Yājñavalkya
700–600 BCEThe Upanishadic Age
Yājñavalkya, sage of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanishad, taught that the self is the unseen seer, knowable only as “not this, not this”.
2 works · 208 passages grounded
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
| Century | Philosophers born |
|---|---|
| 7th c. BCE | 3 |
| 6th c. BCE | 3 |
| 5th c. BCE | 2 |
| 4th c. BCE | 2 |
| 3rd c. BCE | 3 |
| 2nd c. BCE | 4 |
| 1st c. BCE | 4 |
| 1st c. CE | 4 |
| 2nd c. CE | 4 |
| 3rd c. CE | 1 |
| 4th c. CE | 5 |
| 5th c. CE | 6 |
| 6th c. CE | 1 |
| 7th c. CE | 4 |
| 8th c. CE | 1 |
| 9th c. CE | 4 |
| 10th c. CE | 4 |
| 11th c. CE | 10 |
| 12th c. CE | 4 |
| 13th c. CE | 5 |
| 14th c. CE | 3 |
| 15th c. CE | 3 |
| 16th c. CE | 9 |
| 17th c. CE | 9 |
| 18th c. CE | 21 |
| 19th c. CE | 29 |
Which traditions they come from — philosophers per tradition
- 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
| Tradition | Philosophers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| The Western tradition | 87 | 59% |
| The Indian tradition | 29 | 20% |
| The Chinese tradition | 15 | 10% |
| The Japanese tradition | 6 | 4% |
| The Jewish tradition | 6 | 4% |
| The Islamic and Persian tradition | 5 | 3% |
What the corpus argues about — share of the canon per question
| Question | Share of the canon |
|---|---|
| Mind and knowledge | 11.5% |
| Metaphysics and the cosmos | 10% |
| Politics and power | 9.5% |
| Ethics and the good life | 7.8% |
| Logic and language | 4.4% |
| Being and existence | 4.1% |
8 philosophers match
Advaita Vedanta
6 in the arena
Uddālaka Āruṇi
700–600 BCEThe Upanishadic Age
Uddālaka Āruṇi, the father in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, argued that being, not nothing, came first, and taught it with fasting, a seed and salt water.
1 work · 51 passages grounded
Gauḍapāda
500–560The Commentators
Gauḍapāda wrote the oldest surviving case for Advaita Vedānta: verses on the Māṇḍūkya Upanishad arguing that nothing was ever born and no one ever bound.
2 works · 134 passages grounded
Ādi Śaṅkara
700–750The Commentators
Ādi Śaṅkara (c. 700–750), the most famous teacher of Advaita Vedānta, taught that the self is Brahman and that knowledge, not ritual or action, frees.
11 works · 4,707 passages grounded
Aṣṭāvakra
700–800The Commentators
Aṣṭāvakra, teacher of the Aṣṭāvakra Gītā, tells King Janaka he is pure awareness and already free, and that no practice can bring freedom.
1 work · 38 passages grounded
Vācaspati Miśra
900–980The Commentators
Vācaspati Miśra wrote for nearly every Indian school. His Bhāmatī places ignorance in each self and founded one of later Advaita's two schools.
1 work · 1,425 passages grounded
Vishishtadvaita
1 in the arena
Rāmānuja
1077–1157Late Classical and Devotional
Rāmānuja argued against Advaita that the world is real and is God's body, and that loving devotion to a personal God, answered by grace, frees the self.
2 works · 1,052 passages grounded
Dvaita
1 in the arena
Madhva
1238–1317Late Classical and Devotional
Madhva, founder of Dvaita Vedānta (c. 1238–1317), taught that God, souls and the world are forever distinct, and that only devotion and grace free a soul.
5 works · 1,646 passages grounded