My true self is my freedom to define myself Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) was an important French existentialist philosopher, political activist, novel...
Bertrand Russell – From mathematical thinking to Hegelianism and back Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) was an important British philosopher, considered one of the founders of modern analytic philos...
Thomas Reid (1710-1796) THEMES ON THIS PAGE: 1. COMMON SENSE 2. HUMAN POWERS 3. GRANDEUR Thomas Reid (1710-1796) was a Scottish philosopher and the father of modern “common-sense philo...
THEMES ON THIS PAGE: 1. HERACLITUS 2. PARMENIDES 3. DEMOCRITUS PRE-SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHERS Western philosophy was born in the 6th century in ancient Greece. For the first time in Western civilizat...
RENÉ DESCARTES I am a thing which thinks René Descartes (1596-1650), an important French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist, is considered the father of modern philosophy. Under his influence, ...
THEMES ON THIS PAGE: 1. THE FALL OF THE SOUL 2. PEAK EXPERIENCE 3. CONTEMPLATION 4. BEAUTY Plotinus (204-270 AD) was a major Neo-Platonist philosopher who lived in late antiquity,...
Plato (about 428-348 BC) On Love Plato (about 428-348 BC) was one of the main philosophers of Western thought. He grew up in Athens, and was a student of Socrates. He founded the Greek academy, which ...
THEMES ON THIS PAGE: 1. HUMAN NATURE2. ON BEING AND THE ONE3. PHILOSOPHY FOR ITS OWN SAKE GIOVANNI PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494) was an Italian philosopher of the Renaissance a...
José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955) THEMES ON THIS PAGE: 1. MY LIFE 2. WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY? 3. THE INNER SELF 4. ROMANTIC LOVE5. THE OTHER PERSON José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955) was a Sp...
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) THEMES ON THIS PAGE: 1. SOLITUDE2. ON HUMAN INCONSISTENCY3. FRIENDSHIP4. LIFE´S PLEASURE 5. DEATH Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was an influential French p...
MARSILIO FICINO Beauty is the harmony which love desires Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) was a major Italian Neo-Platonist philosopher of the Renaissance. He was born near Florence, spent most of his care...
MARTIN FOSS Death as a sacrifice for a higher life Martin Foss (1889-1968) was a German-born philosopher who is now often neglected. He was born in Berlin, and studied philosophy and law in Europe. Be...
HERACLITUS Heraclitus lived around the year 500 BC, in the Greek city of Ephesus in Asia Minor. Little is known about his life, but later ancient historians wrote that he was from an influential famil...
THEMES ON THIS PAGE: 1. EROTIC LOVE2. AFFECTION3. FRIENDSHIP Clive Staples Lewis, better known as C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), was an English novelist and thinker. Although he is best known for his fantasi...
JOHN DEWEY John Dewey (1859-1952) was an American thinker known for his “pragmatist” approach to philosophy in general, and especially to philosophy of education. He grew up in Vermont, USA, and later...
HENRI BERGSON Henri Bergson (1859-1941) was an important French philosopher, extremely influential at the beginning of the 20th century, and a Nobel Prize winner in literature. He was born near Paris ...
John Locke – From a friendly conversation to a major philosophy book John Locke (1632-1704) was an important English philosopher, a major thinker of empiricism and of liberalism. He studied cla...
KARL JASPERS The philosophical life Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) was a philosopher and psychiatrist, and one of the founders of existentialist philosophy and psychology. After receiving his medical degree...
GEORGES BATAILLE Sexuality as death Georges Bataille (1897-1962) was a French intellectual who wrote many essays in philosophy and other fields. He studied at École Nationale des Chartes i...
DEMOCRITUS PLEASURE, HAPPINESS AND CHEERFULNESS Democritus (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) was a Greek philosopher known primarily for his theory of atoms, but in fact he wrote about many topics, although only f...