examples:
Aristóteles
one of the greatest of the ancient Athenian philosophers; pupil of Plato; teacher of Alexander the Great (384-322 BC)
Francis Bacon
English statesman and philosopher; precursor of British empiricism; advocated inductive reasoning (1561-1626)
George Berkeley
Irish philosopher and Anglican bishop who opposed the materialism of Thomas Hobbes (1685-1753)
John Calvin
Swiss theologian (born in France) whose tenets (predestination and the irresistibility of grace and justification by faith) defined Presbyterianism (1509-1564)
K'ung Fu-Tzu
Chinese philosopher whose ideas and sayings were collected after his death and became the basis of a philosophical doctrine known a Confucianism (circa 551-478 BC)
Rene Descartes
French philosopher and mathematician; developed dualistic theory of mind and matter; introduced the use of coordinates to locate a point in two or three dimensions (1596-1650)
John Dewey
United States pragmatic philosopher who advocated progressive education (1859-1952)
Epicuro
Greek philosopher who believed that the world is a random combination of atoms and that pleasure is the highest good (341-270 BC)
Desiderius Erasmus
Dutch humanist and theologian who was the leading Renaissance scholar of northern Europe; although his criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church led to the Reformation, he opposed violence and condemned Martin Luther (1466-1536)
Gregorio XIII
(Roman Catholic Church) an Italian pope distinguished for his spiritual and temporal leadership; a saint and Doctor of the Church (540?-604)
William James
United States pragmatic philosopher and psychologist (1842-1910)
Immanuel Kant
influential German idealist philosopher (1724-1804)
Lao-Tse
Chinese philosopher regarded as the founder of Taoism (6th century BC)
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
German philosopher and mathematician who thought of the universe as consisting of independent monads and who devised a system of the calculus independent of Newton (1646-1716)
John Locke
English empiricist philosopher who believed that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience (1632-1704)
Martin Luther
German theologian who led the Reformation; believed that salvation is granted on the basis of faith rather than deeds (1483-1546)
Maquiavelo
a statesman of Florence who advocated a strong central government (1469-1527)
Blaise Pascal
French mathematician and philosopher and Jansenist; invented an adding machine; contributed (with Fermat) to the theory of probability (1623-1662)
Platón
ancient Athenian philosopher; pupil of Socrates; teacher of Aristotle (428-347 BC)
Pitágoras
Greek philosopher and mathematician who proved the Pythagorean theorem; considered to be the first true mathematician (circa 580-500 BC)
Quine
United States philosopher and logician who championed an empirical view of knowledge that depended on language (1908-2001)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
French philosopher and writer born in Switzerland; believed that the natural goodness of man was warped by society; ideas influenced the French Revolution (1712-1778)
Russell
English philosopher and mathematician who collaborated with Whitehead (1872-1970)
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Roman statesman and philosopher who was an advisor to Nero; his nine extant tragedies are modeled on Greek tragedies (circa 4 BC - 65 AD)
Sócrates
ancient Athenian philosopher; teacher of Plato and Xenophon (470-399 BC)
Wittgenstein
British philosopher born in Austria; a major influence on logic and logical positivism (1889-1951)
types:
académico
a scholar who is skilled in academic disputation
arabista
a scholar who specializes in Arab languages and culture
bibliógrafo
someone trained in compiling bibliographies
bibliófilo
someone who loves (and usually collects) books
doctor
a person who holds Ph.D. degree (or the equivalent) from an academic institution
humanista
a classical scholar or student of the liberal arts
erudito,
sabio
someone who has been admitted to membership in a scholarly field
licenciado
holds a license (degree) from a (European) university
escolástico,
pedante
a person who pays more attention to formal rules and book learning than they merit
lector
a person who enjoys reading
escolástico
a scholar in one of the universities of the Middle Ages; versed in scholasticism
sinólogo
a student of Chinese history and language and culture
teólogo
someone who is learned in theology or who speculates about theology
nativismo
a philosopher who subscribes to nativism
doctor,
doctor de la iglesia
(Roman Catholic Church) a title conferred on 33 saints who distinguished themselves through the orthodoxy of their theological teaching
ecléctico
someone who selects according to the eclectic method
empirista
a philosopher who subscribes to empiricism
esteticismo
a philosopher who specializes in the nature of beauty
existencialista
a philosopher who emphasizes freedom of choice and personal responsibility but who regards human existence in a hostile universe as unexplainable
libertario
someone who believes the doctrine of free will
moralista
a philosopher who specializes in morals and moral problems
filólogo
a humanist specializing in classical scholarship
purista
someone who insists on great precision and correctness (especially in the use of words)
realista
a philosopher who believes that universals are real and exist independently of anyone thinking of them
estoico
a member of the ancient Greek school of philosophy founded by Zeno
yoghi,
yogui
one who practices yoga and has achieved a high level of spiritual insight