Alan Watts (born January 6, 1915, Chislehurst, Kent [now in southeast London], England—died November 16, 1973, Marin county, California, U.S.) was a British-born American writer, philosopher, and lecturer who is credited with introducing and popularizing Eastern philosophy and religion among Western audiences in the mid-20th century. Watts was widely recognized for his ability to convey […]
Joseph Hall (born July 1, 1574, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, Eng.—died Sept. 8, 1656, Higham, Norfolk) was an English bishop, moral philosopher, and satirist, remarkable for his literary versatility and innovations. Hall’s Virgidemiarum: Six Books (1597–1602; “A Harvest of Blows”) was the first English satire successfully modeled on Latin satire, and its couplets anticipated the satiric heroic
Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.) is an American theoretical linguist whose work from the 1950s revolutionized the field of linguistics by treating language as a uniquely human, biologically based cognitive capacity. Through his contributions to linguistics and related fields, including cognitive psychology and the philosophies of mind and language, Chomsky helped
John Locke (born August 29, 1632, Wrington, Somerset, England—died October 28, 1704, High Laver, Essex) was an English philosopher whose works lie at the foundation of modern philosophical empiricism and political liberalism,classical liberalism in particular. He was an inspirer of both the European Enlightenment and the Constitution of the United States. His philosophical thinking was
Adam Smith (baptized June 5, 1723, Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland—died July 17, 1790, Edinburgh) was a Scottish social philosopher and political economist, instrumental in the rise of classical liberalism. Adam Smith is a towering figure in the history of economic thought. Known primarily for a single work—An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth
Benedict de Spinoza (born November 24, 1632, Amsterdam—died February 21, 1677, The Hague) was a Dutch Jewish philosopher, one of the foremost exponents of 17th-century Rationalism and one of the early and seminal figures of the Enlightenment. His masterwork is the treatise Ethics (1677). Early life and careerSpinoza’s Portuguese parents were among many Jews who
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Thomas Hobbes (born April 5, 1588, Westport, Wiltshire, England—died December 4, 1679, Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire) was an English philosopher, scientist, and historian, best known for his political philosophy, especially as articulated in his masterpiece Leviathan (1651). Hobbes viewed government primarily as a device for ensuring collective security. Political authority is justified by a hypothetical social
John Stuart Mill (born May 20, 1806, London, England—died May 8, 1873, Avignon, France) was an English philosopher, economist, and exponent of utilitarianism. He was prominent as a publicist in the reforming age of the 19th century, and remains of lasting interest as a logician and an ethical theorist. Early life and careerThe eldest son
St. Augustine (born November 13, 354, Tagaste, Numidia [now Souk Ahras, Algeria]—died August 28, 430, Hippo Regius [now Annaba, Algeria]; feast day August 28) was the bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430, one of the Latin Fathers of the Church, and perhaps the most significant Christian thinker after St. Paul. Augustine’s adaptation of classical
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (born June 28, 1712, Geneva, Switzerland—died July 2, 1778, Ermenonville, France) was a Swiss-born philosopher, writer, and political theorist whose treatises and novels inspired the leaders of the French Revolution and the Romantic generation. Rousseau was the least academic of modern philosophers and in many ways was the most influential. His thought marked
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