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Persons A–Z

Individual thinkers referenced across the positioning section. Each page presents a thinker’s key concepts and works on their own terms, with see-also links to intellectual neighbours within the section.

A

• Abhinavagupta (c. 950–1016) · philosopher, aestheticianrasa as aesthetic experience, sadharanikarana, dhvani and suggestion, non-dual Kashmir Shaivism, the Tantraloka, recognition
• Albert, David (1954–) · philosopher of physicsthe Past Hypothesis, foundations of statistical mechanics, the measurement problem, GRW
• Anderson, Philip (1923–2020) · physicist“More is Different”, emergence, Anderson localisation, symmetry breaking, Santa Fe Institute
• Aquinas, Thomas (1225–1274) · theologian, philosophersynthesis of Aristotle and Christian theology, the five ways, natural law, the Summa Theologiae
• Arendt, Hannah (1906–1975) · political theoristplurality as the human condition, the vita activa, totalitarianism, the banality of evil
• Aristotle (384–322 BCE) · philosopherteleology, the four causes, virtue ethics, the first systematic biology, the syllogism, substance and form
• Arthur, W. Brian (1945–) · economistincreasing returns, path dependence, complexity economics, technological evolution
• Ashby, W. Ross (1903–1972) · psychiatrist, cyberneticistthe homeostat, requisite variety, the good regulator theorem, ultrastability
• Austin, J. L. (1911–1960) · philosopherspeech act theory, performatives and constatives, locutionary/illocutionary/perlocutionary, ordinary-language philosophy, A Plea for Excuses, the critique of sense-data
• Axelrod, Robert (1943–) · political scientistevolution of cooperation, iterated prisoner’s dilemma, tit-for-tat, the BACH group

B

• Bak, Per (1948–2002) · physicistself-organized criticality, power-law dynamics, the sand-pile model, How Nature Works
• Bakhtin, Mikhail (1895–1975) · philosopher, literary theoristdialogism, the utterance, polyphony, carnival, outsideness, the unfinalisability of the self
• Barabási, Albert-László (1967–) · physicist, network scientistscale-free networks, preferential attachment, network science, robustness and vulnerability
• Barthes, Roland (1915–1980) · literary theorist, criticmyth as second-order signification, connotation, the death of the author, S/Z, the pleasure of the text, the punctum
• Bateson, Gregory (1904–1980) · anthropologist, cyberneticistecology of mind, difference that makes a difference, schismogenesis, the pattern which connects
• Bateson, William (1861–1926) · biologistcoined “genetics”, Mendel’s champion, the Mendelian-biometrician debate, discontinuous variation
• Baumgarten, Alexander Gottlieb (1714–1762) · philosophercoined “aesthetics”, the science of sensory cognition, gnoseologia inferior, beauty as perfection of sensible cognition
• Beauvoir, Simone de (1908–1986) · philosopherexistentialist ethics, the ethics of ambiguity, The Second Sex, woman as the Other, immanence and transcendence
• Bell, John (1928–1990) · physicistBell’s theorem, Bell inequalities, the impossibility of local hidden variables, the measurement problem
• Bennett, Charles (1943–) · physicistreversible computation, Maxwell’s demon resolved via erasure, quantum teleportation, quantum key distribution
• Bergson, Henri (1859–1941) · philosopherduration, creative evolution, intuition, the élan vital
• Berlin, Isaiah (1909–1997) · philosopher, historian of ideasvalue pluralism, incommensurability of values, two concepts of liberty, the Counter-Enlightenment
• Berners-Lee, Tim (1955–) · computer scientistinventor of the World Wide Web, HTTP, HTML, the URL, the W3C, the open web
• Bertalanffy, Ludwig von (1901–1972) · biologist, systems thinkergeneral system theory, open systems, organismic biology, equifinality
• Blackburn, Simon (1944–) · philosopherquasi-realism, projectivism, expressivism, earning back moral truth, the Frege–Geach problem, minimalism about truth
• Bohm, David (1917–1992) · physicistBohmian mechanics, the pilot-wave interpretation, hidden variables, the implicate order, wholeness
• Bohr, Niels (1885–1962) · physicistthe Bohr model, complementarity, the Copenhagen interpretation, the Bohr-Einstein debate
• Boltzmann, Ludwig (1844–1906) · physiciststatistical mechanics, entropy, the H-theorem, the Boltzmann equation, the arrow of time
• Born, Max (1882–1970) · physicistthe probability interpretation of quantum mechanics (Born rule), matrix mechanics, lattice dynamics
• Boyd, Robert (1948–) · anthropologistdual-inheritance theory (with Richerson), mathematical models of cultural evolution, transmission biases, cultural group selection
• Bradley, F. H. (1846–1924) · philosopherabsolute idealism, Appearance and Reality, the critique of relations, the Absolute, British idealism
• Brandom, Robert (1950–) · philosopherinferentialism, deontic scorekeeping, commitment over representation, expressive rationality
• Buber, Martin (1878–1965) · philosopherI and Thou, the dialogical principle, relation as primary, the between, Hasidism, encounter
• Burke, Kenneth (1897–1993) · rhetorician, philosopherlanguage as symbolic action, dramatism, the pentad, identification, literature as equipment for living

