Guide Note:
Larry Sanger is an entrepreneur, philosopher, former professor of philosophy at Ohio State University, and the creator of many online encyclopedia websites. Larry co-founded Wikipedia along with Jimmy Wales in 2001. In 2002, he left Wikipedia to found Citizendium, which is an expert guided Wiki, unlike Wikipedia which can be edited by anyone. He claimed that Wikipedia disrespects people who are experts in their fields by allowing users to edit and add whatever they want until someone fixes it. Larry has written many essays and co-authored and edited Encyclopedia of Earth.
Fast Facts:
- Born: July 16, 1968
- Birthplace: Bellevue, Washington
- Taught philosophy at Ohio State University until 2005
- 1998-2000: Ran website named Sanger's Reviews of Y2K Reports
- 2001: Co-Founded Wikipedia with Jimmy Wales
- Claims Citizendium is less prone to vandals since it requires approval on articles
- Jimmy Wales considers himself the sole creator of Wikipedia, but Sanger says he helped co-found
Life and Career
Larry Sanger was raised in Anchorage, Alaska and studied at Reed College, where he studied philosophy. He earned his PhD in philosophy from Ohio State University.
He worked with Jimmy Wales on Nupedia; this was a precursor to Wikipedia, which they launched in 2001. Sanger left Wikipedia in 2002 and launched Citizendum in 2007. The aim of Citizendum is to be a more accurate and reliable version of Wikipedia.
