The Long ConversationA timeline of world philosophy

Two and a half thousand years of argument.

Scroll down through time to see who was thinking what, and when, across the world's philosophical traditions. Select anyone to read about their ideas.

New to philosophy? Start with a reading path, such as Is there a self? or What is philosophy for?

The Greek inheritance

South Asia and Tibet

East Asia

African

  1. Thales c. 624 – c. 546 BCE
  2. Anaximander c. 610 – c. 546 BCE
  3. Pythagoras c. 570 – c. 490 BCE
  4. Xenophanes fl. 540–480 BCE
  5. Heraclitus fl. 510–490 BCE
  6. Anaxagoras c. 500 – 428 BCE
  7. Parmenides fl. 500–450 BCE
  8. Protagoras c. 490 – c. 420 BCE
  9. Empedocles fl. 470–430 BCE
  10. Socrates c. 470 – 399 BCE
  11. Zeno of Elea fl. 465–440 BCE
  12. Democritus c. 460 – after 400 BCE
  13. Plato c. 429 – 347 BCE
  14. Diogenes of Sinope c. 404 – c. 323 BCE
  15. Aristotle 384–322 BCE
  16. Epicurus 341–270 BCE
  17. Chrysippus c. 280 – c. 207 BCE
  18. Cicero 106–43 BCE
  19. Lucretius c. 95 – c. 55 BCE
  20. Philo of Alexandria fl. 10 BCE – 50 CE
  21. Seneca c. 1 BCE – 65 CE
  22. Epictetus c. 55 – c. 135 CE
  23. Sextus Empiricus fl. 100–250 CE
  24. Marcus Aurelius 121–180 CE
  25. Plotinus c. 204 – 270 CE
  26. Augustine 354–430 CE
  27. Proclus 412–485 CE
  28. Boethius c. 476 – c. 526 CE
  29. al-Kindi c. 800 – c. 870 CE
  30. John Scottus Eriugena c. 800 – c. 877 CE
  31. Isaac Israeli c. 855 – c. 955 CE
  32. Abu Bakr al-Razi 865–925 CE
  33. al-Farabi c. 870 – c. 950 CE
  34. Saadia Gaon 882–942 CE
  35. Avicenna c. 970 – 1037 CE
  36. Nasir Khusraw 1004–1060
  37. Solomon ibn Gabirol c. 1021 – c. 1057
  38. Anselm of Canterbury 1033–1109
  39. Omar Khayyam c. 1048 – after 1124
  40. al-Ghazali c. 1056 – 1111
  41. Judah Halevi c. 1075 – 1141
  42. Peter Abelard c. 1079 – 1142
  43. Avempace before 1085 – 1139
  44. al-Shahrastani 1086–1153
  45. Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani 1097–1131
  46. Abraham Ibn Daud c. 1110 – c. 1180
  47. Averroes 1126–1198
  48. Maimonides 1138–1204
  49. Abraham Ibn Ezra fl. 1140–1170
  50. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi 1149–1210
  51. Suhrawardi 1154–1191
  52. Ibn Arabi 1165–1240
  53. Samuel Ibn Tibbon c. 1165 – 1232
  54. Nasir al-Din Tusi 1201–1274
  55. Rumi 1207–1273
  56. Bonaventure c. 1221 – 1274
  57. Thomas Aquinas c. 1225 – 1274
  58. Meister Eckhart c. 1260 – c. 1328
  59. Ibn Taymiyya 1263–1328
  60. John Duns Scotus c. 1265 – 1308
  61. William of Ockham c. 1287 – 1347
  62. Gersonides 1288–1344
  63. Hasdai Crescas c. 1340 – c. 1410
  64. Joseph Albo c. 1380 – c. 1444
  65. Nicholas of Cusa 1401–1464
  66. Judah Abrabanel c. 1465 – after 1521
  67. Desiderius Erasmus 1469–1536
