Topics: Philosophers : P
Paley, William
William Paley, 1743-1805. Early Modern English philosopher and theologian. In moral philosophy, he espoused a form of utilitarianism.
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Palmieri, Matteo
Matteo Palmieri, 1406-1475. Florentine humanist writer whose principal writings were in political philosophy.
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Parmenides
Parmenides of Elea, fl. 6th century BC. The best-known of the Eleatic school of early Greek thinkers, and a foundational influence in classical Western thought.
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Pascal, Blaise
Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662. Early modern French thinker, known for his contributions to science and mathematics as well as his phiosophical writings.
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Patocka, Jan
Jan Patocka, 1907-1977. Czech philosopher best known for his writings on human freedom.
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Paul of Venice
Paul of Venice (Paulus Nicolettus Venetus, Paulus Venatus, Paolo Nicoletti Veneto), 1369-1429. Medieval philosopher and theologian, a metaphysician of the Oxford Realist school.
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Peabody, Elizabeth Palmer
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, 1804-1894. American Transcendentalist writer and educator.
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Peter of Spain
Peter of Spain (Petrus Hispanus), fl. 13th century AD. Scholastic thinker known solely as the author of an important work of medieval logic, the Summule logicales magistri Petri Hispani.
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Philodemus
Philodemus, c. 110 BC - c. 40 BC. Greek philosopher of the Epicurean school, who taught in Naples.
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Philolaus
Philolaus (Philolaus of Croton, Philolaus of Tarentum), fl. 5th century BC. A leading Pythagorean philosopher who survived the persecution of that school.
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Philoponus, John
John Philoponus (John the Grammarian, John of Alexandria, Johannes Grammaticus, Johannes Alexandrinus), c. 490 - c.
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Philo of Alexandria
Philo of Alexandria (Philo Judaeus, Philon), c. 20 BC - c. 50 AD. Ancient Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, whose philosophical writings are representative of Middle Platonism.
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Plantinga, Alvin
Alvin Carl Plantinga, b. 1932. Contemporary American religious thinker. His work has focused on metaphysics and the philosophy of religion, especially the ontological argument for the existence of God.
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Plato
Plato, classical Greek philosopher who lived from approximately 427 BC to 347 BC. He was a student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle.
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Plethon, George Gemistus
George Gemistus Plethon (1355–1452), a Renaissance Platonist who influenced the Platonic Academy in Florence.
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Plotinus
Plotinus, 205-270. Hellentistic philosopher probably born in Egypt. Generally considered the founder of Neoplatonism, he developed a view of reality as a series of emanations from a central essence.
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Poincaré, Jules Henri
Jules Henri Poincaré, 1854-1912. Nineteenth-century French philosopher and mathematician. In the philosophy of science, his chief contention was that scientific proofs are conventional -- that is, based on plausibility rather than truth.
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Polanyi, Michael
Michael Polanyi, 1891-1976. Hungarian-British physical chemist and
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Pomponazzi, Pietro
Pietro Pomponazzi (Petrus Pomponatius), 1462-1524. Renaissance (or late medieval) Aristotelian scholar, leader of the anti-Averroist faction at the University of Bologna.
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Popper, Karl
Karl Raimund Popper, b. July 28, 1902 in Vienna, d. September 17, 1994. Numbered among the greatest positivists of the twentieth century.
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Porphyry
Porphyry, alias Porphyrius Malchus, lived c.232 AD to c.305. Syrian-born Neoplatonist philosopher who lived under the Roman Empire, student of Plotinus.
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Prior, Arthur Norman
Arthur Prior, 1914-1969. Influential thinker on intensional logic and inventor of tense logic.
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Proclus
Proclus, 411-485. Neoplatonist philosopher educated at Alexandria and Athens. In addition to his philosophical works, he wrote a prized commentary on Euclid's Elements.
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Prodicus of Ceos
Prodicus (Prodicos, Prodikos) of Ceos (Keos), fl. 5th century BC. Ancient Greek Sophist philosopher and famed rhetorician and disciple of Protagoras.
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Protagoras
Protagoras of Abdera, fl. 5th century BC. Greek philosopher, a contemporary of Socrates, numbered with Gorgias and others among the Older Sophists.
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Pufendorf, Samuel von
Samuel Baron von Pufendorf (Puffendorf), 1632-1694. Early modern German jurist, historian, natural-law theorist and social philosopher.
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Putnam, Hilary
Hilary Putnam, b. 1926. Contemporary American philosopher who stands close to the pragmatist tradition. His most groundbreaking work has been in epistemology.
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Pyrrho of Elis
Pyrrho of Elis, c. 360 BC to c. 270 BC. First of the Greek Skeptics.
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Pythagoras of Samos
Pythagoras of Samos, c.560 BC - c.480 BC. Early Greek philosopher and mathematical thinker, founder of the religious Pythagorean Order, and of the broader Pythagorean school of thought.
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