1001Philosophers

Most Famous Buddhism Philosophers

Buddhism is one of the major philosophical and religious traditions of Asia, originating in the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, in northern India in the fifth century BC. Its central doctrines include the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the impermanence of all conditioned things, and the absence of an enduring self. Buddhism developed many schools, including the Theravada tradition of Southeast Asia, the various Mahayana schools of East Asia, and the Vajrayana traditions of Tibet and Mongolia. Buddhist philosophy has produced rigorous treatments of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and the philosophy of mind. It has shaped Asian civilisation profoundly and become a serious dialogue partner for Western philosophy and cognitive science in recent decades.

Philosophers in this tradition

  • Buddha c. 563 BC – c. 483 BC · Indian

    Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha or Awakened One, was the founder of Buddhism, traditionally said to have lived in northern India in the fifth century BC. Born into the r...

  • Dogen 1200 – 1253 · Japanese

    Eihei Dogen was a 13th-century Japanese Zen Buddhist priest and philosopher, the founder of the Soto school of Zen in Japan. After studying in China and returning to Japan in 12...

  • Nagarjuna c. 150 – c. 250 · Indian

    Nagarjuna was a 2nd or 3rd-century AD Indian Mahayana Buddhist philosopher and the founder of the Madhyamaka or Middle Way school, regarded as one of the most important philosop...