  68. Niccolò Machiavelli 1469–1527
  69. Michel de Montaigne 1533–1592
  70. Giordano Bruno 1548–1600
  71. Francis Bacon 1561–1626
  72. Marie de Gournay 1565–1645
  73. Mulla Sadra c. 1571 – c. 1636
  74. Thomas Hobbes 1588–1679
  75. René Descartes 1596–1650
  76. Elisabeth of Bohemia 1618–1680
  77. Blaise Pascal 1623–1662
  78. Margaret Cavendish 1623–1673
  79. Anne Conway 1631–1679
  80. Baruch Spinoza 1632–1677
  81. John Locke 1632–1704
  82. Nicolas Malebranche 1638–1715
  83. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz 1646–1716
  84. Mary Astell 1666–1731
  85. George Berkeley 1685–1753
  86. Montesquieu 1689–1755
  87. Émilie du Châtelet 1706–1749
  88. David Hume 1711–1776
  89. Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712–1778
  90. Adam Smith 1723–1790
  91. Immanuel Kant 1724–1804
  92. Moses Mendelssohn 1729–1786
  93. Catharine Macaulay 1731–1791
  94. Jeremy Bentham 1748–1832
  95. Olympe de Gouges 1748–1793
  96. Salomon Maimon 1753–1800
  97. Mary Wollstonecraft 1759–1797
  98. G. W. F. Hegel 1770–1831
  99. Mary Shepherd 1777–1847
  100. Arthur Schopenhauer 1788–1860
  101. John Stuart Mill 1806–1873
  102. Søren Kierkegaard 1813–1855
  103. Elizabeth Cady Stanton 1815–1902
  104. Karl Marx 1818–1883
  105. Charles Sanders Peirce 1839–1914
  106. William James 1842–1910
  107. Friedrich Nietzsche 1844–1900
  108. Gottlob Frege 1848–1925
  109. Edmund Husserl 1859–1938
  110. Henri Bergson 1859–1941
  111. John Dewey 1859–1952
  112. Alfred North Whitehead 1861–1947
  113. Rosa Luxemburg 1871–1919
  114. Bertrand Russell 1872–1970
  115. Martin Buber 1878–1965
  116. Ludwig Wittgenstein 1889–1951
  117. Martin Heidegger 1889–1976
  118. Rudolf Carnap 1891–1970
  119. Karl Popper 1902–1994
  120. Emmanuel Levinas 1905–1995
  121. Jean-Paul Sartre 1905–1980
  122. Hannah Arendt 1906–1975
  123. Simone de Beauvoir 1908–1986
  124. Elizabeth Anscombe 1919–2001
  125. John Rawls 1921–2002
  126. Paulo Freire 1921–1997
  127. Thomas Kuhn 1922–1996
  128. Gilles Deleuze 1925–1995
  129. Michel Foucault 1926–1984
  130. Jürgen Habermas 1929–2026
  131. Jacques Derrida 1930–2004
  132. Luce Irigaray born 1930
  133. Robert Nozick 1938–2002
  134. David Lewis 1941–2001
  1. The Buddha fl. 465–435 BCE
  2. Patañjali fl. 1–200 CE
  3. Nāgārjuna fl. 150–250 CE
  4. Vasubandhu fl. 350–450 CE
  5. Bhartṛhari c. 450 – c. 510 CE
  6. Gauḍapāda fl. 450–550 CE
  7. Candrakīrti c. 600 – c. 650 CE
  8. Dharmakīrti c. 600 – c. 660 CE
  9. Kumārila Bhaṭṭa fl. 640–680 CE
  10. Śāntideva fl. 680–760 CE
  11. Śaṅkara fl. 700–800 CE
  12. Śāntarakṣita c. 725 – c. 788 CE
  13. Ngok Loden Sherab 1059–1109
  14. Rāmānuja c. 1077 – c. 1157
  15. Śrīharṣa fl. 1114–1193
