Philosophers
Aristotle
Aristotle of Stagira is, alongside Plato, one of the two most influential philosophers in the Western tradition. He studied at Plato's Academy for twenty years, …
Mencius
Mencius (Mengzi, 'Master Meng') was the most important Confucian philosopher after Confucius himself, often called the 'Second Sage.' His central thesis — that human nature …
Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu, 'Master Zhuang') is, alongside Laozi, the foundational figure of philosophical Daoism. His eponymous text, the Zhuangzi, is one of the most extraordinary …
Pyrrho
Pyrrho of Elis is the founding figure of ancient Greek skepticism. After reportedly traveling with Alexander the Great's expedition to India, where he may have …
Epicurus
Epicurus of Samos founded one of the great philosophical schools of antiquity: the Garden (Kēpos), a community in Athens devoted to the pursuit of pleasure …
Zeno of Citium
Zeno of Citium founded Stoicism, one of the most influential and enduring philosophical schools in Western history. After studying with Cynics, Academics, and Megarians in …
Xunzi
Xunzi (Hsün Tzu, 'Master Xun') was the third great Confucian philosopher, whose bold thesis that human nature is bad (xing e) — the direct opposite …
Han Feizi
Han Feizi (Han Fei, 'Master Han Fei') was the greatest theorist of Chinese Legalism (Fajia) — the school that advocated governance through strict laws (fa), …
Chrysippus
Chrysippus of Soli was the third head of the Stoic school and its most important systematic philosopher — ancient sources said 'if there had been …
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero was Rome's greatest orator, a statesman, and the most important philosophical writer of the Roman Republic. Though not an original systematic philosopher, …
Lucretius
Titus Lucretius Carus was a Roman poet-philosopher who composed De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things), one of the greatest philosophical poems ever written. …
Seneca
Lucius Annaeus Seneca was the most important Stoic philosopher of the Roman Imperial period, a brilliant essayist and tragedian, and one of the most influential …
Epictetus
Epictetus was a former slave who became the most influential Stoic teacher of the Roman Imperial period. Born into slavery, he was eventually freed and …
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 CE and the last great Stoic philosopher. His Meditations (Ta eis heauton, 'To Himself') — …
Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna is the most important Buddhist philosopher after the Buddha himself and the founder of the Madhyamaka ('Middle Way') school of Mahayana Buddhism. His masterwork, …
Sextus Empiricus
Sextus Empiricus was a physician and philosopher who produced the most complete surviving exposition of ancient Pyrrhonian skepticism. His Outlines of Pyrrhonism and Against the …
Plotinus
Plotinus was the founder of Neoplatonism, the last great philosophical system of antiquity, which reinterpreted and systematized Plato's thought into a comprehensive metaphysics of emanation. …
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo is the most influential philosopher-theologian in Western Christian history and one of the most important thinkers of late antiquity. His Confessions — …
Hypatia
Hypatia of Alexandria was a Neoplatonist philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer who was the last major pagan intellectual of the ancient world and the first woman …
Proclus
Proclus Diadochus ('the Successor') was the last great systematic philosopher of ancient Neoplatonism and head of the Platonic Academy in Athens. He developed Plotinus' metaphysics …
Boethius
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius was the last great Roman philosopher and a crucial bridge between the ancient and medieval worlds. His Consolation of Philosophy — …
John Philoponus
John Philoponus was a late antique Alexandrian philosopher, theologian, and scientist whose critiques of Aristotelian physics — particularly his theory of impetus and his arguments …
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara (Śaṅkarācārya) was the most influential philosopher of Hinduism and the systematizer of Advaita Vedanta — the non-dualist school of Indian philosophy that holds …
Al-Kindi
Abu Yusuf Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi — known as the 'Philosopher of the Arabs' (Faylasuf al-'Arab) — was the first major philosopher in the Islamic …