Favorite Philosopher

evolvedForm · #1 03-24-2006, 11:09 PM

Who is your favorite philosopher and why?

Green Kool Aid · #2 03-25-2006, 12:28 AM

Adam Smith, "The Theory of Moral Sentiments." I found many of his social observations to make a lot of sense, and hold VERY true even today. I never thought about how almost everything we do is based on societal pressures and influence.

bunny · #3 03-25-2006, 02:17 AM

Augustine is extraordinarily easy to read given he wrote around 400 AD (perhaps he's just extraordinarily well translated). I like philosophy that uses everyday language and avoids adding jargon unless absolutely necessary.

Copernicus · #4 03-25-2006, 02:26 AM

Sharkey, because he lays such a clear foundation for his philosophy and then logically builds on it.

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Phil153 · #5 03-25-2006, 02:34 AM

David Sklansky

KKbluff · #6 03-25-2006, 03:48 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Adam Smith, "The Theory of Moral Sentiments." I found many of his social observations to make a lot of sense, and hold VERY true even today. I never thought about how almost everything we do is based on societal pressures and influence.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very true. I like his work as well. He is celebrated in the book Freakonomics(which I think is well deserved)

cambraceres · #7 03-25-2006, 04:39 AM

Rand, she's modern and objectivism is prettier on the surface.

chezlaw · #8 03-25-2006, 04:49 AM

Russell for his analytical genius and his ethics.

chez

cambraceres · #9 03-25-2006, 04:54 AM

Wonderful choice in Russell, I just checked abook out at the library which had a 10 page excerpt from Russell telling about his own intellectual development. This book was old and a math text. It also contained a handwritten copy of Le Geometrie' from Descartes. The portion about Russell's fight with himself over the First Cause argument was enlightening.

Cambraceres

moorobot · #10 03-25-2006, 03:09 PM

Myself because I'm an arrogant clown who is always right.

The correct answer is that it is a tie between John Rawls and Immanuel Kant. They need each other. Rawls could not have created his ethcial system/political theory, which is a great example of following one of Marx's few good ideas:

Philosophers up to this point have tried to interpret the world. The point, however, is to change it.

without Kant's ideas to draw on and Kant's ethical/political theory was open to too many difficult objections from socialists, utilitarians and hegelians before Rawls drew heavily on it's core ideas to come up with something better.