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Who is the best philosopher and why?

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Who is the best philosopher and why?

Tshirts
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Posted 01/16/05 - 12:32 AM:	#91
Epilogas wrote: Schopenhauer pave the way to Nietzche. But I wouldn't say Nietzche is ahead of Schopenhauer as Schopenhauer is ahead of Kant. Nietzche is nice variation of Schopenhauer and N is no way opposite to S. S books are rather pessimistic, N books are rather optimistic, but I bet they both had good and bad times. The main concept of will as essence of the world was expressed stronger in Nietzche's philosophy, but it wasn't something new. Ubermench- I don't think so. Will to power is part of will to live. The same as sex sence is only part of will to live. Shorter- will to live is much wider conception. Schopenhauer's philosophy is systemic, Nietzche's philosophy is chaotic and contravercial. That's why it is possible to interpret his words so differently. Many people likes him not becouse he is the best, but becouse he is inspiring. Maby I'm wrong, but it seems to me, that idea of will to power wakes up wish to be higher than other people, no matter who the reader is. Just a thoght- is it possible to become better, if there is no other to compear. If I'd say happines is final satisfaction and joy is satisfaction at the moment. Than happines is impossible and it is Schopenhauer who gives me more joy, than this crazy will to power(on others?). Becoming better than oneself? If person is will, if will is thing itself. Is it better to act according to will or try to be what one is not? Psichology is taking ground in pop culture. If we agree Schopenhauer pave the way to modern psichology, than he is at least one of few most influencial philosophers. Schopenhauer is a great philosopher, if not, the greatest of all time. The only reason why I place him behind Nietzche is his pessimistic approach. I read all his works, including the fourfold roots, and it turned me into a cynical person. I was literally evil at the time. Nietzche is right, he said philosophy is psychology; you should choose the direction you are heading wisely because it will affect your mentality immediately. I place Nietzche over Schopenhauer because optimism will always win over pessimism. We are also ushering in a new era of optimism (you can see this in the popularity of motivational psychology and personal self-achievement). Nietzche single-handedly saved us from the world of pessimism - from the ideologies of religion, and continuous warfare. I know this is close to a child's dreamlike inquiry, but I can see this shift succeed in the future once the general population catches up with philosophers. Plato's the Republic and Bacon's the New Atlantis talk about the perfect society, but it is only Nietzche's Supermen that is capable of paving a way to a utopia: only the betterment of the individual can create this society, not any form of government or external sources.
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions." - Plato

sensabile
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Posted 01/16/05 - 10:46 AM:	#92
Tshirts wrote: Plato's the Republic and Bacon's the New Atlantis talk about the perfect society, but it is only Nietzche's Supermen that is capable of paving a way to a utopia: only the betterment of the individual can create this society, not any form of government or external sources. That being said, Bacon's work laid the foundation for the academic world we have today and has ultimately improved our standard of living through the knowledge that modern science has provide; yet Nietzsche is responsible for exactly nothing - except maybe the inspiration for Hitler.
For the winner there was a big three-legged cauldron to stand over a fire - it was worth a dozen oxen by the Greek's reckoning - and for the loser he brought forward a woman thoroughly trained in domestic work whom they valued at four oxen. -Homer's The Illiad Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? -Mark 9:50

Tshirts
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Posted 01/16/05 - 12:52 PM:	#93
sensabile wrote: That being said, Bacon's work laid the foundation for the academic world we have today and has ultimately improved our standard of living through the knowledge that modern science has provide; yet Nietzsche is responsible for exactly nothing - except maybe the inspiration for Hitler. I believe Nietzche gave us the "optimistic" revolution. Before him, everything was pessimistic: even psychology itself focused on mental illnesses and such, until his ideas caught on. Science alone can't replace religion and usher man to a higher level of consciousness because it is biased, but Nietzche's philosophies transcend the shift from pessimism to optimism - this alone, to me, is a bigger breakthrough than kant's a prioris (the second single biggest revolutionary shift in philosophy in my opinion). Blaming Nietzche for Hitler's inspiration is the same as me blaming the muslim religion for every terrorist act. This generalization is extremely unfair and childish: Hitler is an evil doer who altered nietzche's philosophy to fit into his cynical ways - nietzche never supported mass genocide, he focused strictly on eugenics .. it is not his fault hitler is a complete idiot who misinterpreted his theories. Being a neuroscience major, I believe this is the newest shift in human developement: the belief all men are supermen and capable of being self-made gods, leaving nothing to chance and accident; the evolution (developement) of the left logical brain will foresee this change. Keep in mind, Nietzche is fairly new, but yet, his change is already felt - look at the hoopla surround motivational psychology - imagine 300 years from now (the usual length it takes to make an impact in the philosophical world).
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions." - Plato

