Philoscopia
Atlas
SmithAlbert the GreatElizabeth AnscombeAnselm of CanterburyAntisthenesThomas AquinasArcesilausHannah ArendtAristotleAugustineAverroesAvicennaBaconBādarāyaṇaBeauvoirBeccariaBenthamHenri BergsonGeorge BerkeleyIsaiah BerlinBoethiusNick BostromFranz BrentanoThe BuddhaBurkeCamusRudolf CarnapChrysippusWilliam Kingdon CliffordColeridgeComteCondillacCondorcetConfuciusCratesd'AlembertDerridaDescartesJohn DeweyDiderotDiogenes of SinopeDōgenFriedrich EngelsEpictetusEpicurusFrantz FanonLudwig FeuerbachFeyerabendFichteFoucaultHarry FrankfurtFregeSigmund FreudFukuyamaGandhiGauḍapādaAlvin GoldmanAntonio GramsciHabermasPierre HadotHegelHeideggerHelvétiusHeraclitusHerderHobbesd'HolbachHui ShiHumeHusserlJankélévitchJonasKantKierkegaardLaoziLeibnizAldo LeopoldEmmanuel LevinasLieziLockeLucretiusMachiavelliMaimonidesMarcus AureliusMarxMax MoreMenciusMerleau-PontyMetrodorusMillMichel de MontaigneMontesquieuArne NæssNāgārjunaThomas NagelNewtonNietzscheNovalisNozickMartha NussbaumRuwen OgienThomas PaineDerek ParfitParmenidesPascalCharles Sanders PeircePeter StrawsonPlantingaPlatoPlotinusPopperPyrrhoFrank RamseyRawlsTom ReganThomas ReidPaul RicœurRousseauRussellRichard RyderSandelSartreSchellingSchillerSchopenhauerAlbert SchweitzerSearleSenecaSextus EmpiricusŚaṅkaraSidgwickSimone WeilSingerSocratesSpinozaSusan WolfLeo TolstoyTuringPeter van InwagenVoltaireMichael WalzerMax WeberWilliam JamesBernard WilliamsWittgensteinXunziZeno of CitiumZhuangziAnalytic PhilosophyAristotelianismBuddhismConfucianismCynicismEmpiricismThe EnlightenmentEnvironmental EthicsEpicureanismExistentialismGerman IdealismLiberalismMarxismPhenomenologyPlatonismPragmatismRationalismRomanticismSkepticismStoicismTaoismTranshumanismUtilitarianismVedānta (Advaita)600 BCE500 BCE400 BCE300 BCE200 BCE100 BCE01002004009001400150016001700180019002000Independents
Philosopher Movement Attested Indirect Continuity Reaction

Atlas of philosophy: figures, movements and problems

Five ways into philosophy beyond a plain list: a chronological frieze tracing influences, a problem-by-problem circulation that walks from axis to axis through their doorways, a compass of named axes where position means something, an overall constellation of figures and movements, and a graph of the foundations between beliefs. Your marker appears from your answers.

The Atlas gathers several maps of the same figures and movements, each lighting up a different relation. None tells the truth on its own: crossing them reveals neighbourhoods, lineages and tensions that a plain list would leave invisible.

  • Influences. A chronological frieze tracing who inspired whom: filiations, legacies and ruptures between thinkers and movements. Movements form territories spanning their era, and each thinker sits at their year of birth, so you read the historical depth of an idea at a glance. A second mode crosses time with a chosen axis, to watch a position drift across the centuries.
  • Problems. A circulation through questions rather than authors: each problem is housed on its axis but opens doorways onto the neighbouring axes it crosses. You explore the referential by following a thread of inquiry, moving from one axis to another through what genuinely connects them, rather than through an imposed classification.
  • Compass. Planes formed by two named, carefully paired axes, where each quadrant is given a name and a figure's position means something precise (its bearing on reason and desire, say). Its strength is to make a question comparable: instead of opinions set side by side, you get a shared space in which to place the authors, and to place yourself.
  • Constellation. An overview where no one placed the figures by hand: their position emerges purely from computing their affinities across the whole referential, then settles into a dozen kindred families that organise themselves. You spot unexpected neighbourhoods at a glance, and, as soon as you have a profile, the map re-centres on you.
  • Foundations. A graph of the supports between beliefs: which descriptive beliefs underpin others, and how taking one position carries others along step by step. Pick a belief to climb toward what grounds it and descend toward what it implies, revealing the hidden architecture that ties the referential's positions together.

Limits. These maps remain simplifications. A position on an axis condenses a body of thought into a single point, the influences retained are selective, and the affinities measured depend on the axes already filled in. Read them as bearings, not verdicts.