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Curated playlist

Philosophers of literature

  • VoltaireThe line Voltaire is most quoted for was written in 1906, long after he died.
  • George OrwellGeorge Orwell was a pen name, chosen from a shortlist in 1932. He was born Eric Arthur Blair in British India.
  • Immanuel KantA Prussian king's censors forbade Immanuel Kant to speak publicly about religion. The philosopher answered in 1798.
  • AristotleOnly around a third of Aristotle's original writings survive, and none was meant to be published.
  • Johann Wolfgang von GoetheWhen French soldiers broke into Goethe's home in 1806, his companion Christiane Vulpius defended it.
  • Kurt VonnegutKurt Vonnegut survived the bombing of Dresden by hiding in an underground meat locker.
  • Denis DiderotJailed writer Denis Diderot annotated Paradise Lost with a toothpick and ink made from slate and wine.
  • Friedrich SchillerFriedrich Schiller's tomb is now empty. On the 3rd of May 2008, DNA tests showed the skull in it was not his.
  • Jean-Jacques RousseauRousseau refused a king's pension after Louis XV loved his opera. Friends were exasperated by his choice.
  • Jorge Luis BorgesJorge Luis Borges directed Argentina's National Library while completely blind.
  • Leo TolstoyLeo Tolstoy spent his last hours on a train, preaching non-violence to strangers.
  • Victor HugoVictor Hugo asked for a pauper's funeral and got the largest in French history.
  • Michel FoucaultMichel Foucault's surgeon father expected him to become a surgeon too. He became a leading thinker on power instead.
  • Samuel Taylor ColeridgeSamuel Taylor Coleridge coined the phrase "suspension of disbelief." He also battled opium addiction for years.
  • Philip K. DickPhilip K. Dick died four months before Blade Runner opened. He never saw the film that made his name famous.
  • Aldous HuxleyAldous Huxley died the same day as John F. Kennedy, and almost nobody noticed. C. S. Lewis died that afternoon too.
  • AverroesIn 1169, a caliph asked the philosopher Averroes if the heavens had a beginning.
  • Jacques LacanIn 1963, psychoanalysts stripped Jacques Lacan of the right to train new analysts.
  • Hubert DreyfusIn 1964, the RAND Corporation hired philosopher Hubert Dreyfus to review artificial intelligence.
  • Vladimir Solovyov (philosopher)Philosopher Vladimir Solovyov, a famous historian's son, died homeless and poor. He sought to reunite divided faiths.

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