  16. Sakya Paṇḍita 1182–1251
  17. Madhva c. 1238 – c. 1317
  18. Veṅkaṭanātha c. 1269 – c. 1370
  19. Dolpopa 1292–1361
  20. Gaṅgeśa fl. 1300–1350
  21. Tsongkhapa 1357–1419
  22. Gorampa 1429–1489
  23. Vallabha 1479–1531
  24. Caitanya 1485–1533
  25. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan 1888–1975
  1. Laozi fl. 600–500 BCE
  2. Confucius c. 551 – c. 479 BCE
  3. Mozi fl. 440–420 BCE
  4. Liezi fl. 400–300 BCE
  5. Mencius c. 372 – c. 289 BCE
  6. Zhuangzi fl. 350–300 BCE
  7. Xunzi c. 310 – after 238 BCE
  8. Han Fei fl. 260 – d. 233 BCE
  9. Yang Xiong 53 BCE – 18 CE
  10. Wang Chong 27 – c. 100 CE
  11. Ban Zhao c. 45 – 116 CE
  12. Wang Bi 226–249 CE
  13. Guo Xiang c. 252 – 312 CE
  14. Ge Hong 283–343 CE
  15. Sengzhao c. 378 – 413 CE
  16. Zhiyi 538–597 CE
  17. Xuanzang 602–664 CE
  18. Wonhyo 617–686 CE
  19. Uisang 625–702 CE
  20. Huineng 638–713 CE
  21. Fazang 643–712 CE
  22. Mazu Daoyi 709–788 CE
  23. Kūkai 774–835 CE
  24. Zongmi 780–841 CE
  25. Zhou Dunyi 1017–1073
  26. Zhang Zai 1020–1077
  27. Cheng Hao 1032–1085
  28. Cheng Yi 1033–1107
  29. Uicheon 1055–1101
  30. Zhu Xi 1130–1200
  31. Hōnen 1133–1212
  32. Lu Xiangshan 1139–1193
  33. Jinul 1158–1210
  34. Shinran 1173–1263
  35. Dōgen 1200–1253
  36. Jeong Dojeon 1342–1398
  37. Wang Yangming 1472–1529
  38. Yi Hwang 1501–1570
  39. Sen no Rikyū 1522–1591
  40. Gi Daeseung 1527–1572
  41. Li Zhi 1527–1602
  42. Yi I 1536–1584
  43. Hayashi Razan 1583–1657
  44. Huang Zongxi 1610–1695
  45. Gu Yanwu 1613–1682
  46. Wang Fuzhi 1619–1692
  47. Itō Jinsai 1627–1705
  48. Ogyū Sorai 1666–1728
  49. Kamo no Mabuchi 1697–1769
  50. Im Yunjidang 1721–1793
  51. Dai Zhen 1724–1777
  52. Motoori Norinaga 1730–1801
  53. Jeong Yakyong 1762–1836
  54. Hirata Atsutane 1776–1843
  55. Nishida Kitarō 1870–1945
  56. Suzuki Daisetsu 1870–1966
  57. Tanabe Hajime 1885–1962
  58. Xiong Shili 1885–1968
  59. Kuki Shūzō 1888–1941
  60. Watsuji Tetsurō 1889–1960
  61. Bak Jungbin 1891–1943
  62. Hu Shi 1891–1962
  63. Feng Youlan 1895–1990
  64. Kim Iryeop 1896–1971
  65. Nishitani Keiji 1900–1990
  66. Mou Zongsan 1909–1995
  67. Ueda Shizuteru 1926–2019
  1. Ottobah Cugoano fl. 1772–1791
  2. Frederick Douglass c. 1817 – 1895
  3. Alexander Crummell 1819–1898
  4. Anna Julia Cooper c. 1858 – 1964
  5. W. E. B. Du Bois 1868–1963
  6. Alain Locke 1885–1954
  7. Léopold Sédar Senghor 1906–2001
  8. Aimé Césaire 1913–2008
  9. Frantz Fanon 1925–1961
  10. Kwasi Wiredu 1931–2022
  11. Paulin Hountondji 1942–2024
  12. Henry Odera Oruka 1944–1995
From 1400, time is drawn 3× larger
From 1850, time is drawn 2× larger
  1. 7th century BCE
  2. Thales c. 624 – c. 546 BCE Western
  3. Anaximander c. 610 – c. 546 BCE Western
  4. 6th century BCE

