Notable Philosophers and Thinkers
This list is comprised of some of the most recognizable names from the world of philosophy. Also included are mathematicians, theologians and those associated with the humanities and social science. However, those considered to be more in the camp of experimental science or invention are listed with the famous scientists.
| Name | Lifespan | Other Names | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Niels Henrik Abel | 1802-1829 |  | |
| Pierre Abélard | 1079-1142 | | |
| Sabino Acquaviva | 1927-2015 | | |
| Adebowale Adefuye | 1947-2015 | | |
| Alfred Adler | 1870-1937 | | |
| Theodor W. Adorno | 1903-1969 | | |
| Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi | c. 872-c. 950 | (Alpharabius, Farabi) | |
| Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali | 1058-1111 | (Algazel) | |
| Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Sina | 980-1037 | (Avicenna) | |
| Muhammad al-Idrisi | 1099-c. 1165 | | |
| Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi | c. 780-850 | (Algoritmi) | |
| Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Kindi | 801-873 | | |
| Muhammad al-Razi | 865-925 | (Rhazes) | |
| Ammianus Marcellinus | c. 325-c. 391 | | |
| Anaxagoras | c. 500-428 BC | | |
| Anaximander | c. 610-c. 546 BC | | |
| Anaximenes of Miletus | c. 585-c. 528 BC | | |
| Gustav Anrich | 1867-1930 | | |
| Anselm of Canterbury | 1033-1109 | | |
| Apollonius of Perga | c. 262-c. 190 BC | | |
| Thomas Aquinas | 1225-1274 | | |
| Archimedes | c. 287-c. 212 BC | | |
| Archytas | 428-347 BC | | |
| Aristotle | 384-322 BC | | |
| Raymond Aron | 1905-1983 | | |
| François-Marie Arouet "Voltaire" | 1694-1778 | (Voltaire) | |
| Atticus | 1xx-? | | |
| Augustine of Hippo | 354-430 | | |
| Charles Babbage | 1791-1871 | | |
| Francis Bacon | 1561-1626 | | |
| Simone de Beauvoir | 1908-1986 | | |
| David Benatar | 1966- | | |
| Jeremy Bentham | 1748-1832 | | |
| Henri Bergson | 1859-1941 | | |
| George Berkeley | 1685-1753 | | |
| Boethius | 480-524 | | |
| Pierre Bourdieu | 1930-2002 | | |
| Darko Bratina | 1942-1997 | | |
| Giordano Bruno | 1548-1600 | | |
| Joseph Campbell | 1904-1987 | | |
| Albert Camus | 1913-1960 | | |
| Gerolamo Cardano | 1501-1576 | | |
| Giovanni Domenico Cassini | 1625-1712 | | |
| Cassius Dio | c. 155-c. 235 | | |
| Jean-François Champollion | 1790-1832 | | |
| Jean Chauvin | 1509-1564 | (Calvin) | |
| Noam Chomsky | 1928- | | |
| Emil Cioran | 1911-1995 | | |
| Zerah Colburn | 1804-1839 | | |
| Auguste Comte | 1798-1857 | | |
| Haskell Curry | 1900-1982 | | |
| Vahakn Dadrian | 1926- | | |
| Florimond de Beaune | 1601-1652 | | |
| Adolf Deißmann | 1866-1937 | | |
| Guidobaldo del Monte | 1545-1607 | | |
| Democritus | c. 460-c. 370 BC | | |
| Florimond de Raemond | 1540-1601 | (de Rémond) | |
| Jacques Derrida | 1930-2004 | | |
| Ferdinand de Saussure | 1857-1913 | | |
| René Descartes | 1596-1650 | | |
| Charles de Secondat | 1689-1755 | | |
| John Dewey | 1859-1952 | | |
| Denis Diderot | 1713-1784 | | |
| Diogenes of Sinope | c. 412-323 BC | | |
| Diophantus of Alexandria | c. 205-c. 290 | | |
| Émile Durkheim | 1858-1917 | | |
| Freeman Dyson | 1923-2020 | | |
| Arthur Eddington | 1882-1944 | | |
| Empedocles | c. 490-430 BC | | |
| Friedrich Engels | 1820-1895 | | |
| Epictetus | c. 55-c. 135 | | |
| Epicurus | 341-270 BC | | |
| Desiderius Erasmus | 1466-1536 | | |
| Eratosthenes of Cyrene | c. 276-c. 195 BC | | |
| Erik Erikson | 1902-1994 | | |
