Download First Name Surname Nationality Key Theories Key

First Name
Surname
Death
BC
BC
BC
BC
546
546
528
496
BC
BC
BC
BC
Nationality
Key Theories
Greek
Greek
Greek
Greek
The first Greek philosopher and the "father of science". Believed all matter originated from water.
Believed there was a fundamental matter from which everything is made and to which everything eventually returns.
Student of Anaximander. Believed that all matter was made of air at different densities.
Mathematician and the "father of numbers". Defined the ratios of squares and right-angled triangles and discovered the Golden Ratio
and Pi. Founded a religion which promoted vegetarianism and believed that "all things are number". Was the first to identify the link
between music and mathematics.
Sceptical of religion and rejected the idea that gods resemble humans in form.
Philosopher and political figure who defined the behaviour of the "perfect man" - describing how he should live, interact with others
and participate in society.
Believed change to be central to the universe by stating "you can never step into the same river twice".
Believed permanent truths could only be revealed through reason as experiments are always subjective. Reasoned that all that actually
exists is the immediate present, the past and future have no real existence.
Student of Heraclitus. So sceptical of reality that he believed "you can't even step into the same river once". He eventually refused to
speak as he considered the meaning of his words to be unstable and communicated only by moving his finger.
Playwright known for his trilogy of works about the mythical king Oedipus of Thebes and his descendants. The tragedies explore
themes of being trapped by fate and family. Without knowing that they are his parents, Oedipus kills his father and marries his
mother.
624
610
585
571
XENOPHANES
CONFUCIUS
560 BC
551 BC
478 BC Greek
479 BC Chinese
HERACLITUS
PARMENIDES
535 BC
515 BC
475 BC Greek
450 BC Greek
CRATYLUS
c.500 BC
Greek
SOPHOCLES
c.500 BC
Greek
ANAXAGORAS
ZENO OF ELEA
500 BC
490 BC
428 BC Greek
430 BC Greek
EMPEDOCLES
490 BC
430 BC Greek
PROTAGORAS
490 BC
420 BC Greek
HERODOTUS
SOCRATES
484 BC
470 BC
DEMOCRITUS
THRASYMACHUS
Key Texts
Movement
Milesian School
Milesian School
Milesian School
Pythagoreanism
Lunyu
Milesian School
Confucianism
Pre-Socratic
Eleatic School
Pre-Socratic
The Oedipus Cycle (500 BC)
Believed the human body to be constructed out of the substances found in the food we consume.
Student of Parmenides. Creator of numerous paradoxes including the race between Achilles and a tortoise which reasons that the
tortoise will always win.
Defined the world as being made of earth, wind, fire and water and governed by love and strife. These four elements were held as the
basic substances until the medieval times.
After travelling and encountering people with different beliefs he questioned how any belief could be considered right. Realised that
beliefs are cultural not natural and stated "man is the measure of all things", meaning that everything is relative and there are no
objective truths.
Atomism
Eleatic School
424 BC Greek
399 BC Greek
The "father of history". Travelled widely and documented the culture and histories of different peoples.
Stated that "virtue is knowledge". Changed the focus of philosophy from a scientific interest in the nature of the material world to the
questioning of human morality and politics. Founded the method of Socratic dialogue based on exploring ideas and answering
questions through discussion and argument. Believed that all wrongdoing in the world results from human ignorance.
Cultural Relativism
Socratic
460 BC
370 BC Greek
400 BC Greek
PLATO
427 BC
347 BC Greek
Identified that there must be particles, "atoms", so small that they are indivisible. These move and collide in different ways to form
new compounds and materials.
Believed that only the strong should benefit from justice. Supported the theory that "might is right". Believed that injustice, on a large
enough scale, is stronger, freer and more masterly than justice.
Student of Socrates. Described in The Republic a detailed plan for a harmonious and perfect society governed by philosophers. His
theory of innatism stated that we are all born programmed with a basic knowledge. He also believed in an ideal world of "ideal forms"
of which our world is an inferior copy.
Atomism
459 BC
Phaedo
The Symposium (385 BC)
The Republic (360 BC)
DIOGENES
ARISTOTLE
412 BC
384 BC
322 BC Greek
322 BC Greek
Anarchist who taught contempt for human achievements. Campaigned to debunk social values and institutions, and lived in a barrel.
Student of Plato and tutor of Alexander the Great. Invented deductive logic. Believed that all objects were individual and possessed a
"final cause", which determined the way in which they would move or behave. Considered morals to be practical skills taught to
children to moderate their behaviour and dealings with others, allowing them to choose the "mean" between extremes.
Politics
Rhetoric (335 BC)
The Nicomachean Ethics
PYRRHO
EPICURUS
360 BC
341 BC
272 BC Greek
270 BC Greek
Thought it was unwise to believe anything as it is impossible to know things in their own nature.
Follower of Democritus. Believed the individual needed tranquillity and peace of mind to be happy and believed that life was
something to be enjoyed.
Founder of stoicism. Believed that human beings would only be happy if they freed themselves from passion and calmly accepted all
occurrences in their lives as the result of divine will. Claimed that "tranquillity can best be reached through indifference to pleasure
and pain".
ZENO OF CITRIUM
333 BC
264 BC Greek
c.300 BC
Greek
CARNEADES
214 BC
129 BC Greek
CICERO
SENECA
106 BC
4 BC
43 BC Roman
65 AD Roman
EUCLID
Marcus Tullius
Lucius Annaeus
Birth
THALES
ANAXIMANDER
ANAXIMENES
PYTHAGORAS
EPICTETUS
55 AD
135 AD Roman
Publius Cornelius
TACITUS
56 AD
117 AD Roman
Marcus
AURELIUS
Sextus
EMPIRICUS
PLOTINUS
121 AD
180 AD Roman
c.200 AD
Roman
204 AD
270 AD Roman
ST AUGUSTINE
354 AD
430 AD Roman
ALPHARABIUS
872 AD
951 AD Persian
AVICENNA
981 AD
1037 AD Persian
ST ANSELM
1033 AD
1109 AD Italian
Pierre
ABELARD
AVERROES
1079 AD
1126 AD
1144 AD French
1198 AD Spanish
Thomas
AQUINAS
1225 AD
1274 AD Italian
Dante
ALIGHIERI
1265 AD
1321 AD Italian
John
William
DUNS SCOTUS
OF OCKHAM
1266 AD
1285 AD
1308 AD Scottish
1349 AD English
Francesco
PETRARCH
1304 AD
1375 AD Italian
Desiderius
ERASMUS
1466 AD
1536 AD Dutch
Niccolò
MACHIAVELLI
1469 AD
1527 AD Italian
Nicolaus
COPERNICUS
1473 AD
1543 AD Polish
Francesco
GUICCIARDINI
1483 AD
1540 AD Italian
Martin
LUTHER
1483 AD
1546 AD German
François
Michel
RABELAIS
DE MONTAIGNE
1494 AD
1533 AD
1553 AD French
1592 AD French
Justus
LIPSIUS
1547 AD
1606 AD Belgian
Francis
BACON
1561 AD
1626 AD English
William
Johannes
Hugo
GALILEO
SHAKESPEARE
KEPLER
GROTIUS
1564
1564
1571
1583
1642
1616
1630
1645
John
SELDEN
1584 AD
1654 AD English
Thomas
HOBBES
1588 AD
1679 AD English
Pierre
GASSENDI
1592 AD
1655 AD French
René
DESCARTES
1596 AD
1650 AD French
Antoine
ARNAULD
1612 AD
Blaise
PASCAL
Anne
AD
AD
AD
AD
AD
AD
AD
AD
Italian
English
German
Dutch
Pre-Socratic
Cultural Relativism
On Nature
On Life According to Nature
On Impulse: On the Nature of Humans
Platonism
Cynicism
Aristotelianism
Scepticism
Atomism
Stoicism
Mathematician and "father of geometry". Defined most of the theories of geometry still used and taught today. Devised the method
for proving mathematical theorems by logical deduction from accepted principles, which became the backbone of all mathematics.
Radical sceptic who believed it impossible to discover rational meanings in religious beliefs. Argued that because different belief
systems are evident in different cultures and because of instances of optical illusion, there could be no secure knowledge of either the
moral or physical world. Believed that in the event of a shipwreck the wise man would always do everything in his power to save
himself.
Elements (300 BC)
Statesman and political theorist. Responsible for introducing the chief schools of Greek philosophy to the Romans.
Stoic philosopher, dramatist and adviser to Emperor Nero. Believed in restraint and self-discipline, though did not necessarily
practise it.
Believed our aim was to be masters of our own lives. He believed a true "nature of things" existed which was constant and valid to all
human beings.
Senator and historian. Recorded a history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus in 14 AD to the death of Domitian in
96 AD, examining many of the injustices of this time. He explored the more general characteristics of human society which he
perceived to include insincerity, accusation and violence, which led to what he called a "peace time more brutal than war".
Roman Emperor and stoic philosopher. Believed that desire leads to permanent disappointment and that death itself is desirable
because it offers an end to all desires. Believed human life to be insignificant given the infinite nature of time, which makes all worldly
affairs insignificant too.
On Oratory (55 BC)
Consolations (49)
Stoicism
Stoicism
The Discourses
Enchiridion
The Histories (105)
The Annals (117)
Stoicism
Meditations (180)
Stoicism
Thought all knowledge was relative and therefore untrustworthy. Believed it to be impossible to prove anything. Concluded that
scepticism produced happiness, because with no beliefs you become free of worry.
Attempted to reconcile the ideas of Plato with the doctrine of the early Christian church. Marked a shift in the traditional focuses of
philosophy from ontology and epistemology to theology - the questioning of the nature and existence of god.
One of the "church fathers" responsible for clarifying and establishing the central doctrines of the Christian church. Believed evil is
caused by humans and not god and is the result of the misuse of our freedom and the fact that we are "fallen" and therefore sinful.
Believed only a small fraction of people, selected by god, would go to heaven. The rest would spend an eternity of torment in hell.
Islamic scientist and philosopher. Following the advice of Plato's Republic, he also saw it as the duty of the philosopher to provide
guidance to the state. Categorised logic into the two separate groups of "idea" and "proof".
Islamic physician and philosopher. Considered the "father of early modern medicine". Discovered the contagious nature of infectious
diseases and introduced the notion of quarantine to limit their spread. Described the distinction between existence and essence and
defined the three different modes of being as: impossibility, contingency and necessity. God is the only necessary being whereas all
other life in the universe is merely possible (contingent) and could just as easily not exist.
Outlines of Pyrrhonism
Against the Dogmatists
The Enneads (253)
Neo-Platonism
The Book of Healing (1020)
The Canon of Medicine (1025)
Avicennism
Archbishop of Canterbury and founder of scholasticism. Devised an ontological argument to prove the existence of god, based on
reason alone.
Believed words are just names or "signifiers". Nouns normally refer to "universals" or classes or things which do not actually exist.
Islamic scholar. Developed a commentary of Aristotle's work which became central to the way his ideas were understood in Christian
Europe. Attempted to reconcile religious belief with philosophical enquiry, by thinking of god as a non-anthropomorphic entity which
does not make decisions to create or destroy things in the way a human being would. Believed that philosophy was not suitable for the
general public as it requires talent and rigorous training in order not to misread its conclusions.
Why God Became Man
De Grammatico: The Theory of Paronymy
Dialectica
The Incoherence of Incoherence
Commentaries on Aristotle
Scholasticism
Claimed to have proved the existence of god, by scientifically demonstrating through his famous "five ways" how things in the natural
world observe laws, which are ordained by god. Studying the natural world therefore is like studying the mind of god.
Poet and first to publish in the Italian language as opposed to Latin. His works were named comedies for this reason as they were
presumed to be less serious. The Divine Comedy explores the realms of hell, purgatory and heaven and provided the medieval view of
the Christian afterlife, which prevailed for centuries.
Examined in detail the differences between theology, philosophy and science.
Believed the great truths are usually the simplest and that most academic philosophy was waffle about imaginary entities. The
Ockham's Razor principle declares it is foolish to prefer a complicated answer to a simple one.
Considered as the "father of humanism". Believed that god had given humans their vast intellectual and creative potential to be used to
their fullest and that secular achievements therefore did not conflict with religious belief.
Believed wisdom was illusory and unattainable. Was critical of the Catholic church and took no one seriously, least of all the
philosophers. Inadvertently helped begin the Reformation of the Protestant church.
Political theorist. Describe humans as being "ungrateful, fickle, simulators and deceivers, avoiders of danger, greedy for gain". This
meant that a specific brutal talent was required to be a successful ruler. Concluded that morality and politics don't mix as politics is a
necessarily dirty game of treachery and deceit.
Astronomer. Developed the first scientifically based theory of Heliocentrism, which displaced previous conceptions of the earth as the
centre of the universe.
Historian and peer of Machiavelli. Deemed the "father of modern history" because of his use of governmental documents to verify his
writings. Expressed a sceptical disengagement from politics. Defined the term "reason of state" to refer to the injustices done in the
greater pursuit of a country's economic, military or cultural ambitions.
Theologian. Believed that the Bible was the only source of religious authority and not the Papacy. Influenced the Reformation of the
Protestant church.
Renaissance writer. Known as a pioneer of satirical and grotesque story telling.