  5. Western · c. 600 BCE – 529 CE

    Ancient Greek and Roman

    From the first Greek natural philosophers to the closure of the Athenian schools, the era that laid the foundations of Western logic, ethics and metaphysics.

    Read about this period →

  6. Chinese · c. 600 – 221 BCE

    Classical Chinese

    The 'Hundred Schools of Thought' of the late Zhou dynasty, ending with the unification of China under the Qin in 221 BCE.

    Read about this period →
  7. Laozi fl. 600–500 BCE Chinese
  8. Pythagoras c. 570 – c. 490 BCE Western
  9. Confucius c. 551 – c. 479 BCE Chinese
  10. Xenophanes fl. 540–480 BCE Western
  11. Heraclitus fl. 510–490 BCE Western
  12. 5th century BCE
  13. Anaxagoras c. 500 – 428 BCE Western
  14. Parmenides fl. 500–450 BCE Western
  15. Protagoras c. 490 – c. 420 BCE Western
  16. Empedocles fl. 470–430 BCE Western
  17. Socrates c. 470 – 399 BCE Western
  18. The Buddha fl. 465–435 BCE Indian
  19. Zeno of Elea fl. 465–440 BCE Western
  20. Democritus c. 460 – after 400 BCE Western
  21. Mozi fl. 440–420 BCE Chinese
  22. Plato c. 429 – 347 BCE Western
  23. Diogenes of Sinope c. 404 – c. 323 BCE Western
  24. 4th century BCE
  25. Liezi fl. 400–300 BCE Chinese
  26. Aristotle 384–322 BCE Western
  27. Mencius c. 372 – c. 289 BCE Chinese
  28. Zhuangzi fl. 350–300 BCE Chinese
  29. Epicurus 341–270 BCE Western
  30. Xunzi c. 310 – after 238 BCE Chinese
  31. 3rd century BCE
  32. Chrysippus c. 280 – c. 207 BCE Western
  33. Han Fei fl. 260 – d. 233 BCE Chinese
  34. 2nd century BCE
  35. Cicero 106–43 BCE Western
  36. 1st century BCE
  37. Lucretius c. 95 – c. 55 BCE Western
  38. Yang Xiong 53 BCE – 18 CE Chinese
  39. Philo of Alexandria fl. 10 BCE – 50 CE Jewish
  40. Seneca c. 1 BCE – 65 CE Western
  41. 1st century CE
  42. Patañjali fl. 1–200 CE Indian
  43. Wang Chong 27 – c. 100 CE Chinese
  44. Ban Zhao c. 45 – 116 CE Chinese
  45. Epictetus c. 55 – c. 135 CE Western
  46. Sextus Empiricus fl. 100–250 CE Western
  47. 2nd century CE
  48. Marcus Aurelius 121–180 CE Western
  49. Nāgārjuna fl. 150–250 CE Indian
  50. 3rd century CE
  51. Plotinus c. 204 – 270 CE Western
  52. Wang Bi 226–249 CE Chinese
  53. Guo Xiang c. 252 – 312 CE Chinese
  54. Ge Hong 283–343 CE Chinese
  55. 4th century CE

  56. Korean · c. 350 – 918 CE

    Three Kingdoms and Silla

    Buddhism reached Korea from China in the fourth century, and under Unified Silla monks such as Wonhyo and Uisang made it the first great age of Korean philosophy.

    Read about this period →
  57. Vasubandhu fl. 350–450 CE Indian
  58. Augustine 354–430 CE Western
  59. Sengzhao c. 378 – 413 CE Chinese
  60. 5th century CE
  61. Proclus 412–485 CE Western
  62. Bhartṛhari c. 450 – c. 510 CE Indian
  63. Gauḍapāda fl. 450–550 CE Indian
  64. Boethius c. 476 – c. 526 CE Western
  65. 6th century CE

  66. Western · 529 – c. 1400 CE

    Medieval

    Philosophy in Latin Christendom, shaped by the recovery of Aristotle and the rise of the universities, and culminating in the scholastic syntheses of the thirteenth century.