| Euclid | c. 330-275 BC | | |
| Leonhard Euler | 1707-1783 | | |
| Fibonacci | c. 1170-c. 1250 | | |
| Johann Gottlieb Fichte | 1762-1814 | | |
| Michel Foucault | 1926-1984 | | |
| Joseph Fourier | 1768-1830 | | |
| Abraham Fraenkel | 1891-1965 | | |
| Francis of Assisi | c. 1182-1226 | | |
| Viktor Frankl | 1905-1997 | | |
| Gottlob Frege | 1848-1925 | | |
| Sigmund Freud | 1856-1939 | | |
| Milton Friedman | 1912-2006 | | |
| Erich Fromm | 1900-1980 | | |
| Raimond Gaita | 1946- | | |
| Ljudevit Gaj | 1809-1872 | (Gay) | |
| Évariste Galois | 1811-1832 | | |
| Carl Friedrich Gauss | 1777-1855 | | |
| Gautama Buddha | c. 563-c. 483 BC | | |
| Milovan Gavazzi | 1895-1992 | | |
| Geoffrey of Monmouth | c. 1100-c. 1155 | | |
| Kristalina Georgieva | 1953- | (Kinova) | |
| Anthony Giddens | 1938- | | |
| Kurt Gödel | 1906-1978 | | |
| Franciscus Gomarus | 1563-1641 | (Gomaer) | |
| Gorgias | c. 485-c. 380 BC | | |
| Gregory of Tours | c. 538-594 | | |
| James Gregory | 1638-1675 | | |
| Tullio Gregory | 1929-2019 | | |
| Hakuin Ekaku | 1686-1769 | | |
| Mehr Abdul Haq | 1915-1995 | | |
| Friedrich Hayek | 1899-1992 | | |
| Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel | 1770-1831 | | |
| Martin Heidegger | 1889-1976 | | |
| Heraclitus of Ephesus | c. 535-c. 475 BC | | |
| Hero of Alexandria | 10-70 | | |
| Herodotus | c. 484-425 BC | | |
| David Hilbert | 1862-1943 | | |
| Adolf Hilgenfeld | 1823-1907 | | |
| Hipparchus of Nicaea | c. 190-c. 120 BC | | |
| Thomas Hobbes | 1588-1679 | | |
| Adolf Holtzmann | 1810-1870 | | |
| Alexander von Humboldt | 1769-1859 | | |
| David Hume | 1711-1776 | | |
| Adolf Hurwitz | 1859-1919 | | |
| Jan Hus | ?-1415 | | |
| Edmund Husserl | 1859-1938 | | |
| Christiaan Huygens | 1629-1695 | | |
| Hypatia of Alexandria | c. 370-415 | | |
| Ibn Khaldun | 1332-1406 | | |
| Isidore of Seville | 560-636 | | |
| William James | 1842-1910 | | |
| Jesus Christ | c. 4 BC-c. 33 | | |
| John Duns Scotus | c. 1266-1308 | | |
| Katherine Johnson | 1918-2020 | (Coleman) | |
| Ljudevit Jonke | 1907-1979 | | |
| Josephus | 37-c. 100 | (Flavius) | |
| Carl Jung | 1875-1961 | | |
| Oriol Junqueras i Vies | 1969- | | |
| Immanuel Kant | 1724-1804 | | |
| Adolf Keller | 1872-1963 | | |
| John Maynard Keynes | 1883-1946 | | |
| Omar Khayyám | 1048-1131 | | |
| Søren Kierkegaard | 1813-1855 | | |
| Adolf Kneser | 1862-1930 | | |
| Karl Knies | 1821-1898 | | |
| Reşat Ekrem Koçu | 1905-1975 | | |
| Kong Qiu | c. 551-479 BC | | |
| Pyotr Kropotkin | 1842-1921 | | |
| Jacques Lacan | 1901-1981 | | |
| Joseph Louis Lagrange | 1736-1813 | (Lagrangia) | |
| Laozi | ?-5xx BC | | |
| Pierre-Simon Laplace | 1749-1827 | | |
| Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz | 1646-1716 | | |
| Rado Lenček | 1921-2005 | | |
| Adolf Lindenbaum | 1904-1941 | | |
| Livy | c. 64 BC-17 | (Livius, Patavinus) | |
| John Locke | 1632-1704 | | |
| Ada Lovelace | 1815-1852 | | |
| Lucretius | c. 99-c. 55 BC | (Carus) | |
| Martin Luther | 1483-1546 | | |
| Niccolò Machiavelli | 1469-1527 | | |
| Moses Maimonides | 1135-1204 | | |
| Thomas Robert Malthus | 1766-1834 | | |
| Benoit Mandelbrot | 1924-2010 | | |
| Mani | 216-274 | | |
| Toufik Mansour | 1968- | | |
| Marcus Aurelius | 121-180 | | |
| Alfred Marshall | 1842-1924 | | |
| Karl Marx | 1818-1883 | | |
| Abraham Maslow | 1908-1970 | | |
| Mazdak | ?-c. 524 | | |
| Meng Ke | c. 372-c. 289 BC | | |
| Gerardus Mercator | 1512-1594 | | |
