The Archive

Authors

Every author, one archive. From ancient philosophers to contemporary novelists — summaries and analyses of works from across world literature.

396 authors in the archive

A

Abu Bakr al-Razi

**Abu Bakr al-Razi (c. 864–925 CE)** was a Persian polymath and a…

1 work

Adam Smith

Adam Smith (1723–1790) was a Scottish moral philosopher and a foundational figure…

9 works

Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara (c. 8th century CE) was an Indian philosopher and theologian…

31 works

Adrian IV

Adrian IV (c. 1100–1159), born Nicholas Breakspear, was the only English pope,…

2 works

Adrian VI

Adrian VI (1459–1523), the only Dutch pope, was a prominent Scholastic theologian…

21 works

Aesop

Aesop was a semi-legendary ancient Greek fabulist, traditionally believed to have been…

12 works

Al-Biruni

Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī (973–c. 1050) was a Persian polymath whose empirical, comparative…

1 work

Al-Farabi

Al-Farabi (c. 872–950 CE) was a medieval Islamic philosopher, logician, and political…

15 works

Al-Ghazali

Al-Ghazali (1058–1111) was one of the most influential thinkers in Islamic history.…

72 works

Al-Kindi

Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi (c. 801–873 CE), hailed as the…

1 work

Alasdair MacIntyre

Alasdair MacIntyre is a Scottish-born philosopher best known for his seminal work…

23 works

Albert Camus

Albert Camus (1913–1960) was a French-Algerian philosopher, novelist, and journalist whose work…

15 works

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) was a theoretical physicist whose revolutionary theories of relativity…

27 works

Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) was a Franco-German theologian, philosopher, and physician who founded…

28 works

Albertus Magnus

Albertus Magnus (c. 1200–1280), a German Dominican friar and bishop, was a…

21 works

Aldous Huxley

Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) was an English writer and philosopher best known for…

30 works

Alexander Blok

**Alexander Blok** (1880–1921) was a leading Russian Symbolist poet whose work bridged…

2 works

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton (1755–1804) was a Founding Father, political theorist, and first U.S.…

27 works

Alexander Herzen

Alexander Herzen (1812–1870) was a Russian philosopher, writer, and a founding figure…

3 works

Alexander Pope

**Alexander Pope (1688–1744)** was a dominant English poet and satirist of the…

21 works

Alexis de Tocqueville

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) was a French political thinker, historian, and statesman…

1 work

Alfred North Whitehead

Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) was a British mathematician and philosopher who, with…

17 works

Alija Izetbegović

Alija Izetbegović (1925–2003) was a Bosnian Muslim philosopher and political leader whose…

10 works

Amartya Sen

Amartya Sen is an Indian economist and philosopher whose work bridges ethics,…

40 works

Ambrose

Ambrose of Milan (c. 339–397 CE) was a Latin Church Father whose…

14 works

Amir Khusrau

Amir Khusrau (1253–1325) was a Persian-speaking Indian poet, scholar, and Sufi mystic,…

7 works

Anaxagoras

Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (c. 500–428 BCE) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who…

4 works

Anaximander

Anaximander (c. 610–546 BCE) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus and…

2 works

André-Marie Ampère

André-Marie Ampère (1775–1836) was a French physicist and mathematician whose foundational work…

29 works

Angela Davis

Angela Yvonne Davis (b. 1944) is a prominent American philosopher, political activist,…

25 works

Annie Besant

Annie Besant (1847–1933) was a British socialist, women’s rights activist, and prominent…

4 works

Anselm of Canterbury

Anselm of Canterbury (c. 1033–1109) was a Benedictine monk, Archbishop of Canterbury,…

20 works

Antisthenes

1 work

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944) was a French writer, poet, and pioneering aviator…

6 works

Antonio Gramsci

Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) was an Italian Marxist philosopher and political theorist whose…

27 works

Apuleius

Apuleius (c. 124 – c. 170 CE) was a Roman-era Platonic philosopher,…

6 works

Archimedes

Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287–212 BCE) was a preeminent Greek mathematician, physicist,…

8 works

Aristophanes

Aristophanes (c. 446–386 BCE) was an ancient Greek playwright and one of…

1 work

Aristotle

Aristotle (384–322 BCE) was an Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist. A student…

27 works

Arnold J. Toynbee

Arnold J. Toynbee (1889–1975) was a British historian whose magnum opus, the…

24 works

Arthur Balfour

Arthur James Balfour (1848–1930), British statesman and philosopher, is remembered in intellectual…

1 work

Arthur Eddington

Sir Arthur Eddington (1882–1944) was a British astrophysicist and philosopher of science…

5 works

Arthur Schopenhauer

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) was a German philosopher best known for his work…

35 works

Auguste Comte

**Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte** (1798–1857) was a French philosopher and…

11 works

Augustine of Hippo

# Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Augustine was a North African Christian theologian…

59 works

Aurobindo Ghosh

**Aurobindo Ghosh** (1872–1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, and poet whose seminal…

1 work

Averroes (Ibn Rushd)

Averroes (1126–1198), known in the Islamic world as Ibn Rushd, was an…

55 works

Avicenna (Ibn-i Sina)

Avicenna (980–1037 CE), also known as Ibn Sina, was a Persian polymath…

25 works

Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand (1905–1982) was a Russian-American novelist and philosopher who developed the…

22 works