Explored the nature of human behaviour. Became a sceptic because of what he perceived as humanity's apparent fickleness when
praising or discrediting elements of culture or society, and because of the arbitrary and ephemeral nature of the law. Famously stated
"que sais-je?" - "what do I know?". Condemned patriotic behaviour as unnecessarily confrontational and believed that humans should
prioritise their own survival.
Summa Theologiae (1273)
Scholasticism
Attempted to reconcile ancient stoicism with Christianity in light of the religious wars caused after the Reformation of the Protestant
church. Took a sceptical stance on strongly held public beliefs in favour of individualism.
Politician and champion of the new scientific methods of empirical observation, experimentation and induction. Was the first to state
that "knowledge is power". Believed that we are predisposed to order the world we perceive so that we can make sense of it, but that
we often overlook our active role in this ordering.
The "father of modern physics", pioneer of empirical observation methods.
Poet and playwright. Explored through comedy and tragedy universal human traits and behaviours.
Astronomer, physicist and follower of Copernicus. Defined the laws of planetary motion.
Developed a minimalist morality, which functioned on just two principles. Firstly, that all men have a fundamental right to preserve
themselves and secondly, that unnecessary violence towards others is unjustifiable. Social life is not possible if members of society fail
to maintain either of these principles, but nothing else is necessary for a social existence.
Jurist and political theorist. Opposed the church having authority over the state or judicial system. Like Grotius, believed in a society
grounded on a minimalist morality.
Political theorist. Explored the notion of what human life would be like without a political structure, in what he termed the "state of
nature". Believed that trust and promises are impossible in the state of nature, which results in a state of perpetual war in which a
human life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short". In order to avoid this and to strive towards peace, humans must
sacrifice some of their freedom to the sovereign power who will punish those who break promises or attack one another.
Scepticism
Scepticism
Confessions (398)
The City of God (426)
Nominalism
Averroism
Convivio (1304)
Divine Comedy (1308)
R
Sum of Logic (1323)
Scholasticism
Nominalism
The Secret Book (1345)
Humanism
R
In Praise of Folly (1509)
Scepticism
R
The Prince (1513)
The Art of War (1520)
Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy (1531)
On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres (1543)
Machiavellianism
R
R
History of Florence (1510)
History of Italy (1540)
R
Lutheranism
R
Gargantua (1534)
Essays (1580)
Scepticism
R
R
De Constantia (1584)
Stoicism
R
The Advancement of Learning (1605)
New Instrument (1620)
Empiricism
R
Two New Sciences (1638)
Romeo and Juliet (1591)
The Harmony of the World (1619)
Mare Liberum (1583)
On the Laws of War and Peace (1625)
R
R
R
Humanism
Mare Clausum (1635)
Humanism
De Cive (1642)
Leviathan (1651)
De Corpore (1655)
Behemoth (1668)
Humanism
Scientist and philosopher. Attempted to reconcile Epicurean atomism with Christianity. As an astronomer, witnessed the movements
of the planets past the sun.
The "father of modern philosophy". Questioned whether anything could be known in certainty. As a result he doubted everything
around him except for his own thoughts resulting in the statement "cogito ergo sum" - "I think therefore I am". Believed humans to
be "dualist" - spiritual minds inhabiting material bodies. Concluded that our mathematical measurements of the world (size or weight)
were correct, but our sensory ones (taste or smell) are subjective and flawed.
Transit of Mercury (1631)
Atomism
Discourse on Method (1637)
Mediations (1641)
Rationalism
1694 AD French
Theologian and mathematician. Raised the problem of the "Cartesian circle" to illuminate the contradictions of Descartes' argument,
which states that we can be certain the things we perceive clearly and distinctly are true because of the existence of god, but yet we are
not able to clearly and distinctly perceive god and therefore be sure that he himself is true. Also opposed Leibniz's view that an
individual human contains every truth about that individual because he believed this left no room for human freedom.
Treatise on True and False Ideas (1683)
1623 AD
1662 AD French
Experiments on a Vacuum (1647)
Pensées (1670)
CONWAY
1631 AD
1679 AD English
Believed that scientific knowledge progressed throughout time and that new generations of scientists built on what had been discovered
before them. Pascal's Wager was a rational reasoning for believing in god based on the potential consequences. If you believe and it
turns out not to be true you have lost very little, but if you don't believe and it turns out to be true you stand to lose a lot.
Believed theology and philosophy to be inextricably entwined. Critiqued Descartes' dualist and Spinoza's monist theories of substance
and developed her own theory that the world is made up of three different types of substance - the totally immutable (god), those
which can be both mutable and immutable (Christ) and those which are mutable or ephemeral (everything else that exists). Developed
a "theodicy" which attempted to reconcile the widespread suffering in the world with the existence of god.
The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy (1670)
Rationalism
E
Baruch
DE SPINOZA
1632 AD
1677 AD Dutch
Questioned how the dual mental and physical substances could ever interact and, as a result, refuted Descartes' theory. Instead he
developed the theory of "monism" which states there is one substance (god) and that thought (mind) and extension (matter) are two
different expressions of it. Believed humans needed to grasp the whole totality of the universe (god) and from this point of view the
concept of evil, as we perceive it, is so insignificant that it does not even really exist.
Principles of Cartesian Philosophy (1663)
Ethics (1677)
Rationalism
E
John
LOCKE
1632 AD
1704 AD English
Founder of empiricism. Believed all human knowledge must come from actual experience via the senses. Believed that the human
mind was entirely blank at birth - a "tabula rasa". Believed all objects had "primary" objective qualities (such as size and weight) that
can be measured and "secondary" subjective qualities which are relative to each human (such as colour and smell).
Two Treatises of Government (1689)
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690)
Empiricism
E
Nicholas
MALEBRANCHE
1638 AD
1715 AD French
Studied Descartes' philosophy and adapted it into his own theory which states that all we are aware of are "ideas" and "feelings". Ideas
are truths that exist independently of us and are seen only by god. We have no knowledge of the actual physical external reality, as this
is different from our idea of reality. He also believed in "occasionalism", which suggests that god causes each and every event in the
world.
On the Search After Truth (1675)
Rationalism
E
Jean
Issac
Gottfried Wilhelm
RACINE
NEWTON
LEIBNIZ
1639 AD
1642 AD
1646 AD
1699 AD French
1727 AD English
1716 AD German
La Thébaide (1664)
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687)
Monadology (1714)
Rationalism
E
E
E
Catharine
COCKBURN
1679 AD
1750 AD Scottish
Defence of Locke (1701)
Empiricism
E
George
BERKELEY
1685 AD
1753 AD Irish
Playwright and poet. Famous for his historical tragedies.
Physicist and mathematician. Defined the laws of universal gravitation and the three laws of motion.
Mathematician. Laid the foundations for integral and differential calculus. Attempted to unify scholastic philosophy and new scientific
rationalism by proposing a metaphysical system of "monadology", whereby there are an infinite number of possible worlds, of which
ours is the best of all possible variations.
Playwright and philosopher. Explored the notion of morality, questioning whether god ordains what is good or evil, right or wrong,
arbitrarily or according to his will. Defined virtue as being "what is fit and right".
Believed that in order for an object to exist, it must first be perceived, stating "esse est percipi" - "to be is to be perceived". Added
that because god was ever-present, he was able to perceive the whole world on our behalf and therefore allow it to exist.
Of Infinites (1707)
On Motion (1721)
Idealism
E
Know Your Thinkers & Theorists
Ellie Harrison 2008 | www.ellieharrison.com
Licensed under a Creative Commons Licence
First Name
Surname
Key Theories
Key Texts
Movement
Joseph
BUTLER
Birth
1692 AD
Death
1752 AD English
Nationality
Bishop and philosopher. Considered human nature in terms of a person's "constitution" and developed a system for analysing the
different hierarchical layers which comprise it. Conscience being at the top, with self-love and benevolence below, and passions and
appetites at the bottom. Believed conscience could provide a reliable guide to a fair-minded person prepared to think through their
decisions on moral terms.
Fifteen Sermons on Human Nature (1726)
Empiricism
E
Enlightenment writer and satirical polemicist. Satirised Leibniz's optimistic monadology theory of the best of all possible worlds in his
book Candide. Championed tolerance and popularised the English pioneers of empiricism across Europe.
Political theorist, physicist and "founding father" of American democracy. Believed that the authority of governments should always be
regarded as provisional.
Founder of the Scottish School of Common Sense and the Wise Club. Disagreed with the idealist vision of Hume and Berkeley, by
claiming that common sense tells us that the external world does exist. Advocated realism rather than idealism.
Doubted the use of induction as a source of human knowledge. Was sceptical of reason and acknowledged that no human beliefs or
morals could be proven and that all were subjective and merely opinions. Argued against the concept of an enduring "self", claiming
that all we have instead is a constantly changing bunch of perceptions. The idea of the self is a fictitious part of our imagination.
Letters Concerning the English Nation (1733)
Candide (1759)
Empiricism
E
An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense (1764)
Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man (1785)
A Treatise of Human Nature (1740)
An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751)
Empiricism
E
Empiricism
E
Social Contract
E
VOLTAIRE
1694 AD
1778 AD French
Benjamin
FRANKLIN
1706 AD
1790 AD American
Thomas
REID
1710 AD
1796 AD Scottish
David
HUME
1711 AD
1776 AD Scottish
Jean-Jacques
ROUSSEAU
1712 AD
1778 AD Swiss
Political theorist. Opposed Hobbes, by believing that primitive human beings were content and benevolent, but that the invention of
civilisation and private property gave humans artificial needs, which bred artificial greed. Believed in "the general will" in which the
majority consensus of a society must always be right.
Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men (1754)
The Social Contract (1762)
Denis
Laurence
DIDEROT
STERNE
1713 AD
1713 AD
1784 AD French
1768 AD English
Jacques the Fatalist and His Master (1796)
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759)
E
E
Adam
SMITH
1723 AD
1790 AD Scottish
Encyclopædist and writer. Pioneer of the Enlightenment, which he believed would change the common way of thinking forever.
Writer and pioneer of the "progressive digression" style. Revolutionised the structure of the novel by inserting sermons, essays, legal
documents and even entirely blank pages within the narrative.
Philosopher and political economist. Founder of the academic discipline of economics. Believed human beings to be endowed with
the capacity for reason, but our impulses for self-preservation and sexual desires predicated by our need to continue the species, often
cloud our judgement. Believed capitalism to be the inevitable, god-given conclusion of human progress. Believed that, though driven
by individuals' self-interest, capitalism is guided by an "invisible hand" which ensures that it always benefits social order as a whole.
The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)
An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776)
E
Paul-Henri
Immanuel
D'HOLBACH
KANT
1723 AD
1724 AD
1789 AD French
1804 AD German
E
E
BURKE
1729 AD
1797 AD Irish
Good Sense: Natural Ideas Opposed to Supernatural (1772)
Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime (1764)
Critique of Pure Reason (1781)
What is Enlightenment? (1784)
Critique of Practical Reason (1788)
Critique of Judgement (1790)
Metaphysics of Morals (1797)
A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757)
Idealism
Edmund
Writer, philosopher and encyclopædist. One of the first self-confessed atheists in Europe.
Believed our knowledge of the world cannot come from observation alone, that we have "a priori" - an inbuilt prior knowledge to help
us comprehend the most important concepts of life. He believed that our perception of the world (the "phenomenal" world) is
restricted by the limits of our minds, space and time, and is different from how the actual world (the "noumenal" world) exists.
Believed that moral behaviour is not our natural instinct and that it usually involves an internal struggle against our desires, but that
morals could be deduced using reason. His "categorical imperative" requires us to first imagine whether society would continue to
function if everyone behaved in this way, before deciding whether our actions are right or wrong.
Philosopher, political theorist and member of parliament. Created a modern theory of aesthetics which explored the notions of beauty
and the sublime. Associated the beautiful with a feeling of disinterested benevolence and the sublime with a fear arising from an
awareness that there is no real danger. Originator of modern conservatism, condemning the French Revolution on the grounds that
the tearing apart of any existing social fabric was counter-productive.
Conservatism
E
Thomas
PAINE
1737 AD
1809 AD American
Johann Georg Heinrich
FEDER
1740 AD
1821 AD German
Supported American Independence and the French Revolution. Outlined a modern welfare state programme, which would abolish
poverty and excessive disparities in wealth, fight unemployment, provide support of old people and universal schooling for the young.
Belonged to the school of eclecticism, which is a conceptual approach that draws upon multiple theories rather than holding a rigid set
of assumptions. Opposed and critiqued Kant's notion of idealism.
Common Sense (1776)
Rights of Man (1791)
Logik und Metaphysik (1783)
Eclecticism
Marquis
DE SADE
1740 AD
1814 AD French
Thomas
JEFFERSON
1743 AD
1826 AD American
Writer and philosopher known for often violent pornographic texts. Proponent of an extreme freedom unrestrained by morality,
religion or law, with the pursuit of personal pleasure being the highest principle.
Third president of the United States and "founding father" of American democracy. Believed governments have a contractual
obligation towards those who vote for them and that they should only exist to guarantee the rights of citizens such as "life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness".
The 120 Days of Sodom: The School of Licentiousness (1785)
Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)
Declaration of Independence (1776)
Johann Gottfried
HERDER
1744 AD
1803 AD German
Ideas for the Philosophy of History of Humanity (1784)
Jeremy
BENTHAM
1748 AD
1832 AD English
Believed that human history was evolving towards a higher level of mankind. Also believed it unfair to judge all humans on the same
grounds, as each should be considered in light of the conditions in which they exist.
