Anaximander

"What is infinite is something other than the elements, and from it the elements

arise"

Age b.610BC 2628

Output 4 lost works, 1 fragment remaining 4

Key idea Everything emerges from the ‘apeiron’ - the infinite 3

Influence Had a proto-evolutionary theory of life 70

genius The first metaphysician and the first geographer 6

Fact! He Successfully predicted an earthquake

"Just as our soul, being air, constrains us, so breath and air envelops the

whole cosmos"

AnaXimEnes

Age b.586BC 2604

Output All works lost! 0

Key idea Air is the basis of all things 1

Influence Emphasized scientific, rather than mythical, explanations 55

genius Mainly developed the philosophy of Anaximander 4

Fact! There’s a crater on the moon named after him

Pythagoras

“There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the

spacing of the spheres”

Age b.570BC 2588

Output All works lost! 0

Key idea The immortal soul moves to another body after death 2

Influence Strong influence on Plato, dualism, and maths 75

genius A mysterious, mystical and visionary figure in philosophy 7

Fact! When bitten by a deadly snake, he bit it back and killed it

Xenophanes

Age b.570BC 2588

Output None, though many fragments of his work remain 1

Key idea God should not be imagined in human terms 4

Influence His monotheism influenced much Christianity 65

genius Mainly criticized humanized pictures of the Gods in myth 3

“If horses could draw, they would draw horse gods”

Fact! Was once sold into slavery, and lived to the age of 93

Heraclitus

Age b.535BC 2553

Output A lost 3-part treatise and 129 fragments 3

Key idea Everything changes 3

Influence Influenced Plato, the Stoics, and the Church fathers 70

genius Raised questions about change and personal identity 6

“You could not step twice in the same river”

Fact! He smeared himself with shit to try and heal his swelling disease.

Anaxagoras

Age b.510BC 2528

Output Wrote one, quite famous, book, which is now lost 1

Key idea The world is arranged by a cosmic mind (nous) 2

InfluenceWas a good naturalist but

was later rejected by Socrates

65

genius Suggested that the stars are not gods, but hot rocks 6

“thought is the finest and the purest of all things”

Fact! He cut open a sheep’s head to prove it wasn’t a unicorn

Thales

Age b.624BC 2642

Output Two disputed, lost works 2

Key idea Everything is made of water 2

Influence Got the ball rolling! 80

genius The first philosopher and mathematician 8

Fact! He fell into a well during an intense stargazing session

“Know thyself!”

Parmenides

Age b.515BC 2533

Output A single, two-part poem, On Nature 1

Key idea Nothing changes 1

Influence Extremely influential on Plato and later metaphysics 80

genius Pioneered logical argument about being and existence 8

“Nothing comes from nothing”

Fact! He went on a heavenly journey to a mystical goddess (probably...)

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Empedocles

Age b.494BC 2512

Output 5000 lines from 2 poems 2

Key ideaEverything is bound

between two forces, Love and Strife

1

Influence Formulated theory of the 4 elements 75

genius Gave the first theory of light and vision 5

“There is no birth or death; only mixture”

Fact! He thought he was a wizard, And died by jumping into a volcano

Democritus

Age b.460BC 2478

Output 68 known works, though all lost 68

Key ideaAtomism, the view that everything is made from

indivisible particles in a void4

Influence Hated by Plato, but extremely influential 80

genius Known as the ‘father of modern science.’ 7

“By convention sweet is sweet... but in reality, only atoms and void”

Fact! He was known as the ‘laughing philosopher’ and ‘the mocker’

Protagoras

Age b.490BC 2508

Output 12 works, most lost 12

Key ideaRelativism, the idea that truth is in some sense

determined by us3

InfluenceHis relativism and

agnosticism are extremely prominent today

65

genius Primarily a sophist rather than a substantial thinker 4

“Man is the measure of all things”

Fact! He Wrote a whole philosophical treatise about wrestling

Zeno of elea

Age b.495BC 2513

Output No works survive! 0

Key idea Nothing moves or changes, as paradoxes are created 1

InfluencePioneered the art of

dialogue, but not always taken seriously

55

genius His paradoxes are ingenious and fun! 6

“The hypothesis of the many is more ridiculous than that of the one.”

