Major Philosophers

Author among others of "The Republic" and the "Symposium", famous for his theory of forms and his dialogic style, Plato's reflections encompass nearly every major topic of philosophical concern. He was the founder of the Academy, a student of Socrates, and the teacher of Aristotle. Plato is one of the most influential philosophers to date and...

One of the most influential philosophers to date, Aristotle was a student of Plato and the teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings redefined or established an impressive variety of areas, including ethics, metaphysics, political philosophy, logic, epistemology, rhetoric, and tragedy.

Immanuel Kant is one of the most important philosophers of Western tradition, and among the most systematics. He is best known for his transcendental philosophy, which he viewed as a revolution for the humanities comparable to the one brought forth by Copernicus in the sciences. He authored a vast number of texts, including the three critiques:...

Descartes' major works and ideas.

One of the most remarkable and controversial figures in modern politics and philosophy, Karl Marx was a German-born philosopher of Jewish descent, who inspired generations of students through his writings. Author, among others, of the "Capital" (whose second and third volumes were posthumously published by his lifelong fellow Friedrich Engels)...

David Hume is one of the most distinguished empiricists and skeptics of the Western tradition. A prominent figure in the history of early modern philosophy, according to some he is also the most important thinker to ever write in English...

Parmenides is probably the first great philosopher of the Western canon. His philosophy seems to have embodied several of the distinctive traits of Ancient Greek philosophy, most notably the exclusive reliance on reason; Parmenides had a deep influence on Plato's and Aristotle's thinking, whose work can by and large be seen as a response to...

Voltaire was the pen name of François-Marie Arouet, a central figure in the seventeen-hundreds intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment. Voltaire’s writings are most famous for their advocacy of the autonomy of the individual and the State with respect to the church. Voltaire’s style is distinct for being lucid and witty. He was an...

Mary Wollstonecraft is best known for her philosophical and political insightful fervor, especially for her strenuous and lucid defense of the rights of women in society. This excerpt, taken from the third chapter of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, bears witness to a well-articulated picture.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau is a central figure in early modern philosophy, and one of the most influential intellectuals of the Enlightenment. He is the author of "On the Social Contract", the "Discourse on the Origin of Inequality", and "Emile." His influence, however, extends also to literature: with the "Confessions" he put forward one of the...

Zeno’s philosophy is one of the clearest examples of the power accorded to rational argumentation by Ancient Greek philosophers: by reasoning alone (hence without relying on any specific observation) humans can prove that the world has a certain structure. This is a radical methodology, which by and large diverges from the methods of inquiry...

Baruch Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher of Jewish descent, to date one of the most distinguished in the history of his land, and a prominent figure in early modern philosophy. He is most famous for having defended two doctrines. The first is a form of monism in metaphysics. The second is the rebuttal of any objective basis for good and evil in...

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German mathematician and philosopher, one of the greatest minds of Early Modern Philosophy and one of the most remarkable in the Western philosophical tradition. He is most famous for having developed the infinitesimal calculus (independently of Isaac Newton), for his doctrine according to which ours is the best...

Niccolò Machiavelli was one of the most influential political theorists of Western philosophy. His most read treatise, The Prince, turned Aristotle’s theory of virtues upside down, shaking the European conception of government at its foundations.

John Locke is one of the most important figures in British empiricism and one of the main authors in early modern philosophy. Considered by many as the father of liberalism, his philosophical contribution spans across all branches, from philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, epistemology, metaphysics to political philosophy. His most...