<p>For those of you who are interested in Philosophy and Religion, who is your favorite philosopher and whY?</p>
<p>I am partial to the Christian Philosophers (Augustine, Aquinas, Boethius, etc...) and Plato and Aristotle</p>
<p>plato was the man...nietszche and kurtz are a few others im interested in</p>
<p>Best Philosopher? How is there a "best" philosopher. If there is such a thing as a "best" philosopher, then I will say he/she is not Kant.</p>
<p>....obviously Socrates is...he basically formed philosophy.</p>
<p>oh goodness, if you are going to give Socrates such a title at least specify that he formed 'Western' philosophy.
I doubt Lao Zi woke up one day and went 'hey, that guy Socrates just formed philosophy! I guess, I guess I can go and write Tao Te Ching now.'</p>
<p>I won't claim that he's the best there ever was, but Bertrand Russell is my personal favorite.</p>
<p>I doubt Lao Zi woke up one day and went 'hey, that guy Socrates just formed philosophy! I guess, I guess I can go and write Tao Te Ching now.'</p>
<p>In the sense that we use the term, philosophy specifies rational inquiry which, to the best of our knowledge, began with the historical figure of Socrates (the Socratic method). If we are to call Lao Tzu a philosopher we would, by the same reason, have to refer to Moses, Abraham, the Buddha, Muhammad and Jesus as philosophers, however, we do not.</p>
<p>I've yet to take my first formal philosophy class though I hope to in the fall if I can schedule the honors section. From what I've read so far, some of the Eastern philosophies cut best to the heart of things for me. I don't know if you can really call Buddhism a philosophy per se, but the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama ring true to me as a philosophy even though I don't actively practice the religion - especially those recognized by the Theravadan school. I like some of the Mahayana teachings as well - especially the Diamond Sutra's discourse on Shunyata and the expansiveness of the Lotus Sutra though many believe those were not actually taught by the Buddha himself, but rather the Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna and an unknown Chinese monk repectively. Lao Tsu had some interesting things to say, too. I love what the Zen teacher Daisetz Suzuki had to say when asked about Western philosophers ...
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I like Emmanuel Kant. All he needed was a good kick in the pants!
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<p>I'm going to have to say voltaire is my favorite. This enlightenment thinker believed in human rights people, "i don't agree with what you say, but i'll defend to death your right to say it."</p>
<p>John Stuart Mill :)...that's a treat for all you deontologists out there ;)</p>
<p>I think that may be a jab at me. One need only realize the point in which Mill himself thought that his teleological existence, arranged for by his parents and Bentham, failed to account for various other factors of life, which led to the quantification of feelings/quality/emotions...
...you be the judge on the coherentness of that.</p>
<p>Polemic aside, Immanuel Kant is, without a doubt, one of the best philosophers of all time. Even if one does not buy into his ethical system, his accomplishment of synthesizing empiricist and rationalist epistemology as well as defining the limits of pure reason is, in my opinion, unprecedented, and was only close to being superceded by Wittgenstein - had he lived longer, he probably would have done so.</p>
<p>Bertrand Russell is definitely important, but I dare say only in the analytic tradition and in the training of young Wittgenstein. Beyond that, however, I cannot say he accomplished much. Once you consider Russell's advancements in analytic philosophy, you also notice how other philosophers in that tradition superceded him in many ways. Need I invoke the works of Quine or the Tractatus of the Early Wittgenstein? Kurt Goedel?</p>
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I'm going to have to say voltaire is my favorite. This enlightenment thinker believed in human rights people, "i don't agree with what you say, but i'll defend to death your right to say it."
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<p>That mode of thought is pervasive in contemporary liberalism. If you wish to read more of it, I suggest starting with John Rawls' "A Theory of Justice".</p>
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....obviously Socrates is...he basically formed philosophy.
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<p>Then philosophy's origin is somewhat dubious, since the only thoughts of Socrates come in the form of secondary sources, most notable being that of Plato's works - on second thought, I do not know any other philosopher who wrote on Socrates. The origins of philosophy actually extend further, into the development of monistic metaphysics, the Pythagoreans, and so on.</p>
<p>nspeds: You're obviously much more well-read in this than I am. Having said that, I know that Russell wasn't the most revolutionary of philosophers, but I have somewhat of a personal soft spot for him...which may not be rational, but it answers the question. Otherwise, I have a hard time "picking favorites". ;)</p>
<p>thisyearsgirl: I am surprised you favor Russell; I love him to death as well, much to my chagrin, but do you have any idea how arrogant he was? Perhaps egotistic is a better term. </p>
<p>I heard that, when conversing to someone he deems unimportant, the late Russell would calculate the amount of money he earned at any given time.</p>
<p>Edit: I have apparently discovered a posting cap; I cannot go beyond 1449 posts and my mind, for once, is not fooling me. Hah!</p>
<p>nspeds: I hadn't heard that particular story, but I did know he was arrogant...but I find him in some ways endearing.
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I have lived in the pursuit of a vision, both personal and social. Personal: to care for what is noble, for what is beautiful, for what is gentle; to allow moments of insight to give wisdom at more mundane times. Social: to see in imagination the society that is to be created, where individuals grow freely, and where hate and greed and envy die because there is nothing to nourish them. These things I believe, and the world, for all its horrors, has left me unshaken.
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^Through passages such as that one, for instance.</p>
<p>A redeeming quality indeed. As I said, I admire Russell, no matter how much I find distasteful his tactics for dealing with those who disagree.</p>
<p>"That mode of thought is pervasive in contemporary liberalism. If you wish to read more of it, I suggest starting with John Rawls' "A Theory of Justice"."</p>
<p>libaral? Ahhhh!!!! I'm conservative. I'll have you know i don't care to affiliate myself with liberalism of any sort....haha j/k, actually no, this "mode of thought" is present in contemporary day charter of rights, thus liberalism as well as conservatism.</p>
<p>The actual true per se Western Philosopher was Thales. When I say Best Philosopher I mean most in line with your beliefs and ideas...Sorry I didn't make that clear.</p>
<p>I like John Stuart Mill...as well as Immanuel Kant (his prose is awesome despite the purported logical flaws of his Categorical Imperative...)</p>