    Read about this period →
  67. Zhiyi 538–597 CE Chinese
  68. Candrakīrti c. 600 – c. 650 CE Indian
  69. Dharmakīrti c. 600 – c. 660 CE Indian
  70. 7th century CE
  71. Xuanzang 602–664 CE Chinese

  72. Japanese · 604–1185 CE

    Classical Japanese

    From Prince Shōtoku's constitution to the end of aristocratic rule, when Buddhism came to dominate Japanese thought and Kūkai founded Shingon esoteric Buddhism.

    Read about this period →
  73. Wonhyo 617–686 CE Korean
  74. Uisang 625–702 CE Korean
  75. Huineng 638–713 CE Chinese
  76. Kumārila Bhaṭṭa fl. 640–680 CE Indian
  77. Fazang 643–712 CE Chinese

  78. Tibetan · c. 650 – c. 975 CE

    First Diffusion

    From the seventh century Buddhism first spread in Tibet, and Indian treatises were translated, with the Indian master Śāntarakṣita invited to the country.

    Read about this period →
  79. Śāntideva fl. 680–760 CE Indian
  80. Śaṅkara fl. 700–800 CE Indian
  81. 8th century CE
  82. Mazu Daoyi 709–788 CE Chinese
  83. Śāntarakṣita c. 725 – c. 788 CE Indian
  84. Kūkai 774–835 CE Japanese
  85. Zongmi 780–841 CE Chinese

  86. Arabic and Islamic · c. 800 – c. 1200 CE

    Classical Islamic

    The era of the great falsafa philosophers, who built on Greek philosophy translated into Arabic, from al-Kindi to Averroes.

    Read about this period →
  87. al-Kindi c. 800 – c. 870 CE Arabic and Islamic
  88. John Scottus Eriugena c. 800 – c. 877 CE Western
  89. 9th century CE
  90. Isaac Israeli c. 855 – c. 955 CE Jewish
  91. Abu Bakr al-Razi 865–925 CE Arabic and Islamic
  92. al-Farabi c. 870 – c. 950 CE Arabic and Islamic
  93. Saadia Gaon 882–942 CE Jewish

  94. Jewish · c. 900 – 1204 CE

    Judaeo-Arabic

    Jewish philosophy in the Islamic world, written mostly in Arabic, from Saadia Gaon in Baghdad to Maimonides in Cairo, in dialogue with kalam theology and Greek philosophy.

    Read about this period →
  95. 10th century CE

  96. Korean · 918–1392 CE

    Goryeo

    Under the Goryeo dynasty Buddhism flourished, and Jinul shaped Korean Seon, while by its end Neo-Confucianism had begun to take hold among scholars.

    Read about this period →

  97. Chinese · 960–1644 CE

    Song–Ming

    The Song and Ming dynasties, when Neo-Confucian thinkers such as Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming renewed Confucianism in dialogue with Buddhism and Daoism.

    Read about this period →
  98. Avicenna c. 970 – 1037 CE Arabic and Islamic

  99. Tibetan · c. 975 – 1219 CE

    Later Diffusion

    With the Later Diffusion of Buddhism, Tibetans translated Dharmakīrti and began writing commentaries and treatises of their own, led by Ngok Loden Sherab's tradition.

    Read about this period →
  100. 11th century
  101. Nasir Khusraw 1004–1060 Arabic and Islamic
  102. Zhou Dunyi 1017–1073 Chinese
  103. Zhang Zai 1020–1077 Chinese
  104. Solomon ibn Gabirol c. 1021 – c. 1057 Jewish
  105. Cheng Hao 1032–1085 Chinese
  106. Anselm of Canterbury 1033–1109 Western
  107. Cheng Yi 1033–1107 Chinese
  108. Omar Khayyam c. 1048 – after 1124 Arabic and Islamic
  109. Uicheon 1055–1101 Korean
  110. al-Ghazali c. 1056 – 1111 Arabic and Islamic
  111. Ngok Loden Sherab 1059–1109 Tibetan
  112. Judah Halevi c. 1075 – 1141 Jewish
  113. Rāmānuja c. 1077 – c. 1157 Indian
  114. Peter Abelard c. 1079 – 1142 Western
  115. Avempace before 1085 – 1139 Arabic and Islamic
  116. al-Shahrastani 1086–1153 Arabic and Islamic
  117. Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani 1097–1131 Arabic and Islamic
  118. 12th century
  119. Abraham Ibn Daud c. 1110 – c. 1180 Jewish
  120. Śrīharṣa fl. 1114–1193 Indian
  121. Averroes 1126–1198 Arabic and Islamic
  122. Zhu Xi 1130–1200 Chinese
  123. Hōnen 1133–1212 Japanese
  124. Maimonides 1138–1204 Jewish
  125. Lu Xiangshan 1139–1193 Chinese
  126. Abraham Ibn Ezra fl. 1140–1170 Jewish
  127. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi 1149–1210 Arabic and Islamic
  128. Suhrawardi 1154–1191 Arabic and Islamic
  129. Jinul 1158–1210 Korean
  130. Ibn Arabi 1165–1240 Arabic and Islamic
  131. Samuel Ibn Tibbon c. 1165 – 1232 Jewish
  132. Shinran 1173–1263 Japanese
  133. Sakya Paṇḍita 1182–1251 Tibetan