C

• Candrakīrti (c. 600–c. 650 CE) · Buddhist philosopherPrāsaṅgika Madhyamaka, the Prasannapadā, the Madhyamakāvatāra, reductio over independent argument
• Carnap, Rudolf (1891–1970) · philosopherlogical empiricism, the Aufbau, verificationism, the tolerance principle, probability and induction
• Carroll, Sean (1966–) · theoretical physicistthe arrow of time, the Past Hypothesis, many-worlds interpretation, the cosmological multiverse
• Cassirer, Ernst (1874–1945) · philosopherthe philosophy of symbolic forms, the animal symbolicum, neo-Kantianism, substance and function, the Davos debate
• Castoriadis, Cornelius (1922–1997) · philosopherthe imaginary institution of society, radical imagination, autonomy as conscious self-institution, the social imaginary
• Chomsky, Noam (1928–) · linguist, cognitive scientistgenerative grammar, universal grammar, the poverty of the stimulus, the cognitive revolution, the Chomsky hierarchy, Manufacturing Consent
• Clark, James (1964–) · software engineerXML technical lead, editor of XSLT 1.0 and XPath 1.0, expat, RELAX NG, groff
• Cohen, Hermann (1842–1918) · philosopherMarburg neo-Kantianism, the logic of pure cognition, the productive role of thought, ethical socialism
• Collingwood, R. G. (1889–1943) · philosopher, historian, archaeologistart as expression, corrupt consciousness, language and art interchangeable, re-enactment, absolute presuppositions
• Connolly, William E. (1938–) · political theoristdeep pluralism, pluralisation, agonistic respect, politics of becoming, resonance machines
• Cosmides, Leda (1957–) · cognitive psychologistthe adapted mind, cheater-detection experiments, social-contract theory, evolutionary psychology
• Crick, Francis (1916–2004) · molecular biologistthe structure of DNA, the central dogma, the genetic code, the frozen-accident hypothesis, consciousness
• Croce, Benedetto (1866–1952) · philosopheraesthetics as general linguistics, intuition-expression, beauty as precision, the Philosophy of Spirit, anti-fascism
• Cronin, Lee (1973–) · chemistpolyoxometalate chemistry, chemical robots, digitised chemistry, Chemify, assembly theory
• Cutting, Doug (1961–) · software engineerLucene, Nutch, Hadoop, Avro — open-source search and large-scale data infrastructure

D

• Dahl, Robert (1915–2014) · political scientistpluralist democracy, polyarchy, Who Governs?, the dispersal of power
• Darwin, Charles (1809–1882) · naturalistnatural selection, the Beagle voyage, one long argument, barnacles to earthworms
• Dawkins, Richard (1941–) · evolutionary biologistthe selfish gene, gene-centric view, memes, the extended phenotype, universal Darwinism
• De Broglie, Louis (1892–1987) · physicistwave-particle duality, the de Broglie hypothesis, matter waves, the pilot-wave theory
• De Vries, Hugo (1848–1935) · botanistthe rediscovery of Mendel, mutation theory, intracellular pangenesis, the concept of the gene
• de Man, Paul (1919–1983) · literary theorist, criticthe Yale school, rhetoric over grammar, Allegories of Reading, the resistance to theory, the wartime-journalism affair
• Deleuze, Gilles (1925–1995) · philosopherdifference and repetition, the rhizome, multiplicity, assemblages, the fold, immanence
• Democritus (c. 460–c. 370 BCE) · philosopheratomism, the void, the earliest systematic materialism, plurality of being
• Dennett, Daniel (1942–2024) · philosopherthe intentional stance, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, consciousness explained, universal Darwinism, memes
• DeRose, Steven · computer scientistdescriptive markup theory, the first SGML browser (DynaText), co-editor of XPath and XPointer, XML and hypertext, the Text Encoding Initiative
• Derrida, Jacques (1930–2004) · philosopherdeconstruction, différance, the trace, the metaphysics of presence, writing and difference
• Descartes, René (1596–1650) · philosopher, mathematicianthe cogito, the mirror, the mind-body split, method
• Deutsch, David (1953–) · physicistquantum computing, the universal quantum computer, the Church-Turing-Deutsch principle, constructor theory, many-worlds
• Dewey, John (1859–1952) · philosopherpragmatism, democracy, inquiry as community problem-solving, experience as transaction
• DeWitt, Bryce (1923–2004) · physicistthe many-worlds revival, the Wheeler-DeWitt equation, quantum gravity, the effective-action method
• Dilthey, Wilhelm (1833–1911) · philosopherthe human sciences, Verstehen versus Erklären, lived experience and expression, the critique of historical reason, objective spirit
• Di Paolo, Ezequiel (b. 1970) · cognitive scientist, philosopherthe enactive approach to mind and life, autonomy and sense-making, adaptivity as the addition to autopoiesis, participatory sense-making and interactional autonomy, the linguistic body and the life–language continuity
• Dirac, Paul (1902–1984) · physicistthe Dirac equation, quantum field theory, antimatter, bra-ket notation, the Principles of Quantum Mechanics
• Dobzhansky, Theodosius (1900–1975) · geneticist, evolutionary biologistGenetics and the Origin of Species, Modern Synthesis bridge, isolating mechanisms, nothing in biology
• Doolittle, W. Ford (1941–) · biochemistthe tree-of-life critique, horizontal gene transfer, the web of life, pattern pluralism

