Medieval philosophy
Algra was born on 5 April 1959 in Utrecht. He studied classical languages and literature at Utrecht University. In 1985 he became a university lecturer. Three years later he obtained his PhD with a dissertation on "Concepts of space in classical and hellenistic greek philosophy". Between 2000 and 2003 he was Academy professor of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) at Utrecht University. In 2001 he started as professor of Ancient and Medieval philosophy at the same university. In 2003 he gave the Alfred Edward Taylor lecture at the University of Edinburgh.