Your favorite philosopher
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Ayn Rand! Because without her we wouldn't have "Bioshock"!
Just kidding...
Actually, I'll have to stick with the classic - Friedrich Nietzsche.
Oh sure, he tends to rant nonsensically at times. But overall, I like his core "Will to Power" philosophy.
Just kidding...
Actually, I'll have to stick with the classic - Friedrich Nietzsche.
Oh sure, he tends to rant nonsensically at times. But overall, I like his core "Will to Power" philosophy.
I'm inclined to agree with both points. Hopefully it's not too much of a cop-out for a Christian to say Jesus is their favorite philosopher, but if so then C.S. Lewis is my personal favorite. A brilliant writer in both fiction and otherwise, and he always found a way to make even the most esoteric parts of religion immediately understandable. Awesome guy.Captain Billy said:
Besides that, I have to admit that Confucius made some excellent points. I'm a firm believer in the importance of social harmony and cohesion, so many of his theories are quite appealing.
I would say that my favorites would be a three way tie between Søren Kierkegaard, Diogenes of Sinope, and Marcus Aurelius. The common theme between all of them is the idea that actions or what we chose to do determines our happiness and identity and that every action should be deliberate and deliberated inside of us. All three call for simple, virtuous lives lived introspectively and that fits with my personality.
From Kierkegaard I agreed with his assertion on the differences between corporate and private religious life, which is a theme that governs the spiritual side of my life and makes me eschew things like Mega Churches or religious corporations on a matter of principal. Additionally, his existential beliefs fit with my view of the way we acquire identity and meaning.
I see Diogenes as an extension of Socratic inquiry with an eye more bent on finding what is virtuous (and living it out) and calling attention to things like injustice, pretension, or any other human construct that is meant for decisive and destructive purposes. Diogenes was not afraid of pricking the social conscience and agitating those who mindlessly clung to their ideas.
From Marcus Aurelius I learned most of what I know of service and sacrifice and I find him to be an exemplar of what it means to be a civil servant. In his Meditations we see that on more than one occasion, he put his country in front of personal tragedies and led his army to victory I also appreciate the Stoic philosophies about the mastery of self, especially in situations beyond our control. On of my favorite quotes of his is paraphrased as "One man prays 'How may I not lose my child?' I pray 'How may I not be afraid to lose him?' " It seems rather cold in the light of modern thought and in the face of tragedy I don't always hold this to be true, but I agree that our attitude in situations beyond our control determines the outcome because it is the only thing we can control.
From Kierkegaard I agreed with his assertion on the differences between corporate and private religious life, which is a theme that governs the spiritual side of my life and makes me eschew things like Mega Churches or religious corporations on a matter of principal. Additionally, his existential beliefs fit with my view of the way we acquire identity and meaning.
I see Diogenes as an extension of Socratic inquiry with an eye more bent on finding what is virtuous (and living it out) and calling attention to things like injustice, pretension, or any other human construct that is meant for decisive and destructive purposes. Diogenes was not afraid of pricking the social conscience and agitating those who mindlessly clung to their ideas.
From Marcus Aurelius I learned most of what I know of service and sacrifice and I find him to be an exemplar of what it means to be a civil servant. In his Meditations we see that on more than one occasion, he put his country in front of personal tragedies and led his army to victory I also appreciate the Stoic philosophies about the mastery of self, especially in situations beyond our control. On of my favorite quotes of his is paraphrased as "One man prays 'How may I not lose my child?' I pray 'How may I not be afraid to lose him?' " It seems rather cold in the light of modern thought and in the face of tragedy I don't always hold this to be true, but I agree that our attitude in situations beyond our control determines the outcome because it is the only thing we can control.
I don't trust the opinion of anyone who gets paid to sit around all day, but I still find them interesting.
Case in point, Kant. What initially seems a cold and heartless moral theory, under study becomes one of the most elegant and fair ways to live a life. (If you don't know about Kant, he is basically the Qunari from Dragon Age, but REAL. And he never contradicts himself. Almost every other philosopher in recent memory (ever) has said things that go against other things they have said. Kant doesn't. IT'S JUST INTERESTING OKAY.
In terms of who I like the most, over all, out of everyone? Nobody. They're all silly.