Jurist, philosopher and founder of utilitarianism. Did not oppose capitalism, but attempted to create a political system based on a
scientific definition of human nature. Believed that all human beings are pain-pleasure organisms and that the political system should
attempt to increase pleasure and minimise pain for the greatest number of citizens. His "felicific calculus" aimed to scientifically
measure and quantify happiness. Proposed an overhaul of the legal system, whereby a crime is judged in terms of its consequences and
not by invariable rules.
Johann Wolfgang
VON GOETHE
1749 AD
1832 AD German
Mary
WOLLSTONECRAFT
1759 AD
1797 AD English
Johann Gottlieb
FICHTE
1762 AD
1814 AD German
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
HEGEL
1770 AD
1831 AD German
David
Karl Wilhelm Friedrich
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph
RICARDO
SCHLEGEL
SCHELLING
1772 AD
1772 AD
1775 AD
1823 AD English
1829 AD German
1854 AD German
Arthur
SCHOPENHAUER
1788 AD
1860 AD German
Auguste
COMTE
1798 AD
1857 AD French
Harriet
MARTINEAU
1802 AD
1876 AD English
Ralph Waldo
EMERSON
1803 AD
1882 AD American
Ludwig
FEUERBACH
1804 AD
1872 AD German
John Stuart
MILL
1806 AD
1873 AD English
Charles
DARWIN
1809 AD
1882 AD English
Bruno
BAUER
1809 AD
1882 AD German
Søren
KIERKEGAARD
1813 AD
1855 AD Danish
Charles Bernard
RENOUVIER
1815 AD
1903 AD French
Henry David
THOREAU
1817 AD
1862 AD American
Karl
MARX
1818 AD
1883 AD German
Friedrich
Herbert
ENGELS
SPENCER
1820 AD
1820 AD
1895 AD German
1903 AD English
Gustave
FLAUBERT
1821 AD
1880 AD French
Charles
BAUDELAIRE
1821 AD
1867 AD French
Gregor Johann
MENDEL
1822 AD
1884 AD Austrian
Max
MÜLLER
1823 AD
1900 AD German
Friedrich Albert
Wilhelm
LANGE
WUNDT
1828 AD
1832 AD
1875 AD German
1920 AD German
Victoria
LADY WELBY
1837 AD
1912 AD English
Franz
BRENTANO
1838 AD
1917 AD Austrian
Charles Sanders
PEIRCE
1839 AD
1914 AD American
William
JAMES
1842 AD
1910 AD American
Friedrich
NIETZSCHE
1844 AD
1900 AD German
Francis Herbert
BRADLEY
1846 AD
1924 AD English
Gottlob
FREGE
1848 AD
1925 AD German
Sigmund
FREUD
1856 AD
Writer and philosopher. Famous for metaphysical tragedies exploring the human condition and the relationship between religion and
science.
Writer, philosopher and feminist. Argued that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because they have been
denied education. Believed that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and proposed a social order founded on
reason.
Considered morality to be the only essential content of religion. Rejected the notion that the world exists totally independently of
humanity and indifferent to our values, as he believed this led to atheism and inevitable immorality. Believed that it is our minds
which bring into being all that we perceive as reality, and that this is what gives us our freedom.
Hegel's dialectic is a system for progressing towards an ultimate truth or an "absolute idea" by battling thesis against antithesis
repeatedly until a synthesis is reached. He believed this concept could be applied to the progress of human history and also to human
consciousness. No facts are stable in a constantly shifting dialectical process except at the point of culmination, which would mark the
end of history.
E
Critique of the Doctrine of Inalienable, Natural Rights (1843)
Offences Against One's Self: Paederasty (1785)
E
E
E
E
E
Utilitarianism
E
Faust (1808)
Romanticism
E
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)
Feminism
E
Attempt at a Critique of all Revelation (1793)
Idealism
C
Phenomenology of Spirit (1807)
Science of Logic (1812)
Idealism
C
Romanticism
Idealism
C
C
Political economist. Devised the "labour theory", stating that objects get their value from the hours put into making them.
Poet and critic. Attempted to reconcile practical ethics with the romantic idea of complete individual freedom.
Believed that the physical world and nature result entirely from the mind and that there is no such thing as a lifeless object as even the
inorganic are suffused with the mind. Believed that humanity is progressing towards an absolute - the highest possible level, which is
the equivalent to art. Saw the universe as an artwork and god as an artist.
Rejected Hegel's prediction of a happy ending to human history. Believed the world as we perceive it, is always controlled by the will.
There is no more to our lives than the urge to satisfy new desires. Human suffering is the result of two conflicting wills or desires. The
only way to escape suffering is to desire nothing.
Described the evolution of human thought in terms of three phases. Firstly "theological" - primitive and guided by superstition, then
"metaphysical" - the development of abstract speculation and reflection, and finally the "positive" - where both these give way to
science. Coined the term "sociology" and attempted to define the laws which govern society. Believed that the moral regeneration of
mankind would have to rely heavily on women because of their natural benevolence. He mapped out an entire system for a highly
ordered and rational society which would replace all religions with the "positivist religion of humanity".
Novelist and philosopher. Believed in "identity theory", which states that mind and brain (body) are one thing, and that mind is just a
"phenomenon" of the brain.
Leader of the transcendentalist movement, which believed that there is a higher, truer human knowledge beyond ordinary human
sense-experience, which can only be reached through intuition and reason. Believed that nothing should be considered sacred except
the integrity of your own mind and therefore prioritised intuition and individual consciousness over state authority.
Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817)
Lucinde (1799)
System of Transcendental Idealism (1800)
The Conduct of Life (1860)
Transcendentalism
Opposed idealism by stating "you are what you eat", implying that material needs come first, ideas are secondary. An atheist who
believed humans wasted too much time projecting their own unrealised perfection onto the imaginary entity of god, rather than
dealing with realisable material problems in their own lives.
Concerned that Bentham's utilitarianism would lead to a "tyranny of the majority" and would therefore oppress minorities and
individual human rights. Promoted his own version of a pluralist society where minority ideas and lifestyles are tolerated.
Naturalist. Developed and evidenced the theory of evolution by natural selection which states that all species of life have evolved over
time from a few common ancestors. Small variations within species, which benefit their chance of survival are more likely to be
passed onto descendants, allowing them to gradually change and adapt.
Theologian and philosopher. Developed a controversial critical analysis of the New Testament which concluded that its historical basis
was doubtful and that Jesus was a myth. Believed that the church and the state were incompatible, as the former was oppressive and
the later should strive towards complete freedom.
Dismissed Hegel's dialectic, believing individuals needed to be able to choose for themselves between opposing theses. Believed that
human existence provides the freedom for individuals to choose who they are, but that an awareness of this freedom leads to anxiety
about the inevitability of sin and the necessity of radical choice. Advocated living a life of "commitment", to counteract this anxiety. A
precursor to existentialism, although he believed in god, despite knowing it was irrational and impossible to prove.
The Essence of Christianity (1841)
Materialism
Argued against determinism, claiming that because the mind allows us to choose which thoughts we focus on, it then becomes possible
to use these to autonomously determine our actions rather than have them dictated by some greater uncontrollable chain of events.
Believed that liberty and happiness were best achieved without the intervention of governments. Champion of the simple life,
advocated passive resistance as a means of protest against governmental wrongdoing.
Believed that philosophy had an obligation to change the world, rather than just interpret it. Created a grand narrative of society in
order to understand the workings of capitalism. Borrowed from Hegel's dialectic to demonstrate how history has been a constant
struggle between classes and economic forces. Believed that humans can only achieve "self-realisation", through freely-chosen labour
and that because the proletariat does not have this choice they suffer from "alienation". Believed that capitalism was perpetuated by
"surplus value", which results from the exploitation of the workforce, producing more than they are being paid for. Capitalism is
anarchic in nature, driven by profit and not need, and therefore susceptible to points of crisis at which the proletariat must revolt.
Social scientist and collaborator with Marx. Co-author of The Communist Manifesto.
Believed that the ultimate reality of the universe is unknowable to the human mind, and that we are only capable of experiencing
matter, motion and force. Believed that the task of philosophy was to reach a synthesis with science in order to establish a general
theory. Believed in a social Darwinism in which society and culture can be seen to mimic biological evolution in that they transform
from a simplistic homogeneous base to a complex, diverse, heterogeneous, advanced society.
Essais de Critique Générale (1864)
Histoire et Solution des Problèmes Métaphysiques (1901)
Walden (1854)
Civil Disobedience (1849)
The Communist Manifesto (1848)
Das Kapital (1867)
Writer and proponent of realism. Examined the objective reality of everyday life through literature. A known perfectionist constantly
searching for "the right word".
Poet and critic. Explored taboo themes of sex and death, melancholy, lost innocence and the oppressiveness of living. Attempted
suicide with the claim that "the fatigue of falling asleep and the fatigue of waking are unbearable".
Scientist, considered the founder of genetics. Studied the inheritance of traits in pea plants, which completed the puzzle uncovered by
Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, by explaining exactly how beneficial traits are passed on through different
generations of a species through their genes.
Philologist and orientalist. Devised the field of "comparative religion", which analyses the similarities and differences of the themes,
myths, rituals and concepts among the world's religions.
Rejected materialism and Hegelianism and was a proponent of neo-Kantianism, which influenced Nietzsche.
Considered, along with James, to be one of the founders of psychology. Founded "experimental psychology" in 1879. He proposed the
technique of introspection - the examining of one's own mental states according to strict rules.
Developed a theory of meaning called "significs" as an alternative to semiotics. It was specifically focused on the everyday use of
language and in exploring various relationships between meaning (sense) and ethical, pragmatic and social values. She divided sense
into three main types: sense, meaning and significance which corresponded to three levels of consciousness which she defined as:
planetary, solar and cosmic.
Madame Bovary (1857)
The World as Will and Representation (1819)
C
Plan of Scientific Studies Necessary for the Reorganisation of Society (1822)
Course of Positive Philosophy (1830)
Devotional Exercises (1823)
On Liberty (1859)
Utilitarianism
On the Origin of Species (1859)
Evolutionism
The Good Cause of Freedom (1842)
Das Entdeckte Christentum (1843)
Stages on Life's Way (1845)
The Sickness Unto Death (1849)
Existentialism
C
C
Transcendentalism
Marxism
The Condition of the Working Class in England (1844)
A System of Synthetic Philosophy (1862)
The Man Versus the State (1884)
Realism
Les Fleurs du Mal (1857)
Romanticism
Experiments in Plant Hybridisation (1866)
Evolutionism
Introduction to the Science of Religion (1873)
India: What Can It Teach Us? (1883)
History of Materialism and Critique of Its Present Importance (1865)
Elemente der Völkerpsychologie (1912)
Idealism
What is Meaning? (1902)
Descriptive psychologist. Believed that thoughts in our consciousness always had an "intentional" object - they are always referring to
something external, even if it doesn't actually exist.
Believed that philosophy had an obligation to be useful and that it is not capable of establishing "ultimate truths" about the nature of
reality. Pioneer of semiotics, explored the arbitrary nature of words and their relationship to their meanings.
Influenced by Renouvier. Believed that ideas should not be seen as abstract, metaphysical entities but as tools with practical uses,
which can benefit the everyday lives of people. Considered his psychology to be an experiment in natural science. Defined
consciousness as a "stream of thought", identifying that it exists as a continuous flow rather than a series of discrete ideas. Believed
depression could be cured by exercising free will and by convincing yourself that life is worth living. Also studied religious belief and
justified it as unprovable but useful because of the meaning it gave to the lives of individuals.
Influenced by Lange and Schopenhauer. Believed all human behaviour is driven by a "will to power", that life itself was worth risking
if more power can be gained in the process. Rejected Kant's view that moral facts or rules could be based on reason, believing they are
formed only by the contemporary prejudices of the prevailing ideologies. His statement "god is dead" referred to the development of
modern science and the secularisation of European society, which meant that it was no longer possible to base our values on
something beyond this world (god). He believed this led to a new kind of freedom - the possibility of establishing our own values - but
also to a complete loss of universal perspective and any coherent sense of objective truth. His vision of the "übermensch", is of a
person who has overcome the pre-existing value system and herd instincts and moved "beyond the human condition". He also preempted postmodernism by insisting that language can only ever be metaphorical.
Believed that reality could only exist as a single whole, because descriptions involving pluralism always lead to self-contradictions.
Believed that feeling was the only mental act which avoided the contradictions found in the traditional descriptions of consciousness,
desire etc. Feeling is a universal intuition in which there is no distinction between the experience and the cause of the experience.
One of the founders of Analytic philosophy which changed the foundation of modern philosophy from the "problem of knowledge" to
logic. Transformed Aristotle's deductive logic into a new "formal" and "symbolic" version, which hoped to demystify mathematics by
showing that numbers are not objects. Believed that mathematics should be considered empty, as a balanced equation is simply a
tautology and, as a system, it has nothing to do with our perceptions and consciousness and continues to exist regardless of this. He
also founded modern linguistic philosophy, stating that everyday language is not logical and consists of two parts, the "sense" or
meaning and the thing or concept it "refers" or "points" to.
