Name Index
A list of great thinkers from the past organized alphabetically by the names of individuals. Important theologians and significant philosophers from the pre-Christian era to modern times, these are the leading minds whose life and works I would recommend for study.
Although particular care was taken to include persons who are important to the intellectual life of the Catholic Church by no means are all Popes and Saints listed here, either separately or as a group, but when appropriate the designation of Pope, Saint (St.), and/or Doctor of the Church (Dr.) has been provided.
When appropriate personal dates use indicators for born (b.), died (d.), flourished (f.), and circa (ca.) for approximate dates. The designation B.C. (Before Christ) for the years prior to the Christian era is also used.
For a list of writers from the time of Augustine click here.
Abelard, Peter, 1079-1142
Adam, Karl, 1876-1966
Albert the Great (Albertus Magnus), St. & Dr., ca. 1200-1280
Alcuin, ca. 730-804
Alexander of Alexandria, d. 328
Alexander of Hales (The "Irrefutable Doctor"), ca. 1185-1245
Alphonsus Liguori, St. , 1696-1787
Ambrose of Milan, St. & Dr., ca. 339-397
Andrew of Crete, St., ca.660-740
Anselm of Canterbury, St., ca. 1033-1109
Anthony of Padua, St. & Dr., ca. 1191-1231
Apollinarius of Laodicea, ca. 310-390
Aquinas, see Thomas Aquinas
Aristotle, 384-322 B.C.
Athanasius of Alexandria, St., d. 373
Augustine of Hippo, St. & Dr., 354-430
Balthasar, Hans Urs von, 1905-1988
Barth, Karl, 1886-1968
Basil the Great, St., ca. 330-379
Bede the Venerable, St., ca. 673-735
Bellarmine, Robert, St. & Dr., 1542-1621
Benedict of Nursia, St., ca. 480-547
Berkeley, George, 1685-1753
Bernard of Clairvaux, St., 1090-1153
Blondel, Maurice, 1861-1949
Boethius, ca. 480-524
Bonaventure, St. & Dr., 1217-1274
Canisius, Peter, St. & Dr., 1521-1597
Cappadocian Fathers see seperate entries under; Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory Nazianzus
Cassian, John, St., ca. 365-435
Catherine of Siena, St. & Dr., 1347-1380
Chantal, Jane Frances de, St., 1572-1641
Chesterton, Gilbert Keith, 1874-1936
Chrysologus, Peter, St. & Dr., 406-450
Chrysotom, John, St. & Dr., ca. 349-407
Clare of Assisi, 1194-1253
Clement of Alexandria, ca. 150-215
Clement of Rome (Pope Clement I), d. ca. 101
Climacus, John, St., 570-649
Congar, Yves, 1904-1995
Curé d’Ars see Vianney, Jean-Baptiste Marie
Cyprian of Carthage, St., d. 258
Cyril of Alexandria, St. and Dr., ca. 375-444
Cyril of Jerusalem, St., ca. 315-386
Damian, Peter, St. & Dr., 1007-1072
Daniélou, Jean, 1905-1974
Denys of Areopagite (Pseudo-Dionysius), f. 4th-5th century
Descartes, René, 1596-1650
Didymus the Blind, ca. 313-398
Dionysius of Rome (Pope Dionysius I), d. 268
Dionysius the Carthusian, ca. 1402-1471
Dionysius the Great (of Alexandria), d. ca. 264
Dominic de Guzman, St., ca. 1170-1221
Dulles, Avery Robert, b. 1918
Duns Scotus see Scotus, John Duns
Eckhart, Meister, ca. 1260-1328
Ephraim the Syrian, St. & Dr., ca. 306-373
Erasmus of Rotterdam (Desiderius Erasmus), 1466-1536
Eriugena, John Scotus, ca. 810-877
Eunomius, d. 394
Eusebius of Caesarea, ca. 260-339
Eutyches, ca. 378-454
Feuerbach, Ludwig Andreas, 1804-1872
