). Marxist philosopher.
- Roman Ingarden (1893–1970). Perceptual realist, phenomenalist.
- C.I. Lewis (1883–1964). Conceptual pragmatist.
- Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962).
- A.J. Ayer (1910–1989). Logical positivist, emotivist.
- Friedrich Waismann (1896–1959). Vienna Circle. Logical positivist.
- Jacques Maritain (1882–1973). Human rights theorist.
- José Ortega y Gasset (1883–1955). Philosopher of History.
- Xavier Zubiri (1898-1983). Materialist open realism.
- Alfred Tarski (1901–1983). Created T-Convention in semantics.
- Rudolf Carnap (1891–1970). Vienna Circle. Logical positivist.
- Walter Benjamin (1892-1940). Marxist. Philosophy of language.
- H.L.A. Hart (1907–1992). Legal positivism.
- Willard van Orman Quine (1908–2000).
- Brand Blanshard (1892–1987).
- E. Nagel (1901–1985). Logical positivist.
- Karl Popper (1902–1994). Falsificationist.
- Ernest Addison Moody (1903–1975).
- Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980). Humanism, existentialism.
- Gilbert Ryle (1900–1976).
- H.H. Price (1899–1984).
- Susanne Langer (1895–1985).
- J.L. Austin (1911–1960).
- Albert Camus (1913–1960). Absurdist.
- Mortimer Adler (1902–2001).
- Karl Jaspers (1905–1982). Existentialist.
- Ayn Rand (1905–1982). Objectivist, Individualist.
- C.L. Stevenson (1908–1979).
- Theodor Adorno (1903–1969). Frankfurt School.
- Alan Turing (1912–1954). Functionalist in philosophy of mind.
- H.A. Prichard (1871–1947). Moral intuitionist.
- Gabriel Marcel (1889–1973). Christian existentialist.
- Leo Strauss (1899–1973). Political Philosopher.
- Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979). Frankfurt School.
- Simone Weil (1909–1943).
- Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986). Existentialist, feminist.
- J. L. Mackie (1917–1981). Moral skeptic.
- Allan Bloom (1930–1992). Political Philosopher.
- Donald Davidson (1917–2003).
- P. F. Strawson (1919–2006).
- R. M. Hare (1919–2002).
- John Rawls (1921–2002). Liberal.
- Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995). Post-structuralism
- Frantz Fanon (1925–1961). Post-colonialism
- Michel Foucault (1926–1984). Structuralism, Post-structuralism, Postmodernism, Queer theory.
- Hilary Putnam (born 1926).
- David Malet Armstrong (born 1926).
- John Howard Yoder (1927–1997). Pacifist.
- Noam Chomsky (born 1928).
- Jürgen Habermas (born 1929).
- Jaakko Hintikka (born 1929).
- Alasdair MacIntyre (born 1929). Aristotelian.
- Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995).
- Jacques Derrida (1930–2004). Deconstruction.
- Richard Rorty (1931–2007). Pragmatism, Postanalytic philosophy.
- Robert Nozick (1938–2002). Libertarian.
- John Searle (born 1932).
- Alvin Plantinga (born 1932). Reformed epistemology, Philosophy of Religion.
- Jerry Fodor (born 1935).
- Thomas Nagel (born 1937).
- Alain Badiou (born 1937).
- Saul Kripke (born 1940).
- David K. Lewis (1941–2001). Modal realism.
- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (born 1942). Post-colonialism, Feminism, Literary theory
- Derek Parfit (born 1942).
- Slavoj Žižek (born 1949). Hegelianism, Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis
- Judith Butler (born 1956). Poststructuralist, feminist, queer theory
- Joxe Azurmendi (born 1941). Basque Philosopher, Political philosophy, Social philosophy, Philosophy of language
- Charles Taylor (born 1931). Political philosophy, Philosophy of Social Science, and Intellectual History
- Giorgio Agamben (born 1942). state of exception, form-of-life, homo sacer, and the concept of biopolitics
See also
- From this point in time forward, see Contemporary philosophy.
- Timeline of German Idealism
- List of years in philosophy
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