E

• Eco, Umberto (1932–2016) · semiotician, philosopher, novelista theory of codes, the open work, the limits of interpretation, the model reader, unlimited semiosis, The Name of the Rose
• Eddington, Arthur (1882–1944) · astrophysicistnamed “the arrow of time”, confirmed general relativity, stellar structure, the mass-luminosity relation
• Edelman, Gerald (1929–2014) · biologistNeural Darwinism, neuronal group selection, reentrant signalling, the immunological Nobel, consciousness
• Eilenberg, Samuel (1913–1998) · mathematicianco-founder of category theory, Eilenberg-Steenrod axioms, homological algebra, automata theory
• Einstein, Albert (1879–1955) · physicistspecial and general relativity, the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, the EPR paradox, E = mc²
• Eldredge, Niles (1943–) · paleontologistpunctuated equilibrium, hierarchy theory, genealogical-ecological duality, stasis, turnover pulse
• Empedocles (c. 494–c. 434 BCE) · philosopherthe four elements, love and strife, the cosmic cycle, the earliest pluralist cosmology
• Everett, Hugh III (1930–1982) · physicistthe many-worlds interpretation, the relative-state formulation, the universal wave function

F

• Faraday, Michael (1791–1867) · physicist, chemistelectromagnetic induction, the field concept, lines of force, electrolysis, diamagnetism, the Faraday effect
• Feyerabend, Paul (1924–1994) · philosopher of scienceagainst method, theoretical pluralism, incommensurability
• Fichte, Johann Gottlieb (1762–1814) · philosopherself-positing I, the not-I, differentiation as origin
• Fielding, Roy (1965–) · computer scientistREST, HATEOAS, the HTTP and URI specifications, the Apache HTTP Server
• Fisher, R. A. (1890–1962) · statistician, geneticistpopulation genetics, fundamental theorem of natural selection, ANOVA, experimental design, eugenics
• Fodor, Jerry (1935–2017) · philosopher of mindthe modularity of mind, the language of thought, the critique of adaptationism, computational cognitive science
• Foot, Philippa (1920–2010) · philosopherneo-Aristotelian naturalism, natural goodness, the trolley problem, virtue ethics revived
• Frege, Gottlob (1848–1925) · logician, philosophermodern logic, sense and reference, the concept-script, anti-psychologism
• Freud, Sigmund (1856–1939) · founder of psychoanalysisthe dynamic unconscious, repression, dreams, the Oedipus complex, transference, the id/ego/superego

G

• Gadamer, Hans-Georg (1900–2002) · philosopherphilosophical hermeneutics, prejudice, effective history, fusion of horizons
• Galton, Francis (1822–1911) · polymath, statisticianeugenics, regression to the mean, correlation, the biometric programme, hereditary genius
• Garfield, Jay (1955–) · philosopherNāgārjuna translation and commentary, cross-cultural philosophy, Madhyamaka and Western philosophy
• Gause, Georgy (1910–1986) · biologistthe competitive exclusion principle, experimental population ecology, The Struggle for Existence
• Gell-Mann, Murray (1929–2019) · physicistquarks, the Eightfold Way, effective complexity, Santa Fe Institute co-founder
• Ghiselin, Michael (1939–) · biologist, philosopher of biologythe species-as-individuals thesis, the evolution of sex, opisthobranch systematics
• Gibbard, Allan (1942–) · philosophernorm-expressivism, Wise Choices Apt Feelings, thinking how to live, planning and normative judgement, the Gibbard–Satterthwaite theorem
• Gibbs, Josiah Willard (1839–1903) · physicist, mathematicianstatistical mechanics, chemical thermodynamics, Gibbs free energy, the phase rule, ensembles
• Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von (1749–1832) · poet, dramatist, scientist, statesmanWeimar Classicism and Faust, the morphology of living form, the Urpflanze, the Theory of Colours, an influence on German idealism and Cassirer’s symbolic forms
• Goodman, Nelson (1906–1998) · philosopherways of worldmaking, symbol systems, rightness over truth, irrealism
• Gould, Stephen Jay (1941–2002) · paleontologist, evolutionary biologistpunctuated equilibrium, Spandrels critique, contingency, hierarchy theory, popular science
• Grothendieck, Alexander (1928–2014) · mathematicianthe refounding of algebraic geometry, schemes, topos theory, étale cohomology, the Grothendieck school

