In philosophy past and present there are some philosophers who tower over the intellectual landscape and have shaped it in indelible ways. So significant is their impact that it is difficult to capture it in one place. The Routledge Philosophical Minds series presents a comprehensive survey of all aspects of a major philosopher's work, from analysis and criticism of their major texts and arguments to the way their ideas are taken up in contemporary philosophy and beyond. Edited by leading figures in their fields and with an outstanding international roster of contributors the series offers a magisterial and unrivalled picture of a great philosophical mind.
Edited
By Silvia Caprioglio Panizza, Mark Hopwood
January 29, 2024
Iris Murdoch was a philosopher and novelist of extraordinary breadth and originality whose work defies simple categorisation. Her philosophical writing engages with an astonishingly wide range of figures, from Plato and Kant to Sartre and Heidegger, and her work increasingly inspires debate in ...
Edited
By David Bather Woods, Timothy Stoll
November 14, 2023
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) is now recognised as a figure of canonical importance to the history of philosophy. Schopenhauer founded his system on a highly original interpretation of Kant’s philosophy, developing an entirely novel and controversial worldview guided centrally by his striking ...
Edited
By Mark Sinclair, Yaron Wolf
September 25, 2023
Henri Bergson (1859–1941) is widely regarded as one of the most original and important philosophers of the twentieth century. His work explored a rich panoply of subjects, including time, memory, free will and humour and we owe the popular term élan vital to a fundamental insight of Bergson’s. His ...
Edited
By Sarin Marchetti
September 25, 2023
William James (1842–1910) is widely regarded as the founding figure of modern psychology and one of the most important philosophers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Renowned for his philosophical theory of pragmatism and memorable turns of phrase, such as ‘stream of consciousness’ and the...
Edited
By Sorin Baiasu, Mark Timmons
July 20, 2023
The thought of Immanuel Kant is fundamental to understanding Western philosophy. Spanning epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and religion, the sheer scope and originality of Kant’s ideas have decisively shaped the history of modern philosophy. The Kantian Mind is an outstanding guide and reference...
Edited
By Adrian Haddock, Rachael Wiseman
May 31, 2023
G. E. M. Anscombe (1919–2001) is one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century. Known primarily for influencing research in action theory and moral philosophy, her work also has relevance in the study of metaphysics, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, philosophy of ...
Edited
By Theodore George, Gert-Jan van der Heiden
May 31, 2023
Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900–2002) is one of the most important philosophers of the post-1945 era. His name has become all but synonymous with the philosophical study of hermeneutics, the field concerned with theories of understanding and interpretation and laid out in his landmark book Truth and ...
Edited
By Hanne Jacobs
May 31, 2023
Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) is widely regarded as the principal founder of phenomenology, one of the most important movements in twentieth-century philosophy. His work inspired subsequent figures such as Martin Heidegger, his most renowned pupil, as well as Jean-Paul Sartre and Maurice Merleau-Ponty...
Edited
By Jessica Gordon-Roth, Shelley Weinberg
May 31, 2023
John Locke (1632–1704) is considered one of the most important philosophers of the modern era and the first of what are often called ‘the Great British Empiricists.’ His major work, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, was the single most widely read academic text in Britain for fifty years ...
Edited
By Anna Elsner, Thomas Stern
December 30, 2022
When Marcel Proust started to work on In Search of Lost Time in 1908, he wrote this question in his notebook: ‘Should I make it a novel, a philosophical study, am I a novelist?’ Throughout his famous multi-volume work, Proust directly engages several philosophers, and few novels are as thoroughly ...
Edited
By Angela Coventry, Alexander Sager
December 18, 2020
David Hume (1711–1776) is widely acknowledged as one of the most important philosophers in the English language, with his work continuing to exert major influence on philosophy today. His empiricism, naturalism, and psychology of the mind and the passions shape many positions and approaches in the ...
Edited
By Matthew C. Eshleman, Constance L. Mui
February 03, 2020
Jean-Paul Sartre was one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century. His influence extends beyond academic philosophy to areas as diverse as anti-colonial movements, youth culture, literary criticism, and artistic developments around the world. Beginning with an introduction and ...