| John Stuart Mill | 1806-1873 | | |
| Ferdinand Minding | 1806-1885 | | |
| Theodor Mommsen | 1817-1903 | | |
| G. E. Moore | 1873-1958 | | |
| Thomas More | 1478-1535 | | |
| Abu'l-Walid Muhammad ibn Rushd | 1126-1198 | (Averroes) | |
| Muhammad | 570-632 | | |
| Nagarjuna | c. 150-250 | | |
| John Napier | 1550-1617 | | |
| John Forbes Nash Jr. | 1928-2015 | | |
| Nicholas of Cusa | 1401-1464 | | |
| Friedrich Nietzsche | 1844-1900 | | |
| Helmuth Nyborg | 1937- | | |
| Ziya Onis | 1957- | | |
| Origen | 184-253 | | |
| Vilfredo Pareto | 1848-1923 | | |
| Parmenides of Elea | c. 515-c. 450 BC | | |
| Talcott Parsons | 1902-1979 | | |
| Blaise Pascal | 1623-1662 | | |
| Pausanias | 110-180 | | |
| Charles Sanders Peirce | 1839-1914 | | |
| Jordan Peterson | 1962- | | |
| Philo | c. 20 BC-c. 50 | | |
| Jean Piaget | 1896-1980 | | |
| Plato | c. 427-347 BC | | |
| Plotinus | c. 205-270 | | |
| Plutarch | c. 46-120 | (Mestrius, Plutarchus) | |
| Henri Poincaré | 1854-1912 | | |
| Polybius | c. 200-c. 118 BC | | |
| Karl Popper | 1902-1994 | | |
| Protagoras | c. 490-c. 420 BC | | |
| Pyrrho | c. 360-c. 270 BC | | |
| Pythagoras | c. 580-500 BC | | |
| Willard Van Orman Quine | 1908-2000 | | |
| Wilhelm Reich | 1897-1957 | | |
| Adolf Reinach | 1883-1917 | | |
| David Ricardo | 1772-1823 | | |
| Bernhard Riemann | 1826-1866 | | |
| David Rittenhouse | 1732-1796 | | |
| Karl Ritter | 1779-1859 | | |
| Carl Rogers | 1902-1987 | | |
| Nouriel Roubini | 1958- | | |
| Jean-Jacques Rousseau | 1712-1778 | | |
| Rupert of Deutz | c. 1075-1129 | | |
| Bertrand Russell | 1872-1970 | | |
| George Santayana | 1863-1952 | | |
| Jean-Paul Sartre | 1905-1980 | | |
| Hjalmar Schacht | 1877-1970 | | |
| Adolf Schlatter | 1852-1938 | | |
| Arthur Schopenhauer | 1788-1860 | | |
| Joseph Schumpeter | 1883-1950 | | |
| Seneca the Younger | 4 BC-65 | | |
| Sima Qian | c. 145-86 BC | (Szu-ma) | |
| Georg Simmel | 1858-1918 | | |
| Josias Simmler | 1530-1576 | (Simler) | |
| Ferdo Šišić | 1869-1940 | | |
| B. F. Skinner | 1904-1990 | | |
| Adam Smith | 1723-1790 | | |
| Socrates | c. 470-399 BC | | |
| Baruch Spinoza | 1632-1677 | | |
| Rudolf Steiner | 1861-1925 | | |
| Svetozar Stojanović | 1931-2010 | | |
| Strabo | c. 64 BC-c. 24 | | |
| Hew Strachan | 1949- | | |
| Suetonius | 69-122 | (Tranquillus) | |
| Sun Tzu | c. 544-c. 496 BC | | |
| Tacitus | c. 56-c. 117 | (Cornelius) | |
| Tertullian | c. 160-c. 225 | | |
| Thales | c. 624-c. 546 BC | | |
| Henry David Thoreau | 1817-1862 | | |
| Thucydides | c. 460-c. 395 BC | | |
| Leonida Tonelli | 1885-1946 | | |
| Alan Turing | 1912-1954 | | |
| Adolf von Harless | 1806-1879 | (Harleß) | |
| Adolf von Harnack | 1851-1930 | (Harnack) | |
| John von Neumann | 1903-1957 | | |
| Ludwig von Strümpell | 1812-1899 | (Strümpell) | |
| Lev Vygotsky | 1896-1934 | | |
| Adolf Wach | 1843-1926 | | |
| Max Weber | 1864-1920 | | |
| Alfred North Whitehead | 1861-1947 | | |
| William of Ockham | c. 1287-1347 | | |
| Geordie Williamson | 1981- | | |
| Gustav Adolf Wislicenus | 1803-1875 | | |
| Ludwig Wittgenstein | 1889-1951 | | |
| Gustav Adolf Wohlgemuth | 1868-1942 | | |
| Wilhelm Wundt | 1832-1920 | | |
| Xenophanes of Colophon | c. 570-c. 475 BC | | |
| Xenophon | c. 427-c. 355 BC | | |
| Peter Wessel Zapffe | 1899-1990 | | |
| Adolf Zeising | 1810-1876 | (Morning) | |
| Zeno of Citium | c. 334-c. 262 BC | | |
| Zeno of Elea | c. 490-c. 430 BC | | |
| Slavoj Žižek | 1949- | | |
| Zoroaster | ?-1xxx BC | |