H

• Habermas, Jürgen (1929–2025) · philosopher, social theoristcommunicative action, discourse ethics, lifeworld and system
• Haldane, J. B. S. (1892–1964) · geneticist, polymathpopulation genetics, cost of natural selection, enzyme kinetics, origin of life, Marxism
• Hamilton, W. D. (1936–2000) · evolutionary biologistinclusive fitness, Hamilton’s rule, kin selection, sex and parasites, gene’s-eye view
• Hanslick, Eduard (1825–1904) · music critic, aestheticianmusical formalism, On the Musically Beautiful, “tonally moving forms”, absolute music, the Wagner feud, the War of the Romantics
• Harman, Gilbert (1938–2021) · philosophermoral relativism as a semantic thesis, the explanatory argument against moral facts, inference to the best explanation, situationism and character
• Hawking, Stephen (1942–2018) · theoretical physicistsingularity theorems, Hawking radiation, black hole information paradox, no-boundary proposal, three arrows of time
• Hayek, Friedrich (1899–1992) · economist, political philosopherthe knowledge problem, spontaneous order, the price mechanism, the critique of central planning
• Hazen, Robert (1948–) · mineralogist, astrobiologistmineral evolution, evolutionary system of mineralogy, mineral ecology, assembly theory exchange
• Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (1770–1831) · philosopherdialectic, sublation, determinate negation, historical development
• Heidegger, Martin (1889–1976) · philosopherbeing-in-the-world, disclosure, Dasein, readiness-to-hand
• Heisenberg, Werner (1901–1976) · physicistmatrix mechanics, the uncertainty principle, the Copenhagen interpretation, nuclear physics
• Henrich, Joseph (1968–) · anthropologistcumulative culture, the WEIRDest people, cultural evolution, the cultural brain, gene-culture coevolution
• Heraclitus (c. 535–c. 475 BCE) · philosopherflux and constancy, unity of opposites, logos, fire
• Hobbes, Thomas (1588–1679) · philosopherLeviathan, the social contract, the state of nature, mechanistic materialism, sovereignty
• Hoffmeyer, Jesper (1942–2019) · biochemist, biosemioticianbiosemiotics, signs from the cell upward, semiotic freedom, code-duality, semiotic scaffolding, life and semiosis coextensive
• Hofstadter, Richard (1916–1970) · historianSocial Darwinism in American Thought, the paranoid style, anti-intellectualism, the consensus school
• Holland, John (1929–2015) · computer scientist, complex systems researchergenetic algorithms, adaptive agents, internal models, emergence, the CAS primitive
• Holling, C.S. (1930–2019) · ecologistecological resilience, the adaptive cycle, panarchy, resilience vs. stability
• Hull, David (1935–2010) · philosopher of biologyScience as a Process, the replicator-interactor framework, selection theory applied to science, species-as-individuals
• Hume, David (1711–1776) · philosopherempiricism, causation as habit, the bundle self, the is-ought problem
• Husserl, Edmund (1859–1938) · philosopherphenomenology, intentionality, time-consciousness, the lifeworld
• Hutcheson, Francis (1694–1746) · philosophermoral sense theory, the greatest happiness principle, the internal sense of beauty
• Hutchinson, G. Evelyn (1903–1991) · limnologist, ecologistthe niche concept, Santa Rosalia, biogeochemistry, formation of theoretical ecology
• Huxley, Julian (1887–1975) · biologistcoined “the Modern Synthesis”, Evolution: The Modern Synthesis, ethology, allometry, clines, UNESCO, eugenics
• Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825–1895) · biologist, public intellectualDarwin’s bulldog, agnosticism, Man’s Place in Nature, Evolution and Ethics

J

• Jakobson, Roman (1896–1982) · linguist, literary theoristthe six functions of language, the poetic function, metaphor and metonymy, the Prague School, the bridge from Saussure to Peirce
• James, William (1842–1910) · philosopher, psychologistpragmatism, radical empiricism, stream of consciousness, pluralism
• Jonas, Hans (1903–1993) · philosopherthe phenomenon of life, metabolism as selfhood, inwardness, responsibility
• Jung, Carl Gustav (1875–1961) · psychiatrist, founder of analytical psychologythe collective unconscious, archetypes, individuation, the Self and the shadow, psychological types, synchronicity

K

• Kant, Immanuel (1724–1804) · philosopherthe Copernican revolution, phenomena and noumena, the categories, the moral law
• Kauffman, Stuart (1939–) · theoretical biologistself-organisation, autocatalytic sets, NK landscapes, the adjacent possible
• Kelly, George (1905–1967) · psychologistpersonal construct psychology, constructive alternativism, the person as anticipator, bipolar constructs, the Repertory Grid, fixed-role therapy
• Kierkegaard, Søren (1813–1855) · philosopherthe three stages of existence, the leap of faith, indirect communication, anxiety and despair, the individual
• Kimura, Motoo (1924–1994) · population geneticistneutral theory of molecular evolution, diffusion equations, molecular clock, drift vs selection
• Kitcher, Philip (1947–) · philosopher of sciencethe organisation of cognitive labour, the critique of sociobiology, mathematical naturalism, scientific progress
• Kleppmann, Martin · computer scientistDesigning Data-Intensive Applications, local-first software, CRDTs, Automerge, distributed data systems
• Kreps, Jay · software engineerco-creator of Apache Kafka, “The Log” essay, co-founder and CEO of Confluent
• Kropotkin, Peter (1842–1921) · geographer, anarchist theoristmutual aid, anarchist communism, decentralised production, cooperation as evolutionary factor
• Kuhn, Thomas (1922–1996) · philosopher of science, historianparadigms, normal science, revolutions, incommensurability

