Clojure is part of the LISP family of languages, alongside Common Lisp (CL) and Scheme. Each of these languages offers distinct paradigms and approaches to programming, which diverge notably from one another yet share a foundational philosophy. Newlisp is also mentioned as a variant that aligns more closely with programming languages like R and Julia. Understanding the core concepts from these 'big three' LISP languages is essential to grasping the underlying principles of LISP and appreciating Clojure's uniqueness and strengths as a modern LISP implementation.