Psychology From an Empirical Standpoint (1874)
The Origin of Our Knowledge of Right and Wrong (1889)
The Collected Papers (1931)
Phenomenology
The Principles of Psychology (1890)
The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)
Pragmatism
1939 AD Austrian
Founder of psychoanalysis. Believed human beings remain ignorant of the primitive origins of their thoughts, beliefs and desires,
which exist in their sexually structured "unconscious", and that civilization has only been made possible by the repression of this
sexual drive at an unconscious level. Defined the human personality or psyche as comprising of the "id", the "ego" and the "super
ego". The id represents our unconscious urges or instincts, which have to be controlled and modified by our ego. The super ego is
similar to our conscience and contains all our moral beliefs and aspirations. The ego mediates between both the id and super ego
before dictating our actions and behaviour in the outside world.
The Interpretation of Dreams (1899)
The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1901)
Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious (1905)
On Narcissism (1914)
Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1920)
The Ego and the Id (1923)
Pragmatism
C
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1885)
Beyond Good and Evil (1886)
On the Genealogy of Morals (1887)
The Antichrist (1888)
Ecce Homo (1888)
Appearance and Reality (1893)
Function and Concept (1891)
On Sense and Reference (1892)
Georgi
PLEKHANOV
1856 AD
1918 AD Russian
Ferdinand
DE SAUSSURE
1857 AD
1913 AD Swiss
Developed "reflection theory", which claimed that the art of any given period would reflect the period's ideological character, so art
from different places and times could give us an insight into that society.
Founder of semiotics. Devised a structure to demonstrate the use and meaning of language where our understanding of individual
words is seen as a "sign" which comprises both a "signifier" and a "signified". Believed that language's relationship to the world was
arbitrary.
The Materialist Conception of History (1891)
Belinski and Rational Reality (1897)
Cours de Linguistique Générale (1916)
Max
PLANCK
1858 AD
1947 AD German
Physicist and founder of "quantum theory".
Entropy and Temperature of Radiant Heat (1900)
A
Psychoanalysis
Structuralism
Know Your Thinkers & Theorists
Ellie Harrison 2008 | www.ellieharrison.com
Licensed under a Creative Commons Licence
First Name
Surname
Key Theories
Key Texts
Émile
DURKHEIM
Birth
1858 AD
Death
1917 AD French
Nationality
Largely responsible for establishing sociology as an academic discipline. Believed that the behaviours and properties of society could
not be reduced to the study of the individuals within it. He advocated better social integration as a way of holding society together and
combating modern problems such as suicide. Believed religion actually functioned as the worship of society itself as religious ideas
have arisen from the way in which individuals subjectively experience social norms and expectations.
Rules of Sociological Method (1895)
Suicide (1897)
John
DEWEY
1859 AD
1952 AD American
Believed being philosophical meant being critically intelligent and taking a scientific approach to human problems. Believed that
society could only progress if citizens are educated to be intelligent and flexible. Believed children should be educated through creative
problem solving, rather than by being spoon fed information.
The Public and Its Problems (1927)
Experience and Education (1938)
Pragmatism
Edmund
HUSSERL
1859 AD
1938 AD German
Phenomenology and the Crisis of Philosophy (1911)
Phenomenology
Christian
VON EHRENFELS
1859 AD
1932 AD Austrian
Henri
BERGSON
1859 AD
1941 AD French
Jane
ADDAMS
1860 AD
1935 AD American
Alfred North
WHITEHEAD
1861 AD
1947 AD English
Mary Whiton
CALKINS
1863 AD
1930 AD American
George
SANTAYANA
1863 AD
1952 AD American
Founded "phenomenology" as the analysis of the structures of conscious experience. Experimented with the reduction of all
metaphysical and theoretical distractions in order to focus on the pure immediacy of experience. This lead to a sort of solipsism,
where he even began to doubt the existence of the self, as this was never directly present in our consciousness. Defined the term
"lifeworld" as the taken-for-granted world of our everyday lives. Claimed that because the way we perceive the outside world is
dependent on the content of our consciousness, people who have had very different life experiences will perceive things in different
ways.
Founder of "gestalt psychology", which proposes that the brain operates holistically and that the whole experience of consciousness is
greater than the sum of its parts.
Distinguished between the scientific (fictional) conception of time as something which ticks along and can be measured in divisible
units and the actual intuitive experience of time as a continuous duration where every moment is unique. Advocated introspection as a
way of revealing the continual free self present throughout the flow of time.
President of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and founder of the largest settlement house in America, which
aimed to share knowledge and culture between university educated students and poor local residents.
Co-author of Principia Mathematica with Russell. Founded "process philosophy" which states that change is not accidental or external
to the object, thing or substance but is the cornerstone of reality or being. Also suggested that all of Western philosophy ultimately
consists of "footnotes to Plato".
Considered as a "personalist" because of her dismissal of the dualist notion of a soul existing without matter (body), in favour of the
psychological reading of the self as the foundation of all our knowledge and experience. Believed that there was no such thing as
individual morality as the concept of morality was the product of a great society of which we are all members.
Refuted scepticism, by stating that we should use as a foundation each of the beliefs it would be dishonest to doubt. Defined these in
terms of four basic realms: matter, spirit (consciousness), essence (infinite number of possibilities, which may at some point manifest
in the spirit) and truth (the total known and unknown reality of the world).
Sociologist and founder of modern social theory. Identified that radically different forms of human reasoning were appropriate for
different forms of activity.
Explored the notion of aesthetics and believed that the work of art should not be identified with any physical artefact or external
manifestation, but with an inner state of knowledge (intuition) that transforms and unifies impressions aided by imagination
(expression).
Attempted, but failed, to prove the logical foundations of mathematics. Believed that in order to understand the world everything has
to be split into its individual components, once these are fully understood we can logically construct understandings of larger entities.
Studied language in this way by breaking sentences such as "the king of France is bald" into individual words and questioned their
meaning and their effect on the sentence as a whole and its meaning.
Collected Essays on Sociology and Social Policy (1924)
Sociology of the State (1956)
Aesthetics as Science of Expression and General Linguistics (1902)
Poetry and Literature: An Introduction to Criticism and History (1936)
The Problems of Philosophy (1912)
Principia Mathematica (1913)
A History of Western Philosophy (1946)
A
Defined the two intrinsically good things in life as "the pleasures of human intercourse and the enjoyment of pleasurable objects", and
the three intrinsically evil things as consciousness of pain, hatred of what is good and love of what is evil. Interested in the analysis of
meaning and claimed that, for example, anyone who knew the meaning of the word "good" understood its moral concept.
Psychiatrist and founder of "analytical psychology". Developed the concept of the psychological archetype - a series of innate universal
prototypes for our ideas. For example "anima" being the feminine image in a man's psyche and "animus" being the masculine image
in a woman's psyche. He defined the "collective unconscious" as the reservoir of the experiences of our species.
Theoretical physicist. Developed the theories of relativity which state the relationships between mass, energy and time.
Playwright, novelist and pacifist who advocated the unification of Europe prior to World War II and committed suicide with his wife
during the war.
Member of the Vienna Circle who together with Schlick and Carnap, devised the "verification principle", which declares that any
proposition that cannot be empirically tested is nonsense. They believed the only route to real knowledge is through science.
Member of the Vienna Circle and founder of "logical positivism", which considered most philosophy, especially Hegelian idealism, to
be metaphysical nonsense.
Novelist. Deliberately combined and contrasted literary styles in his work including "stream of consciousness" and parody. Described
in huge detail the contents of his characters' minds alongside the reality that they lived in.
Psychoanalyst with specific interest in child psychology. Developed a technique for psychoanalysing children through "free play", in
which their interaction with a set of different toys and objects is monitored to give an insight into their unconscious.
Psychiatrist and philosopher. Believed that the ultimate goal of philosophy was not to discover theoretical truths but to help individuals
in the process of their own self-discovery, towards what he termed "existenz" - the authentic way of living in which an individual is
genuinely oneself and can make sense of one's life. This is contrasted with Heidegger's notion of "dasein" which is existence in the
ordinary sense and is common to all individuals.
Principia Ethica (1903)
A
Max
WEBER
1864 AD
1920 AD German
Benedetto
CROCE
1866 AD
1952 AD Italian
Bertrand
RUSSELL
1872 AD
1970 AD Welsh
George Edward
MOORE
1873 AD
1958 AD English
Carl
JUNG
1875 AD
1961 AD Swiss
Albert
Stefan
EINSTEIN
ZWEIG
1879 AD
1881 AD
1955 AD German
1942 AD Austrian
Otto
NEURATH
1882 AD
1945 AD Austrian
Moritz
SCHLICK
1882 AD
1936 AD German
James
JOYCE
1882 AD
1941 AD Irish
Melanie
KLEIN
1882 AD
1960 AD Austrian
Karl Theodor
JASPERS
1883 AD
1969 AD German
Franz
KAFKA
1883 AD
1924 AD Austrian
György
LUKÁCS
1885 AD
1971 AD Hungarian
Susan
STEBBING
1885 AD
1943 AD English
Martin
HEIDEGGER
1889 AD
1976 AD German
Ludwig
WITTGENSTEIN
1889 AD
1951 AD Austrian
Rudolf
CARNAP
1891 AD
1970 AD German
Antonio
GRAMSCI
1891 AD
1937 AD Italian
Edith
STEIN
1891 AD
1942 AD German
Walter
BENJAMIN
1892 AD
1940 AD German
Viktor
SHKLOVSKY
1893 AD
1994 AD Russian
Mikhail
BAKHTIN
1895 AD
1975 AD Russian
Max
HORKHEIMER
1895 AD
1973 AD German
Susanne
LANGER
1895 AD
1943 AD American
Anna
FREUD
1895 AD
Roman
JAKOBSON
1896 AD
Movement
C
Über Gestaltqualitäten (1890)
Time and Free Will (1889)
Creative Evolution (1907)
Democracy and Social Ethics (1902)
Feminism
Principia Mathematica (1913)
Process Philosophy
The Persistent Problems of Philosophy (1907)
The Good Man and the Good (1918)
Pragmatism
Scepticism and Animal Faith (1923)
Realms of Being (1927)
Pragmatism
Psychological Types (1921)
Idealism
A
C
Psychoanalysis
A
Logical Positivism
A
Logical Positivism
A
Cosmological Considerations in the General Theory of Relativity (1917)
The Royal Game (1942)
Empirical Sociology (1931)
The Danger of Careless Terminology (1941)
General Theory of Knowledge (1925)
Ulysses (1922)
Finnegans Wake (1939)
The Psychoanalysis of Children (1932)
Narrative of a Child Analysis (1961)
Philosophy of Existence (1938)
Reason and Existenz (1955)
Modernism
Psychoanalysis
Existentialism
C
Fiction writer. Represented human beings as being metaphysically "alienated" from one another by, rather than socially "alienated" as
was suggested by Marx's use of the term.
Founder of the tradition of Western Marxism. Did not believe in the inevitability of revolution as predicted by Marx and proposed a
more humanist approach to class struggle as opposed to the authoritarian Eastern model. His theories of literature claimed the novel
to be a bourgeois invention and therefore the expression of bourgeois values. He favoured the "critical realist" novel, which could
reveal the pressures of working within that society.
The Trial (1925)
The Castle (1926)
Theory of the Novel (1920)
History and Class Consciousness (1923)
Existentialism
Saw the importance of wholly understanding words in their common use, and explored the impact this understanding could have on
solving traditional philosophical questions.
Student of Husserl. Questioned the fundamentals of what it means to be (fundamental ontology), demonstrating that we do not just
exist, but do so within the mortal constraints of the world and a period of time. We are either there in the world "dasein" or there is
nothing "das nichts" and we are dead. We are thrown into the world with no choice about our race, gender, culture, family etc., and
this "thrownness" remains with us all our lives. Our "facticity" is the burden we carry with us as a result. We adopt the ideologies and
beliefs of the culture we are thrown into and our "they-self" is the inauthentic mode of the self which results from this. It is
characterised by our "fallenness" - a preoccupation with shallow interests and a lack of perspective on the totality of our lives.
Authenticity is achieved by constantly contemplating and being aware of our existence. If everyone was authentic all of the time,
however, we would reach an "abyss of meaningless", so fallenness becomes an important part of the structure of the everyday existence
of the world.
Claimed that our thoughts are restricted by our system of language by stating "the limits of my language are the limits of my world".
Believed metaphysical problems arise when philosophers try to say what cannot be said - "of what we cannot speak we must remain
silent". Believed previous philosophical attempts to find the meaning of "meaning" were flawed by the misconception that meaning is
separate from language. He believed meaning was the result of socially agreed conventions and cannot exist outside of language.
Therefore because language is a public system and words get their meaning from their use in a public context, there can be no such
thing as a private consciousness.
Student of Frege and member of the Vienna Circle. They believed the surface grammar of language led philosophers into endless,
unsolvable pseudo-debates about imaginary entities such as Spinoza's and Leibniz's "substances".
Developed of the concept of "hegemony", which attempted to explain why Marx's predictions for revolution had not occurred in
advanced capitalist societies. In a hegemony a whole society believes that the prevailing ideology is the normal, natural and best way of
thinking and operating. This disguises the fact that the prevailing ideology also serves to maintain the power of the ruling classes. If a
society's members are not aware that they are being oppressed or that there is an alternative to their situation, they will never revolt.
Philosophy and the Physicists (1937)
A
Being and Time (1927)
C
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922)
Philosophical Investigations (1953)
A
Marxism
The Logical Structure of the World (1928)
Logical Positivism
Prison Notebooks (1945)
Marxism
A
Student of Husserl. Converted from Judaism to Catholicism and attempted to combine the philosophies of Aquinas and Husserl. Was
killed at Auschwitz and has since been made a saint of the Catholic church.
