Philosophy & Thought

The thinkers who asked the biggest questions about existence, knowledge, morality, and the human condition.

Lao Tzu

571 BCE–471 BCE · Founder of Taoism, author of Tao Te Ching

Gautama Buddha

563 BCE–483 BCE · Founder of Buddhism

Confucius

551 BCE–479 BCE · Founder of Confucianism

Herodotus

484 BCE–425 BCE · Greek historian, author of the Histories

Socrates

470 BCE–399 BCE · Founder of Western moral philosophy

Plato

428 BCE–348 BCE · Founder of the Academy in Athens

Aristotle

384 BCE–322 BCE · Founder of formal logic, tutor of Alexander the Great

Jesus

4 BCE–30 · Central figure of Christianity

Paul the Apostle

5–65 · Early Christian missionary and letter writer

Marcus Aurelius

121–180 · Roman emperor and Stoic author of the Meditations

Augustine of Hippo

354–430 · Theologian, author of Confessions

Muhammad

570–632 · Prophet and founder of Islam

Ali

599–661 · Cousin of Muhammad and fourth caliph

Adi Shankara

700–750 · Hindu philosopher of Advaita Vedanta

Thomas Aquinas

1225–1274 · Greatest medieval philosopher and theologian

Ibn Khaldun

1332–1406 · Historian and author of the Muqaddimah

Niccolò Machiavelli

1469–1527 · Author of The Prince

Martin Luther

1483–1546 · Sparked the Protestant Reformation

Francis Bacon

1561–1626 · Philosopher of the scientific method

René Descartes

1596–1650 · "I think, therefore I am"

John Locke

1632–1704 · Father of liberalism

Baruch Spinoza

1632–1677 · Dutch rationalist philosopher of the Ethics

Voltaire

1694–1778 · Enlightenment writer and philosopher

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

1712–1778 · Enlightenment philosopher of The Social Contract

Adam Smith

1723–1790 · Economist, author of The Wealth of Nations

Immanuel Kant

1724–1804 · Critique of Pure Reason

Mary Wollstonecraft

1759–1797 · Vindication of the Rights of Woman, feminist pioneer

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

1770–1831 · German idealist philosopher

Arthur Schopenhauer

1788–1860 · German philosopher of pessimism

Ralph Waldo Emerson

1803–1882 · Transcendentalist essayist of Self-Reliance

Søren Kierkegaard

1813–1855 · Danish philosopher, father of existentialism

Karl Marx

1818–1883 · Das Kapital, Communist Manifesto

Friedrich Engels

1820–1895 · Co-author of The Communist Manifesto with Marx

Friedrich Nietzsche

1844–1900 · "God is dead," Beyond Good and Evil

Sigmund Freud

1856–1939 · Father of psychoanalysis

Max Weber

1864–1920 · A founder of modern sociology

Bertrand Russell

1872–1970 · Logician, philosopher and Nobel laureate

Carl Jung

1875–1961 · Analytical psychology, archetypes

Albert Schweitzer

1875–1965 · Nobel Peace Prize physician, theologian and organist

John Maynard Keynes

1883–1946 · Economist who founded Keynesian economics

Ludwig Wittgenstein

1889–1951 · Philosopher of logic and language

Jean-Paul Sartre

1905–1980 · Existentialism, declined the Nobel Prize

Hannah Arendt

1906–1975 · The Banality of Evil, political theorist

Simone de Beauvoir

1908–1986 · The Second Sex, feminist existentialist

Pope John Paul II

1920–2005 · First Polish pope, led the Catholic Church 1978–2005

Pope Benedict XVI

1927–2022 · Pope from 2005 until his resignation in 2013

Noam Chomsky

1928–present · Father of modern linguistics, political activist

Dalai Lama

1935–present · Tibetan spiritual leader, Nobel Peace Prize

Pope Francis

1936–2025 · First pope from the Americas

Pope Leo XIV

1955–present · First pope from the United States

Key Events in Philosophy & Thought

1265 Thomas Aquinas begins Summa Theologica

1513 Machiavelli writes The Prince

1620 Francis Bacon publishes Novum Organum

1637 Descartes publishes Discourse on the Method

1651 Hobbes publishes Leviathan

1689 Locke publishes Two Treatises of Government

1739 Hume publishes A Treatise of Human Nature

1762 Rousseau publishes The Social Contract

1781 Kant publishes Critique of Pure Reason

1807 Hegel publishes Phenomenology of Spirit

1843 Kierkegaard publishes Either/Or

1844 Marx writes Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts

1859 John Stuart Mill publishes On Liberty

1883 Nietzsche publishes Thus Spoke Zarathustra

1921 Wittgenstein publishes Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

1927 Heidegger publishes Being and Time

1943 Sartre publishes Being and Nothingness

1949 Simone de Beauvoir publishes The Second Sex

1953 Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations published posthumously

1971 John Rawls publishes A Theory of Justice

Sources

Laozi — Wikipedia
The Buddha — Wikipedia
Confucius — Wikipedia
Herodotus — Wikipedia
Socrates — Wikipedia
Plato — Wikipedia
Aristotle — Wikipedia
Jesus — Wikipedia
Paul the Apostle — Wikipedia
Marcus Aurelius — Wikipedia
Augustine of Hippo — Wikipedia
Muhammad — Wikipedia
Ali — Wikipedia
Adi Shankara — Wikipedia
Thomas Aquinas — Wikipedia
Ibn Khaldun — Wikipedia
Niccolò Machiavelli — Wikipedia
Martin Luther — Wikipedia
Francis Bacon — Wikipedia
René Descartes — Wikipedia
John Locke — Wikipedia
Baruch Spinoza — Wikipedia
Voltaire — Wikipedia
Jean-Jacques Rousseau — Wikipedia
Adam Smith — Wikipedia
Immanuel Kant — Wikipedia
Mary Wollstonecraft — Wikipedia
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel — Wikipedia
Arthur Schopenhauer — Wikipedia
Ralph Waldo Emerson — Wikipedia
Søren Kierkegaard — Wikipedia
Karl Marx — Wikipedia
Friedrich Engels — Wikipedia
Friedrich Nietzsche — Wikipedia
Sigmund Freud — Wikipedia
Max Weber — Wikipedia
Bertrand Russell — Wikipedia
Carl Jung — Wikipedia
Albert Schweitzer — Wikipedia
John Maynard Keynes — Wikipedia
Ludwig Wittgenstein — Wikipedia
Jean-Paul Sartre — Wikipedia
Hannah Arendt — Wikipedia
Simone de Beauvoir — Wikipedia
Pope John Paul II — Wikipedia
Pope Benedict XVI — Wikipedia
Noam Chomsky — Wikipedia
14th Dalai Lama — Wikipedia
Pope Francis — Wikipedia
Pope Leo XIV — Wikipedia