L

• Landauer, Rolf (1927–1999) · physicistLandauer’s principle, the thermodynamics of computation, information as physical, Maxwell’s demon resolved
• Langer, Susanne K. (1895–1985) · philosopherdiscursive and presentational symbolism, art as the creation of forms symbolic of human feeling, the virtual and the primary illusion, the biology of mind
• Langton, Christopher (1948–) · computer scientistartificial life, edge of chaos, self-reproducing loops, the SFI artificial life workshops
• Laski, Harold (1893–1950) · political theoristpolitical pluralism, the sovereignty critique, the state as one association among many, democratic socialism
• Latour, Bruno (1947–2022) · philosopher, sociologist of scienceactor-network theory, We Have Never Been Modern, the Parliament of Things, cosmopolitics, modes of existence
• Lawvere, F. William (1937–2023) · mathematiciancategorical foundations of mathematics, ETCS, elementary topos theory, categorical logic, adjointness
• Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm (1646–1716) · philosopher, mathematicianrelational space, monads, pre-established harmony, the universal characteristic
• Lévi-Strauss, Claude (1908–2009) · anthropologiststructural anthropology, binary oppositions, kinship structures, mythologiques, the science of the concrete
• Levinas, Emmanuel (1906–1995) · philosopherethics as first philosophy, the face of the Other, totality and infinity, the Saying and the Said, interiority
• Lewontin, Richard (1929–2021) · evolutionary biologist, geneticistthree-conditions formalisation, Spandrels critique, organism-environment dialectic, anti-reductionism
• Locke, John (1632–1704) · philosopherempiricism, the Essay Concerning Human Understanding, the social contract, natural rights, the tabula rasa
• Lorenz, Edward (1917–2008) · mathematician, meteorologistdeterministic chaos, sensitive dependence, the Lorenz attractor, the butterfly effect
• Loschmidt, Josef (1821–1895) · physicist, chemistthe reversibility objection to Boltzmann, Loschmidt’s number, molecular size estimation
• Lovelock, James (1919–2022) · independent scientistthe Gaia hypothesis, Earth system science, the electron capture detector, Daisyworld, planetary self-regulation
• Luhmann, Niklas (1927–1998) · sociologistsocial systems, functional differentiation, communication, autopoiesis, structural coupling
• Lyell, Charles (1797–1875) · geologistuniformitarianism, Principles of Geology, Tertiary classification, deep time
• Lyotard, Jean-François (1924–1998) · philosopherthe postmodern condition, the differend, language games, metanarratives

M

• Mac Lane, Saunders (1909–2005) · mathematicianco-founder of category theory, Categories for the Working Mathematician, mathematical structuralism
• MacArthur, Robert (1930–1972) · ecologistisland biogeography, species packing, r/K selection, warbler niche, mathematical ecology
• Mach, Ernst (1838–1916) · physicist, philosopherMach’s principle, the critique of atomism, positivism, the economy of thought, the energeticist opposition
• MacIntyre, Alasdair (1929–) · philosophertradition-constituted rationality, After Virtue, the Enlightenment failure, incommensurability of traditions
• Malthus, Thomas (1766–1834) · political economist, demographerprinciple of population, moral restraint, rent, effective demand
• Marcuse, Herbert (1898–1979) · philosopherone-dimensional man, the Great Refusal, the aesthetic dimension, Eros and civilisation, critical theory
• Margulis, Lynn (1938–2011) · biologistendosymbiosis, serial endosymbiosis theory, symbiogenesis, Gaia hypothesis
• Marx, Karl (1818–1883) · philosopher, political economistcritique of political economy, materialist conception of history, alienation, Capital
• Masinter, Larry · computer scientistco-author of the URI RFCs, internet and web standards, Xerox PARC, Adobe
• Maturana, Humberto (1928–2021) · biologist, philosopherautopoiesis, biology of cognition, the observer, structural determinism
• Maxwell, James Clerk (1831–1879) · physicistelectromagnetic field equations, unification of electricity, magnetism, and light, kinetic theory of gases, Maxwell’s demon
• Maynard Smith, John (1920–2004) · evolutionary biologistevolutionary game theory, ESS, major transitions in evolution, the evolution of sex
• Mayr, Ernst (1904–2005) · evolutionary biologist, systematistbiological species concept, geographic speciation, Modern Synthesis architect, population thinking
• Medawar, Peter (1915–1987) · immunologist, biologistimmunological tolerance, mutation accumulation theory of ageing, transplantation, philosophy of science
• Mendel, Gregor (1822–1884) · friar, naturalistlaws of inheritance, pea plant experiments, discrete hereditary factors, dominance and recessiveness
• Merleau-Ponty, Maurice (1908–1961) · philosopherphenomenology of the body, perception, the habitual body, intercorporeality
• Mitchell, Melanie (1969–) · computer scientist, complexity researchergenetic algorithms, analogy-making, the CAS synthesis, complexity’s limits and achievements
• Morgan, Thomas Hunt (1866–1945) · geneticistthe chromosome theory of heredity, Drosophila genetics, sex-linked inheritance, chromosome mapping, the fly room
• Murdoch, Iris (1919–1999) · philosopher, novelistattention, unselfing, the sovereignty of Good, moral perception, art and morality