  134. Japanese · 1185–1600

    Medieval Japanese

    The age of military rule, war and disaster, when new Buddhist movements such as Pure Land, Zen and Nichiren each selected a single practice as the way to liberation.

    Read about this period →

  135. Arabic and Islamic · c. 1200 – present

    Later Islamic

    Philosophy in the Islamic world after the classical period, from the Illuminationist tradition to Mulla Sadra's school in Safavid Iran and beyond.

    Read about this period →
  136. Dōgen 1200–1253 Japanese
  137. 13th century
  138. Nasir al-Din Tusi 1201–1274 Arabic and Islamic

  139. Jewish · 1204–1492

    Provence and Spain

    After Maimonides, Jewish philosophy in Hebrew in Christian Provence and Spain, which absorbed Averroes' Aristotle and argued over it, until the expulsion of the Jews from Spain.

    Read about this period →
  140. Rumi 1207–1273 Arabic and Islamic

  141. Tibetan · 1219 – c. 1400

    Classical

    Sakya Paṇḍita's Treasure of Reasoning of 1219 opened a classical age centred on Dharmakīrti's Pramāṇavārttika and on commentaries on Tibetan works themselves.

    Read about this period →
  142. Bonaventure c. 1221 – 1274 Western
  143. Thomas Aquinas c. 1225 – 1274 Western
  144. Madhva c. 1238 – c. 1317 Indian
  145. Meister Eckhart c. 1260 – c. 1328 Western
  146. Ibn Taymiyya 1263–1328 Arabic and Islamic
  147. John Duns Scotus c. 1265 – 1308 Western
  148. Veṅkaṭanātha c. 1269 – c. 1370 Indian
  149. William of Ockham c. 1287 – 1347 Western
  150. Gersonides 1288–1344 Jewish
  151. Dolpopa 1292–1361 Tibetan
  152. Gaṅgeśa fl. 1300–1350 Indian
  153. 14th century
  154. Hasdai Crescas c. 1340 – c. 1410 Jewish
  155. Jeong Dojeon 1342–1398 Korean
  156. Tsongkhapa 1357–1419 Tibetan
  157. Joseph Albo c. 1380 – c. 1444 Jewish

  158. Korean · 1392–1910

    Joseon

    The Joseon dynasty made Neo-Confucianism Korea's dominant thought, home to the Four-Seven Debate of Yi Hwang and Yi I and to Jeong Yakyong's later critique.

    Read about this period →

  159. Tibetan · c. 1400 – present

    Post-classical

    From the fifteenth century Tibetan scholars reappraised earlier ideas, attacked or defended Sakya Paṇḍita, and debated Tsongkhapa's reading of Madhyamaka.

