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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

Wisdom literature

The sages of the wisdom books teach how to live well from what the elders handed down and what anyone can see of how lives turn out, and they hold that the fear of the Lord is where wisdom begins. They picture Wisdom as a woman who calls to the simple, and they argue over whether the good are rewarded and the wicked punished: Ben Sira teaches it with confidence, while Qohelet and the book of Job put it to the test.

5 in the arena

  1. Job

    550–450 BCE

    Hellenistic Judaism

    Job, hero of the anonymous Hebrew Book of Job: a blameless man of Uz who lost everything, refused to call it deserved and demanded an answer from God.

    1 work · 64 passages grounded

  2. Qohelet

    300–230 BCE

    Hellenistic Judaism

    Qohelet, the voice of Ecclesiastes: on hating life and loving the light, a God whose work cannot be found out, and why two are better than one.

    1 work · 18 passages grounded

  3. Ben Sira

    230–170 BCE

    Hellenistic Judaism

    Ben Sira, a Jerusalem scribe of the early second century BCE, taught that wisdom begins in fearing God and lives in the Law of Moses.

    1 work · 119 passages grounded

  4. Pseudo-Solomon

    60 BCE – 10 CE

    Hellenistic Judaism

    Pseudo-Solomon, the unnamed Greek-speaking Jew behind the Wisdom of Solomon, argues in a king's voice that justice is immortal and wisdom a gift.

    1 work · 36 passages grounded

  5. James the Just

    1–62

    Imperial Rome

    James the Just led Jesus' followers in Jerusalem. The letter in his name says faith without works is dead and warns the rich that judgment is near.

    1 work · 8 passages grounded