N

• Nāgārjuna (c. 150–c. 250 CE) · Buddhist philosopherśūnyatā (emptiness), dependent origination, the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, Madhyamaka
• Nagel, Thomas (1937–) · philosophersubjectivity, the view from nowhere, against reductionism
• Narkhede, Neha · software engineerco-creator of Apache Kafka, co-founder and former CTO of Confluent, data infrastructure at LinkedIn
• Nietzsche, Friedrich (1844–1900) · philosopherthe death of God, the will to power, eternal recurrence, perspectivism, inverted Platonism, the revaluation of all values
• Nishida, Kitarō (1870–1945) · philosopherpure experience, the logic of basho, absolute nothingness, action-intuition, the Kyoto School
• Nussbaum, Martha (1947–) · philosopherthe capabilities approach, central human capabilities, emotions as judgments, the fragility of goodness, human development

O

• Oakeshott, Michael (1901–1990) · political philosopherpractical knowledge, the critique of rationalism, modes of experience, civil association, the conversation of mankind
• Ohta, Tomoko (1933–) · population geneticistthe nearly neutral theory of molecular evolution, slightly deleterious mutations, drift-selection interaction
• Ostrom, Elinor (1933–2012) · political economistgoverning the commons, polycentric governance, institutional diversity

P

• Pauli, Wolfgang (1900–1958) · physicistthe exclusion principle, electron spin and the Pauli matrices, the neutrino, the spin–statistics theorem, “not even wrong”, the Jung collaboration
• Pavlov, Ivan (1849–1936) · physiologistthe conditioned reflex, classical conditioning, the physiology of digestion, higher nervous activity, excitation and inhibition
• Pearson, Karl (1857–1936) · statisticianthe correlation coefficient, chi-squared test, the biometric programme, the Galton Laboratory, eugenics
• Peirce, Charles Sanders (1839–1914) · philosopher, logicianpragmatism, semiotics, the community of inquirers, fallibilism
• Penrose, Roger (1931–) · mathematician, physicistsingularity theorems, low-entropy beginning, Penrose diagrams, twistor theory, non-computability of consciousness
• Piaget, Jean (1896–1980) · psychologist, genetic epistemologistgenetic epistemology — the developmental origins of knowledge, constructivism between nativism and empiricism, assimilation and accommodation, equilibration, the four stages, conservation and object permanence, the méthode clinique
• Pinker, Steven (1954–) · cognitive scientistevolutionary psychology, language as instinct, the blank slate, the decline of violence, Enlightenment rationalism
• Planck, Max (1858–1947) · physicistthe quantum of action, the ultraviolet catastrophe, Planck’s constant, Planck’s law
• Plato (c. 428–348 BCE) · philosopherthe theory of Forms, the Republic, the cave, the divided line, mimesis, the banishment of the poets, the Academy
• Polanyi, Michael (1891–1976) · chemist, philosophertacit knowledge, personal knowledge, indwelling, the republic of science
• Popper, Karl (1902–1994) · philosopher of sciencefalsificationism, conjecture and refutation, the open society
• Price, George (1922–1975) · theoretical biologistthe Price equation, the covariance formulation of selection, evolutionary game theory, multilevel selection
• Prigogine, Ilya (1917–2003) · physical chemistdissipative structures, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, order far from equilibrium, the arrow of time
• Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph (1809–1865) · social theoristmutualism, federalism, property as relation, anarchism
• Putnam, Hilary (1926–2016) · philosopherinternal realism, conceptual relativity, the fact/value dichotomy, the brain in a vat, pragmatic realism

Q

• Quine, Willard Van Orman (1908–2000) · philosopherTwo Dogmas of Empiricism, ontological relativity, the web of belief, naturalised epistemology, indeterminacy of translation

R

• Rancière, Jacques (b. 1940) · philosopherthe distribution of the sensible, aesthetics and politics, equality as presupposition, the ignorant schoolmaster, dissensus
• Rao, Jun · software engineerco-creator of Apache Kafka, the distributed-systems core, co-founder of Confluent, Apache committer
• Rawls, John (1921–2002) · political philosopherA Theory of Justice, the original position, the veil of ignorance, justice as fairness, the difference principle, political liberalism
• Reichenbach, Hans (1891–1953) · philosopher of sciencethe direction of time, branch systems, common cause principle, probability and induction
• Reid, Thomas (1710–1796) · philosophercommon-sense philosophy, direct realism, the critique of Hume’s skepticism, the rejection of the theory of ideas
• Richerson, Peter (1943–) · evolutionary biologistdual-inheritance theory (with Boyd), gene-culture coevolution, the ecological basis of cultural evolution
• Ricoeur, Paul (1913–2005) · philosopherhermeneutics of the self, the rule of metaphor, narrative identity, the capable human being, time and narrative
• Rorty, Richard (1931–2007) · philosopherpragmatism, conversation over correspondence, contingency, solidarity
• Rovelli, Carlo (1956–) · theoretical physicist, philosopherloop quantum gravity, relational QM, time, Nagarjuna
• Russell, Bertrand (1872–1970) · logician, philosopherPrincipia Mathematica, logical atomism, the theory of descriptions, Russell’s paradox
• Ryle, Gilbert (1900–1976) · philosopherThe Concept of Mind, the ghost in the machine, the category mistake, knowing-how vs knowing-that, ordinary-language philosophy, logical behaviourism

