Philosophers
Thinkers who asked what it all means.
records written
Ancient era
Aesop
620 BCE – 564 BCE
Ancient Greek storyteller (619 BC–563 BC)
Medieval era
Maimonides
March 30, 1138 – December 13, 1204
Medieval Jewish philosopher from Spain (1135–1204)
Medieval era
Averroes
April 14, 1126 – December 10, 1198
Arab Andalusian Muslim writer and philosopher (1126–1198)
Medieval era
Geoffrey Chaucer
1343 – October 25, 1400
14th century English poet and author (1343–1400)
Medieval era
Petrarch
July 19, 1304 – July 18, 1374
Italian scholar and poet (1304-1374)
Medieval era
Thomas More
February 7, 1478 – July 6, 1535
English statesman, lawyer and philosopher (1478–1535)
Medieval era
Erasmus
October 28, 1466 – July 12, 1536
Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and theologian (1466-1536)
Medieval era
Niccolo Machiavelli
May 3, 1469 – June 21, 1527
Florentine statesman, diplomat, and political theorist (1469–1527)
Early Modern era
Michel de Montaigne
February 28, 1533 – September 12, 1592
French author, philosopher, and statesman (1533–1592)
Early Modern era
René Descartes
March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650
French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist (1596–1650)
Early Modern era
Thomas Hobbes
April 5, 1588 – December 4, 1679
English philosopher (1588–1679)
Early Modern era
John Locke
August 29, 1632 – October 28, 1704
English philosopher and physician (1632-1704)
Early Modern era
Baruch Spinoza
November 24, 1632 – February 21, 1677
Dutch philosopher (1632-1677)
Early Modern era
Voltaire
November 21, 1694 – May 30, 1778
French Enlightenment writer and fighter for reason and tolerance
Early Modern era
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
June 28, 1712 – July 2, 1778
Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer (1712-1778)
Early Modern era
David Hume
April 26, 1711 – August 25, 1776
Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian (1711-1776)
Early Modern era
Adam Smith
June 5, 1723 – July 17, 1790
Scottish moral philosopher and political economist (1723–1790)
Early Modern era
Immanuel Kant
April 22, 1724 – February 12, 1804
German philosopher of the categorical imperative and human reason
Early Modern era
Edmund Burke
January 12, 1729 – July 9, 1797
Anglo-Irish statesman, political theorist and conservative philosopher (1729–1797)
Early Modern era
Thomas Paine
February 9, 1737 – June 8, 1809
American Founding Father, philosopher, and political activist (1737–1809)
Early Modern era
Mary Wollstonecraft
April 27, 1759 – September 10, 1797
English writer and intellectual (1759–1797)
Early Modern era
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
August 28, 1749 – March 22, 1832
German writer, artist, natural scientist and politician (1749–1832)
Early Modern era
Friedrich Schiller
November 10, 1759 – May 9, 1805
German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian (1759–1805)
Early Modern era
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
August 27, 1770 – November 14, 1831
German philosopher and theologian (1770–1831)
Early Modern era
Arthur Schopenhauer
February 22, 1788 – September 21, 1860
German philosopher (1788-1860)
Modern era
Soren Kierkegaard
May 5, 1813 – November 11, 1855
Danish theologian, philosopher, poet and social critic (1813–1855)
Modern era
Karl Marx
May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883
Philosopher and economist whose critique of capital shaped a century
Modern era
Friedrich Engels
November 28, 1820 – August 5, 1895
German philosopher, sociologist and economist (1820–1895)
Modern era
John Stuart Mill
May 20, 1806 – May 8, 1873
British philosopher and political economist (1806–1873)
Modern era
Friedrich Nietzsche
October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900
German philosopher (1844-1900)
Modern era
Ralph Waldo Emerson
May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882
American philosopher (1803–1882)
Modern era
Henry David Thoreau
July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862
American essayist, poet, and philosopher (1817–1862)
Early Modern era
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
October 21, 1772 – July 25, 1834
English poet, literary critic and philosopher (1772–1834)
Modern era
Leo Tolstoy
August 28, 1828 – November 7, 1910
Russian novelist of War and Peace and moral philosopher
Modern era
George Eliot
November 22, 1819 – December 22, 1880
English novelist, essayist, poet and journalist (1819–1880)
Modern era
Lewis Carroll
January 27, 1832 – January 14, 1898
British author and scholar (1832–1898)
Modern era
Khalil Gibran
January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931
Lebanese-American writer, poet, and painter (1883–1931)
Modern era
Bertrand Russell
May 18, 1872 – February 2, 1970
British philosopher and logician (1872–1970)
Modern era
Simone de Beauvoir
January 9, 1908 – April 14, 1986
French philosopher, social theorist and activist (1908–1986)
Modern era
Albert Camus
November 7, 1913 – January 4, 1960
French philosopher, author, and journalist (1913–1960)
Modern era
Hannah Arendt
October 14, 1906 – December 4, 1975
German-American political theorist and philosopher (1906–1975)
Modern era
Aldous Huxley
July 26, 1894 – November 22, 1963
English writer and philosopher (1894–1963)
Modern era
W. E. B. Du Bois
February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963
American sociologist and activist (1868–1963)
Modern era
Jane Addams
September 6, 1860 – June 21, 1935
American feminist social activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, philosopher, and writer (1860–1935)
Modern era
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
February 4, 1906 – April 9, 1945
German Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident (1906–1945)
Medieval era
Amir Khusrau
1253 – September 27, 1325
Indian poet, writer, singer and scholar (1253–1325)
Medieval era
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar
1177 – 1274
Sufi saint, philosopher and poet
Early Modern era
Bulleh Shah
1680 – August 22, 1757
Punjabi poet
Early Modern era
Shah Waliullah Dehlawi
February 21, 1703 – August 20, 1762
Indian muslim scholar
Early Modern era
Sachal Sarmast
1739 – April 11, 1827
Sindhi poet
Medieval era
Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani
October 22, 1314 – January 18, 1385
Iranian Kubrawiya Sufi saint (c.1312–1384)
Medieval era
Sharfuddin Ahmed Yahya Maneri
1263 – January 3, 1381
Historical figure
Modern era
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
October 17, 1817 – March 27, 1898
Indian Muslim reformer and social activist (1817–1898)
Modern era
I. I. Chundrigar
September 15, 1897 – September 26, 1960
Pakistani politician and diplomat (1897–1960)
Modern era
G. M. Syed
January 17, 1904 – April 25, 1995
Political leader (1904-1995)
Modern era
Shibli Nomani
June 3, 1857 – November 18, 1914
Indian Islamic Scholar (1857–1914)
Modern era
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
July 23, 1856 – September 1, 1920
Indian nationalist leader, writer and journalist (1856–1920)
Modern era
Gopal Krishna Gokhale
May 9, 1866 – February 19, 1915
Indian political leader and social reformer (1866–1915)
Modern era
Abul A'la Maududi
September 25, 1903 – September 22, 1979
South Asian Islamic scholar, Founder of Jamaat-e-Islami (1903–1979)
Modern era
Wahiduddin Khan
January 1, 1925 – April 21, 2021
Islamic Scholar (1925–2021)