Philosophical Fame, 1890-1980

Bergson, Bosanquet, and Bradley used to be huge

There's a fun new tool at Edhiphy. The designers pulled the full text from twelve leading philosophy journals from 1890 to 1980 and counted the occurrences of philosophers' names. (See note [1] for discussion of error rates in their method.)

Back in the early 2010s, I posted several bibliometric studies of philosophers' citation or discussion rates over time, mostly based on searches of Philosopher's Index abstracts from 1940 to the present. This new tool gives me a chance to update some of my thinking, using a different method and going further into the past.

One thing I found fascinating in my earlier studies was how some philosophers who used to be huge (for example, Henri Bergson and Herbert Spencer) are now hardly read, while others (for example, Gottlob Frege) have had more staying power.

Let's look at the top 25 most discussed philosophers from each available decade.

1890s:

1. Immanuel Kant
2. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
3. Aristotle
4. David Hume
5. Herbert Spencer
6. William James
7. Plato
8. John Stuart Mill
9. René Descartes
10. Wilhelm Wundt
11. Hermann Lotze
12. F. H. Bradley
13. Charles Sanders Peirce
14. Buddha
15. Thomas Hill Green
16. Benedictus de Spinoza
17. Charles Darwin
18. John Locke
19. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
20. Thomas Hobbes
21. Arthur Schopenhauer
22. Socrates
23. Hermann von Helmholtz
24. George Frederick Stout
25. Alexander Bain

Notes:

Only three of the twelve journals existed in the 1890s, so this is a small sample.

Philosophy and empirical psychology were not clearly differentiated as disciplines until approximately the 1910s or 1920s, and these journals covered both areas. (For example, the Journal of Philosophy was originally founded in 1904 as the Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods, shortening to the now familiar name in 1921.) Although Wundt, Helmholtz, and Stout were to some extent philosophers, they are probably better understood primarily as early psychologists. William James is of course famously claimed by both fields.

Herbert Spencer, as previously noted, was hugely influential in his day: fifth on this eminent list! Another eminent philosopher on this list (#11) who is hardly known today (at least in mainstream Anglophone circles) is Hermann Lotze.

Most of the others on the list are historical giants, plus some prominent British idealists (F. H. Bradley, Thomas Hill Green) and pragmatists (William James, Charles Sanders Peirce, Alexander Bain) and interestingly (but not representative of later decades) "Buddha". (A spot check reveals that some of these references are to Gautama Buddha or "the Buddha", while others use "buddha" in a more general sense.)

1900s:

1. Immanuel Kant
2. William James
3. Plato
4. F. H. Bradley
5. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
6. David Hume
7. Aristotle
8. Herbert Spencer
9. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
10. John Dewey
11. George Berkeley
12. John Stuart Mill
13. George Frederick Stout
14. Thomas Hill Green
15. Josiah Royce
16. Benedictus de Spinoza
17. John Locke
18. Ferdinand Canning Scott Schiller
19. Ernst Mach
20. Wilhelm Wundt
21. James Ward
22. René Descartes
23. Alfred Edward Taylor
24. Henry Sidgwick
25. Bertrand Russell

Notes:

Notice the fast rise of John Dewey (1859-1952), to #10 (#52 in the 1890s list). Other living philosophers in the top ten were James (1842-1910), Bradley (1846-1824), and for part of the period Spencer (1820-1903).

It's also striking to see George Berkeley enter the list so high (#11, compared to #28 in the 1890s) and Descartes fall so fast despite his continuing importance later (from #9 to #22). This could be statistical noise due to the small number of journals, or it could reflect historical trends. I'm not sure.

Our first "analytic" philosopher appears: Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) at #25. He turned 33 in 1905, so he found eminence very young for a philosopher.

Lotze has already fallen off the list (#29 in the 1900s; #29 in the 1910s; #63 in the 1930s, afterwards not in the top 100).

1910s:

1. Henri Bergson
2. Bertrand Russell
3. Immanuel Kant
4. Plato
5. William James
6. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
7. Aristotle
8. Socrates
9. Bernard Bosanquet
10. George Berkeley
11. F. H. Bradley
12. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
13. René Descartes
14. Josiah Royce
15. David Hume
16. Isaac Newton
17. John Dewey
18. Friedrich Nietzsche
19. Ferdinand Canning Scott Schiller
20. Arthur Schopenhauer
21. John Locke
22. Benedictus de Spinoza
23. Edwin Holt
24. Isaac Barrow
25. Johann Gottlieb Fichte

Notes:

Henri Bergson (1859-1941) debuts at #1! What a rock star. (He was #63 in the 1900s list.) We forget how huge he was in his day. Russell, who so far has had much more durable influence, rockets up to #2. It's also interesting to see Bernard Bosanquet (1848-1923), who is now little read in mainstream Anglophone circles, at #9.

