Irony theorists

Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, and the arts. As the founder of the Peripatetic school of philosophy in the Lyceum in Athens, he began the wider Aristotelian tradition that followed, which set the groundwork for the development of modern science.

Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, perhaps the first Western moral philosopher, and a major inspiration on his student Plato, who largely founded the tradition of Western philosophy. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre. Contrad

British writer and journalist (1903–1950)

Irish novelist and poet (1882–1941)

Danish theologian, philosopher, poet and social critic (1813–1855)

American author (1922–2007)

Swedish writer and painter (1849–1912)

English historian and politician (1737–1794)

American stand-up comedian (1937–2008)

American writer (1925–2012)

British novelist

British novelist (1930–2009)

American philosopher (1931–2007)

French philosopher (1903–1985)

Belgian literary theorist (1919–1983)

American writer (1793–1876)

American academic

Canadian academic

American philosopher (1921–2004)

American literary critic (1912–1994)