Associated with the Frankfurt School. Questioned the status of art in the new age of mechanical processes of reproduction such as
photography, film and print. Believed the "aura" of an artwork could only be witnessed by viewing the actual work in time and space
and not in reproduced form. Mechanical reproduction, however, liberates art from its dependence on ritual and tradition and
therefore also democratises it, making it easily available to the masses.
Finite and Eternal Being (1933)
Phenomenology
The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1936)
Marxism
C
Developed the theory of "defamiliarisation", which involved the making strange of everyday events and objects so that they appear to
us in a new light. In art and literature everyday forms can be used in "unfamiliar" contexts in order to increase and prolong our
perception of them.
Literary critic and semiotician. Was the first to explore the plural quality of meaning. Believing that there is no fixed meaning to any
narrative. Narratives are therefore always open to multiple interpretations, which are affected by an entire complex web of past and
present discourses within culture.
Member of the Frankfurt School, which first used the phrase "critical theory" to describe a method of analysing culture. Co-author of
Dialectic of Enlightenment with Adorno.
Believed that the notion of the "symbol" was at the core of all post-Kantian philosophy. Pioneered the interpretation of the visual arts
and music as symbolic expressions of ideas. Developed a systematic structure for revealing the causes behind their creation and their
value to human consciousness as a foundation upon which individual works could be judged and evaluated.
Theory of Prose (1925)
Marxism
C
1982 AD Austrian
Psychoanalyst and daughter of Sigmund Freud. Emphasised the importance of the "ego" and its ability to be trained socially. In child
psychology she developed the theory that children's symptoms are similar to the developmental stages of personality disorders among
adults.
Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence (1936)
Normality and Pathology in Childhood (1965)
Psychoanalysis
1982 AD Russian
Collaborator with Lévi-Strauss. Analysed literary aesthetics and what he termed "literariness". Defined the two opposing literary
devices as "metaphor", a device of comparison, and "metonymy" an illiteral description, which works by substituting an associative
part of a word for its whole. Believed literary forms gravitated to either one of these poles.
Child Language, Aphasia and Phonological Universals (1941)
Style in Language (1960)
Formalism
Poet and theorist. Defined the principles of surrealism as a "psychic automatism" used to express the actual functioning of thought in
the absence of any control imposed by reason, aesthetics or morals.
Writer and philosopher. Developed the concept of "base materialism", similar to Spinoza's monist substance, which encompasses both
mind and matter, but is based on experience rather than rationalism. It therefore offers the possibility of destabilisation and influenced
Derrida's "deconstruction".
Member of the Frankfurt School. Observed the lack of opposition to advanced capitalism and resulted this to a decline of the working
class in its traditional sense. In a post-industrial society the working classes now include the middle class and neither see the need to
rebel against a system which appears to meets their material needs. Proposed the need for a "new left" to challenge capitalism, which
would comprise students, intellectuals, minority groups and members of counter-culture.
Surrealist Manifesto (1924)
Surrealism
André
BRETON
1896 AD
1966 AD French
Georges
BATAILLE
1897 AD
1962 AD French
Herbert
MARCUSE
1898 AD
1979 AD German
Bertolt
BRECHT
1898 AD
1956 AD German
Georges
DUMÉZIL
1898 AD
1986 AD French
Friedrich August
VON HAYEK
1899 AD
1992 AD Austrian
Alfred
SCHÜTZ
1899 AD
1959 AD Austrian
Gilbert
RYLE
1900 AD
1976 AD English
Hans-Georg
GADAMER
1900 AD
2002 AD German
Jacques
LACAN
1901 AD
Henri
André
LEFEBVRE
MALRAUX
Alfred
Karl
TARSKI
POPPER
Theodor
Rabelais and His World (1941)
Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944)
Philosophy in a New Key: A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite and Art (1942)
Visions of Excess (1927-39)
Inner Experience (1943)
One-Dimensional Man (1964)
Repressive Tolerance (1965)
Negations (1968)
C
Marxism
C
Phenomenology
C
Poet and playwright and founder of "epic theatre", which proposes that the purpose of a play is not simply to entertain or to imitate
reality, but to present ideas to the audience and invite them to make judgements on them.
Studied the cultures of Indo-European religions. Believed that historically any individuals living within societies governed by IndoEuropean religions fall into one of three roles: warriors (formal, juridical and rooted in the real world), priests (powerful, unpredictable
and rooted in the spiritual) and farmers (responsible for productivity).
Economist and political theorist. Believed that society's most important institutions are not the result of planning and design but are
spontaneous developments. Systems such as language, economics and the law should be viewed as products of evolution. The threat to
civilization comes in man's belief that he can shape, design and take control over these systems. He also believed in "methodological
individualism" within science.
Man Equals Man (1924)
The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1927)
Trifunctional Hypothesis (1929)
Developed Husserl's concept of the "lifeworld" as a basis for the social sciences. Defined the structure of this lifeworld exploring how
it is both constituted by and experienced by human beings.
Ordinary language philosopher. Critiqued Descartes' dualism referring to it as the theory of "the ghost in the machine". Believed
mental terms must always translate into physical sensations.
Developed the theory of "philosophical hermeneutics" to help interpret and understand texts, art, the law and wider aspects of society
and culture. Believed that all human beings had the fundamental skills inherent in language required for this interpretation and
understanding.
The Phenomenology of the Social World (1932)
Truth and Method (1960)
Hermeneutics
C
1981 AD French
Psychoanalyst and doctor. Believed that because language exists before us that we are born into, and structured by, its system,
therefore undermining our conventional notion of the inner essence of the self. Described the phase of a child before it develops
language as the "pre-self" (up to 6 months), which leads into the "mirror phase" when it first begins to recognise itself - both
constituting the "imaginary realm". After 18 months it enters the "symbolic realm" of pre-established systems.
The Mirror-Stage (1949)
The Language of the Self (1968)
Structuralism
C
1901 AD
1901 AD
1991 AD French
1976 AD French
The Critique of Everyday Life (1947)
The Temptation of the West (1926)
Man's Fate (1933)
The Semantical Concept of Truth (1944)
The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1934)
Quantum Theory and the Schism in Physics (1982)
C
1983 AD Polish
1994 AD Austrian
Philosophy of Science
A
A
ADORNO
1903 AD
1969 AD German
Sociologist and philosopher. Argued against the bureaucratisation and consumerism he saw homogenising contemporary society.
Writer, politician and anti-colonialist. Explored the differences between the culture and quality of life in Europe and in the Asian
colonies. His novels looked at political revolutions and wars including the communist uprising in China and the Spanish civil war.
Logician. Explored in highly technical terms the concept of truth in different formalised languages.
Devised the "falsification theory" as a way of distinguishing between real sciences and "pseudo-sciences", such as psychoanalysis.
Believed true scientists must always suggest ways their theories could be falsified by some new contradictory observation. If something
does not have the potential to be falsified, then it shouldn't be termed science.
Member of the Frankfurt School. Questioned the "cult of progress" of the Enlightenment project (including Marxism), arguing that
extreme rationality could lead to extreme action such as the holocaust. Criticised the deeply repressive "administered societies" at
work in both the West and the East. Believed the dialectical system for resolving conflict used by Hegel and Marx led to totality, which
was inherently intolerant and therefore dangerous.
Marxism
Anti-Colonialism
1901 AD
1902 AD
Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944)
Negative Dialectics (1966)
Marxism
C
John
Jean-Paul
VON NEUMANN
SARTRE
1903 AD
1905 AD
1957 AD Hungarian
1980 AD French
Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour (1944)
Being and Nothingness (1943)
Existentialism
C
Hannah
ARENDT
1906 AD
1975 AD German
Phenomenology
C
Kurt
GÖDEL
1906 AD
1978 AD Austrian
Samuel
BECKETT
1906 AD
1989 AD Irish
Mathematician and collaborator with economist Oskar Morgenstern. Co-founder of "game theory".
Founder of existentialism, which proposes that our "existence precedes essence" and relies on the premise that there is no god and
therefore the universe is absurd - without meaning or purpose. Without god there is no such thing as "human nature" as we have not
been manufactured by a divine plan. We are therefore free and must choose for ourselves who we are. Although our consciousness is
totally free, our actual freedom is constrained by our "facticity" (sex, age, health etc.), and because we may not want to act out of
character of the project of "the self" we have embarked on. Because this freedom results in the anguish of uncertainty, many choose to
reject it by taking on prescribed roles or by censoring their behaviour with systems of morality. An "authentic choice" is one which
has been made freely.
Political theorist, refused the term philosopher as believed it referred to "man in the singular". Believed the concept of freedom is
synonymous with collective political action among equals. Defined the active life "vita activa" as either undertaking: labour, work or
action, in four possible realms: the political, the social, the public and the private.
Mathematician. Through his "incompleteness theorems" he claimed that in any mathematical system there are true statements which
remain unprovable. Mathematics therefore escapes logic and remains problematic to modern philosophy.
Playwright and poet. One of the significant contributors to the "theatre of the absurd", alongside Eugène Ionesco, Jean Genet and
Arthur Adamov, which attempted to visualise the existential theory that life is inherently absurd and without meaning.
Individualism and Economic Order (1949)
The Counter-Revolution in Science (1952)
Law, Legislation and Liberty (1973)
The Concepts of Mind (1949)
The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951)
The Human Condition (1958)
On Formally Undecidable Propositions of Principia Mathematica (1931)
A
A
Waiting for Godot (1952)
Krapp's Last Tape (1958)
Know Your Thinkers & Theorists
Ellie Harrison 2008 | www.ellieharrison.com
Licensed under a Creative Commons Licence
First Name
Surname
Emmanuel
LÉVINAS
Birth
1906 AD
Death
1995 AD Russian
Nationality
Herbert Lionel Adolphus
HART
1907 AD
1992 AD English
Simone
DE BEAUVOIR
1908 AD
1986 AD French
Claude
LÉVI-STRAUSS
1908 AD
French
Maurice
MERLEAU-PONTY
1908 AD
1961 AD French
Willard Van Orman
QUINE
1908 AD
2000 AD American
Charles Leslie
STEVENSON
1908 AD
1979 AD American
Alfred Jules
AYER
1910 AD
1989 AD English
Jean
GENET
1910 AD
1986 AD French
Mikel
John Langshaw
DUFRENNE
AUSTIN
1910 AD
1911 AD
1995 AD French
1960 AD English
Herbert Marshall
MCLUHAN
1911 AD
1980 AD Canadian
Albert
CAMUS
1913 AD
1960 AD French
Lucien
GOLDMANN
1913 AD
1970 AD French
Roland
BARTHES
1915 AD
1980 AD French
Donald
DAVIDSON
1917 AD
2003 AD American
Algirdas Julius
GREIMAS
1917 AD
1992 AD Lithuanian
Louis
ALTHUSSER
1918 AD
1990 AD French
Elizabeth
ANSCOMBE
1919 AD
2001 AD English
Mary
MIDGLEY
1919 AD
Iris
MURDOCH
1919 AD
James McGill
BUCHANAN
1919 AD
Paul
Richard Mervyn
DE MAN
HARE
1919 AD
1919 AD
1983 AD Belgian
2002 AD English
Peter Frederick
STRAWSON
1919 AD
2006 AD English
James
LOVELOCK
1919 AD
English
English
1999 AD Irish
American
Philippa
FOOT
1920 AD
Paul
CELAN
1920 AD
1970 AD Romanian
English
John
Raymond
Thomas
RAWLS
WILLIAMS
KUHN
1921 AD
1921 AD
1922 AD
2002 AD American
1988 AD Welsh
1996 AD American
Paul
FEYERABEND
1924 AD
1994 AD Austrian
André
Jean-François
GORZ
LYOTARD
1924 AD
1924 AD
2007 AD French
1998 AD French
Mary
WARNOCK
1924 AD
English
Gilles
DELEUZE
1925 AD
1995 AD French
Frantz
FANON
1925 AD
1961 AD Martiniquais
Michel
FOUCAULT
1926 AD
1984 AD French
2007 AD German
Key Theories
Key Texts
Movement
Believed that the mind grasps what confronts it in experience and turns it into mental content. This means that everything in the world
is both something other than the mind and also of the mind. Attempted to explore what happens within this theory when two humans
come face-to-face.
Legal philosopher. Dismissed the perception of the law as a "collection of arbitrary rules backed by threats", because it does not take
into account natural laws (such as the obligation not to harm one another), which are defined by the limits of the human condition.
Believed that there was not always a "right" decision for a judge and that verdicts had to rely on judicial discretion. Supported the
view that the law had no right to intervene in the private sexual conduct between consenting adults.
Totality and Infinity (1961)
Otherwise Than Being or Beyond Essence (1974)
Phenomenology
Existentialist and founder of contemporary feminism. Believed that "one is not born a woman, but becomes one", because females are
forced to assume the subordinate role of woman perpetuated by society. Analysed the concept of "the other" in relation to sexism,
racism and the persecution of minority groups. The social construction of woman as "man's other" is fundamental to women's
oppression.
All Men are Mortal (1946)
The Ethics of Ambiguity (1947)
The Second Sex (1949)
Existentialism
C
Anthropologist and structuralist. Believes that a system of binaries operates in all cultures as their common logic (light and dark, life
and death etc.) Believes that the study of these sign systems can lead to understanding about the operation of the human mind.
