Philosophers
Thinkers who asked what it all means.
records written
Ancient era
Ban Zhao
45 CE – 116 CE
Late 1st/early 2nd century Chinese historian, philosopher and scholar
Medieval era
Peter Abelard
1079 – April 21, 1142
French scholastic philosopher, theologian and preeminent logician (c.1079-1142)
Medieval era
Girolamo Savonarola
September 21, 1452 – May 23, 1498
Italian Dominican friar and preacher (1452-1498)
Early Modern era
Samuel Adams
September 27, 1722 – October 2, 1803
American statesman, political philosopher, governor of Massachusetts and Founding Father of the United States (1722-1803)
Modern era
Giuseppe Mazzini
June 22, 1805 – March 10, 1872
Italian nationalist activist, politician, journalist and philosopher
Early Modern era
Sophie Germain
April 1, 1776 – June 27, 1831
French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (1776-1831)
Modern era
George Boole
November 2, 1815 – December 8, 1864
English mathematician, philosopher and logician (1815–1864)
Modern era
Georg Cantor
February 19, 1845 – January 6, 1918
German mathematician, inventor of set theory (1845–1918)
Modern era
Henri Poincare
April 29, 1854 – July 17, 1912
French mathematician, physicist and engineer (1854–1912)
Modern era
Arthur Eddington
December 28, 1882 – November 22, 1944
British astrophysicist (1882-1944)
Modern era
Ernst Mach
February 18, 1838 – February 19, 1916
Austrian physicist (1838–1916)
Medieval era
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
1201 – 1273
Persian astronomer (1201–1274)
Medieval era
Al-Kindi
801 CE – 870 CE
Muslim Arab philosopher, mathematician and physician (c.801–873)
Medieval era
Jabir ibn Hayyan
721 CE – 815 CE
8th-century Islamic alchemist and author
Modern era
Stephen Jay Gould
September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002
American biologist and historian of science (1941–2002)
Modern era
Jean Piaget
August 9, 1896 – September 16, 1980
Swiss psychologist, biologist, logician, philosopher and academic (1896–1980)
Modern era
William James
January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910
Researcher, ORCID id # 0000-0002-2506-1198
Modern era
B. F. Skinner
March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990
American behaviorist (1904–1990)
Early Modern era
Jonathan Swift
November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745
Anglo-Irish satirist and essayist (1667–1745)
Modern era
Fernando Pessoa
June 13, 1888 – November 30, 1935
Portuguese poet, writer, and philosopher (1888–1935); creator of the heteronymic system including Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, Álvaro de Campos, and Bernardo Soares
Modern era
Umberto Eco
January 5, 1932 – February 19, 2016
Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist (1932–2016)
Modern era
Philip K. Dick
December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982
American science fiction author (1928–1982)
Modern era
Jacques Derrida
July 15, 1930 – October 8, 2004
French philosopher (1930–2004)
Modern era
Karl Popper
July 28, 1902 – September 17, 1994
Austrian-British philosopher of science and social and política e falsificationism and for criticism of Plato, Hegel and Marx as totalitarian opponents of open society (1902-1994)
Modern era
John Rawls
February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002
American philosopher, philosophy teacher
Modern era
Ayn Rand
February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982
Russian-born American writer and public philosopher (1905–1982)
Modern era
Noam Chomsky
b. December 7, 1928
American linguist and activist (born 1928)
Modern era
Antonio Gramsci
January 22, 1891 – April 27, 1937
Italian Marxist philosopher, writer, and politician (1891–1937)
Modern era
Walter Benjamin
July 15, 1892 – September 26, 1940
German cultural critic, philosopher and social critic (1892–1940)
Modern era
Claude Levi-Strauss
November 28, 1908 – October 30, 2009
French anthropologist and ethnologist (1908–2009)
Modern era
Simone Weil
February 3, 1909 – August 24, 1943
French philosopher, writer, and social activist (1909–1943)
Modern era
Angela Davis
b. January 26, 1944
American political activist, scholar, and author (born 1944)