14 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
Indian philosopher at Oxford who was the most important figure in making classical Indian philosophy (Nyaya, Mimamsa, Vedanta) available to analytic philosophers — demonstrating that Indian philosophical traditions engage the same problems as Western philosophy with equal rigor.
British novelist and Christian apologist — Oxford and Cambridge literature professor — author of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, and The Problem of Pain — the most widely read Christian apologist of the 20th century.
British medieval historian at Oxford who wrote Framing the Early Middle Ages, The Inheritance of Rome, and Medieval Europe — the leading authority on the economic and social history of early medieval Europe — who applies Marxist social history methodology to the transformation from Roman to medieval Europe.
British physicist — University of Oxford — who laid the theoretical foundations of quantum computing and whose epistemological philosophy (based on Karl Popper) argues for an optimistic view of human knowledge creation — author of The Fabric of Reality and The Beginning of Infinity.
Irish-British philosopher and novelist — author of Under the Net, The Sea the Sea (Booker Prize), and The Sovereignty of Good — who combined philosophy (Platonic ethics, moral psychology) and fiction in a unique way — died of Alzheimer's disease.
British author and Oxford professor of Anglo-Saxon — creator of Middle-earth — author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings — who created the modern high fantasy genre and the most influential fictional world in literary history.
British philosopher of religion at Oxford — who works on the intersection of philosophy, ethics, and Christian theology.
British historian at Oxford who wrote The Empire Project, Unfinished Empire, and After Tamerlane — arguing that the British Empire was one of several competing imperialisms in a multipolar world, not simply a Western domination story — offering a global perspective on empire and decolonization.
Swedish philosopher at Oxford — founder of the Future of Humanity Institute — author of Superintelligence — who created the intellectual framework for AI existential risk and the simulation argument — the most influential philosopher in AI safety discourse.
American-British economist — DPhil student at Oxford — associated with the Global Priorities Institute — who works on the economics of long-run welfare and patient philanthropy.
British philosopher at Oxford — who created the Trolley Problem as a philosophical thought experiment — revived virtue ethics against utilitarianism and Kantian deontology — and created the theory of natural goodness in Natural Goodness.
British ancient historian at Oxford who wrote Alexander the Great, Pagans and Christians, The Classical World, and The Unauthorized Version — known for biography, religious history, and classical survey — who also served as an historical consultant on Oliver Stone's Alexander film.
British philosopher at Oxford — author of The Precipice — co-founder of Giving What We Can — who focuses on existential risk (threats that could permanently destroy civilization) and is a leading figure in the longtermism movement.
Scottish philosopher at Oxford — co-founder of the effective altruism movement and 80,000 Hours — author of Doing Good Better and What We Owe the Future — who has directed hundreds of millions in charitable giving through his ideas and has been both the primary builder and a primary cause of the FTX/EA reputational crisis.