Who Are Your Favorite Philosophers?

[ThomasT]

Noam Chomsky, nismaratwork, Leo Buscaglia.

I'm not sure I'd call Noam Chomsky a philosopher. But I do admire his scholarship and perserverance and have learned much from him. Ditto nismaratwork. Also Apeiron, kote, StatutoryApe (I hope I got that right) and 'many' others, whose usernames I don't recall, certainly many of the mentors and science advisors, here at PF.

As for Leo Buscaglia. I saw/heard him speak about 40 years ago. All I remember is that he hugged a lot of people at the end of his talk.

Richard von Mises was influential in my early thinking.

 

[Alan1000]

I try to select the best philosopher in my autograph

Absolutely. It is my belief that Russell's greatness is not yet fully appreciated; we are still too close to him in time.

Queen Victoria once said, "When I have dinner with Mr Gladstone, I feel as if I have spent an evening with the cleverest man in England. But when I have dinner with Mr Disraeli, he makes me feel as if he has just spent an evening with the cleverest woman in England".

Like Disraeli, Russell has the gift of making the reader feel that she or he is as clever as himself. He speaks to you as an equal. No other philosopher in history can match the lucidity of his writing style, his intellectual assurance, and his gifts for communicating the essence of a complicated idea in terms a person of ordinary education can understand.

And (like most of the Pommie Empiricist philosophers), he is not afraid to crack a joke once in a while, and he takes neither himself nor his subject too seriously.

Which is more than you can say for the Existentialists. Kierkegaard? Sartre? Can't understand a damn word they are saying, most of the time.

 

[RichardParker]

My personal favorite would be Bertrand Russell.

 

[ThomasT]

My personal favorite would be Bertrand Russell.

Yes, he was a special person as well as a great thinker and communicator.

 

[ThomasT]

... Russell has the gift of making the reader feel that she or he is as clever as himself. He speaks to you as an equal. No other philosopher in history can match the lucidity of his writing style, his intellectual assurance, and his gifts for communicating the essence of a complicated idea in terms a person of ordinary education can understand.

And (like most of the Pommie Empiricist philosophers), he is not afraid to crack a joke once in a while, and he takes neither himself nor his subject too seriously.

Russell was, and will remain, imo, unique and special. He was, imo, a truly wise man. Someone whose lead I would be most willing to follow.

Which is more than you can say for the Existentialists. Kierkegaard? Sartre? Can't understand a damn word they are saying, most of the time.

Me too. So, I didn't bother reading most of it. I think it's just some sort of literary angst, more or less. Not wisdom, or even clever. Just a bunch of whiners.

 

[nismaratwork]

I'm not sure I'd call Noam Chomsky a philosopher. But I do admire his scholarship and perserverance and have learned much from him. Ditto nismaratwork. Also Apeiron, kote, StatutoryApe (I hope I got that right) and 'many' others, whose usernames I don't recall, certainly many of the mentors and science advisors, here at PF.

As for Leo Buscaglia. I saw/heard him speak about 40 years ago. All I remember is that he hugged a lot of people at the end of his talk.

Richard von Mises was influential in my early thinking.

She included me, so presumably it's a demonstration of her excellent sense of humor. Then again, Noam Chomsly's scholarship and dedication have a definite philosophical air about them.

 

[nismaratwork]

OH... Ambrose Bierce.