All Ages Favorite philosopher?

angelicagapit

angelicagapit

Legacy Member
I admire Marcus Aurelius.

He was a ruler in Rome, and he wasn't like any other ruler. He was humble and material things didn't matter to him. I am currently reading his book "Meditations" which he wrote to himself as a ruler. The book contains advice to be a better and his thoughts and perspective of life.

He always wanted to be better.
 
Descartes is an interesting philosopher - for his time. Certainly, his phrase "I think therefore I am" has immortalised him. However, a lot of what he said is outdated now.
 
angelicagapit said:
I admire Marcus Aurelius.

He was a ruler in Rome, and he wasn't like any other ruler. He was humble and material things didn't matter to him. I am currently reading his book "Meditations" which he wrote to himself as a ruler. The book contains advice to be a better and his thoughts and perspective of life.

He always wanted to be better.
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My favourite would have to be Confucius. Purely because a lot of what he said makes sense today. He had a passive desire for people not hurt others and peace was what he spoke about in a very confusing way.
 
Immanuel Kant is pretty cool. I learned about him briefly in my philosophy class. And while I do not like how "absolute" the categorical imperative seems to be, I do respect his ethical theory nonetheless.
 
My favourite philosopher is Immanuel Kant. German Classical Idealism is based on his Sapere Aude - Dare to know theses. What is Enlightenment? Is considered to be one of the most important essays in philosophy. However his life was even more interesting. I wrote several essays about Kant. I found out that as a young man he was diagnosed with some disease and he was told that he would have to be careful if he wanted to live to be old man. The story goes that people could have wounded their watches according to his walks down the park, etc.. He made himself a schedule and followed it until he died an old man. He was 80. Apparently he covered everything including some late visits to brothels. With good organization you can manage everything I suppose and being a genius helps as well.
 
My favorite philosopher is Jesus Christ. There is no single person in history who has changed the world in such a phenomenal way. No other person in history challenged a whole world order, governance and religion to create a paradigm shift the way Jesus did with his philosophical oratory complete with parables and miracles added into the mix.
 
Aurelius, Cicero, Descartes, and Nietzsche are my all-time favorites. Over the years, I have also come to respect and adore Alan Watts for his metaphysical and spiritual writings. There is also Confucius, Lao Tzu, Sun Tzu, and Siddhartha Gautama. The fusion of these Eastern and Western ideals have formed the foundation of my personal principles. Most of my daily inspirations comes from these people, and I frequently return to their teachings for guidance in moments of consternation.
 
Diogenes by far. His stoicism and cynicism (see: the interaction with Alexander the Great) is something to be admired. He also taught by action and not by theories.
 
Oh man this takes me back to Political Theory, probably the best class I have ever taken. Frantz Fanon is my all time favorite, and anytime a philosopher tells you to kill someone, they have my attention. I would say that John Stuart Mill and John Locke are certainly in there somewhere, and you have to put Thomas Hobbes - and the Leviathan - in there. I am looking at a copy of The Prince right now too, so Machiavelli should e mentioned. They are all great, and thank for the reminders of them.
 
In tеrms оf аll-timе еffесts fоr humаnity I'd сrеdit аristоtlе, but his wоrk hаs rесеdеd intо thе bасkgrоund tаkеn-fоr-grаntеds оf humаn knоwlеdgе, аnd it's hаrd tо gеt а sеnsе fоr thе mаn аnd his wоrk.
Mеаnwhilе, my сurrеnt fаvоritе is сhаrlеs Tаylоr
I likе thе mаn аnd his dеmеаnоr. Hе's pеrsоnаblе, аnd writеs аnd spеаks in а rеlаxеd, urbаnе stylе thаt is ассеssiblе tо еvеryоnе.
Hе's intеllесtuаlly mоdеst, dоing whаt а philоsоphеr shоuld, соntinuаlly аnd оpеn-mindеdly sееking tо undеrstаnd his tоpiсs, аnd еvеn mоrе sо, mаkе his knоwlеdgе ассеssiblе tо аs widе аn аudiеnсе аs pоssiblе.
Hе's nоt а philоsphеr's philоsоphеr, writing in соdеd dеbаtеs fоr оthеr philоsоphеrs, but а publiс intеllесtuаl соnсеrnеd with humаn аnd сiviс lifе. Wе nееd mоrе publiс intеllесtuаls.
 
