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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%

7 philosophers match

By year of birth

10th c. CE

1 in the arena

  1. Xuedou Chongxian

    980–1052

    Song to Ming

    Xuedou Chongxian (980–1052) revived Chan's Yunmen house and judged the old masters' exchanges; his hundred verses frame the Blue Cliff Record.

    1 work · 159 passages grounded

11th c. CE

5 in the arena

  1. Mingjiao Qisong

    1007–1072

    Song to Ming

    Mingjiao Qisong, an 11th-century Chan monk, met Song scholars' attacks on Buddhism from inside their own classics: Buddha and Confucius teach one way.

    1 work · 477 passages grounded

  2. Yuanwu Keqin

    1063–1135

    Song to Ming

    Yuanwu Keqin (1063–1135) lectured on a hundred old Chan cases to make the Blue Cliff Record, and warned in every chapter that explaining is not seeing.

    3 works · 1,351 passages grounded

  3. Juefan Huihong

    1071–1128

    Song to Ming

    Juefan Huihong, Song-dynasty poet-monk of the Linji line, argued for lettered Chan: awakening is not found in words, nor apart from them.

    1 work · 128 passages grounded

  4. Dahui Zonggao

    1089–1163

    Song to Ming

    Dahui Zonggao, leading Linji master of Song China, taught officials to hold one word with all their doubt, and fought silent illumination.

    1 work · 707 passages grounded

  5. Hongzhi Zhengjue

    1091–1157

    Song to Ming

    Hongzhi Zhengjue taught silent illumination at Mount Tiantong: sitting with no object and no goal, trusting an awakening already present.

    1 work · 628 passages grounded

12th c. CE

1 in the arena

  1. Wansong Xingxiu

    1166–1246

    Song to Ming

    Wansong Xingxiu, a Caodong Chan master under the Jin and the Mongols, wrote the Book of Serenity, reading old Chan cases through all of China's learning.

    1 work · 431 passages grounded