Francis de Sales, St., 1567-1622
Francis of Assisi, St., ca. 1181-1226
Garrigou-Lagrange, Reginald, 1877-1964
Gertrude the Great, St., ca. 1256-1302
Giles of Rome, ca. 1243-1316
Gilson, Etienne, 1884-1978
Gregory of Nazianzus (Gregory Nazianzen) the Theologian, St. & Dr., ca. 329-390
Gregory of Nyssa, St., ca. 335-395
Gregory of Rimini, d. 1358
Gregory Palamas, ca. 1296-1359
Gregory Thaumaturgus, St., ca. 210-270
Gregory the Great (Pope Gregory I), ca. 540-604
Guardini, Romano, 1885-1968
Hadewijch of Antwerp, f. 13th century
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 1770-1831
Heidegger, Martin, 1889-1976
Hilary of Poitiers, St. & Dr., ca. 315-367
Hildegard of Bingen, St., 1098-1179
Hincmar of Reims, ca. 806-882
Hippolytus, St., ca. 170-236
Hugh of St. Victor, ca. 1090-1141
Husserl, Edmund, 1859-1938
Ignatius of Antioch, St., ca. 35-107
Ignatius of Loyola, St., 1491-1556
Irenaeus of Lyons, St., ca. 130-200
Isidore of Seville, St., ca. 560-636
Jerome (Eusebius Hieronymus), St. & Dr., ca. 340-420
Joachim of Fiore, ca. 1135-1202
John of Antioch, d. ca. 441
John of Damascus, St. & Dr., ca. 675-749
John of the Cross, St. & Dr., 1542-1591
Julian of Norwich, Bl., ca. 1342-1420
Justin Martyr, St., d. ca. 165
Kant, Immanuel, 1724-1803
Knox, Ronald Arbuthnott, 1888-1957
Kolbe, Maximilian, St., 1894-1941
Labouré, Catherine, St., 1806-1876
Lanfranc of Bec, ca. 1010-1089
Langton, Stephen, d. 1228
Leo the Great, St. (Pope Leo I), d. 461
Leontius of Byzantium, ca. 500-543
Lombard, Peter, ca. 1100-1160
Lonergan, Bernard J. F., 1904-1984
Lubac, Henri de, 1896-1991
Macrina the Younger, St., ca. 327-379
Maimonides, Moses, 1135-1204
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, 121-180
Maritain, Jacques, 1882-1973
Marmion, Joseph Columba, 1858-1923
Maximus the Confessor, St., ca. 580-662
Mechthild of Magdeburg, St., ca. 1212-1282
Merton, Thomas, 1915-1968
More, Thomas, St., 1478-1535
Newman, John Henry, 1801-1890
Nicholas of Cusa, 1401-1464
Nicholas of Lyra, ca. 1270-1349
Origen, ca. 185-254
Palamas, Gregory, St., ca. 1296-1359
Papias, f. 2nd Century
Pascal, Blaise, 1623-1662
Peter of Alexandria, St., d. ca. 311
Philo of Alexandria, ca. 20 B.C.-50 A.D.
Plato, d. ca. 347 B.C.
Plotinus, ca. 205-270
Polycarp of Smyrna, St., ca. 69-156
Porphyry, ca. 232-303
Proclus, ca. 410-485
Ratzinger, Joseph, b. 1927
Ricoeur, Paul, 1913-2005
Richard of St. Victor, d. 1173
Sabas (Sava) of Serbia, St., ca. 1173-1237
Sabas the Great, St., ca. 439-532
Schleiermacher, Friedrich Daniel Ernst, 1768-1834
Scotus, John Duns, ca. 1266-1308
Sheed, Francis Joseph, 1897-1981
Socrates, 470-399 B.C.
Stein, Edith, (Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), St., 1891-1942
Suárez, Francisco de, 1548-1617
Symeon the New Theologian, ca. 949-1022
Teresa of Ávila, St., 1515-1582
Tertullian, ca. 160-225
Theophilus of Alexandria, d. 412
Thérèse of Lisieux, St. & Dr., 1873-1897
Thomas à Kempis, ca. 1380-1471
Thomas Aquinas, St. & Dr., 1225-1274
Thomas of Villanova, St., 1488-1555
Vianney, Jean-Baptiste Marie, St., 1786-1859
Victorinus, Caius Marius, f. 4th Century
Vitoria, Francisco de, 1486-1546
William of Auxerre, d. 1231
William of Ockham, ca. 1285-1347
Wojtyla, Karol (Pope John Paul II), 1920-2005