Philosophers — Philosophy Arena

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
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

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
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

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
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%

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2 philosophers match

Kashmir Shaivism

Kashmir Śaivism is the name used today for the nondualist Śaiva traditions of Kashmir, chiefly the Trika and the philosophy of recognition, Pratyabhijñā. It holds that only one consciousness exists, Shiva, which freely shows itself as the world and as every self; liberation is recognising that one already is that consciousness. Utpaladeva, a student of Somānanda, systematised the recognition philosophy in his *Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā*; Abhinavagupta, his pupil's pupil, joined it to the Trika's scriptures. Against the dualist Śaiva Siddhānta, it denies that the soul and Shiva are finally distinct.

2 in the arena

Utpaladeva
900–950
The Commentators

Utpaladeva argued against the Buddhist logicians that the self lasts, knows itself and is already the Lord, so freedom needs only recognition.
3 works · 145 passages grounded
Abhinavagupta
950–1016
The Commentators

Abhinavagupta (c. 950–1016), Kashmir's great Śaiva theologian, taught that one free consciousness appears as the world and that liberation is recognition.
7 works · 1,762 passages grounded