PoliticalTests

62 figures mapped

Political Views of Famous Philosophers and Thinkers

Philosophers, theorists and writers whose ideas shaped politics, from Machiavelli and Hobbes to Rawls and Nozick, placed on the 12 axes from their own works.

Which Philosopher Are You? Filter all figures

Each dot is one figure: economic views across, the mean of the civil and society axes up and down. Hover or tap a dot for the name.

25Economic left
16Near the economic centre
21Economic right

Up and down the compass: 14 on the authority side, 9 near the middle and 39 on the liberty side.

All 62

  1. 1469-1527 · ItalyNiccolò MachiavelliSecretary of the Second Chancery of the Republic of FlorenceAuth right
  2. 1588-1679 · United KingdomThomas HobbesPolitical philosopherAuth left
  3. 1632-1704 · United KingdomJohn LockePhilosopherLib right
  4. 1689-1755 · FranceMontesquieuBaron de La Brède et de MontesquieuLib right
  5. 1706-1790 · United StatesBenjamin FranklinSigner of the Declaration of IndependenceLib right
  6. 1712-1778 · FranceJean-Jacques RousseauPolitical philosopherAuth left
  7. 1723-1790 · United KingdomAdam SmithMoral philosopherLib right
  8. 1724-1804 · GermanyImmanuel KantPhilosopherAuth right
  9. 1730-1797 · United KingdomEdmund BurkeMember of Parliament (1765-1794)Auth right
  10. 1737-1809 · United StatesThomas PaineAuthor of Common Sense and Rights of ManLib left
  11. 1748-1832 · United KingdomJeremy BenthamPhilosopher and legal theoristLib right
  12. 1753-1821 · FranceJoseph de MaistreSavoyard magistrate and member of the Senate of SavoyAuth right
  13. 1759-1797 · United KingdomMary WollstonecraftWriter and philosopherLib left
  14. 1805-1859 · FranceAlexis de TocquevilleAuthor of Democracy in AmericaLib right
  15. 1806-1873 · United KingdomJohn Stuart MillPhilosopher and economistLib left
  16. 1809-1865 · FrancePierre-Joseph ProudhonPolitical theoristLib left
  17. 1814-1876 · RussiaMikhail BakuninRevolutionaryLib left
  18. 1817-1862 · United StatesHenry David ThoreauEssayist and naturalistLib right
  19. 1818-1883 · GermanyKarl MarxPhilosopherLib left
  20. 1820-1895 · GermanyFriedrich EngelsPhilosopherLib left
  21. 1842-1921 · RussiaPeter KropotkinGeographerLib left
  22. 1849-1910 · BrazilJoaquim NabucoAbolitionist leaderLib right
  23. 1849-1923 · BrazilRui BarbosaMinister of Finance (1889-1891)Lib right
  24. 1850-1932 · GermanyEduard BernsteinSocial democratic theoristLib left
  25. 1853-1895 · CubaJosé MartíFounder of the Cuban Revolutionary Party (1892)Lib left
  26. 1860-1935 · United StatesJane AddamsCo-founder of Hull-House, ChicagoLib left
  27. 1864-1920 · GermanyMax WeberSociologist and political economistAuth right
  28. 1868-1963 · United StatesW. E. B. Du BoisSociologist and historianLib left
  29. 1869-1940 · United StatesEmma GoldmanAnarchist writer and lecturerLib left
  30. 1871-1919 · GermanyRosa LuxemburgMarxist theoristLib left
  31. 1872-1970 · United KingdomBertrand RussellPhilosopher, logician and social criticLib left
  32. 1874-1936 · United KingdomG. K. ChestertonWriter, journalist and essayistCentre
  33. 1888-1985 · GermanyCarl SchmittJurist and constitutional theoristAuth right
  34. 1891-1937 · ItalyAntonio GramsciMarxist theoristLib left
  35. 1899-1992 · AustriaFriedrich HayekEconomist and political philosopherLib right
  36. 1899-1973 · United StatesLeo StraussPolitical philosopherCentre
  37. 1902-1994 · AustriaKarl PopperPhilosopher of science and political philosopherLib right
  38. 1903-1950 · United KingdomGeorge OrwellNovelistLib left
  39. 1905-1982 · United StatesAyn RandNovelist and philosopherLib right
  40. 1905-1980 · FranceJean-Paul SartrePhilosopher, novelist and playwrightLib left
  41. 1906-1975 · GermanyHannah ArendtPolitical theoristLib right
  42. 1908-1986 · FranceSimone de BeauvoirPhilosopherLib left
  43. 1909-1997 · United KingdomIsaiah BerlinPhilosopherLib left
  44. 1909-1972 · GhanaKwame NkrumahPresident of Ghana (1960-1966)Auth left
  45. 1913-1960 · FranceAlbert CamusNovelist, essayist and philosopherLib left
  46. 1914-1977 · BrazilCarlos LacerdaGovernor of Guanabara (1960-1965)Auth right
  47. 1918-2008 · RussiaAleksandr SolzhenitsynNovelist and historian, author of The Gulag ArchipelagoAuth right
  48. 1918-1994 · United StatesRussell KirkPolitical theorist and historianAuth right
  49. 1920-2009 · United StatesIrving KristolCo-founder and co-editor of The Public Interest (1965-2002)Auth right
  50. 1921-2002 · United StatesJohn RawlsPolitical philosopherLib left
  51. 1925-1961 · FranceFrantz FanonPsychiatrist at Blida-Joinville Hospital, Algeria (1953-1957)Lib left
  52. 1925-2008 · United StatesWilliam F. Buckley Jr.Founder and editor of National Review (1955-1990)Auth right
  53. 1926-1984 · FranceMichel FoucaultPhilosopher and historian of ideasLib right
  54. 1926-1995 · United StatesMurray RothbardEconomist of the Austrian schoolLib right
  55. 1928-1967 · ArgentinaChe GuevaraCommander in the Cuban RevolutionAuth left
  56. Born 1928 · United StatesNoam ChomskyLinguist, Institute Professor emeritus at MITLib left
  57. Born 1930 · BrazilJosé SarneyPresident of Brazil (1985-1990)Lib left
  58. Born 1930 · United StatesThomas SowellEconomist and social theoristAuth right
  59. Born 1931 · BrazilFernando Henrique CardosoPresident of Brazil (1995-2003)Lib right
  60. 1936-2011 · CzechiaVáclav HavelPresident of Czechoslovakia (1989-1992)Lib right
  61. 1938-2002 · United StatesRobert NozickPhilosopherLib right
  62. 1944-2020 · United KingdomRoger ScrutonPhilosopher and writerAuth right

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FAQ

Philosophers: questions

Which philosophers are included?

62 thinkers and writers born between 1469 to 1944. Of them, 25 sit on the economic left, 16 near the centre and 21 on the economic right. Each is placed from their own published works, not from later interpretations.

How are these positions worked out?

Each person is placed on the 12 axes of the 12 Axes Political Test from their own speeches, writings, votes and record in office, with sources on every profile page. The map shows two of those measures: economic views across, and the mean of the civil and society axes up and down. Axes with no reasonable basis are left blank and do not count.

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