PHILOSOPHERS from Lebanon

Top 5

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Lebanese Philosophers of all time. This list of famous Lebanese Philosophers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Porphyry (233 - 305)

With an HPI of 69.66, Porphyry is the most famous Lebanese Philosopher.  His biography has been translated into 46 different languages on wikipedia.

Porphyry of Tyre (; Greek: Πορφύριος, Porphýrios; c. 234 – c. AD 305) was a Neoplatonic philosopher born in Tyre, Roman Phoenicia during Roman rule. He edited and published The Enneads, the only collection of the work of Plotinus, his teacher. He wrote original works in the Greek language on a wide variety of topics, ranging from music theory to Homer to vegetarianism. His Isagoge or Introduction, an introduction to logic and philosophy, was the standard textbook on logic throughout the Middle Ages in its Latin and Arabic translations. Porphyry was, and still is, also well-known for his anti-Christian polemics. Through works such as Philosophy from Oracles and Against the Christians (which was banned by Constantine the Great), he was involved in a controversy with early Christians.

2. Zeno of Sidon (-150 - -75)

With an HPI of 58.40, Zeno of Sidon is the 2nd most famous Lebanese Philosopher.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Zeno of Sidon (Greek: Ζήνων ὁ Σιδώνιος; c. 150 – c. 75 BC) was a Greek Epicurean philosopher from the Seleucid city of Sidon. His writings have not survived, but there are some epitomes of his lectures preserved among the writings of his pupil Philodemus.

3. Bahāʾ al-dīn al-ʿĀmilī (1547 - 1621)

With an HPI of 55.36, Bahāʾ al-dīn al-ʿĀmilī is the 3rd most famous Lebanese Philosopher.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Baha al-Din Muhammad ibn Husayn al-Amili (Arabic: بهاء الدين محمد بن حسين العاملي, romanized: Bahāʾ al‐Dīn Muḥammad bin Ḥusayn al‐ʿĀmilī; 18 February 1547 – 1 September 1621) was a Levantine Arab Twelver Shi'a scholar, poet, philosopher, architect, mathematician, and astronomer who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries in Safavid Iran. He was born in Baalbek, Ottoman Syria (now Lebanon) but immigrated in his childhood to Safavid Iran with the rest of his family. He was one of the earliest astronomers in the Islamic world to suggest the possibility of the Earth's movement before the spread of Copernican heliocentrism. He is considered one of the main co-founders of School of Isfahan. In later years, he was one of the teachers of Mulla Sadra. Baha al-Din wrote over 100 treatises and books on different topics, in Arabic and New Persian. Several architectural and engineering designs are attributed to him but none can be substantiated with sources. These may have included the Naqsh-e Jahan Square and Charbagh in Isfahan. He is buried in Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran.

4. Maximus of Tyre (200 - 200)

With an HPI of 54.84, Maximus of Tyre is the 4th most famous Lebanese Philosopher.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Maximus of Tyre (Greek: Μάξιμος Τύριος; fl. late 2nd century AD), also known as Cassius Maximus Tyrius, was a Greek rhetorician and philosopher who lived in the time of the Antonines and Commodus, and who belongs to the trend of the Second Sophistic. His writings contain many allusions to the history of Greece, while there is little reference to Rome; hence it is inferred that he lived longer in Greece, perhaps as a professor at Athens. Although nominally a Platonist, he is really a sophist rather than a philosopher, although he is still considered one of the precursors of Neoplatonism.

5. Antoun Saadeh (1904 - 1949)

With an HPI of 52.05, Antoun Saadeh is the 5th most famous Lebanese Philosopher.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Antoun Saadeh (Arabic: أنطون سعادة, romanized: ʾAnṭūn Saʿādah; 1 March 1904 – 8 July 1949) was a Lebanese politician, sociologist, philosopher and writer who founded the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.