Curated category
Existentialists
- Friedrich NietzscheOn the 15th of October 1844, a boy named Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was born in the small town of Röcken. He grew up near Leipzig within the Prussian…
- Martin HeideggerMartin Heidegger was born on the 26th of September 1889 in rural Meßkirch, Baden. His father worked as the sexton of the village church and raised him within…
- Jean-Paul SartreJean-Paul Sartre was born on the 21st of June 1905 in Paris as the only child of Jean-Baptiste Sartre and Anne-Marie Schweitzer.
- Albert CamusAlbert Camus was born on the 7th of November 1913 in a working-class neighborhood called Mondovi, now known as Dréan. He lived in French Algeria with his…
- Jean-Luc GodardJean-Luc Godard was born on the 3rd of December 1930 in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. His father Paul Godard worked as a Swiss physician while his mother…
- Samuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was born on the 13th of April 1906 in the Dublin suburb of Foxrock. His parents were both thirty-five years old when he arrived, and…
- William JamesWilliam James entered the world on the 11th of January 1842 at the Astor House in New York City. His father Henry James Sr held an independently wealthy…
- Ralph EllisonRalph Waldo Ellison was born on the 1st of March 1913 in Oklahoma City. His father Lewis Alfred worked as a construction foreman and small-business owner…
- Lewis GordonLewis Ricardo Gordon was born on the 12th of May 1962. He began his higher education journey at Lehman College, CUNY, graduating in 1984 with a Bachelor of…
- Simone de BeauvoirSimone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir entered the world on the 9th of January 1908 in a wealthy Parisian family.
- Frantz FanonFrantz Omar Fanon was born on the 20th of July 1925 in Fort-de-France, Martinique. This island belonged to the French colonial empire at that time.
- Joss WhedonJoseph Hill Whedon was born on the 23rd of June 1964 in New York City. He grew up on the Upper West Side as part of a family deeply embedded in television…
- Karl JaspersKarl Theodor Jaspers was born on the 23rd of February 1883 in Oldenburg. His father worked as a jurist while his mother came from a local farming community.
- Alexandre KojèveAleksandr Vladimirovich Kozhevnikov entered the world on the 28th of April 1902 within the borders of the Russian Empire.
- Hans JonasHans Jonas was born in the German city of Mönchengladbach on the 10th of May 1903. He grew up within a Jewish family during a time when European society was…
- Hubert DreyfusHubert Lederer Dreyfus entered the world on the 15th of October 1929 in Terre Haute, Indiana. His parents were Stanley S. and Irene (Lederer) Dreyfus.
- Mulla SadraMulla Sadra entered the world in 1571 or 1572 within the city of Shiraz, Iran. He was born into a notable Persian family of court officials under the Safavid…
- José Ortega y GassetJosé Ortega y Gasset was born on the 9th of May 1883 in Madrid. His father directed the newspaper El Imparcial, which belonged to his mother Dolores Gasset's…
- Lev ShestovYeguda Lev Shvartsman was born in Kiev during the year 1866. He later adopted the name Lev Shestov for his philosophical career.
- Colin WilsonColin Henry Wilson was born on the 26th of June 1931 in Leicester. His father worked in a shoe factory while his mother managed their household.
- Jean WahlJean Wahl entered the École Normale Supérieure in Paris during a period when French philosophy was dominated by rigid academic traditions.