Influenced by Husserl. Developed the concept of the "body-subject" as an alternative to Descartes' dualism. Took a holistic approach
by believing that consciousness, the world and the human body as a perceiving thing are intricately intertwined and mutually engaged.
Believed that human knowledge is inevitably holistic and was suspicious of the claims of foundational philosophers to have located
unquestionable truths about reality as the "foundations" of all human knowledge.
Defined an "emotivist" theory of ethics which identified the difference between cognitive uses of language (to state facts and to give
reasons) and non-cognitive uses of language (to express attitudes and to exercise influence). Believed that the language of ethics was
primarily non-cognitive.
Believed "logical positivism" to be a radical restatement of British empiricism. Technically and scientifically dismissed both religion
and ethical language as a result of them being impossible to test and prove. Because they are unverifiable, they are without meaning.
Novelist and playwright. Considered as part of the "theatre of the absurd", alongside Beckett, as well as part of the "theatre of
cruelty", which relied on physical violence to shatter the false reality which shrouds our perceptions.
Attempted to resolve existentialism with a theory of aesthetics.
Examined how perception and knowledge are used in ordinary language. Introduced the concept of "performative speech acts", which
suggests that speech is itself a form of action.
Philosopher, communications theorist and pioneer of "media studies". Believed the media to be an extension of the body - the book
being an extension of the eye and electronic media being an extension of the nervous system. These technologies usher in the age of
the "global village" in which time and space are abolished by immediate communications.
Novelist and philosopher associated with existentialism. Questioned how you can find meaning in an absurd and meaningless
universe. Believed that the fundamental question for philosophy should be to judge whether life is actually worth living and questioned
whether suicide could be the solution to absurdity.
Devised a theory of "genetic structuralism", which posits the existence of parallel "homologies" between literature and influential
social groups operating at the time of the work's production. Believed that literary texts are actually better at expressing the group
consciousness of a particular time than non-fiction.
Literary critic and cultural semiotician. Believed structuralist theory could be used to analyse all aspects of culture, including
advertising and the media, and that "narrative" was all around us. Believed all narrative shares a "common structure" and an "implicit
system of units and rules". He proclaimed the "death of the author" and, as a result, the "birth of the reader" implying that authors
cannot control the reception of their works and that narratives take on a life of their own once they pass into general circulation and
can be interpreted in myriad ways. Also suggested that narratives can be divided into the categories of "readerly", requiring
participation from the reader or "writerly" requiring a passive attitude to reading.
Explored the logic of how we learn and construct language. Believed that for a language to be learnable it had to be based on a finite
number of axioms. Believed that extracting the meaning of a sentence was the same as stating its "truth conditions".
Linguist. Proposed the idea that it is our perception of the relationships between binaries (light and dark, life and death etc.) which
give rise to the meaning of language.
Leading theorist of structural Marxism. Expanded Gramsci's theory of hegemony by explaining the systems which help to maintain the
power of the dominant ideology. Proposed that ideology is disseminated by the "ideological state apparatuses" such as the legal system,
the educational system and the media, and is maintained by "repressive state apparatuses" such as the police and the army. Believed it
is the role of the cultural critic to identify how the ideological state apparatuses serve the ruling elite and to expose the gaps and
contradictions within them.
Structural Anthropology (1958)
Structuralism
C
Phenomenology of Perception (1945)
Phenomenology
C
The Concept of Law (1961)
Law, Liberty and Morality (1957)
C
A
Two Dogmas of Empiricism (1951)
A
Ethics and Language (1944)
Facts and Values (1963)
Moral Philosophy
A
Language, Truth and Logic (1936)
The Problem of Knowledge (1956)
Deathwatch (1949)
The Blacks (1959)
The Phenomenology of Aesthetic Experience (1953)
Sense and Sensibilia (1959)
How to Do Things With Words (1962)
The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962)
The Medium is the Massage (1967)
The Global Village (1989)
The Outsider (1942)
The Myth of Sisyphus (1943)
The Rebel (1951)
The Hidden God (1955)
Logical Positivism
A
Existentialism
Linguistic Philosophy
C
A
Existentialism
C
Marxism
C
Mythologies (1957)
Death of the Author (1968)
Structuralism
C
Essays on Actions and Events (1980)
Inquiries Into Truth and Interpretation (1984)
Structural Semantics (1966)
Linguistic Philosophy
A
Structuralism
C
For Marx (1965)
Reading Capital (1968)
Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays (1971)
Structural Marxism
C
Student of Wittgenstein. Defined the difference between "cognitive" states such as beliefs which aim to describe the world, and
"conative" states such as desire which aim to bring something about in the world. Defined "consequentialism" as being one of the
three main branches of normative ethical thought, along with virtue ethics and deontology.
Considers philosophy to be like "plumbing" in that it goes unnoticed until it goes wrong. Argued that humans are more similar to
animals than is acknowledged and in many ways animals are more sophisticated. Opposes the reductionalist approach to analysing the
world and champions scientific pluralism.
Novelist and moral philosopher. Believed philosophy must be practical, useful and "must be inhabited". Explored concepts of
freedom, the problematic nature of sexual desire and the redemptive (but fragile) power of love.
Economist and theorist of "public choice". Examined the extents to which politicians' self-interest and non-economic forces affect
government economic policy.
Literary critic and theorist. Gave a deconstructivist analysis of the writings of English and German romanticism.
Developed the theory of "prescriptivism" which explores the semantics of moral statements such as "killing is wrong". Believed such
statements function as orders (imperatives) rather than expressions of our emotional view.
Defined the area of "descriptive metaphysics", which aimed to analyse the linguistic structures we employ when thinking and talking
about the world. In order to understand and communicate our thoughts we must first assume that the world contains basic particulars
such as material objects and people.
Scientist and ecologist. Developed the "gaia" hypothesis which proposes that living and non-living parts of the earth form a complex
interacting system that should be considered as though a single organism. Believes that by 2100, four-fifths of the world's population
will have been culled by floods, drought and famine.
Founder of contemporary "virtue ethics", which emphasises character, rather than rules or consequences as the key to ethical
thinking. Explored consequentialism by devising "the trolley problem" - a thought experiment which questions whether you should
sacrifice the life of one to save five.
Intention (1957)
Introduction to Wittgenstein's Tractatus (1959)
Moral Philosophy
A
Beast and Man (1978)
Animals and Why They Matter (1983)
Moral Philosophy
Sartre: Romantic Rationalist (1953)
Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals (1992)
The Calculus of Consent (1962)
Moral Philosophy
C
Blindness and Insight: Essays in the Rhetoric of Contemporary Criticism (1983)
The Language of Morals (1952)
Poststructuralism
Moral Philosophy
C
A
Poet. Heavily influenced by the horrors of the holocaust, in which both his parents were killed. Used the German language in his
poetry in an attempt to destroy its associations with the past.
Attempted to reconcile social justice with a liberal capitalist democracy be devising a pre-societal contract.
Cultural theorist and Marxist. Stated that "culture is political".
Believed in an anti-progressivist view of science and devised the notion of the "paradigm shift". It demonstrated how new theories
debunk the established theories in order to become the norm. This process is revolutionary rather than evolutionary.
Viewed science to be anarchistic as a result of a plurality of competing theories. Believed that science can only progress when scientists
act against established methods and theories. Also considered there to be nothing superior about scientific knowledge.
Social philosopher. Explored the theme of work and the transformation of the working classes since the 1800s.
Defined postmodernism as being categorised by an "incredulity towards metanarratives" (grand narratives), such as Marxism or
modernity. Both of which are products of the Enlightenment and hold progress as a central belief. Modernity represses what he calls
"differends" - things or beings which refuse to fit into the systems proposed by the grand narratives. Unless "differends" are respected,
society becomes authoritarian or even totalitarian and the "little narratives" of individuals and minority groups become marginalised.
Believed the development of computer technology to be a further attempt to eradicate difference from the world, by replacing human
workers with computers which are totally predictable and controllable.
Moral philosopher. Influenced policy on the ethical practice surrounding embryos and fertilisation. Also edited a survey of women
philosophers from 1600s to today, recovering the work of some important, but neglected, early female thinkers.
Explored the relationship between identity and difference, stating that difference could not be defined as what was different from a
stable entity or identity, because things or beings need to be grasped exactly as they exist. Things or beings can only be defined by
everything that they are not - their "internal difference". Later collaborations with Guattari attacked authoritarian theories of Marxism
and Freudianism which force individuals to conform to restrictive social norms. They believed the schizophrenic provides a model for
resistance to authority. They favoured the "rhizome" as a model for networks of communication as it is non-hierarchical. They
promoted "nomadic thought" which is not tied to any particular system and saw authority as the enemy of desire, which has no
concept of boundaries.
Psychiatrist and political theorist. Explored the ways in which black colonised races internalise the ideas of their white colonisers and
absorb their negative perceptions of black skin colour. This leads to feelings of dependency and inadequacy. He advocated the
revolution of colonised people to overthrow their colonisers.
Developed Gramsci's theory of hegemony to show that power and knowledge are mutually complicit. Performed what he called
"archaeologies", which were historical researches designed to shed light on the suppressed discourses of contemporary society.
Believed official histories filter, select and prioritise in order to promote the notion of a progressive storyline and eradicate difference
by marginalising and criminalising certain social groups (mentally ill, criminals, homosexuals etc.) Society has been made to evolve in
such a way that we now police ourselves in terms of moral, physical, sexual and psychological normality. We have been conditioned to
believe what is right and what is abnormal - this is not for our own good, but so we can be more easily controlled. Hospitals, schools
and prisons exists to control us, remove abnormalities and make us conform, rather than to help us. He did not believe in the notion
of progress, that there is a pattern to history or that there is a universal "human essence", but instead believed that these things simply
change over time as a result of what the ruling classes dictate.
Literary theorist. Developed the "reader-response" theory proposing that the reader has a critical role in the creation of textual
meaning. It is the reader who actually produces the work of literature by following the text, interacting with it and filling in any gaps.
Developed his own theory of reference called "semantic externalism". Through the thought experiment "twin earth" he aimed to prove
that the human brain is not always capable of determining every aspect of the objects which our words refer to. Claims that meaning
does not only exist in the mind, but is inherent in the construction of the object.
Linguist, philosopher and political activist. Believes in the priority of individual consciousness over state authority and therefore is
suspicious of the large corporations and government agencies that define Western countries and their foreign policies.
Involved in the recovery of neglected female authors from the 1700s and 1800s in order to build a "female literary canon" and recover
women's forgotten past, through the re-publishing of historical texts which deal specifically with female experience. Explored the idea
of "heroinism" by studying women writers who have created an empowered voice for female literature (particularly Wollstonecraft) where female characters venture outside the domestic sphere.
Speech-Grille and Selected Poems (1971)
Individuals (1959)
The Bounds of Sense (1966)
A
Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth (1979)
The Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth is Fighting Back (2006)
Environmentalism
Virtues and Vices and Other Essays in Moral Philosophy (1978)
Moral Philosophy
A
A Theory of Justice (1971)
Marxism and Literature (1977)
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962)
Cultural Materialism
Philosophy of Science
A
A
Against Method (1974)
Philosophy of Science
Farewell to the Working Class (1980)
The Postmodern Condition (1979)
The Differend (1983)
Postmodernism
Women Philosophers (1996)
Moral Philosophy
Difference and Repetition (1968)
The Logic of Sense (1969)
Anti-Oedipus (1972)
A Thousand Plateaus (1980)
Postmodernism
C
Black Skin, White Masks (1952)
The Wretched of the Earth (1961)
Anti-Colonialism
C
Madness and Civilization (1961)
The Birth of The Clinic (1963)
The Order of Things (1966)
Discipline and Punish (1975)
History of Sexuality (1976)
Postmodernism
C
Prospecting: From Reader Response to Literary Anthropology (1989)
Hermeneutics
C
C
Wolfgang
ISER
1926 AD
Hilary
PUTNAM
1926 AD
American
Noam
CHOMSKY
1928 AD
American
Ellen
MOERS
1928 AD
American
Jean
BAUDRILLARD
1929 AD
Jürgen
HABERMAS
1929 AD
German
Judith Jarvis
THOMSON
1929 AD
American
Alasdair Chalmers
MCINTYRE
1929 AD
Scottish
Jacques
DERRIDA
1930 AD
2004 AD French
Félix
GUATTARI
1930 AD
1992 AD French
Pierre
BOURDIEU
1930 AD
2002 AD French
James Graham
BALLARD
1930 AD
Richard
RORTY
1931 AD
2007 AD American
Guy
DEBORD
1931 AD
1994 AD French
OSHO
1931 AD
1990 AD Indian
Umberto
ECO
1932 AD
Italian
Luce
IRIGARAY
1932 AD
Belgian
Psychoanalytic and cultural theorist influenced by Lacan and Derrida. Researched the differences between the language of women and
the language of men. Perceives a masculinist philosophy to be underlying all language and gesture, and proposes a move towards a
"new feminine language" that will allow women to express themselves.
Speculum of the Other Woman (1974)
This Sex Which is Not One (1977)
Feminism
C
John
SEARLE
1932 AD
American
Speech Acts (1969)
Linguistic Philosophy
A
David
GAUTHIER
1932 AD
Canadian
Susan
SONTAG
1933 AD
2004 AD American
Influenced by Austin's speech acts. Explored the "illocutionary force" of language as central to its meaning and understanding. Also
believes computers will always be more stupid than humans as they can never convincingly grasp meaning, only compute information.
