Great Thinkers

Meet the great minds whose ideas have shaped the world — philosophers, scientists, artists, leaders, and revolutionaries whose thinking still matters today.

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Subject: Philosophy × Creative expression ×

1859-1938 · Austria-Hungary / Germany

Edmund Husserl was a German philosopher. He is the founder of phenomenology, one of the most important schools of twentieth-century thought. He was born on…

Critical thinking Research skills Creative expression Ethical thinking +1

"To the things themselves."

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Friedrich Nietzsche

1844-1900 · Germany

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German philosopher, cultural critic, and classicist. He was one of the most influential and most misunderstood thinkers of the 19th…

Critical thinking Creative expression Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1

"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him."

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G.E.M. Anscombe

1919-2001 · England (born in Ireland)

Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe was a British philosopher. She was one of the most important philosophers writing in English in the 20th century. She was…

Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Research skills +1

"For men to choose to kill the innocent as a means to their ends is always murder."

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Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

1770-1831 · Germany

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher. He was the last of the great system-builders in Western philosophy. He was born on 27 August…

Critical thinking Research skills Ethical thinking Creative expression +1

"The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk."

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1724-1804 · Prussia (Germany)

Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher. He is one of the most influential thinkers in the history of Western philosophy. He was born on 22…

Critical thinking Ethical thinking Problem solving Research skills +1

"Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed immaturity."

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Jacques Derrida

1930-2004 · France (born in French Algeria)

Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher. He is best known for a way of reading texts called deconstruction. He was born on 15 July 1930…

Critical thinking Creative expression Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1

"There is nothing outside the text."

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau

1712-1778 · Geneva (now Switzerland) and France

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a philosopher and writer. He is one of the most important thinkers of the European Enlightenment. He was born on 28 June…

Critical thinking Ethical thinking Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity +1

"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains."

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1859-1952 · United States

John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educator. He was one of the most important thinkers in the United States during the first half…

Critical thinking Ethical thinking Problem solving Creative expression +1

"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself."

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Ludwig Wittgenstein

1889-1951 · Austria-Hungary / United Kingdom

Ludwig Wittgenstein was an Austrian-British philosopher. Many consider him the greatest philosopher of the twentieth century. He was born on 26 April 1889 in Vienna,…

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"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world."

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Martha Nussbaum

1947-present · United States

Martha Craven Nussbaum is an American philosopher. She is one of the most influential and widely read philosophers of the past fifty years. She was…

Ethical thinking Critical thinking Emotional intelligence Cultural heritage and identity +1

"The best approach to the question of social justice is the capabilities approach: what are people actually able to do…"

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c. 371-289 BCE · China

Mencius was a Chinese philosopher. His Chinese name was Meng Ke, which means 'Master Meng'. Later Chinese tradition called him the 'Second Sage', meaning second…

Ethical thinking Critical thinking Emotional intelligence Cultural heritage and identity +1

"The feeling of pity is the beginning of kindness. The feeling of shame is the beginning of doing right. The…"

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Michel Foucault

1926-1984 · France

Michel Foucault was a French philosopher and historian. He was one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. He was born on 15…

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"Where there is power, there is resistance."

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1941-2025 · Democratic Republic of the Congo (later United States)

Valentin-Yves Mudimbe was a Congolese philosopher, novelist, and linguist. He was one of the most important African thinkers of the late 20th century. He was…

Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Research skills Ethical thinking +1

"There exists an African way of interpreting the world which presents the universe as a totality."

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c. 1599-c. 1692 · Ethiopia

Zera Yacob was an Ethiopian philosopher of the seventeenth century. His main work is a short book called the Hatata, which means 'inquiry' or 'investigation'.…

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"All men are equal in the presence of God; and all are intelligent since they are his creatures."

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1130-1200 · China

Zhu Xi was a Chinese philosopher, teacher, and government official of the Southern Song dynasty. He was born on 18 October 1130 in Youxi, in…

Ethical thinking Critical thinking Research skills Cultural heritage and identity +1

"If we wish to extend our knowledge to the utmost, we must investigate the principles of all things we come…"

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c. 369-286 BCE · China

Zhuangzi was a Chinese philosopher of the 4th century BCE. His name means 'Master Zhuang'. His personal name was Zhuang Zhou. He lived during a…

Critical thinking Creative expression Emotional intelligence Ethical thinking +1

"Once Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as…"

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