The classical authors
The classics of philosophy in the West, from ancient Greece to the end of the 19th century, in alphabetical order; the dates of the ancients are approximate. Each name leads to the author's page, with the list of their works; each work leads to its files, when it is published here, or to the price of digitizing it and the address that receives contributions for it.
A
- Abelard, Peter [1079-1142]
- French philosopher and theologian, master of scholastic logic
- Albertus Magnus [c. 1200-1280]
- Dominican friar, philosopher and naturalist, teacher of Thomas Aquinas
- Anaxagoras [c. 500-428 BC]
- pre-Socratic philosopher of nous, the mind that orders the cosmos
- Anaximander [c. 610-546 BC]
- Milesian philosopher of the apeiron, the boundless
- Anaximenes [c. 586-526 BC]
- Milesian philosopher for whom everything comes from air
- Anselm of Canterbury [1033-1109]
- archbishop and theologian, author of the ontological argument
- Aristotle [384-322 BC]
- Greek philosopher, pupil of Plato and tutor of Alexander
- Augustine of Hippo [354-430]
- bishop and philosopher, author of the Confessions and The City of God
B
- Bacon, Francis [1561-1626]
- English philosopher and statesman, author of the Novum Organum
- Bentham, Jeremy [1748-1832]
- English philosopher and jurist, founder of utilitarianism
- Berkeley, George [1685-1753]
- Irish bishop and philosopher: to be is to be perceived
- Bodin, Jean [1530-1596]
- French jurist and political philosopher, theorist of sovereignty
- Boethius [c. 480-524]
- Roman philosopher, author of The Consolation of Philosophy
- Bruno, Giordano [1548-1600]
- Italian philosopher of the infinite universe, burned in Rome
- Burke, Edmund [1729-1797]
- Irish politician and philosopher, critic of the French Revolution
C
- Campanella, Tommaso [1568-1639]
- Italian Dominican friar and philosopher, author of The City of the Sun
- Cicero, Marcus Tullius [106-43 BC]
- Roman orator, politician and philosopher
- Comte, Auguste [1798-1857]
- French philosopher, founder of positivism
- Condillac, Étienne Bonnot de [1714-1780]
- French philosopher of sensationalism
- Condorcet, Marquis de [1743-1794]
- French mathematician and philosopher of the Enlightenment
D
- Democritus [c. 460-370 BC]
- Greek philosopher of atoms and the void
- Descartes, René [1596-1650]
- French philosopher and mathematician, author of the Discourse on Method
- Diderot, Denis [1713-1784]
- French philosopher, editor of the Encyclopédie
- Diogenes of Sinope [c. 412-323 BC]
- Cynic philosopher
- Duns Scotus, John [c. 1266-1308]
- Scottish Franciscan friar and philosopher, the Subtle Doctor
E
- Empedocles [c. 495-435 BC]
- pre-Socratic philosopher of the four elements
- Epictetus [c. 50-135]
- Stoic philosopher, a former slave, whose lessons Arrian recorded
- Epicurus [341-270 BC]
- Greek philosopher, founder of Epicureanism
- Erasmus, Desiderius [c. 1466-1536]
- Dutch humanist, author of The Praise of Folly
F
- Feuerbach, Ludwig [1804-1872]
- German philosopher, critic of religion
- Fichte, Johann Gottlieb [1762-1814]
- German idealist philosopher
G
- Grotius, Hugo [1583-1645]
- Dutch jurist and philosopher, father of international law
H
- Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich [1770-1831]
- German philosopher, author of the Phenomenology of Spirit
- Heraclitus [c. 535-475 BC]
- Ephesian philosopher of flux and the logos
- Hobbes, Thomas [1588-1679]
- English philosopher, author of Leviathan
- Hume, David [1711-1776]
- Scottish philosopher, empiricist and skeptic
- Hypatia [c. 360-415]
- Neoplatonist philosopher and mathematician of Alexandria
K
- Kant, Immanuel [1724-1804]
- German philosopher, author of the Critique of Pure Reason
- Kierkegaard, Søren [1813-1855]
- Danish philosopher, forerunner of existentialism
L
- La Boétie, Étienne de [1530-1563]
- French writer, author of the Discourse on Voluntary Servitude
- Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm [1646-1716]
- German philosopher and mathematician, known for his monads
- Locke, John [1632-1704]
- English philosopher, empiricist and theorist of liberalism
- Lucretius [c. 99-55 BC]
- Roman poet and philosopher, author of On the Nature of Things
M
- Machiavelli, Niccolò [1469-1527]
- Florentine political thinker, author of The Prince
- Malebranche, Nicolas [1638-1715]
- French Oratorian priest and philosopher
- Marcus Aurelius [121-180]
- Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher, author of the Meditations
- Marx, Karl [1818-1883]
- German philosopher and economist, author of Capital
- Mill, John Stuart [1806-1873]
- English philosopher and economist, author of On Liberty
- Montaigne, Michel de [1533-1592]
- French writer, creator of the essay
- Montesquieu [1689-1755]
- French philosopher and jurist, author of The Spirit of the Laws
- More, Thomas [1478-1535]
- English humanist and statesman, author of Utopia
N
- Nietzsche, Friedrich [1844-1900]
- German philosopher, author of Thus Spoke Zarathustra
O
- Ockham, William of [c. 1287-1347]
- English Franciscan friar and philosopher, known for Ockham's razor
P
- Parmenides [c. 515-450 BC]
- Eleatic philosopher of being, one and unmoving
- Pascal, Blaise [1623-1662]
- French mathematician and philosopher, author of the Pensées
- Plato [c. 428-348 BC]
- Athenian philosopher, pupil of Socrates, founder of the Academy
- Plotinus [c. 204-270]
- Neoplatonist philosopher, author of the Enneads
- Protagoras [c. 490-420 BC]
- sophist: man is the measure of all things
- Pythagoras [c. 570-495 BC]
- Greek philosopher and mathematician, founder of the Pythagorean school
R
- Reid, Thomas [1710-1796]
- Scottish philosopher of common sense
- Rousseau, Jean-Jacques [1712-1778]
- Genevan philosopher, author of The Social Contract
S
- Schelling, Friedrich [1775-1854]
- German idealist philosopher
- Schopenhauer, Arthur [1788-1860]
- German philosopher, author of The World as Will and Representation
- Seneca, Lucius Annaeus [c. 4 BC-AD 65]
- Roman Stoic philosopher and playwright
- Sextus Empiricus [2nd century]
- Greek physician and skeptic philosopher
- Smith, Adam [1723-1790]
- Scottish moral philosopher and economist, author of The Wealth of Nations
- Socrates [c. 470-399 BC]
- Athenian philosopher, teacher of Plato
- Spinoza, Baruch [1632-1677]
- Dutch philosopher, author of the Ethics
T
- Thales of Miletus [c. 624-546 BC]
- held to be the first Greek philosopher: all is water
- Thomas Aquinas [1225-1274]
- Dominican friar, author of the Summa Theologica
- Tocqueville, Alexis de [1805-1859]
- French political thinker, author of Democracy in America
V
- Vico, Giambattista [1668-1744]
- Italian philosopher, author of the New Science
- Voltaire [1694-1778]
- French writer and philosopher of the Enlightenment
W
- Wollstonecraft, Mary [1759-1797]
- English philosopher, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
X
- Xenophanes [c. 570-475 BC]
- Greek poet and philosopher, critic of Homer's gods
Z
- Zeno of Citium [c. 334-262 BC]
- Greek philosopher, founder of Stoicism
- Zeno of Elea [c. 490-430 BC]
- Greek philosopher of the paradoxes of motion