Attempted to align the Hobbesian notion of contract with game theory. Concluded that good moral thinking is simply a strategic
version of means-ends reasoning.
Critic and cultural theorist. Attacked art criticism arguing against the over interpretation of the artwork. Believed art to be a statement
of the artist's self-awareness and a testimony to their disharmony with their surroundings. Explored the demonisation of the illnesses of
AIDS and cancer arguing that it had resulted in the marginalisation and disempowerment of their sufferers.
2007 AD French
English
Mind, Language and Reality (1975)
Reason, Truth and History (1981)
Words and Life (1994)
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988)
Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda (1997)
Literary Women (1978)
A
Linguistic Philosophy
A
Feminism
Sociologist and cultural theorist. Believed we exist in a world of "hyperreal simulacra" among signs that bear no relation even to a
provisional surface reality - "signs without referents". He sited America as a clear example of this world.
Philosopher, sociologist and product of the Frankfurt School. Opposes the postmodernist dismissal of modernity and the
Enlightenment as "authoritarian" and "the enemy", and believes that although never "finished" they have ideals which are still worth
pursuing. Defends the notion of consensus as he sees it as the only pragmatic approach to socio-political problems.
Moral philosopher. Argued the case for abortion by distinguishing between the "right to life" and the "right to what is needed to
sustain life". Proposed the thought experiment "the violinist" - questioning whether you are morally obliged to save the life of a
famous violinist in a coma, if the only way to do so is to be intravenously attached to him for nine months.
Key figure in recent discussions of virtue ethics - which prioritises good character, rather than rules (deontology) or consequences
(consequentialism) as the main influence of moral conduct. Rather than focus on specific moral debates such as human rights, he
aimed to explore how to make the most of an entire human life.
Simulacra and Simulation (1981)
America (1986)
The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (1962)
Theory of Communicative Action (1981)
Postmodernism
C
Killing, Letting Die and the Trolley Problem (1976)
Rights, Restitution and Risk (1986)
Moral Philosophy
After Virtue (1981)
Moral Philosophy
Pioneer of "deconstruction", which sets out to dismantle systems and deflate our pretensions about our ability to order the world.
Believed the structuralism of Saussure to be authoritarian and considered meaning not to be something present and waiting to be
discovered, but to be a far more transitory and unstable phenomenon. Defined the term "différance" to refer to meaning slippages,
which result from there being a field of possible interpretations. Also opposed Lévi-Strauss's dependence on binaries (man and woman
etc.) as he believed that in each pair one term is always dominant. The destabilising of such binaries has the political agenda of
overthrowing the authority of the dominant term. Believed Marx's legacy was still of importance given the widespread dominance of
multinational corporations and political oppression and called for a "new international" movement to contest socio-political abuses.
Psychotherapist, philosopher and collaborator with Deleuze. Co-author of Capitalism and Schizophrenia published in two volumes as
Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus.
Sociologist. Developed a theory linking class with culture and taste in order to explain the class structure and the aesthetic preferences
and characteristics of those within each class. These preferences, ingrained from an early age, cause an aversion towards other
lifestyles and make interaction between classes difficult.
Writing and Difference (1967)
Dissemination (1972)
Margins of Philosophy (1972)
The Truth in Painting (1978)
Spectres of Marx (1994)
Poststructuralism
C
Anti-Oedipus (1972)
A Thousand Plateaus (1980)
Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste (1979)
Postmodernism
C
Novelist. Explores the psychological effects of technological, social or environmental developments by creating dystopian visions of
modernity in his novels, often centred on bleak man-made landscapes.
Continually questioned the function and purpose of philosophy. Believed it to be no more than another voice in the vast conversation
of civilisation and, at worst, a kind of illness, for which its practitioners required therapy.
Principle theorist of the situationist movement. Described what he perceived as a society overwhelmed by the media in which people
can no longer live their lives, but only witness them as part of a giant "spectacle".
Indian mystic, guru and philosopher. Emphasised the importance of meditation, awareness, love, celebration, creativity and humour qualities which be believed were suppressed by static belief systems such as religious tradition and socialism.
Novelist and semiotician. Considers "books to be made up of signs that speak of other signs". His semiotic theory is structured like a
net or labyrinth, which has an infinite number of ways of traversing between one sign and another, all of which are equally valid. This
process of "endless semiosis" means infinite interpretations.
Crash (1973)
Cocaine Nights (1996)
Consequences of Pragmatism (1982)
Philosophy and Social Hope (2000)
Society of the Spectacle (1968)
C
C
A
Situationism
Love, Freedom and Aloneness (2001)
Courage: The Joy of Living Dangerously (1999)
The Name of the Rose (1980)
C
C
The Logic of Leviathan: The Moral and Political Theory of Thomas Hobbes (1969)
Morals by Agreement (1986)
Against Interpretation (1966)
Illness as Metaphor (1978)
Know Your Thinkers & Theorists
Ellie Harrison 2008 | www.ellieharrison.com
Licensed under a Creative Commons Licence
First Name
Surname
Nationality
Key Theories
Key Texts
Movement
Antonio
NEGRI
Birth
1933 AD
Death
Italian
Empire (2000)
Subversive Spinoza: (Un)Contemporary Variations (2004)
Post-Marxism
Fredric
JAMESON
1934 AD
American
Dismissed postmodernism as a symptom of historical transition. Believes that globalisation has led to a decline in the sovereignty of
nation-states and to the emergence of a series of supranational organisms united under a single logic of rule. As a result, it is
impossible to step outside of capital - everything is already subsumed in the capitalist network.
Critic of contemporary cultural trends. Believes that the postmodernist swing away from "grand narratives" serves the cause of
capitalism. Believes postmodernism to be less of a theory and more of a symptom of the pressure of organised capitalism, to which all
opposition is systematically being eradicated. Believes that eventually a new "international proletariat" will have to emerge to overcome
both capitalism and postmodernism.
Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1991)
Marxism
Kate
MILLETT
1934 AD
American
Feminism
VANEIGEM
1934 AD
Belgian
The Revolution of Everyday Life (1968)
Situationism
Sarah
KOFMAN
1934 AD
1994 AD French
Ernesto
LACLAU
1935 AD
Edward
SAID
1935 AD
Had a major impact on the second wave of feminism. Explored the politics of the patriarchal and sexist way in which sexual relations
are recounted in male literature (particularly that of D H Lawrence and Norman Mailer). Denounces Freudian theory as having a
masculine bias epitomised by the concept of "penis envy".
Principle theorist of the situationist movement. Called for a creative revolution in everyday life to counteract the onset of capitalism
and the "society of the spectacle". Defined political dissidence, rioting and graffiti as expressions of this creativity and urged for the
founding of small self-governing communities as opposed to state power.
Student of Deleuze and peer of Derrida. Wrote extensively on the ideas of Nietzsche and Freud from a female perspective.
Committed suicide on the date of Nietzsche's birthday.
Political theorist and collaborator with Mouffe. They have a pragmatic attitude towards attacking capitalist society that builds on the
liberationist ideals of Marxism, calling for the support of new social movements (ecological, ethnic, sexual, feminist etc.) rather than
the traditional political parties and trade unions, to form a "radical democratic politics" freed from the sterile debates of the "old left".
Examined the way in which the Orient (Middle East) had come to be constructed in Western culture as a mysterious "other" onto
which the West projected its fantasies. It operates as a fiction to serve the hidden desires of Western culture and is an area "beyond",
where Western morality and rationality cease to apply. The West has "infantilized" the East as an excuse to exert political control over
it. "Orientalism is therefore a Western style of dominating, restructuring and having authority over the Orient".
Sexual Politics (1970)
Raoul
Jerry
FODOR
1935 AD
Psychological Explanation (1968)
The Language of Thought (1975)
Sandra
GILBERT
1936 AD
Georges
PEREC
1936 AD
1982 AD French
Philosopher and cognitive scientist. Believes that mental states such as beliefs and desires are communicated to us via the "language of
thought", which is a system of neural symbols within the brain. Also believes that the brain is modulated and that certain mental states
or emotions work independently of others and are operated by different parts of the brain.
Explored the image of the "subordinate woman" as represented in historical literature, in order to illustrate woman's vulnerability in a
patriarchal society - using the character Bertha Rochester in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre as a "case-history".
Writer and member of OULIPO alongside Raymond Queneau, Italo Calvino and Marcel Duchamp among others. Explored the
possibilities of literature by writing the first novel not to contain a single letter E. Known for his playful studies of everyday life and for
his absurdist systems for categorising the world around him.
Rejects the modernist idea of knowledge based on stable foundations and instead proposes the postmodern notion of "weak thought",
which does not impose itself but instead reflects the diverse possibilities of experience. Stated that "there are no facts only
interpretations and this too is an interpretation".
Feminist writer and literary critic. Developed the concept of "écriture féminine", which enables women to present themselves in
literature the way that they want rather than what men want them to be. Encouraged women to write about themselves and other
women and for men to write about men.
One of the founders of "new historicism". Studied Renaissance literature from a contemporary perspective. Believes the
Shakespearian plays offer more of an insight into the power struggles of their time than an unequivocal message about the "human
condition". His technique involves the analysis of both literary and non-literary texts (police reports etc) in order to expose this.
The End of Modernity (1985)
Hermeneutics
C
Entre l'Écriture des Femmes (1986)
Feminism
C
Renaissance Self-Fashioning (1980)
Shakespearean Negotiations (1988)
New Historicism
Advocated the idea that consciousness cannot be reduced to objective brain activity alone as it is also subjective in character. Explored
this idea by imagining what it would be like to be a bat.
Attempted to break away from contemporary philosophy's obsession with language, which he views as a huge restriction. Draws
equally from the Analytic and Continental traditions attempting to combine mathematical formulae with interpretations of aesthetics.
Literary theorist and jurist. Developed Iser's "reader-response" theory to insist that the reader is a member of an "interpretive
community" whose shared values inform individual readings.
Believed in using the idea of natural individual rights to set narrow limits for state action. Argued that the forced redistribution of
income through taxation treated people as sources of money (means) rather than free individuals (ends).
Explored how women are schooled into constructing their bodies to be objects of male desire.
Architectural theorist. Pronounced the death of modernism as 15:32 on 15 July 1972 - the time an award-winning example of
modernist architecture (the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex in St Louis, Missouri) was demolished. Believes architecture should be able
to work on many levels simultaneously, appealing both to the general public and the architectural profession. Champions the idea of
"double coding", whereby architects engage in a dialogue with the past by including familiar features of past styles for the public to
latch onto.
Student of Althusser and literary critic. Proposed that when we analyse a text we should as much consider what is absent as what is
present. The silences and evasions are themselves a political criticism, which relate to the gaps and contradictions which can be
uncovered in the hegemony.
Literary theorist. Studied colonisation and the holocaust to explore the power of communication as a tool for controlling populations
and manipulating their understanding of what is happening to them.
Attempted to reconcile psychoanalysis with feminism. Believes Marxism can provide a model within which non-patriarchal structures
for rearing children can occur. The revolution of the traditional family unit would remove the "Oedipus complex" from a child's
development and liberate women from the consequences of "penis envy", which is the root cause of women's inferiority complex.
Philosopher and co-author of Reading Capital with Althusser. Examined the terms which make up political discourse such as:
ideology, proletariat, working class etc, questioning whether we actually know or understand the reality of these or just use them as
tools to better our intellectual standpoint.
Logician. Rejects Frege's notion of names being the result of a collections of descriptions of the object to which they refer. Stated that
a name can still refer to the object regardless of whether these descriptions turn out to be false. Names are "rigid designators" in that
they refer to the same object in all "possible worlds" in which it exists.
Collaborator with Nancy. Co-author of several essays and books on modern philosophical ideas including Lacan, Derrida and
Heidegger.
Collaborator with Lacoue-Labarthe. Co-founder of the Centre for Philosophical Research on the Political and co-author of several
essays and books which attempt to approach political problems from a philosophical rather than empirical perspective.
Ethnologist and evolutionary biologist. Coined the phrase the "selfish gene" as a way of exploring a gene-centred view of evolution, as
opposed to it taking place at a whole organism scale. This theory is expanded into "memetics" which explores whether selfish
replication may also be used as a model for human culture. Denounces the existence of god, believing it to be a persistent delusion in
the face of strong contradictory evidence.
