Intellectual lineage

Traditions

The 59 traditions.

The schools of thought the archetypes descend from — the shared foundations beneath every family, and the family-specific branches that grew from them.

Foundations25 cross-cutting

The shared roots every family descends from — the cross-cutting traditions of thought that run beneath the political branches, each opening to the figures who call it home.

Aesthetic Philosophy18th century to present2
Friedrich Nietzsche1844–1900Roger Scruton1944–2020
Ancient Philosophy6th century BCE to 6th century CE4
Epictetus50–135Marcus Aurelius121–180Seneca4–65Socrates470–399 BCE
British IdealismLate 19th-early 20th century1
Michael Oakeshott1901–1990
Comparative Politics18th century to present4
Alexis de Tocqueville1805–1859Charles de Montesquieu1689–1755Ivan KrastevSamuel Huntington1927–2008
Deontological Ethics18th century to present1
Immanuel Kant1724–1804
Dialectical Philosophy19th century to present1
G.W.F. Hegel1770–1831
Empiricism17th-18th century1
John Locke1632–1704
Enlightenment Philosophy18th century4
Benjamin Franklin1706–1790Catherine the Great1729–1796Frederick the Great1712–1786Montesquieu1689–1755
German IdealismLate 18th-early 19th century0
History of Ideas20th century to present4
E.P. Thompson1924–1993Isaiah Berlin1909–1997Leszek KołakowskiRené Descartes1596–1650
Legal Reform18th-19th century0
MaterialismAncient to present4
Friedrich Engels1820–1895Marvin MinskyPeter Kropotkin1842–1921Thomas Hobbes1588–1679
Moral PhilosophyAncient to present4
Adam Smith1723–1790Arthur Schopenhauer1788–1860Bertrand Russell1872–1970Confucius551–479 BCE
Phenomenology20th century1
Hannah Arendt1906–1975
Philosophy of History18th century to present4
Antonio Gramsci1891–1937Augustine of Hippo354–430John Dewey1859–1952José Ortega y Gasset1883–1955
Political IdealismAncient to present0
Political PhilosophyAncient to present6
Irving Kristol1920–2009Mahatma Gandhi1869–1948Robert Nozick1938–2002Russell Kirk1918–1994Thomas More1478–1535Vladimir Lenin1870–1924
Political RhetoricClassical to present2
Edmund Burke1729–1797William F. Buckley Jr.1925–2008
Rationalism17th-18th century0
Renaissance Humanism14th-16th century1
Niccolò Machiavelli1469–1527
RepublicanismAncient to present11
Andrew Jackson1767–1845Charles de Gaulle1890–1970George Washington1732–1799Golda Meir1898–1978James Madison1751–1836John Adams1735–1826Mustafa Kemal Atatürk1881–1938Patrick Henry1736–1799Simón Bolívar1783–1830Thomas Jefferson1743–1826Thomas Paine1737–1809
Scholasticism12th-15th century1
Thomas Aquinas1225–1274
SkepticismAncient to present2
David Hume1711–1776Voltaire1694–1778
Social Contract Theory17th-18th century, revived 20th century0
Value Pluralism20th century to present0
By family8 families

The branches each political family draws on directly. A tradition cited by more than one family appears under each — nothing here is orphaned.

Libertarian

8
Austrian School EconomicsLate 19th century to presentChicago School EconomicsMid-20th century to presentClassical Liberalism17th-19th centuryIndividualist Anarchism19th century to presentMarket Anarchism20th century to presentObjectivismMid-20th century to presentScottish Enlightenment18th centurySocial Anarchism19th century to present

Conservative

7
Catholic Political ThoughtMedieval to presentConservatism18th century to presentCritique of Modernity19th century to presentLiberal Political Thought19th-20th centuryNatural LawAncient to presentPolitical RealismRenaissance to presentRomantic Political Thought18th-19th century

Progressive

10
Anti-Colonial Thought19th century to presentCapabilities ApproachLate 20th century to presentCommunitarianismLate 20th century to presentCritical Theory20th centuryDemocratic Socialism19th century to presentLiberal Feminism18th century to presentMarxism19th century to presentPhilosophical RadicalismEarly 19th centuryPragmatismLate 19th century to presentUtilitarianism18th-19th century

Socialist

6
Anti-Colonial Thought19th century to presentDemocratic Socialism19th century to presentMarxism19th century to presentMutualism19th century to presentPolitical TheologyAncient to presentSocial Anarchism19th century to present

Nationalist

5
Anti-Colonial Thought19th century to presentCivil Society18th century to presentFascism20th century to presentPolitical Economy18th century to presentPolitical SociologyLate 19th century to present

Statist

4
Fascism20th century to presentMarxism19th century to presentPlatonismAncient to presentPolitical TheologyAncient to present

Liberal

4
Chicago School EconomicsMid-20th century to presentLiberal Political Thought19th-20th centuryPolitical Economy18th century to presentSpontaneous Order18th century to present

Centrist

3
Existentialism19th-20th centuryLiberal Political Thought19th-20th centuryPragmatismLate 19th century to present