Fact! During being tortured, he deliberately cut out his own tongue

Socrates

Age b.470BC 2488

Output Wrote nothing down 0

Key ideaThe ‘Socratic method’, and

the foundation of moral philosophy

5

Influence Huge. He kickstarted philosophy as we know it 90

genius Was virtuous and wise, but claimed ignorance! 0

“The wise man knows that he knows nothing at all”

Fact! He was famously ugly. He fought fearlessly in the Peloponnesian war

Plato

Age b.427BC 2445

Output 35 dialogues and 13 letters (some disputed) 48

Key ideaThe theory of Forms, and the Kallipolis, a city-state run by

philosophers 3

InfluenceAll western philosophy has

been deemed ‘footnotes’ to him

95

genius Known as the ‘father of western philosophy’. 9

“How could they see anything but shadows if they were never allowed

to move their heads?”

Fact! He was a skilled wrestleR. His name means ‘well built’.

Aristotle

Age b.384BC 2402

Output 30 surviving works, but countless others that are lost 30

Key ideaDeveloped modern logic,

and methods of science and virtue

5

InfluenceHistorically massive, though partially replaced by modern

science90

genius An expert on practically everything 10

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit”

Fact! He forced his pupils to follow him as he walked around teaching

Melissus

Age b.500BC 2518

Output Only one, called On Nature 1

Key idea Reality is infinite, unlimited, and therefore One 2

InfluenceNot as famous as

Parmenides and Zeno, but influenced the atomists

30

genius Gave clear arguments, but largely followed Parmenides 4

“What is nothing, cannot be”

Fact! Was a naval commander in the Peloponnesian war

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Antisthenes

Age b.445BC 2463

Output 60, but only fragments remain 60

Key idea Founded Cynicism; living a simple life outside society 3

Influence Not as well known as his famous student, Diogenes 50

genius Stayed true to the Socratic ideal of a virtuous life 5

“I would rather be mad than feel pleasure”

Fact! He Walked 12 miles every day to hear socrates teach

Diogenes

Age b.412BC 2430

Output Some lost books and letters 18

Key idea Antiestablishment protest and ascetism 2

Influence The original hipster and alternative lifestyle guru 70

genius Not really an intellectual kind of guy 1

“Poverty is a virtue which one can teach oneself”

Fact! He lived in a barrel like a dog, and trolled Plato’s lectures

Crates

Age b.365BC 2383

Output One book of letters, some plays and some poems 10

Key idea The ideal Cynic state is a simple one free of luxuries 2

Influence Taught Zeno of Citium, who founded Stoicism 45

geniusA less serious Cynic than his

colleagues. He ate only lentils

3

“Hunger stops love; or if not hunger, time”

Fact! He was known for gatecrashing parties in athens

Zeno of Citium

Age b.334BC 2352

Output 25 known lost works 25

Key idea Stoicism: live a peaceful life in accordance with nature 3

InfluenceFounded a major and influential school of

philosophy70

genius Formulated a systematic philosophical system 6

“No evil is honorable, but death is honorable. therefore, death is

no evil”

Fact! He Died of a broken toe

Chrysippus

Age b.279BC 2297

Output Over 700; none have survived! 700

Key idea Soft determinism: there is both fate and free will 4

InfluenceMoulded Stoicism into its

most popular and developed form

70

genius Created a whole system of propositional logic 7

“It is fair to seek one’s own benefit, but never at the expense

of another”

Fact! He Died from laughing after watching a donkey eat some figs

Pyrrho

Age b.360BC 2378

Output Wrote nothing 0

Key ideaSkepticism, focussing on

achieving ataraxia (tranquillity)

3

Influence Important in being the first skeptical philosopher 60

genius A shadowy figure with no known detailed principles 2

“The chief good is the suspension of judgment, from which peace of mind follows like a shadow”