The Possibility of Altruism (1970)
What Is it Like to Be a Bat? (1974)
Théorie du Sujet (1982)
Being and Event (1988)
Surprised by Sin: The Reader in Paradise Lost (1967)
Post-Marxism
Anarchy, State and Utopia (1974)
Philosophical Explanations (1981)
The Female Eunuch (1970)
The Language of Postmodern Architecture (1977)
Towards a Symbolic Architecture (1985)
What is Postmodernism? (1986)
Feminism
Postmodernism
A Theory of Literary Production (1978)
Marxism
Conquest of America: The Question of the Other (1984)
Facing the Extreme: Moral Life in the Concentration Camps (2000)
Psychoanalysis and Feminism (1974)
Formalism
Argentinean
2003 AD Palestinian
American
American
Gianni
VATTIMO
1936 AD
Italian
Hélène
CIXOUS
1937 AD
French
Stephen
GREENBLATT
1937 AD
American
Thomas
NAGEL
1937 AD
American
Alain
BADIOU
1937 AD
French
Stanley
FISH
1938 AD
American
Robert
NOZICK
1938 AD
2002 AD American
Germaine
Charles
GREER
JENCKS
1939 AD
1939 AD
Australian
American
Pierre
MACHEREY
1939 AD
French
Tzvetan
TODOROV
1939 AD
Bulgarian
Juliet
MITCHELL
1940 AD
New Zealander
Jacques
RANCIÈRE
1940 AD
French
Saul
KRIPKE
1940 AD
Philippe
LACOUE-LABARTHE
1940 AD
2007 AD French
Jean-Luc
NANCY
1940 AD
French
Richard
DAWKINS
1941 AD
English
Julia
KRISTEVA
1941 AD
Bulgarian
Elaine
Gayatri Chakravorty
SHOWALTER
SPIVAK
1941 AD
1941 AD
American
Indian
Onora
O'NEILL
1941 AD
Irish
Alan
SINFIELD
1941 AD
English
Daniel
DENNETT
1942 AD
American
Giorgio
AGAMBEN
1942 AD
Italian
Chantal
MOUFFE
1943 AD
Belgian
American
Dale
SPENDER
1943 AD
Australian
Kate
SOPER
1943 AD
English
Susan
GUBAR
1944 AD
American
Donna
HARAWAY
1944 AD
American
Thierry
DE DUVE
1944 AD
Belgian
Heidi
HARTMANN
1945 AD
American
Susan
HAACK
1945 AD
English
Derek
PARFIT
1945 AD
English
Gareth
EVANS
1946 AD
1980 AD English
Peter
SINGER
1946 AD
Australian
Marina
WARNER
1946 AD
Martha
NUSSBAUM
Peter
SLOTERDIJK
Jonathan
Homi K
Developed the concept of "intertextuality", which implies that narratives are woven with echoes and traces of other texts and should be
seen as "mosaics of quotations".
Literary critic who coined the phrase "gynocritics" to describe literary criticism based on a feminine perspective.
Feminist and literary critic. Introduced poststructuralist theories into the postcolonial debate. Borrowed Gramsci's term "subaltern",
meaning a person rendered powerless by their low social status, to explore the ways in which Indian women have been doubly
oppressed. Firstly by the traditions of patriarchy and then by colonialism.
Student of Rawls. Corrected and updated Kant's theories to include women as part of his notion of "active citizens". Actively uses her
political and moral philosophy to influence policy in the areas of science and biotechnology. Warns that the modern emphasis on
individual rights could lead to a reduction of trust in medicine and science.
Collaborator with Dollimore in generating a politicised reading of Shakespeare. Gave a socialist analysis of the recent cultural history
of Britain, as well as being influential in the field of "queer theory" - exploring the politics of sexuality.
Produced ideas about the nature of human consciousness, believing that the mind could be explained by breaking it down into
"content" and "consciousness". Believes evolution to be responsible for some aspects of its content.
Refers to the increase of power employed by governments in supposed times of crisis as a "state of exception", in which questions of
citizenship and individual rights are diminished.
Political theorist, collaborator with Laclau and co-author of Hegemony and Socialist Strategy. They consider the theory of hegemony
to be an admission of defeat in the face of highly problematic gaps in Marxist theory, which have only been exacerbated by the fact
that our contemporary post-industrial society is very different from Marx's view of the world.
Explored the relationship between language and gender which has arisen from the marginalisation of female writers throughout history.
Explored the potential of the internet as a way of democratising writing and creating equality for female authors.
Developed a Marxist approach to exploring the ideas of Continental philosophy, examining the relationship between gender and
philosophy and the contrast between our needs and our consumption.
Literary critic, feminist and collaborator with Gilbert. Co-author of The Madwoman in the Attic. Particularly concerned with what
they termed "gynotexts" - novels which deal specifically with women's experience.
Postmodern feminist. Welcomed the development of computer technology as it enables a redrawing of the gender map, breaking the
pattern of male dominance in the world. To align yourself with technology is to escape male control.
Student of Foucault. Provided a reading of Kant's Critique of Judgement to explore the modernist logic in the production of "ready
made" art objects, which shifted the traditional aesthetic judgement away from an artwork as being beautiful to simply just being
"art".
Feminist. Explored "the unhappy marriage between Marxism and feminism" caused by Marxism's patriarchal structure. Campaigns
for equal economic rights for men and women.
Rejects the notion that knowledge can only be seen as either foundationalist (built upon a few certain evident truths) or coherent
(interlinking consistent principles not based on foundations). Created her own system "foundherentism" which assumes elements of
both approaches.
Nietzsche and Metaphor (1972)
L'Énigme de la Femme: La Femme dans les Textes de Freud (1980)
Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory (1977)
Hegemony and Socialist Strategy (1985)
Orientalism (1978)
The Madwoman in the Attic (1979)
C
C
C
Post-Marxism
C
Postcolonialism
A
Feminism
La Disparition (1969)
Life A User's Manual (1978)
Reading Capital (1968)
The Philosopher and His Poor (1983)
A
Libertarianism
A
C
Feminism
Post-Marxism
C
Naming and Necessity (1980)
Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language (1982)
A
The Title of the Letter: A Reading of Lacan (1973)
C
Retreating the Political (1983)
The Muses (1996)
The Selfish Gene (1976)
The God Delusion (2006)
C
Evolutionism
Revolution in Poetic Language (1984)
Poststructuralism
A Literature of Their Own (1977)
Can the Subaltern Speak? (1988)
Feminism
Postcolonialism
Faces of Hunger: An Essay on Poverty, Development and Justice (1986)
Constructions of Reason: Exploration of Kant's Practical Philosophy (1989)
Moral Philosophy
Literature, Politics and Culture in Postwar Britain (1989)
Faultlines: Cultural Materialism and the Politics of Dissident Reading (1992)
Consciousness Explained (1992)
Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life (1995)
State of Exception (2005)
Cultural Materialism
Hegemony and Socialist Strategy (1985)
Post-Marxism
Man Made Language (1980)
Mothers of the Novel (1986)
Humanism and Anti-Humanism: Problems of Modern European Thought (1986)
Troubled Pleasures: Writings on Politics, Gender and Hedonism (1990)
The Madwoman in the Attic (1979)
Feminism
C
A
Feminism
C
C
Feminism
Primate Visions (1989)
Simians, Cyborgs and Women (1991)
Kant After Duchamp (1998)
Feminism
Women, Work and Wages: Equal Pay for Jobs of Equal Value (1981)
Pay Equity: Empirical Enquiries (1989)
Evidence and Inquiry: Towards Reconstruction in Epistemology (1993)
Feminism
Assessed the possible future of the world based on utilitarian maximisation principles. Created the "mere addition paradox" to
demonstrate that the ultimate conclusion of this model is a massive population, where everyone has a poor quality of life.
Influenced by Kripke, but argued that his view of names as "rigid designators" was too simplistic. Believed that for a person to think
about an object they must first have a "discriminating conception" of it, in that they must know which specific object they are
thinking of.
Theorist of animal and human rights. Believes humans do not have the right to treat animals any differently to their own species. Each
being's right to life should be based on its concrete properties such as "rationality, autonomy and self-consciousness" and not
according to its belonging to some abstract group. He supports euthanasia and abortion to the extent that a person in a vegetative state
or an unborn child may not have the possibility of a "life worth living".
Reasons and Persons (1984)
Moral Philosophy
Animal Liberation (1975)
Practical Ethics (1979)
Utilitarianism
English
Cultural theorist. Studied the myths and iconography that have defined the representations and perceptions of women throughout
history. Believes that the analysis of the ways in which fairy tales have been told, written down and evolved over time can provide a
history of changing attitudes towards women.
Monuments and Maidens: The Allegory of the Female Form (1985)
From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and Their Tellers (1994)
Feminism
1947 AD
American
Studied issues of development and ethics by using the "capability approach", which is different to conventional view of development
measured purely by economic growth. Capabilities such as the ability to live to old age, engage in economic transactions or participate
in political activities become the constitutive parts of development. Poverty is therefore "capability deprivation".
The Quality of Life (1993)
Moral Philosophy
A
1947 AD
German
Critique of Cynical Reason (1980)
Cynicism
C
DOLLIMORE
1948 AD
English
BHABHA
1949 AD
Indian
Defines cynicism as being both "enlightened false consciousness" similar to Marx's theory of alienation and a type of "critical reason"
first exemplified by Diogenes. Rejects the existence of all types of dualism - body and soul, subject and object, culture and nature etc,
believing that their interaction and technical advances have created a hybrid reality.
Collaborator with Sinfield. Promotes a politicised reading of Shakespearian plays, which aims to question the discourses of power at
that time.
Believes the Western compulsion to colonise is a result of the traditional Western representations of foreign cultures and a perceived
superiority. Influenced by Derrida's deconstruction, he proposes the breaking down of binaries such as centre and margin, civilised
and savage, and enlightened and ignorant to challenge these prejudices.
Tania
MODLESKI
1949 AD
American
Slavoj
ŽIŽEK
1949 AD
Slovenian
Henry Louis
GATES JR.
1950 AD
American
John David
BARROW
1952 AD
English
Physicist and mathematician. Accepts that there are unbreachable limits to human knowledge and, as far as scientific enquiry is
concerned, there will always be an "unknowable". Sceptical of any claim to be able to reach a complete understanding of the nature of
the universe.
Theories of Everything: The Quest for Ultimate Explanation (1988)
Impossibility: Limits of Science and the Science of Limits (1998)
Francis
FUKUYAMA
1952 AD
American
The End of History and the Last Man (1992)
Bell
HOOKS
1952 AD
American
Rosalind
COWARD
1953 AD
English
Judith
BUTLER
1956 AD
American
Philosopher and political economist. Believes the "end of history" occurred at the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union - at the
"end" of the ideological conflict between left and right. Liberal democracy has triumphed over all other forms of government.
Influenced by Spivak, Arguing that black women are also "subaltern" - excluded by both their race and their gender. Called for a
"politics of difference" in which multiple identities can express themselves.
Believes that feminism had sunk into a "cult of woman", which only speaks for women and ignores men. Opposes the concept of
"womanism", which purports that the female perspective is by definition the only correct one and therefore beyond criticism.
Influential in in the field of "queer theory". Argues that personal identity is a fluid notion with no "centre" or essence to it, of which
sexuality and gender are part. Influenced by Derrida's deconstruction, she proposes the breaking down of the binary straight and gay
which have led to an almost "compulsory heterosexuality" in contemporary society. Considers gender to be a "performance".
George
MONBIOT
1963 AD
English
Sadie
PLANT
1964 AD
English
David
CHALMERS
1966 AD
Alain
DE BOTTON
1969 AD
A
The Varieties of Reference (1982)
A
A
A
Sexual Dissidence (1991)
Cultural Materialism
The Location of Culture (1994)
Postcolonialism
Attacked the postfeminist notion that women no longer need to consider themselves victims of a patriarchal society and can now have
a more positive outlook on what is possible in their lives, by saying it "negates the goals of feminism - in effect delivering us back to a
prefeminist world".
Challenges the assumption that ideology is the "conspiracy" of the ruling classes, by proposing that we are all, as individuals, complicit
in its operation. We are well aware of the gaps and contradictions in our ideology, but just turn a blind eye to them. The system works
because we all pretend that it does, not because it is the cunning plan of the political elite as suggested by the hegemony. If this is the
case, once we realise we are in control, it becomes easier to initiate disruption or radical change.
Feminism Without Women (1991)
Feminism
The Sublime Object of Ideology (1989)
Did Somebody Say Totalitarianism? (2001)
Welcome to the Desert of the Real (2002)
The Parallax View (2006)
Post-Marxism
C
Influential in in the field of "black criticism". Concerned with the recovery of black literature from the past and in building a "black
literary canon". Explored the idea that black writers often conceal their true intended meaning in their works in order to avoid further
oppression from white authorities.
The Signifying Monkey (1988)
Philosophy of Science
A
Ain't I a Woman? (1981)
Feminism
Female Desire: Women's Sexuality Today (1984)
Postfeminism
Giving an Account of Oneself (2005)
Poststructuralism
Perceives corporate involvement in politics to be a serious threat to democracy. Believes that a democratic parliamentary system can
provide the only hope of overcoming global inequalities and advocates a democratically-elected world parliament to pass resolutions on
international issues.
Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain (2000)
Manifesto for a New World Order (2004)
Environmentalism
Developed a postmodern reading of the situationist movement by relating it to the trends in philosophy which have developed since,
particularly the ideas of Lyotard, Baudrillard, Deleuze and Guattari. Explored the connection between feminism and "cyberculture" by
examining the uncelebrated involvement of the female mathematician Ada Lovelace in building the first computer with Charles
Babbage.
The Most Radical Gesture: The Situationist International in a Postmodern Age (1992)
Zeroes and Ones: Digital Women and the New Technoculture (1997)
Feminism
Australian
Supports the notion of the "hard problem of consciousness" which attempts to answer the question of why awareness of sensory
information exists at all. Believes in dualism to the extent that he acknowledges an explanatory gap between brain biology and
behaviour, and mental experience.
The Conscious Mind (1996)
Swiss
Explored the pragmatic reading of the philosophy of Socrates, Epicurus, Seneca, Montaigne, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche,
demonstrating how their ideas can have a practical effect on how we conduct our own everyday lives.
The Consolations of Philosophy (2000)
C
C
A
Know Your Thinkers & Theorists
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