Case in point, Kant. What initially seems a cold and heartless moral theory, under study becomes one of the most elegant and fair ways to live a life. (If you don't know about Kant, he is basically the Qunari from Dragon Age, but REAL. And he never contradicts himself. Almost every other philosopher in recent memory (ever) has said things that go against other things they have said. Kant doesn't. IT'S JUST INTERESTING OKAY.
In terms of who I like the most, over all, out of everyone? Nobody. They're all silly.
My favourite philosophers are Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx, and Thomas Robert Malthus.
No, I'm not going to explain myself here, I shouldn't need to.
Edit: Also agreeing with Mycroft Holmes, Jesus is easily one of the most important to list, also agreeing with his anti-flaming points.
No, I'm not going to explain myself here, I shouldn't need to.
Edit: Also agreeing with Mycroft Holmes, Jesus is easily one of the most important to list, also agreeing with his anti-flaming points.
I really like Jean Paul Sartre's writings on the nature of memory. I wrote my dissertation on the philosophical importance of memory and heavily incorporated his works, as well as Locke, Mill, Freud and others.
I'm 5 years removed from my philosophical studies. While I still remember the different ideas (to a general degree) I can no longer tell you the specific terminology for them nor with whom they are associated/accredited.
I should go find my old books. I do still love a good philosophical discussion.
I'm 5 years removed from my philosophical studies. While I still remember the different ideas (to a general degree) I can no longer tell you the specific terminology for them nor with whom they are associated/accredited.
I should go find my old books. I do still love a good philosophical discussion.
I don't like to define "philosopher" as someone's title or occupation, as philosophy occurs in everyone on a daily basis and comes from multiple sources, including personal thoughts, experiences, people... really just life in general. Everyone is a philosopher sometimes but no one is a philosopher all the time, even if they dedicate more time to the subject than most.
But in the interest of contributing to this topic, I will say that my favorite philosophical quote comes from Bruce Lee when he was describing Jeet Kun Do: "Truth exists outside all molds." I'm sure others said such things before he did (hell, Bill O'Reilly has said it himself multiple times), but that was where I first heard it. It's why I don't like to identify myself as part of any group: it just clouds your judgement. Obviously I can't just not belong to any group (especially since I'm in the military), but I keep this in mind and try to frame my thought processes outside of the perspective of whatever group I'm in.
But in the interest of contributing to this topic, I will say that my favorite philosophical quote comes from Bruce Lee when he was describing Jeet Kun Do: "Truth exists outside all molds." I'm sure others said such things before he did (hell, Bill O'Reilly has said it himself multiple times), but that was where I first heard it. It's why I don't like to identify myself as part of any group: it just clouds your judgement. Obviously I can't just not belong to any group (especially since I'm in the military), but I keep this in mind and try to frame my thought processes outside of the perspective of whatever group I'm in.
Bruce Lee definitely. Any quote from Bruce Lee is pure awesome. I only wonder what more he could have taught if he hadn't passed on.Jack the Potato said:
A lot of philosophers understood/understand science. Many of the greats were logicians, mathematicians and scientists themselves. Many philosophers have even made great contributions in those fields (though Dennett is still alive and that gives him something of a leg up in terms of potential for contemporary relevance when compared to anyone who's, well, dead). That said, he's the first person mentioned in this thread who I'm actually not familiar with. Googling Dennett, all I'm seeing is a bunch of videos on atheism. Could you elucidate what other "philosophical" contributions he's made outside of his criticisms of religion? More specifically, what is it that he's said/done which resonates with you personally outside of religious denouncement/criticism?Flatfrog said:
I actually never knew it was a title. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christoctafish said:
Apparently though, it is considered part of his actual name now, so what I said was technically correct. Although not in the original sense of the word.
I dunno if you've ever used say, logic or the scientific method before, but they're pretty handy.Th3Ch33s3Cak3 said:
I'd agree that professional philosophers nowadays should probably specialise in a science or two depending on their field, but that's not to say that critical thinking isn't itself a useful thing to teach. Ethics is still a very relevant topic, and as genetics and AI advances, questions of human identity and personhood are going to become relevant too.
Aaaand there probably is a legitimate complaint that the way philosophy is taught is often in a 'history of philosophy' kind of way, paying lots of attention to the personal views of a few celebrities without really engaging with the issues directly. (I was horrified to learn that a student of mine had been learning about the big Greeks for a year in a part-time philosophy course, and she still hadn't produced a single paper with an original thought in it).
Cheers!
