PHILOSOPHER

Alan Watts

1915 - 1973

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Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was a British and American writer, speaker, and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu philosophy for a Western audience. Watts gained a following while working as a volunteer programmer at the KPFA radio station in Berkeley, California. He wrote more than 25 books and articles on religion and philosophy, introducing the Beat Generation and the emerging counterculture to The Way of Zen (1957), one of the first best selling books on Buddhism. In Psychotherapy East and West (1961), he argued that psychotherapy could become the West's way of liberation if it discarded dualism. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Alan Watts is the 578th most popular philosopher (down from 566th in 2019), the 1,427th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 1,156th in 2019) and the 36th most popular British Philosopher.

Alan Watts is most famous for his work in the field of comparative religion. He was a philosopher and writer who studied Eastern and Western religions, mysticism, and the nature of consciousness.

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Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Alan Watts ranks 578 out of 1,267Before him are Antonio Labriola, Jean-Marie Guyau, Nicos Poulantzas, Étienne-Gabriel Morelly, María Zambrano, and Karl Christian Friedrich Krause. After him are Pierre Charron, Zeno of Sidon, Shneur Zalman of Liadi, Usman dan Fodio, Georges Canguilhem, and Al-Baydawi.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1915, Alan Watts ranks 70Before him are James Tiptree Jr., László Csatáry, Priscilla Lane, Abba Eban, Don Budge, and Santiago Carrillo. After him are Jacques Chaban-Delmas, Konstantin Simonov, Loris Francesco Capovilla, John Woodruff, Mario Monicelli, and Gyula Zsengellér. Among people deceased in 1973, Alan Watts ranks 75Before him are Mikhail Kalatozov, Paul van Zeeland, Károly Kerényi, Asger Jorn, Jacques Lipchitz, and Edward Steichen. After him are Sessue Hayakawa, Monika Ertl, Bruno Maderna, Shirali Muslimov, Marc Allégret, and Robert Smithson.

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Alan Watts ranks 1,427 out of 8,785Before him are James Lind (1716), William Henry Perkin (1838), William Booth (1829), Vinnie Jones (1965), Martin Frobisher (1535), and Victoria Beckham (1974). After him are Mick Taylor (1949), Louise d'Orléans (1869), Anthony Daniels (1946), Alice Bailey (1880), Charles Bell (1774), and David Hamilton (1933).

Among PHILOSOPHERS In United Kingdom

Among philosophers born in United Kingdom, Alan Watts ranks 36Before him are John Gray (1948), Adam Ferguson (1723), A. J. Ayer (1910), Gilbert Ryle (1900), Paul Grice (1913), and Harriet Taylor Mill (1807). After him are John Austin (1790), David Hartley (1705), R. G. Collingwood (1889), Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623), Alexander of Hales (1175), and Antony Flew (1923).