S

• Sandel, Michael (1953–) · political philosopherthe encumbered self, the critique of liberal neutrality, civic republicanism, the moral limits of markets
• Sapolsky, Robert (1957–) · neuroscientisthuman behavioural biology, integrative across layers
• Sartre, Jean-Paul (1905–1980) · philosopherexistentialism, radical freedom, consciousness as nothingness, engagement
• Saussure, Ferdinand de (1857–1913) · linguiststructural linguistics, the differential sign, langue and parole
• Śaṅkara (c. 700–750 CE) · philosopherAdvaita Vedānta, non-duality, Brahman, māyā, the critique of Buddhist emptiness
• Schelling, Thomas (1921–2016) · economist, game theoristfocal points, the segregation model, micromotives and macrobehavior
• Schiller, Friedrich (1759–1805) · poet, dramatist, philosopheraesthetic education, the play drive, beauty as freedom in appearance, grace and dignity, naive and sentimental
• Schleiermacher, Friedrich (1768–1834) · theologian, philosophergeneral hermeneutics, grammatical and psychological interpretation, the hermeneutic circle, the feeling of absolute dependence, On Religion
• Schopenhauer, Arthur (1788–1860) · philosopherthe world as will and representation, aesthetic contemplation, the Ideas, music, compassion, pessimism
• Schrödinger, Erwin (1887–1961) · physicistwave mechanics, the Schrödinger equation, What is Life?, negative entropy, the cat
• Schumpeter, Joseph (1883–1950) · economistcreative destruction, the entrepreneur as innovator, business cycles, capitalism’s self-undermining dynamics
• Sebeok, Thomas A. (1920–2001) · linguist, semioticianzoosemiotics, biosemiotics, the revival of Uexküll, Peirce over Saussure, modeling systems theory, the atomic priesthood
• Searle, John (1932–) · philosopherspeech act theory, the Chinese Room, intentionality, biological naturalism, collective intentionality, the construction of social reality, status functions
• Sellars, Wilfrid (1912–1989) · philosopherthe myth of the given, the space of reasons, psychological nominalism, the manifest and scientific images
• Sen, Amartya (1933–) · economist, philosopherthe capability approach, development as freedom, social choice theory, famine and democracy, the idea of justice
• Shannon, Claude (1916–2001) · mathematician, engineerinformation theory, the bit, channel capacity, information entropy, Boolean circuit design
• Simard, Suzanne (1960–) · forest ecologistmycorrhizal networks, the wood wide web, mother trees, resource sharing through fungal connections
• Simpson, George Gaylord (1902–1984) · paleontologistTempo and Mode in Evolution, adaptive zones, rates of evolution, quantum evolution, Modern Synthesis
• Skinner, B.F. (1904–1990) · psychologistoperant conditioning, radical behaviourism, schedules of reinforcement, selection by consequences, Verbal Behavior, Walden Two, Beyond Freedom and Dignity
• Smith, Adam (1723–1790) · philosopher, political economistThe Wealth of Nations, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, the invisible hand, the impartial spectator
• Smolin, Lee (1955–) · theoretical physicistloop quantum gravity, cosmological natural selection, the reality of time, The Trouble with Physics
• Sober, Elliott (1948–) · philosopher of biologymultilevel selection, units-of-selection debate, the nature of natural selection, parsimony, selection-of vs selection-for
• Solé, Ricard (1962–) · complex systems scientistliquid brains, solid brains, criticality, phase transitions
• Spencer, Herbert (1820–1903) · philosopher, sociologistsynthetic philosophy, survival of the fittest, social organism, evolution as universal principle
• Sperber, Dan (1942–) · cognitive scientist, anthropologistepidemiology of representations, relevance theory, the critique of memetics, cultural attraction
• Spinoza, Baruch (1632–1677) · philosophersubstance monism, determination as negation, conatus
• Stebbins, G. Ledyard (1906–2000) · botanist, geneticistVariation and Evolution in Plants, polyploidy, hybridisation, plant speciation, Modern Synthesis
• Stengers, Isabelle (1949–) · philosopher of sciencecosmopolitics, ecology of practices, reciprocal capture, Thinking with Whitehead
• Sumner, William Graham (1840–1910) · sociologist, political economistSocial Darwinism, laissez-faire, What Social Classes Owe to Each Other, Folkways, ethnocentrism

T

• Taylor, Charles (1931–) · philosopherSources of the Self, inwardness, the dialogical self, authenticity, A Secular Age, language as constitutive expression
• Tomasello, Michael (1950–) · psychologistshared intentionality and the human-unique “we” mode, joint attention, the usage-based theory of language acquisition against universal grammar, intention-reading and pattern-finding, cultural learning and the ratchet effect, the great-ape comparison
• Tooby, John (1952–2023) · evolutionary psychologistthe adapted mind, the environment of evolutionary adaptedness, the Standard Social Science Model critique
• Torvalds, Linus (1969–) · software engineerthe Linux kernel, Git, Subsurface, open-source infrastructure and stewardship
• Trivers, Robert (1943–2026) · evolutionary biologistreciprocal altruism, parental investment, parent-offspring conflict, self-deception
• Turing, Alan (1912–1954) · mathematicianthe Turing machine, computability, the Entscheidungsproblem, the Turing test, morphogenesis

