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who is your favorite philosopher?

Started by jduster, September 18, 2010, 05:38:45 AM

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Reginus

I haven't read much philosophy, but I like John Rawls.
"The greatest argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter." - Winston Churchill

PoopShoot

Quote from: "humblesmurph"Why are you so hard on philosophy?  
Because it reiterates its own assumptions.

QuoteWouldn't it be more correct to refer to it as mental calisthenics?
No.

QuoteIt seems to me that philosophy has been integral to the forming of society.  
As was slavery.

QuoteAren't the laws we obey shaped in large part by philosophy?
They're also shaped by empirical data.  Which one is valuable?

A big part of the problem I have with philosophy is that it clings to its ancient glory in an attempt to pretend that it's useful.  yes, in its barest form (pure logic) it's very useful.  Unfortunately, it has produced a lot of crap that has clung to the utility of logic.  Without a means by which to verify the premises, a conclusion is useless.  The same philosophy that spawned the equality of all men gave those equal men the right to own slaves of a different nationality.  Philosophy is too unreliable to be a useful tool on its own.
All hail Cancer Jesus!

philosoraptor

I have never been a fan of ethical egoism, so consequently, I am also not a fan of Ayn Rand.  What a miserable place the world would be if everyone lived their lives the way she suggested.

My favorite philosopher is Sartre.
"Come ride with me through the veins of history,
I'll show you how god falls asleep on the job.
And how can we win when fools can be kings?
Don't waste your time or time will waste you."
-Muse

Jac3510

Out of those listed, Aristotle. Over all, Thomas Aquinas. Of his interpreters, Etienne Gilson or Joseph Owens, although Henry Veatch is very high on my list as well.
"I want to believe there's a heaven. But I can't not believe there's a hell." ~  Vince Gilligan

humblesmurph

Quote from: "PoopShoot"
Quote from: "humblesmurph"Why are you so hard on philosophy?  
Because it reiterates its own assumptions.

QuoteWouldn't it be more correct to refer to it as mental calisthenics?
No.

QuoteIt seems to me that philosophy has been integral to the forming of society.  
As was slavery.

QuoteAren't the laws we obey shaped in large part by philosophy?
They're also shaped by empirical data.  Which one is valuable?

A big part of the problem I have with philosophy is that it clings to its ancient glory in an attempt to pretend that it's useful.  yes, in its barest form (pure logic) it's very useful.  Unfortunately, it has produced a lot of crap that has clung to the utility of logic.  Without a means by which to verify the premises, a conclusion is useless.  The same philosophy that spawned the equality of all men gave those equal men the right to own slaves of a different nationality.  Philosophy is too unreliable to be a useful tool on its own.

I can't really argue with any of your points because I can't really  define philosophy.  I think philosophy is an integral part of all intellectual disciplines.  When a scientist employs a consistent method to find fact, she is practicing philosophy.  When the Supreme court is trying to decide the validity of a particular law, they are using philosophy.  However, that is obviously not what you mean when referring to philosophy.

I think I agree with your points in general if I understand you correctly.  In the past philosophers were concerned with all forms of knowledge.  As we began to learn more things had to become specialized.  The idea of appealing to Aristotle to know what is going on in the real world does seem quite silly to me. We have physicists for that now.

PoopShoot

I understand what you're getting at.  This is my definitional problem I mentioned.  The way we define philosophy makes it a grand subject within which both valid and invalid thinking methods are included.  In practice, however, philosophy is a subset of logic rather than the other way around (which the opposite of the academic view of philosophy).  When people utilize logic, we say they are practicing philosophy, indeed, you just did that.  Scientists examining facts utilize logic, which is academically listed as a portion of the greater heading "philosophy".  The same can be said about the judges you mentioned.  The problems I was refrring to are when logic is practiced upon unverified premises, which is the most common usage of the term "philosophy".
All hail Cancer Jesus!

i_am_i

#21
Quote from: "AreEl"
Quote from: "Mistermischief"Ayn Rand...and I find it incredible that you didn't list her on your list.

Ditto for me, Ayn Rand. I also find it incredible that an atheist would not list Rand.

I find it incredible that Ayn Rand would be considered a philosopher at all. I'd like to see AreEl or Mistermischief's summations of the Ayn Rand philosophy, whatever it was called, objectivism I believe, and what "value" they see in it.
Call me J


Sapere aude

epepke

Nietzsche, but I don't think of him as a philosopher, more of a punk rocker of philosophy.  He's more of a precursor to sociology, anthropology, and psychology, about which he was brilliant.

Quan Yin

“All the people will not experience the love energy in the same way. Some will be comforted. Some will be changed. And some will be confused and even angry.” -Quan Yin

Sophus

Quote from: "philosoraptor"I have never been a fan of ethical egoism, so consequently, I am also not a fan of Ayn Rand.  What a miserable place the world would be if everyone lived their lives the way she suggested.

My favorite philosopher is Sartre.
I admire Sartre too, but I don't agree with him on his critique of the conscience and subconscious or freewill.

Ayn Rand was brilliant in some ways and really rather dumb in others. But there's a huge difference between egoic people and egocentric people. She fought for the former.
‎"Christian doesn't necessarily just mean good. It just means better." - John Oliver

Ã¥scertain

Nietzsche. In sum: Nietzsche's challenge is twofold. He might conceivably come into his own by re-establishing some bond between what are now two completely divergent branches of modern thought, thus benefiting both. Meanwhile it is the inividual reader whom he addresses. And he does not wan to be read as an arsenal of arguments for or against something, nor even for a point of view. He challenges the reader not so much to agree or disagree as to grow.

Sophus

‎"Christian doesn't necessarily just mean good. It just means better." - John Oliver

humblesmurph

Quote from: "i_am_i"
Quote from: "AreEl"
Quote from: "Mistermischief"Ayn Rand...and I find it incredible that you didn't list her on your list.

Ditto for me, Ayn Rand. I also find it incredible that an atheist would not list Rand.

I find it incredible that Ayn Rand would be considered a philosopher at all. I'd like to see AreEl or Mistermischief's summations of the Ayn Rand philosophy, whatever it was called, objectivism I believe, and what "value" they see in it.

me too.  I tried to have a go at it, but I'm not digging it.

wildfire_emissary

"All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." -Voltaire

EssejSllim

Nietzsche for me, though I'm not all that read up on philosophy.
"How terrible [the theory of evolution] will be upon the nobility of the old world. Think of their being forced to trace their ancestry back tot he duke Orang Outang or the Princess Chimpanzee." -Robert Ingersoll

"What? Is man merely a mistake of God's? Or God merely a mistake of man's." - Friedrich Nietzsche