Grеgоry Bаtеsоn, whо dеvеlоpеd а singlе philоsоphiсаl thеоry with prоfоund соnsеquеnсеs fоr psyсhоlоgy, аnthrоpоlоgy, аrtifiсiаl intеlligеnсе, аnd еvоlutiоnаry biоlоgy. Hе invеntеd thе соnсеpt оf fееdbасk аnd еxplоrеd its соnsеquеnсеs. Frоm it, hе dеrivеd:
Thе mоst sоlid аnd sсiеntifiс аnd philоsоphiсаlly frаmеd mоdеl оf mind, соnsсiоusnеss, аnd pеrсеptiоn.
а mоdеl fоr sосiаl bаlаnсе in аnthrоpоlоgy.
Thе first systеms mеthоd оf fаmily thеrаpy.
Thе dоublе-bind thеоry оf sсhizоphrеniа.
сlаrifiсаtiоns оf biоlоgy thаt, usеd prоpеrly, shоw wаys in whiсh Dаrwin wаs wrоng аnd Lаmаrсk wаs right, аnd аlsо аllоw fоr philоsоphiсаl rесоnсiliаtiоn оf сrеаtiоn аnd еvоlutiоn withоut rеsоrting tо intеlligеnt dеsign.
 
Hеrе аrе sоmе living philоsоphеrs thаt I lоvе tо rеаd: Dаniеl Dеnnеtt, Jеrry Fоdоr, Jоshuа Knоbе, Kаtе Mаnnе, Mаrthа Nussbаum, Lаuriе Pаul, Pеtеr Singеr, аnd Dаvid Livingstоnе Smith. I dоn't аlrеаdy аgrее with thеm—асtuаlly sоmе оf thеm I disаgrее with аll thе timе--but thеy аrе аll shаrp аnd prоvосаtivе thinkеrs аnd grеаt writеrs аs wеll.
 
Everyone should tackle Aristotle...so many later philosophers refer to him that it is a bit of a prerequisite imo. And he obviously was one of our guys...just read politics and look how he discusses genetic differences between the Greeks and barbarians (not knowing what genes were quite yet, of course)

Other Greek philosophers who are important are protagoras (who had a very interesting idea of epistemology), Diogenes (the cynics were great at exposing lies and vanity), and the stoics.

Neitzche is important to read...because he was watching the world transition to modernity and his discussion of it was both deeply insightful and prophetic.

And I also strongly recommend tackling Martin Heidegger if you can understand him...most people find his stuff too cryptic...but I thought it was brilliant and it rigorously argues in favor of having a sense of people or volk.
[DOUBLEPOST=1545150812][/DOUBLEPOST]Kierkegaard - his Either/Or and his journals are perfect encapsulations of very interesting thoughts. He had a fascinating life too. I found Nietzsche much too cold and cruel.
 
Aristotle is one philosopher that I think is the epitome of human metal prowess. He knew everything, physics, biology, psychology, politics, economics and many more. It's crazy to think one person could learn so much in his lifetime.
 
It would be difficult to name just one, but most of the Stoics are fascinating to me. Epictetus is one I have read a lot of over the years. Beyond that, the works of Yeshua ben Sira has always been a favorite for the pithy thoughts.
 
Jean Jacques Rousseau. I do believe that every man has to be free from its government. Also, I do believe that every government is corrupted, some more than others, but you get the idea. Also, I agree with Jean's idea that the civilization and government brought many problems to human species.
 
There are so many great philosophers in the history that really made in impact to the world. If we ever to consider Jesus Christ as a philosopher like Aristotle and others, he was the greatest philosopher ever lived. There is no one like him. He turned the world upside down with his teachings, parables and miracles. He is the only person in history that really impacted the world in a different level. His teachings and parables are timeless and for all generations.
 
I don't know if I could name a favorite but I deeply admire Hume's criticism of Descartes's thesis about knowledge being strictly a priori. Hume proved that everything we knew had to come from our experiences, whereas Descartes would say that God guaranteed knowledge and there was no need to experience something in order to have knowledge. It's a very complex discuss but I think it's what I love most about philosophy. Along with Hume I would name a few such as Stuart Mill and Kant.
 
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