Fact! He travelled to india and persia with alexander the great

Epicurus

Age b.341BC 2359

Output Probably over 300. 3 remain 300

Key idea Happiness is the highest good 4

Influence Massive in Roman times, and in more recent times 85

genius Turned many earlier views into a secular philosophy 8

“He who is not satisfied with little is satisfied with nothing”

Fact! Remained cheerful throughout a painful death on the toilet

Aristippus

Age b.435BC 2453

Output According to some, never wrote anything down 0

Key idea Hedonism: life is about seeking pleasure 2

Influence Influenced future hedonists and skeptics 65

geniusMainly caused an annoyance

and pursued a scandalous life

2

“Even if all laws were abolished, the wise would still live the same life”

Fact! He rejected his illegitimate son, comparing him to snot and vermin

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Posidonius

Age b.135BC 2153

Output Many; 20 are known though lost 20

Key ideaAttempted to use Stoic and Aristotelian ideas to create a

theory of everything3

Influence Known by everyone in his time; less so today 55

genius The greatest polymath and writer of the 1st Century BC 8

“A single day among the learned lasts longer than a lifetime among the

ignorant”

Fact! He studied in detail the throat-cutting customs of the celts

Cicero

Age b.106BC 2124

Output Huge. 72 sets of letters, 88 speeches and 14 books 174

Key idea Humanism, rhetoric, and natural law ideas in ethics 5

Influence Founded western intellectual culture as we know it 95

genius The master of philosophy and language 9

“Almost no-one dances sober, unless he is insane”

Fact! He Tried to upgrade his Dead daughter into a goddess

Lucretius

Age b.99BC 2117

Output One philosophical poem, On the Nature of Things 1

Key ideaThe world is guided by

chance, not divine intervention

4

Influence Wrote eloquently and timelessly on life and death 70

genius Introduced the Romans to Epicurus and atomism 5

“Life is one long struggle in the daRk”

Fact! He was driven insane by a love potion

Seneca

Age b.4BC 2022

Output Essays,letters, plays and a comedy 146

Key idea Developed Stoicism: everything is for the best 3

Influence One of the most popular Roman philosophers 65

genius A great writer, if not the most original thinker 6

“He who travels everywhere is nowhere; he has many

acquaintances but no friends”

Fact! He slit his wrists and died in the bath, on the orders of emperor nero

Epictetus

Age b.55CE 1963

Output 8 discourses, 4 preserved 8

Key idea Philosophy is a way of life in a pre-determined universe 3

Influence One of the most influential Stoics 70

genius Devised a straightforward philosophy of happiness 5

“First say to yourself what you would be; then, do what you have to

do”

Fact! He was a slave who had emperors for friends

Marcus Aurelius

Age b.121CE 1897

Output His Meditations is a major work 1

Key ideaReason allows us to live in

harmony with the logos, the cosmic order

4

Influence He is inspirational even today 80

genius A philosopher who ruled the Roman Empire with principle 6

“Don’t think that what is hard to master is impossible; if something is

possible, it is within your grasp”

Fact! He was a Philosopher king who was deified straight after death

Plotinus

Age b.204CE 1814

Output His collected writings are the ‘Six Enneads’ 6

Key idea Neoplatonism: all reality can be derived from ‘the One’ 2

InfluenceHe inspired much of Islamic,

Christian and Jewish philosophy

80

genius A mystical heavyweight who resurrected Plato 8

“It is by participation in a species that we call every sensible object

‘beautiful’”

Fact! He tried and failed to build a plato-inspired philosopher city

CarneAdes

Age b.214BC 2232

Output Left no writings 0

Key idea Academic skepticism: all knowledge is impossible 0

Influence Upset the Romans as being too radical 45

genius Advocated the purest form of skepticism 5

“Every ‘truth’ is persuasiveness with a hint of relativity, namely,

probability”

Fact! He Was so obsessed with studying that he never cut his hair or nails

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