Who is the best philosopher and why?: Philosophy Forums

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Who is the best philosopher and why?

human
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Posted 12/27/04 - 02:51 PM:	#1
In your opinion, who was the best philosopher and why? Lets hear it!

jaoman
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Posted 12/27/04 - 02:54 PM:	#2
I am. I can't tell you why yet. But, rest assured, in twenty years you will all understand. Second best is probably Kant, for the sheer infamy.
"With no relation to class or social background, whether it suits them or not, people yearn for a dream. Sustained by a dream, hurt by a dream, revived by a dream, killed by a dream. And even after being abandoned by a dream, it continues to smolder from the bottom of one's heart... probably until the verge of death. A man should envision such a lifetime once. A life spent as a martyr to the god named "dream." - Kentaro Miura

human
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Posted 12/27/04 - 02:56 PM:	#3
jaoman wrote: I am. I can't tell you why yet. But, rest assured, in twenty years you will all understand. From all my heart I wish you the best of luck!

jaoman
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Posted 12/27/04 - 03:05 PM:	#4
human wrote: From all my heart I wish you the best of luck! Aw, shucks. :o
"With no relation to class or social background, whether it suits them or not, people yearn for a dream. Sustained by a dream, hurt by a dream, revived by a dream, killed by a dream. And even after being abandoned by a dream, it continues to smolder from the bottom of one's heart... probably until the verge of death. A man should envision such a lifetime once. A life spent as a martyr to the god named "dream." - Kentaro Miura

chinagirl
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Posted 12/27/04 - 03:15 PM:	#5
I'm not sure why Neitszche is even on the list- and who the heck is Gurdjief anyway? sorry- just a total non-sequitor....continue
You slam a politician, you make out he's the devil, with horns and hoofs. But his wife loves him, and so did all his mistresses. - - - Pamela Hansford Johnson

Paul
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Posted 12/27/04 - 03:27 PM:	#6
A google search shows that, according to this, Gurdjief is "a Greco-Armenian charismatic con man who was born in Russia but made a name for himself in Paris as the mystic George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff" who "promoted a litany of preposterous occult and mystical notions about the universe, which he claimed he was taught by wise men while traveling and studying in Central Asia. [...] He allegedly exuded extreme self-confidence and exhibited no self-doubt, traits which must have been comforting to many people. His teachings, however, often seem like the delusions of a Gnostic madman." Darn, I already voted Kant (for his sheer impact on the course of philosophy and the fact that I agree with him on most things) but I want to change to Gurdjieff now. On a related note, I see if you click human's signature link you can find the meaning of life: "the answer is you are so special. It means that the black dot in you heart has just begun to grow." Ah, mystics.

chinagirl
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Posted 12/27/04 - 03:50 PM:	#7
haha...Thanks Paul- but I don't think I'll be changing my answer Couldn't we add Russell- or something? maybe Hume? I feel a little underrepresented here...
You slam a politician, you make out he's the devil, with horns and hoofs. But his wife loves him, and so did all his mistresses. - - - Pamela Hansford Johnson

God's Counterpart
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sensabile
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Posted 12/27/04 - 03:56 PM:	#9
What about Francis Bacon and Voltaire?
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

Mariner
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Posted 12/27/04 - 04:26 PM:	#10
St. Thomas Aquinas. Because of his breadth of knowledge, because of the way in which he sidestepped the errors of later philosophers, and because he is unswervingly honest about what he knows and what he doesn't know when he's talking about anything (a rare trait). It also helps that he was a Saint, i.e., that his moral character was extraordinary. It's a pity that more people do not read him. The Summa Theologica was not his only work. (That he is classed with "or other religious philosopher" shows that the original poster of the thread does not know a lot about him -- he is certainly not interchangeable with the other religious philosophers).
"In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't." -- Blaise Pascal "The more I am by myself and alone, the more I have come to love myths" -- Aristotle in his later years

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