fluidmosaic
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Posted 01/16/05 - 10:30 PM:	#94
Wow, no Rousseau? No Adam Smith, or Hobbes? Heraclitus? All brilliant philosophers. I'm gonna have to go Foucault though, although I voted for Nietzsche. Foucault had the brilliance to show how the chains in which we have always lived have not disappeared but changed form, and he did it with panache and beauty.
Knowledge is not made for understanding, it is made for cutting. Truth itself has a history. -Foucault

sensabile
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Posted 01/17/05 - 08:40 AM:	#95
Science alone can't replace religion and usher man to a higher level of consciousness because it is biased, but Nietzche's philosophies transcend the shift from pessimism to optimism - this alone, to me, is a bigger breakthrough than kant's a prioris (the second single biggest revolutionary shift in philosophy in my opinion). Science was never intended to replace religion. Bacon was in fact a theist who ultimately seperated religion from science in The Advancement of Learning by dividing the sciences and theology. These very divisions are what made science so productive. The very concept of constructively criticising work and furthering work by testing it to find the true case stems from The New Organon; the rejection of "Idols", the recognition of particular instances and method of using them all start with Bacon. Tshirts wrote: I believe Nietzche gave us the "optimistic" revolution. Before him, everything was pessimistic: even psychology itself focused on mental illnesses and such, until his ideas caught on. Being a neuroscience major, I believe this is the newest shift in human developement: the belief all men are supermen and capable of being self-made gods, leaving nothing to chance and accident; the evolution (developement) of the left logical brain will foresee this change. Keep in mind, Nietzche is fairly new, but yet, his change is already felt - look at the hoopla surround motivational psychology - imagine 300 years from now (the usual length it takes to make an impact in the philosophical world). Fair enough, Nietzsche was responsible for a bit more than inspiring Hitler. He did, after all, inspire Freud as well.
For the winner there was a big three-legged cauldron to stand over a fire - it was worth a dozen oxen by the Greek's reckoning - and for the loser he brought forward a woman thoroughly trained in domestic work whom they valued at four oxen. -Homer's The Illiad Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? -Mark 9:50

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Posted 09/06/09 - 05:32 AM:	#96
Derrida.

mutemaler
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Posted 09/06/09 - 10:37 AM:	#97
I think... anytime I agree with them... me!

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Posted 09/06/09 - 12:11 PM:	#98
Plato, duh.
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mutemaler
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1 of 1 people found this post helpful Posted 09/06/09 - 01:15 PM:	#99
ManiacJack wrote: Plato, duh. And in my second vote (after me), I will cast a cunning call for the pre-socratics, before the Great Minds came along and screwed it all up, and we are STILL reeling from the effects of their causes, absolutely caught in their determined grip, two thousand years, and thousands of great minds later. In a decidedly abstract sort of way.

loveofsophia
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Posted 09/06/09 - 01:57 PM:	#100
The Buddha. For me, all philosophy before the Buddha took me away from the world and others (to some rarefied and almost aristocratic altitude, however unintentionally). The Buddha brought me back home, to encounter the world and my life instead of escape it through thinking.
It is amazing how susceptible to lies we are when young. I believe people are still far more susceptible to lies as adults than they would like. Balancing what could be, our imaginings, with what we know, this is a delicate act of mind.

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