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The collection

The Philosophers

Every thinker here answers out of their own texts. Choose a voice and put your question to it.

Philosophers
148
Works
843
Passages
298k+
Centuries spanned
26

When the thinkers were born — philosophers per century

148 philosophers, born across 26 centuries from the 7th c. BCE to the 19th c. CE. The 19th c. CE is the fullest, with 29.
Philosophers born, by century
CenturyPhilosophers born
7th c. BCE3
6th c. BCE3
5th c. BCE2
4th c. BCE2
3rd c. BCE3
2nd c. BCE4
1st c. BCE4
1st c. CE4
2nd c. CE4
3rd c. CE1
4th c. CE5
5th c. CE6
6th c. CE1
7th c. CE4
8th c. CE1
9th c. CE4
10th c. CE4
11th c. CE10
12th c. CE4
13th c. CE5
14th c. CE3
15th c. CE3
16th c. CE9
17th c. CE9
18th c. CE21
19th c. CE29

Which traditions they come from — philosophers per tradition

148 philosophers across 6 traditions. Widths are shares of the roster; the names are in the legend.
  • The Western tradition 87
  • The Indian tradition 29
  • The Chinese tradition 15
  • The Japanese tradition 6
  • The Jewish tradition 6
  • The Islamic and Persian tradition 5
Philosophers by tradition
TraditionPhilosophersShare
The Western tradition8759%
The Indian tradition2920%
The Chinese tradition1510%
The Japanese tradition64%
The Jewish tradition64%
The Islamic and Persian tradition53%

What the corpus argues about — share of the canon per question

The six great questions, ranked by their share of every tagged passage in the corpus. Mind and knowledge leads at 11.5%. A passage can answer to more than one question, so the six do not sum to a whole.
Share of the canon by question
QuestionShare of the canon
Mind and knowledge11.5%
Metaphysics and the cosmos10%
Politics and power9.5%
Ethics and the good life7.8%
Logic and language4.4%
Being and existence4.1%

5 philosophers match

By year of birth

5th c. CE

1 in the arena

  1. Bodhidharma

    470–530

    Han to Tang

    Bodhidharma, the Indian monk Chan calls its founder: one true nature in every being, wall-gazing, and a life without grievance or craving.

    2 works · 63 passages grounded

7th c. CE

1 in the arena

  1. 108 years without a voice

    Huineng

    638–713

    Han to Tang

    Huineng, Sixth Patriarch of Chan: the unlettered firewood seller of the Platform Sutra who taught that everyone's own nature is already awake.

    1 work · 122 passages grounded

8th c. CE

1 in the arena

  1. Layman Pang

    740–808

    Han to Tang

    Layman Pang (Pang Yun) kept his family, sold bamboo ware and traded verses with Shitou and Mazu: the great householder of Tang-dynasty Chan.

    1 work · 59 passages grounded

9th c. CE

1 in the arena

  1. Yunmen Wenyan

    864–949

    Han to Tang

    Yunmen Wenyan (864–949) founded the Yunmen house of Chan and met questions about the Buddha with a single word, a sesame cake or a rebuke.

    1 work · 177 passages grounded

10th c. CE

1 in the arena

  1. Yongming Yanshou

    904–976

    Han to Tang

    Yongming Yanshou, a 10th-century Chan master, argued that Chan and the scriptures teach one mind, and that sutras, good deeds and sitting are one practice.

    3 works · 3,285 passages grounded