1. Niccolo Machiavelli (1469)

Philosopher

Ruthless Italian political philosopher who wrote The Prince in the early 1500s, which was considered his masterpiece.

2. Robert Hooke (1635)

Philosopher

British philosopher and scientist whose observations through the microscope changed the fundamental assumptions of science.

3. Thomas Paine (1736)

Philosopher

Political theorist who wrote the influential pamphlet Common Sense in 1776. He also wrote the Rights of Man in 1791 where he defended the French Revolution.

4. Joseph Priestley (1733)

Philosopher

Natural philosopher and chemist noted for the discovery of oxygen, isolating it in its gaseous state.

5. Soren Kierkegaard (1813)

Philosopher

Danish existentialist philosopher, poet, and theologian known for works such as Either/Or and Fear and Trembling.

6. Benjamin Kidd (1858)

Philosopher

Influential philosopher who wrote in his essay Social Evolution that religion aids in human group survival.

7. Nikolay Lossky (1970)

Philosopher

A Russian philosopher who was known for his philosophy, which he called intuitive-personalism.

8. Gilbert Ryle (1970)

Philosopher

Wittgensteinian British philosopher who was a critic of Cartesian dualism.

9. Gotthard Gunther (1900)

Philosopher

German philosopher who was best remembered for his work with Trans-Aristotelian philosophy.

10. Lon Fuller (1970)

Philosopher

Former legal philosopher who was remembered for his novel The Morality of Law from 1964. He also influenced the law of contracts.

11. Eric Voegelin (1970)

Philosopher

Political philosopher and professor. He taught at the University of Vienna, Stanford University, the University of Notre Dame, Louisiana State University, and the University of Munich and published a famous...

12. Alexandre Kojeve (1970)

Philosopher

Forever changed the landscape of 20th-century French philosophy through his integration of Hegelian concepts into Continental Philosophy.

13. Hans Jonas (1970)

Philosopher

German philosopher who was remembered for his book The Gnostic Religion from 1958.

14. Herbert Spiegelberg (1970)

Philosopher

Philosopher credited with promoting the advancement of the Phenomenogical Movement in the United States.

15. Nelson Goodman (1970)

Philosopher

American philosopher who was best remembered for his work with things like counterfactuals, mereology, and aesthetics.

16. Frederick Copleston (1970)

Philosopher

Jesuit priest and historian of philosophy. He gained recognition for debating God's existence on BBC radio in 1948 with Bertrand Russell.

17. Mircea Eliade (1907)

Philosopher

Religion historian known for his religious-studies paradigms and his hierophanies-based theory.

18. Charles Stevenson (1908)

Philosopher

American philosopher most remembered for his exploration of subjects like ethics and aesthetics.

19. Richard Brandt (1910)

Philosopher

Philosopher best remembered for his thoughts and writings on moral philosophy.

20. Paul Goodman (1911)

Philosopher

An author, philosopher, and psychotherapist, he is best known for published works such as Growing Up Absurd and The Community of Scholars. During the 1960s, he was a left-wing peace...

21. Erich Heller (1970)

Philosopher

Philosopher dedicated to German-language philosophy and literature.

22. Bernard Delfgaauw (1970)

Philosopher

Dutch philosopher most known for his work with the Hebrew language and philosophy.

23. Alan Gewirth (1970)

Philosopher

Known for ethical rationalism from which he derived the Principle of Generic Consistency.

24. Wilfrid Sellars (1970)

Philosopher

American philosopher remembered for exploring the topics of epistemology and pragmatism.

25. Paul Ricoeur (1913)

Philosopher

Renowned French philosopher who combined phenomenological description with hermeneutics.

26. Stephan Korner (1970)

Philosopher

British philosopher who specialized in the study of concepts, the philosophy of mathematics, and the theories of Immanuel Kant.

27. John Passmore (1914)

Philosopher

Australian philosopher remembered for his contributions to the school of thought known as empiricism.

28. Michel Villey (1970)

Philosopher

Philosopher and historian of French law.

29. Stuart Hampshire (1970)

Philosopher

Western philosopher who was remembered for his contributions to anti-rationalist thought.

30. Vincent Miceli (1915)

Philosopher

Remembered for authoring several theology books, including Ascent to Being from 1961 and Rendezvous with God from 1991.

31. Georg Henrik von Wright (1970)

Philosopher

Logician and philosopher recognized for An Essay in Modal Logic and Deontic Logic from 1951.

32. Algirdas Julien Greimas (1970)

Philosopher

A Lithuanian linguist who was known as one of the most prominent of the French semioticians.

33. Francis Parker Yockey (1970)

Philosopher

Political thinker and philosopher most remembered for his book Imperium: The Philosophy of History and Politics from 1948.

34. J. L. Mackie (1970)

Philosopher

Major modern philosopher who defended moral skepticism and expanded metaphysics.

35. Hao Wang (1921)

Philosopher

Prominent logician and mathematician. He worked on an IBM704 computer that proved hundreds of Principia Mathematica logic theorems in nine minutes.

36. Ismail al-Faruqi (1970)

Philosopher

A Palestinian American philosopher who was revered for his expertise in comparative religion and Islam.

37. Imre Lakatos (1922)

Philosopher

Philosopher of mathematics and science famous for his thesis on the fallibility of mathematics.

38. Richard Popkin (1970)

Philosopher

Academic and philosopher who was remembered for his work on the subject of early modern anti-dogmatism and enlightenment philosophy.

39. Paul Feyerabend (1970)

Philosopher

Philosopher who focused on Epistemological Anarchism while working as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

40. Lucio Colletti (1924)

Philosopher

Best remembered as one of the most important Italian philosophers of the 20th century.

41. Radovan Richta (1924)

Philosopher

Philosopher made famous for coining the term technological evolution.

42. Peter Winch (1970)

Philosopher

Philosopher best remembered for his work with the philosophy of social science and ethics.

43. Joel Feinberg (1970)

Philosopher

American philosopher who was best remembered for his exploration of legal philosophy and his loathing of the term Psychological Egoism.

44. James M. Edie (1970)

Philosopher

Philosopher and thinker best remembered for his work with medieval philosophy.

45. Jean Baudrillard (1929)

Philosopher

Philosopher and cultural theorist who focused on postmodernism and post-structuralism.

46. Daniel N Robinson (1937)

Philosopher

Known for his works on legal, moral, and psychological philosophy, this scholar, philosopher, and author of An Intellectual History of Psychology taught at Georgetown, Oxford, Princeton, and Columbia.

47. Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe (1970)

Philosopher

Recognized for translating the works of great thinkers like Walter Benjamin and Friedrich Hölderlin.

48. Robert Audi (1970)

Philosopher

American philosopher best known for his exploration of theories like ethical intuitionism and the theory of action.

49. Jon Barwise (1970)

Philosopher

American philosopher and mathematician best remembered for his revisions on the theory of logic.

50. David Lewis (1941)

Philosopher

Controversial philosopher who made breakthroughs in the philosophy of language, mind, metaphysics, and logic.