V

• Van Beneden, Pierre-Joseph (1809–1894) · zoologist, paleontologistcommensalism, mutualism, parasitology, interspecific relations as gradient
• Varela, Francisco (1946–2001) · biologist, cognitive scientistautopoiesis, enactivism, neurophenomenology, the embodied mind
• Veblen, Thorstein (1857–1929) · economist, sociologistinstitutional economics, conspicuous consumption, the leisure class, “Why is economics not an evolutionary science?”
• Voloshinov, Valentin (1895–1936) · linguist, Marxist theoristthe sign as social and ideological, multiaccentuality, Marxism and the Philosophy of Language, the Bakhtin Circle and the authorship dispute
• Von Baer, Karl Ernst (1792–1876) · embryologist, naturalistlaws of embryology, the mammalian ovum, shared developmental patterns, pre-Darwinian common-descent evidence
• Von Foerster, Heinz (1911–2002) · physicist, cyberneticistsecond-order cybernetics, the observer in the system, eigenvalues of cognition, the Biological Computer Laboratory
• Von Glasersfeld, Ernst (1917–2010) · philosopher, cyberneticistradical constructivism, viability not truth, knowledge as construction, the interpretation of Piaget, constructivism in education
• Von Neumann, John (1903–1957) · mathematiciangame theory, von Neumann architecture, quantum mechanics, self-reproducing automata
• Von Uexküll, Jakob (1864–1944) · biologist, theoretical biologistthe Umwelt, the functional circle, Merkwelt and Wirkwelt, the tick’s world, the Bedeutungslehre, forerunner of biosemiotics
• Vygotsky, Lev (1896–1934) · psychologistcultural-historical psychology, the higher mind formed from the outside in, internalisation and the general genetic law, mediation by signs, the zone of proximal development, inner speech and the dispute with Piaget
• Vrba, Elisabeth (1942–2015) · paleontologistthe turnover pulse hypothesis, the effect hypothesis, exaptation (with Gould), habitat theory, African mammalian macroevolution

W

• Walker, Sara Imari · theoretical physicist, astrobiologistthe physics of life, assembly theory, time as material property, astrobiology, Santa Fe Institute
• Wallace, Alfred Russel (1823–1913) · naturalist, geographerco-discovery of natural selection, biogeography, the Wallace Line, spiritualism
• Watson, John B. (1878–1958) · psychologist, founder of behaviourismthe behaviourist manifesto, methodological behaviourism, classical conditioning in humans, Little Albert, radical environmentalism
• Wheeler, David (1927–2004) · computer scientistthe first assembler, the invention of the subroutine, the Wheeler jump, the EDSAC
• Wheeler, John Archibald (1911–2008) · physicist“it from bit”, geometrodynamics, the delayed-choice experiment, the participatory universe, quantum gravity
• Whitehead, Alfred North (1861–1947) · philosopher, mathematicianprocess, actual occasions, creativity, prehension
• Wiener, Norbert (1894–1964) · mathematiciancybernetics, feedback, communication and control, the Macy conferences, the human use of human beings
• Williams, Bernard (1929–2003) · philosopherthe critique of moral theory, internal reasons, moral luck, Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy, the rejection of the ergon
• Williams, George C. (1926–2010) · evolutionary biologistAdaptation and Natural Selection, gene-level critique of group selection, senescence, sex, Darwinian medicine
• Wilson, David Sloan (1949–) · evolutionary biologistmultilevel selection, the revival of group selection, Unto Others, prosociality, the evolution of religion
• Wilson, E. O. (1929–2021) · biologistSociobiology, island biogeography, the ants, biodiversity, group selection turn
• Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1889–1951) · philosopherlanguage games, forms of life, meaning as use
• Woese, Carl (1928–2012) · microbiologistthe three domains of life, ribosomal RNA phylogenetics, the Archaea, the progenote
• Wolfram, Stephen (1959–) · physicist, computer scientistcellular automata, A New Kind of Science, computational irreducibility, the Wolfram model, Mathematica
• Wong, David B. (1949–) · philosopherpluralistic relativism, universal constraints on admissible moralities, the accommodation ideal, comparative ethics, Confucian and Daoist thought
• Wright, Sewall (1889–1988) · geneticistadaptive landscapes, genetic drift, shifting balance theory, path coefficients, population structure
• Wynne-Edwards, V. C. (1906–1997) · zoologistgroup selection, Animal Dispersion, population self-regulation, epideictic displays

Z

• Zenil, Hector (1979–) · computer scientist, complexity researcheralgorithmic information theory, Kolmogorov complexity, coding theorem method, assembly theory critique
• Zermelo, Ernst (1871–1953) · mathematicianthe recurrence objection to Boltzmann, the axiom of choice, Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory, the well-ordering theorem