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Chronological map of the great philosophers

Below is a thumbnail sketch of the history of Western Philosophy and its most significant figures. Naturally, such a sketch is highly selective, but hopefully it is not too controversial in its choice of who to include and who to exclude. The philosophers, together with some of their major publications, are grouped together in order to highlight thematic similarities, but it must be noted that sweeping distinctions such as "empiricist", "rationalist", etc., are always somewhat superficial.

Recent Philosophy

Whilst the history of philosophy qua history isnot a proper part of philosophy, understanding and responding to the great thinkers of the past who constitute the tradition of the subject is. Part of coming to understand these thinkers is to see how their ideas developed in terms of the philosophers that they were responding to, and how subsequent philosophers went on to respond to them. To that end, History of Philosophy texts can be a useful source of background information. The following series has much to recommend it:

• • Terence Irwin (1989), A History of Western Philosophy: 1, Classical Thought, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • David Luscombe (1997), A History of Western Philosophy: 2, Medieval Thought, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Brian P. Copenhaver and Charles B. Schmitt (1992), A History of Western Philosophy: 3, Renaissance Philosophy, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • John Cottingham (1988), A History of Western Philosophy: 4, The Rationalists, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • R. S. Woolhouse (1988), A History of Western Philosophy: 5, The Empiricists, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • John Skorupski (1993), A History of Western Philosophy: 6, English-Language Philosophy 1750-1945, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Robert C. Solomon (1988), A History of Western Philosophy: 7, Continental Philosophy since 1750: The Rise and Fall of the Self, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Thomas Baldwin (forthcoming), A History of Western Philosophy: 8, English-Language Philosophy since 1945, Oxford: Oxford University Press.