Philosophers' Influence in Wikipedia: A Multicultural Analysis

We analyze the influence and interconnections of philosophical thinkers within the Wikipedia knowledge network across nine language editions using PageRank, CheiRank, and the reduced Google matrix. While philosophers are not central to Wikipedia’s structure, they remain key reference points, with notable cultural differences in their prominence. We compare Wikipedia rankings with specialized sources like the Stanford and Internet Encyclopedias of Philosophy and focus in particular on the hidden links among 21 Presocratic thinkers, revealing new insights into their intellectual relationships through network analysis.