Josiah Royce is also highly mentioned in this era (#14 in this list, #15 in the 1900s list), despite not being much read now. F.C.S. Schiller (1864-1937) is a similar case (#19 in this list, #18 in the 1900s list).

1920s:

1. Immanuel Kant
2. Plato
3. Aristotle
4. Bernard Bosanquet
5. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
6. F. H. Bradley
7. Bertrand Russell
8. Benedictus de Spinoza
9. William James
10. Socrates
11. John Dewey
12. Alfred North Whitehead
13. David Hume
14. George Santayana
15. René Descartes
16. Henri Bergson
17. Albert Einstein
18. C. D. Broad
19. John Locke
20. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
21. George Berkeley
22. Isaac Newton
23. James Ward
24. Samuel Alexander
25. Benedetto Croce

Notes:

I'm struck by how the 1920s returns to the classics at the top of the list, with Kant, Plato, and Aristotle as #1, #2, and #3. Bergson is already down to #16 and Russell has slipped to #7. Most surprising to me, though, is Bosanquet at #4! What?!

1930s:

1. Immanuel Kant
2. Plato
3. Aristotle
4. Benedictus de Spinoza
5. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
6. René Descartes
7. Alfred North Whitehead
8. Bertrand Russell
9. David Hume
10. John Locke
11. George Berkeley
12. Socrates
13. Friedrich Nietzsche
14. Rudolf Carnap
15. William James
16. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
17. John Dewey
18. Isaac Newton
19. Clarence Irving Lewis
20. Arthur Oncken Lovejoy
21. Albert Einstein
22. Charles Sanders Peirce
23. F. H. Bradley
24. Ludwig Wittgenstein
25. Bernard Bosanquet

Notes:

Nietzsche rises suddenly (#13; vs #56 in the 1920s list). Wittgenstein also cracks the list at #24 (not even in the top 100 in the 1920s).

With the exception of Whitehead, top of the list looks like what early 21st century mainstream Anglophone philosophers tend to perceive as the most influential figures in pre-20th-century Western philosophy (see, e.g., Brian Leiter's 2017 poll). The 1930s, perhaps, were for whatever reason a decade more focused on the history of philosophy than on leading contemporary thinkers. (The presence of historian of ideas Arthur Lovejoy [1873-1962] at #20 further reinforces that thought.)

1940s:

1. Immanuel Kant
2. Alfred North Whitehead
3. Aristotle
4. Plato
5. Bertrand Russell
6. John Dewey
7. David Hume
8. William James
9. George Berkeley
10. Charles Sanders Peirce
11. René Descartes
12. Benedictus de Spinoza
13. Edmund Husserl
14. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
15. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
16. Thomas Aquinas
17. Socrates
18. Rudolf Carnap
19. Martin Heidegger
20. G. E. Moore
21. John Stuart Mill
22. Isaac Newton
23. Søren Kierkegaard
24. A. J. Ayer
25. John Locke

Notes:

Oh, how people loved Whitehead (#2) in the 1940s!

Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) makes a posthumous appearance at #13 (#31 in the 1920s) and Heidegger (1889-1976) at #19 (#97 in the 1920s), suggesting an impact of Continental phenomenology. I suspect this is due to the inclusion of Philosophy and Phenomenological Research in the database starting 1940. Although the journal is now a bastion of mainstream Anglophone philosophy, in its early decades it included lots of work in Continental phenomenology (as the journal's title suggests).

The philosophers we now think of as the big three American pragmatists have a very strong showing in the 1940s, with Dewey at #6, James at #8, and Peirce at #10.

Thomas Aquinas makes his first and only showing (at #16), suggesting that Catholic philosophy is having more of an impact in this era.

We're also starting to see more analytic philosophers, with G. E. Moore (1873-1958), and A. J. Ayer (1910-1989) now making the list, in addition to Russell and Carnap (1891-1970).

Wittgenstein, surprisingly to me, has fallen off the list all the way down to #73 -- perhaps suggesting that if he hadn't had his second era, his earlier work would have been quickly forgotten.

1950s:

1. Immanuel Kant
2. Plato
3. Aristotle
4. Bertrand Russell
5. David Hume
6. Gilbert Ryle
7. G. E. Moore
8. Willard Van Orman Quine
9. George Berkeley
10. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
11. John Dewey
12. Alfred North Whitehead
13. Rudolf Carnap
14. Ludwig Wittgenstein
15. René Descartes
16. John Locke
17. Clarence Irving Lewis
18. Socrates
19. John Stuart Mill
20. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
21. Gottlob Frege
22. A. J. Ayer
23. William James
24. Edmund Husserl
25. Nelson Goodman

By the 1950s, the top eight are four leading historical figures -- Kant, Plato, Aristotle, and Hume -- and four leading analytic philosophers: Russell, Gilbert Ryle (1900-1976), G. E. Moore, and W. V. O. Quine (1908-2000). Neither Ryle nor Quine were among the top 100 in 1940s, so their rise to #6 and #8 was sudden.

