







The Most Famous
Philosophers from United Kingdom
This page contains a list of the greatest British Philosophers. The pantheon dataset contains 1,267 Philosophers, 103 of which were born in United Kingdom. This makes United Kingdom the birth place of the 3rd most number of Philosophers behind Germany and France.
Top 10 British Philosophers
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary British Philosophers of all time. This list of famous British Philosophers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of British Philosophers.
- #1

Francis Bacon
1561 - 1626
HPI 90.32116 langsFrancis Bacon was a philosopher and scientist who is most famous for his work Novum Organum, which was published in 1620. Bacon's work was...Read moreShow less
Francis Bacon was a philosopher and scientist who is most famous for his work Novum Organum, which was published in 1620. Bacon's work was an attempt to reform the way that knowledge is gained and used.
- #2

John Locke
1632 - 1704
HPI 87.94147 langsJohn Locke is most famous for his philosophy of empiricism, which states that all knowledge comes from experience.
- #3

Thomas Hobbes
1588 - 1679
HPI 85.75108 langsThomas Hobbes is most famous for his political philosophy, which is a form of social contract theory. Hobbes believed that the natural state...Read moreShow less
Thomas Hobbes is most famous for his political philosophy, which is a form of social contract theory. Hobbes believed that the natural state of humanity is one of war, and that without a strong government to enforce the peace, life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
- #4

David Hume
1711 - 1776
HPI 83.28108 langsDavid Hume is most famous for his skepticism and empiricism.
- #5

Thomas More
1478 - 1535
HPI 81.5297 langsThomas More was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, and statesman. He was Lord Chancellor from 1529 to 1532 and is best known for...Read moreShow less
Thomas More was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, and statesman. He was Lord Chancellor from 1529 to 1532 and is best known for his influential work Utopia.
- #6

Herbert Spencer
1820 - 1903
HPI 80.2579 langsHerbert Spencer is most famous for his theory of evolution.
- #7

Roger Bacon
1220 - 1292
HPI 78.5571 langsRoger Bacon is most famous for his work on optics and the scientific method.
- #8

Jeremy Bentham
1748 - 1832
HPI 78.3677 langsJeremy Bentham is most famous for his theory of utilitarianism, which is the idea that the moral worth of an action is based on its...Read moreShow less
Jeremy Bentham is most famous for his theory of utilitarianism, which is the idea that the moral worth of an action is based on its usefulness in increasing pleasure and decreasing pain.
- #9

William of Ockham
1285 - 1347
HPI 77.9978 langsWilliam of Ockham is most famous for his principle of parsimony, also known as Occam's Razor. This principle states that the simplest...Read moreShow less
William of Ockham is most famous for his principle of parsimony, also known as Occam's Razor. This principle states that the simplest explanation is usually the best one.
- #10

Joseph Priestley
1733 - 1804
HPI 76.9078 langsJoseph Priestley is most famous for his discovery of oxygen.
People by Birth Decade
Browse notable British Philosophers grouped by birth decade. Each decade shows the top 10 by HPI; expand to see everyone.
1920s(10)
1890s(1)
1870s(2)
1830s(2)
1820s(1)
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Overlapping Lives
Which Philosophers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 25 most globally memorable Philosophers since 1700.





























































