    Read about this period →
  160. 15th century
  161. Nicholas of Cusa 1401–1464 Western
  162. Gorampa 1429–1489 Tibetan
  163. Judah Abrabanel c. 1465 – after 1521 Jewish
  164. Desiderius Erasmus 1469–1536 Western
  165. Niccolò Machiavelli 1469–1527 Western
  166. Wang Yangming 1472–1529 Chinese
  167. Vallabha 1479–1531 Indian
  168. Caitanya 1485–1533 Indian
  169. 16th century
  170. Yi Hwang 1501–1570 Korean
  171. Sen no Rikyū 1522–1591 Japanese
  172. Gi Daeseung 1527–1572 Korean
  173. Li Zhi 1527–1602 Chinese
  174. Michel de Montaigne 1533–1592 Western
  175. Yi I 1536–1584 Korean
  176. Giordano Bruno 1548–1600 Western
  177. Francis Bacon 1561–1626 Western
  178. Marie de Gournay 1565–1645 Western
  179. Mulla Sadra c. 1571 – c. 1636 Arabic and Islamic
  180. Hayashi Razan 1583–1657 Japanese
  181. Thomas Hobbes 1588–1679 Western
  182. René Descartes 1596–1650 Western

  183. Western · c. 1600 – c. 1800

    Early modern

    The age of the new science, rationalism and empiricism, from Descartes to Kant.

    Read about this period →

  184. Japanese · 1600–1868

    Edo

    The peace of the Tokugawa shogunate, when a new Neo-Confucianism became Japan's leading philosophy, alongside Buddhist and Shintō thought.

    Read about this period →
  185. 17th century
  186. Huang Zongxi 1610–1695 Chinese
  187. Gu Yanwu 1613–1682 Chinese
  188. Elisabeth of Bohemia 1618–1680 Western
  189. Wang Fuzhi 1619–1692 Chinese
  190. Blaise Pascal 1623–1662 Western
  191. Margaret Cavendish 1623–1673 Western
  192. Itō Jinsai 1627–1705 Japanese
  193. Anne Conway 1631–1679 Western
  194. Baruch Spinoza 1632–1677 Western
  195. John Locke 1632–1704 Western
  196. Nicolas Malebranche 1638–1715 Western
  197. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz 1646–1716 Western
  198. Mary Astell 1666–1731 Western
  199. Ogyū Sorai 1666–1728 Japanese
  200. George Berkeley 1685–1753 Western
  201. Montesquieu 1689–1755 Western
  202. Kamo no Mabuchi 1697–1769 Japanese
  203. 18th century
  204. Émilie du Châtelet 1706–1749 Western
  205. David Hume 1711–1776 Western
  206. Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712–1778 Western
  207. Im Yunjidang 1721–1793 Korean
  208. Adam Smith 1723–1790 Western
  209. Dai Zhen 1724–1777 Chinese
  210. Immanuel Kant 1724–1804 Western
  211. Moses Mendelssohn 1729–1786 Jewish
  212. Motoori Norinaga 1730–1801 Japanese
  213. Catharine Macaulay 1731–1791 Western
  214. Jeremy Bentham 1748–1832 Western
  215. Olympe de Gouges 1748–1793 Western
  216. Salomon Maimon 1753–1800 Jewish
  217. Mary Wollstonecraft 1759–1797 Western
  218. Jeong Yakyong 1762–1836 Korean
  219. G. W. F. Hegel 1770–1831 Western
  220. Ottobah Cugoano fl. 1772–1791 African
  221. Hirata Atsutane 1776–1843 Japanese
  222. Mary Shepherd 1777–1847 Western
  223. Arthur Schopenhauer 1788–1860 Western

  224. Western · c. 1800 – c. 1900

    Late modern

    The nineteenth century, from German idealism after Kant to Marx, Mill, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.

    Read about this period →
  225. 19th century
  226. John Stuart Mill 1806–1873 Western
  227. Søren Kierkegaard 1813–1855 Western
  228. Elizabeth Cady Stanton 1815–1902 Western
  229. Frederick Douglass c. 1817 – 1895 African
  230. Karl Marx 1818–1883 Western
  231. Alexander Crummell 1819–1898 African
  232. Charles Sanders Peirce 1839–1914 Western
  233. William James 1842–1910 Western
  234. Friedrich Nietzsche 1844–1900 Western
  235. Gottlob Frege 1848–1925 Western
  236. Anna Julia Cooper c. 1858 – 1964 African
  237. Edmund Husserl 1859–1938 Western
  238. Henri Bergson 1859–1941 Western
  239. John Dewey 1859–1952 Western
  240. Alfred North Whitehead 1861–1947 Western

  241. Japanese · 1868 – present

    Modern Japanese

    From the Meiji Restoration, as Japan took up Western philosophy and Nishida Kitarō and the Kyoto School brought it into dialogue with Buddhist thought.