Gottlob Frege (1848-1925) also makes his first, long-posthumous appearance.

1960s:

1. Aristotle
2. Immanuel Kant
3. Ludwig Wittgenstein
4. David Hume
5. Plato
6. René Descartes
7. P. F. Strawson
8. Willard Van Orman Quine
9. Bertrand Russell
10. J. L. Austin
11. John Dewey
12. Rudolf Carnap
13. Edmund Husserl
14. Socrates
15. Norman Malcolm
16. G. E. Moore
17. Gottlob Frege
18. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
19. George Berkeley
20. R. M. Hare
21. John Stuart Mill
22. Gilbert Ryle
23. A. J. Ayer
24. Karl Popper
25. Carl Gustav Hempel

Wittgenstein is back with a vengeance at #3. Other analytic philosophers, in order, are P. F. Strawson, Quine, Russell, Austin, Carnap, Norman Malcolm (1911-1990), Moore, Frege, R. M. Hare (1919-2002), Ryle, Ayer, Karl Popper (1902-1994), and Carl Hempel (1905-1997).

Apart from pre-20th-century historical giants, it's all analytic philosophers, except for Dewey and Husserl.

Finally, the 1970s:

1. Willard Van Orman Quine
2. Immanuel Kant
3. David Hume
4. Aristotle
5. Ludwig Wittgenstein
6. Plato
7. John Locke
8. René Descartes
9. Karl Popper
10. Rudolf Carnap
11. Gottlob Frege
12. Edmund Husserl
13. Hans Reichenbach
14. Socrates
15. P. F. Strawson
16. Donald Davidson
17. John Stuart Mill
18. Bertrand Russell
19. Thomas Reid
20. Benedictus de Spinoza
21. Nelson Goodman
22. Carl Gustav Hempel
23. John Rawls
24. Karl Marx
25. Saul Kripke

With the continuing exception of Husserl, the list is again historical giants plus analytic philosophers. Interesting to see Marx enter at #24. Hans Reichenbach (1891-1953) has a strong debut at #13. Ryle's decline is striking, from #6 in the 1950s to #22 in the 1960s to off the list at #51 in the 1970s.

At the very bottom of the list, #25, we see the first "Silent Generation" philosopher: Saul Kripke (1940-2022). In a recent citation analysis of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, I found that the Silent Generation has so far had impressive overall influence and staying power in mainstream Anglophone philosophy. It would be interesting to see if this influence continues.

The only philosopher born after 1800 who makes both the 1890s and the 1970s top 25 is John Stuart Mill. Peirce and James still rank among the top 100 in the 1970s (#58 and #86). None of the other stars of the 1890s -- Spencer, Herbert, Lotze, Bradley, Green -- are still among the top 100 by the 1970s, and I think it's fair to say they are hardly read except by specialists.

Similar remarks apply to most of the stars of the 1900s, 1910s, and 1920s: Bergson, Bosanquet, Royce, Schiller, C. D. Broad, and George Santayana are no longer widely read. Two exceptions are Russell, who persists in the top 25 through the 1970s, and Dewey who falls from the top 25 but still remains in the top 100, at #87.

Also, in case you didn't notice: no women or people of color (as we would now classify them) appear on any of these lists, apart from "Buddha" in the 1890s.

In my recent Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy analysis, the most-cited living philosophers were Timothy Williamson, Martha Nussbaum, Thomas Nagel, Frank Jackson, John Searle, and David Chalmers. However, none of them is probably as dominant now as Spencer, James, Bradley, Russell, Bosanquet, and Bergson were at the peak of their influence.

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[1] The Edhiphy designers estimate "82%-91%" precision, but I'm not sure what that means. I'd assume that "Wittgenstein" and "Carnap" would hit with almost 100% precision. Does it follow others might be as low as 40%? There certainly are some problems. I noticed, for example, that R. Jay Wallace, born in 1957, has 78 mentions in the 1890s. I spot checked "Russell", "Austin", "James", and "Berkeley", finding only a few false positives for Russell and Austin (e.g., misclassified references to legal philosopher John Austin). I found significantly more false positives for William James (including references to Henry James and some authors with the first name James, such as psychologist James Ward), but still probably not more than 10%. For "Berkeley" there were a similar number of false positives referencing the university or city. I didn't attempt to check for false negatives

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[Bosanquet and Bergson used to be hugely influential]