Philosophy Discussion Forums | A Humans-Only Club for Open-Minded Discussion & Debate

[Mosesquine]

My favorite philosophers are Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Hume, Frege, Russell, Quine, Davidson, Lewis, Kripke, and so on. Who is your favorite philosopher?

[Fooloso4]

One could provide a list but it would be of limited interest without saying why this philosopher or group of philosophers is on the list. “and so on” points to the problem. There is no indication of who this would include based on those mentioned. My reason for including Plato, for example, might be my reason for excluding some or all the others on your list.

[Mosesquine]

One could provide a list but it would be of limited interest without saying why this philosopher or group of philosophers is on the list. “and so on” points to the problem. There is no indication of who this would include based on those mentioned. My reason for including Plato, for example, might be my reason for excluding some or all the others on your list.

Plato is the first philosopher I came to know in the first philosophy class I took. So, Plato is on the list of my favorite philosophers.
Aristotle championed theory of sensations in ancient times. So, he is on the list.
Kant is the founder of use theory of meaning and pragmatism (before Peirce) and many others. So, he is on the list.
Hume championed the ideas of human understanding. So, he is on the list.
Frege is the founder of artificial languages. So, he is on the list.
Russell is the founder of the theory of descriptions. So, he is on the list.
Quine is the most influential analytic philosopher in the 20th century. So, he is on the list.
David Kellogg Lewis is the most important metaphysician in the analytic tradition in the 20th century. So, he is on the list.
Donald Davidson is the philosopher who is important for action theory, truth conditional semantics, and philosophy of mind. So, he is on the list.

[Mosesquine]

One could provide a list but it would be of limited interest without saying why this philosopher or group of philosophers is on the list. “and so on” points to the problem. There is no indication of who this would include based on those mentioned. My reason for including Plato, for example, might be my reason for excluding some or all the others on your list.

... and Saul Kripke is the most important philosopher of language. So, he is on the list of my favorite philosophers.

[Burning ghost]

All the dead ones. None of the living ones.

[TSBU]

"Who's your favorite philosopher?"
"Define 'favorite'."
"The one you like most."
"Define 'like'."
"You could've just said Wittgenstein…"

[Gertie]

I've hardly ever sat down and read 'a philosopher', I prefer nifty summaries, and I'm more interested in the ideas than the individuals or the history of 'great thinkers'. But from bits n pieces I've picked up I like Hume for his clear thinking and finding I agree with most he says, and his ability to put his finger on the heart of the matter. To think he didn't have the benefit of a modern 12 yr old's knowledge of the world makes his insights all the more gob-smacking. Nietzsche who I have read but didn't get, but I find I agree with some key parts of what others say he's saying. Churchland for her researching, thinking and clearly presenting her ideas on neurophilosophy and related morality issues (tho she lost the plot with eliminative materialism by being too clever for her own good). People like her are quietly changing the world.

And a bunch of philosophers of mind who try to balance cutting edge clever leaps into the dark with the gall to find ways to apply reason to a field not immediately accessible to traditional approaches, trying to drag us out of the Dark Ages by making impossible looking questions potentially tractable, which is a valuable role philosophy can still lay claim to. I also admire Penrose, who is a physicist really and I don't understand at all, but strikes me as the sort of genius out-of-the-box thinker who could make breakthroughs in fields like cosmology and consciousness which stretch the limits of our current understanding. Well he already has in cosmology, now he's looking into consciousness... qm and microtubules have caught his eye - watch this space!

[Fooloso4]

Mosesquine:

So, he is on the list.

Thanks for the details.

If I had to list just one it would be Plato. There are several reasons for this. Like you, I was introduced to philosophy through Plato. Early on I was seduced by his metaphysics of Forms in the Republic, but later came to see this as just part of his philosophical poetry.

It is his philosophical poetry in its various aspects that remains of interest. It is one feature that if I were to extend my list that the other two, Nietzsche and Wittgenstein, have in common.

Nietzsche is on the list in part because he is responsible for the revaluation of Plato, the history of philosophy, the task of philosophy, and of course the revaluation of values.

Wittgenstein is on the list because as with Plato and Nietzsche he represented an interpretive challenge that drew me further and further in. I find it interesting that he was at various times the darling of positivists, analytic philosophers, continental philosophers, and artists.

By the way: Moses never entered the promised land. Did Quine?

TSBU:

"Who's your favorite philosopher?"
"Define 'favorite'."
"The one you like most."
"Define 'like'."
"You could've just said Wittgenstein…"

Or, one could have said Wittgenstein because he cuts through the confusion engendered by doing philosophy by definition. But then again, he might not be one’s favorite, he may be the one liked the least, or not at all. One need not define those terms to know that he is or is not that.

[Mosesquine]

All the dead ones. None of the living ones.

Saul Kripke (1940 - ) is the living one.

[Gabrielbtst]

Francis Bacon. One of his favorite sayings: "Those who strive to occupy a place of honor among capable people set themselves a difficult task, but always for the benefit of society; but who plans to be the only figure among pawns, he is a shame for his time."

[Fan of Science]

Raymond Smullyan.

[Steve3007]

Nigel Blackwell.

[Fooloso4]

Steve3007:

Nigel Blackwell.

I prefer Nigel Turnel.

[Steve3007]

Is it Turnel or Tufnel? From Spinal Tap?

Turning an amplifier up to 11, despite the fact that it only goes up to 10, is perhaps his greatest contribution to western culture and the spirit of excess. I wonder if it's the reason why so many aggressive managers say things like "I want everybody to give 110%" to their troops, despite the logical impossibility of that proposed feat.

[Fooloso4]

Is it Turnel or Tufnel? From Spinal Tap?

Whoops, typo, yes, Tufnel. The funny thing is I just typed 'r' again.

Turning an amplifier up to 11, despite the fact that it only goes up to 10.

But his amps did go to 11. Youtube has clips from the movie with close-ups of his Marshall amp. In honor of this another manufacturer, Soldano, made an amp that went to 11. I have seen custom made Marshall face plates that go to 11.

The scene is funny on many levels:

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...
Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.
Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don't know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.