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  242. W. E. B. Du Bois 1868–1963 African
  243. Nishida Kitarō 1870–1945 Japanese
  244. Suzuki Daisetsu 1870–1966 Japanese
  245. Rosa Luxemburg 1871–1919 Western
  246. Bertrand Russell 1872–1970 Western
  247. Martin Buber 1878–1965 Jewish
  248. Alain Locke 1885–1954 African
  249. Tanabe Hajime 1885–1962 Japanese
  250. Xiong Shili 1885–1968 Chinese
  251. Kuki Shūzō 1888–1941 Japanese
  252. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan 1888–1975 Indian
  253. Ludwig Wittgenstein 1889–1951 Western
  254. Martin Heidegger 1889–1976 Western
  255. Watsuji Tetsurō 1889–1960 Japanese
  256. Bak Jungbin 1891–1943 Korean
  257. Hu Shi 1891–1962 Chinese
  258. Rudolf Carnap 1891–1970 Western
  259. Feng Youlan 1895–1990 Chinese
  260. Kim Iryeop 1896–1971 Korean

  261. Western · c. 1900 – present

    Contemporary

    Philosophy from 1900 to the present, including the analytic tradition of Russell and Wittgenstein and the phenomenology and existentialism of Heidegger and Beauvoir.

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  262. Nishitani Keiji 1900–1990 Japanese
  263. 20th century
  264. Karl Popper 1902–1994 Western
  265. Emmanuel Levinas 1905–1995 Jewish
  266. Jean-Paul Sartre 1905–1980 Western
  267. Hannah Arendt 1906–1975 Western
  268. Léopold Sédar Senghor 1906–2001 African
  269. Simone de Beauvoir 1908–1986 Western
  270. Mou Zongsan 1909–1995 Chinese

  271. Korean · 1910 – present

    Modern Korea

    From the end of the Joseon dynasty Korean philosophers met modernity, colonial rule and Western thought, among them the Buddhist nun and feminist Kim Iryeop.

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  272. Aimé Césaire 1913–2008 African
  273. Elizabeth Anscombe 1919–2001 Western

  274. African · c. 1920 – c. 1960

    Ethnophilosophy and nationalism

    The first period of systematic African philosophy, which set out to recover an African identity that colonialism had denied, through ethnophilosophy and nationalist thought.

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  275. John Rawls 1921–2002 Western
  276. Paulo Freire 1921–1997 Western
  277. Thomas Kuhn 1922–1996 Western
  278. Frantz Fanon 1925–1961 African
  279. Gilles Deleuze 1925–1995 Western
  280. Michel Foucault 1926–1984 Western
  281. Ueda Shizuteru 1926–2019 Japanese
  282. Jürgen Habermas 1929–2026 Western
  283. Jacques Derrida 1930–2004 Western
  284. Luce Irigaray born 1930 Western
  285. Kwasi Wiredu 1931–2022 African
  286. Robert Nozick 1938–2002 Western
  287. David Lewis 1941–2001 Western
  288. Paulin Hountondji 1942–2024 African
  289. Henry Odera Oruka 1944–1995 African

  290. African · c. 1960 – c. 1980

    The Great Debate

    The period of the "Great Debate" over whether Africa has a philosophy in the strict sense, between traditionalists who built on African culture and universalists who rejected ethnophilosophy.

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  291. African · c. 1980 – c. 1990

    Critical reconstruction

    A period that moved from tearing down ethnophilosophy to rebuilding African thought, whether free of it or by reconciling traditional and modern African philosophy.

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  292. African · c. 1990 – present

    Conversational philosophy

    The newest period of African philosophy, in which thinkers developed original systems and methods of their own, notably the "conversational" philosophy of the Calabar School.

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