SNAPSHOT BIOGRAPHIES
Abravanel, Isaac (Abarbanel)
1437-1508 Portugal, Spain, Italy
Medieval Jewish philosopher and biblical exegete; statesman
Agus, Jacob B.
20th century United States
Jewish author and historical writer
Aristotle
384-322 B.C.E. Greece
Greek philosopher
Augustine
354-430 North Africa
Church father, philosopher
Aquinas, Thomas
ca. 1225-1274 Italy
Medieval Catholic philosopher
Baal ShemTov, Israel ben Eliezer (“Besht”)
ca. 1700-1760 Eastern Europe
Founder of Hasidic movement
Belkin, Samuel
20th century United States
Jewish scholar and writer; president. Yeshiva University
Berdyaev, Nikolai
1874-1948 Russia
Christian Marxist
Berg, Philip S.
20th century United States, Israel
Jewish writer on kabbalistic subjects
Berkovits, Eliezer
20th century United States, Israel
Orthodox Jewish thinker and writer
Bleich, J. David
20th century United States
Orthodox Jewish halakhist and scholar of Jewish philosophy
Borowitz, Eugene
20th century United States
Reform Jewish theologian
Buber, Martin
20th century Germany, Israel
Jewish philosopher and scholar
Camus, Albert
1913-1959 France
Philosopher and creative writer
Cohen, Arthur
20th century United States
Jewish theological writer
Cohen, Hermann
1842-1918 Germany
German school philosopher as well as Jewish philosopher
Epicurus
ca. 342-270 B.C.E. Greece
Philosopher; founder of Epicureanism
Fackenheim, Emil
20th century Germany, Canada
Jewish philosopher
Frankl, Viktor E.
20th century Austria, United States
Psychiatrist, author
Gersonides (Rav Levi ben Gershon; acronym: RaLbaG)
1288-1344 France
Medieval Jewish philosopher, biblical exegete, mathematician, astronomer, and talmudist
Gordis, Robert
20th century United States
Jewish thinker, writer, and biblical scholar
Greenberg, Hayim
1889-1953 United States
Jewish political and social thinker
Greenberg, Irving
20th century United States
Jewish thinker and writer
Hartman, David
20th century United States, Israel
Jewish thinker and writer
Herberg, Will
20th century United States
Jewish thinker and writer
Herder, Johann Gottfried
1744-1803 Germany
Philosopher of history
Heschel, Abraham Joshua
20th century Poland, Gemany, United States
Jewish scholar, thinker, and writer
Hick, John
20th century England
Philosopher and writer
Hirsch, Samson Raphael
1808-1888 Austria, Germany
Jewish scholar, thinker, and writer
Ibn Daud, Abraham
ca. 1110-1180 Spain
Medieval Jewish philosopher and historian, the first purely Aristote- lian Jewish philosopher
Ibn Ezra, Abraham
1089-1164 primarily Spain
Medieval Jewish biblical exegete, thinker, grammarian, and poet
Ibn Ezra, Isaac
12th century Spain, Egypt, Iraq
Medieval writer and poet. son of Abraham ibn Ezra: for a period, professed Islam
Ignatius of Loyola
1491-1556 Spain, France
Catholic thinker; founder of Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
Irenaeus
ca. 140-202 Asia Minor, Gaul
Catholic philosopher: a father of the Greek Church
Jacobs, Louis
20th century England
Jewish thinker and writer
Jung, Carl Gustave
1875-1961 Switzerland
Founder: analytic psychology
Kadushin, Max
20th century United States
Jewish thinker, scholar and writer
Kafka, Franz
1883-1924 Austria
Poet and writer of psychological and philosophical fiction
Kook, Abraham Isaac
1865-1935 Palestine
Neo-kabbalistic thinker, writer, and halakhist: (Ashkenazic) Chief Rabbi of Palestine
Kushner, Harold
20th century United States
Conservative rabbi and author
Lamm, Norman
20th century United States
Orthodox Jewish thinker and writer; president of Yeshiva University
Leibowitz, Nehama
20th century Israel
Orthodox Jewish biblical exegete
Luria, Isaac (the “Ari”)
1534-1572 Palestine, (educated in Egypt)
Founder: Lurianic kabbalistic school
Luzzatto, Moses Hayyim (acronym: “Ramhal”)
1707-1747 Italy, Germany, Holland, Palestine
Jewish halakhist, philosopher, mystic, and poet
Maimonides, Moses (Moses ben Maimon; acronym: “Rambarn”)
1135-1204 Spain, Palestine, Egypt
Medieval Jewish philosopher, exegete, codifier, halakhist, and medical writer
Mani
ca. 215-276 Babylonia
Founder of Manichaeism
Merton, Thomas
20th century United States
Catholic philosopher and writer
Mill, John Stuart
1806-1873 primarily England
Major exponent of Utilitarianism
Milton, John
1608-1674 England
Poet
Nachmanides, Moses (Moses ben Nachman; acronym: “Ramban”)
ca. 1194-1270 Spain, Palestine
Medieval Jewish exegete, halakhist, and philosopher. His biblical commentaries combine rational interpretation with insistence on kabbalistic implications.
Nicholas of Cusa
1401-1464
Roman Catholic philosopher
Philo (Philo of Alexandria; Philo Judaeus)
20 B.C.E.-50 C.E.
Hellenistic Jewish philosopher and exegete
Philoponus, John
6th century Egypt
Philosopher, commentator on Aristotle, grammarian, and theologian
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques
1712-1778 primarily France
Philosopher and author
Russel, Bertrand
20th century England
Mathematician and philosopher
Saadia Gaon (Saadyah ben Joseph)
882-942 Egypt, Palestine, Babylonia
Medieval Jewish philosopher, halakhist. poet, translator, and grammarian
Sartre, Jean-Paul
20th century France
Philosopher
Scherman, Nosson
20th century United States
Orthodox Jewish writer and editor
Schulweis, Harold M.
20th century United States
Jewish thinker and writer
Schlesinger, George
20th century United States
Thinker and writer
Scholem, Gershom
20th century Germany, Israel
Jewish authority on Kabbalah
Socrates
470-399 B.C.E. Greece
Greek philosopher: teacher of Plato
Soloveitchik, Joseph B.
20th century United States
Orthodox Jewish philosopher and halakhist
Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr
20th century Russian, United States
Novelist
Spero, Shubert
20th century United States
Jewish thinker and writer
Spinoza, Baruch
1632-1677 Holland
Philosopher, Jewish
Steinsaltz, Adin
20th century Israel
Jewish writer, talmudic commentator, and religious thinker
Stitskin, Leon D.
20th century United States
Jewish thinker and writer
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre
1881-1955 France
Christian philosopher and paleontologist
Tillich, Paul
20th century Germany, United States
Protestant theologian
Unamuno, Miguel de
1864-1936 Spain
Writer and philosopher
Vital, Hayyim (“Calabrese”)
1543-1620 Palestine, Syria
(Jewish) Lurianic kabbalist
Whitehead, Alfred North
1861-1947 England
Mathematician and philosopher
Wiesel, Elie
20th century Transylvania, France, United States
Jewish thinker and writer
Wolfson, Harry Austryn
20th century United States
Historian of philosophy and authority on Jewish philosophy
Younger, Irving
20th century United States
Judge, professor of law
