Who's your favorite philosopher and why?

[Disinterested]

I'm rather fond of Rene Descartes and mind/body dualism.

[tman_ndsu08]

John Locke - "government with the consent of the governed"

[Disinterested]

A classic liberal I see. I like Hume from that bunch.

Hey, here's a hoaky knock-knock joke. Jonathan Swift knocks on George Berkeley's door. Berkeley says, "Who's there?" Swift replies, "No one."

[SoccerfreakAB2]

Aristotle without a doubt. Not only was he the best and brightest philosopher in the ancient world, but his scientific, political, and theological notes defined the middle ages and the future Renaissance.

[rez]

Immanuel Kant

his philosophy about time/space and cause/effect interest me the most.

[Disinterested]

Quote by: rez Immanuel Kant his philosophy about time/space and cause/effect interest me the most.

Because his name resembles a vulgar term for female genitalia, I cannot take him seriously.

[lsbskins1]

Can I play if it isn't so much the 'pher as it is the 'phy. Existentialism. Because it somehow manages to be pragmatic and selfless at the same time.

[Mia]

Dante. Because he said Hell is other people...and I agree.

[PatrickHenry]

Soren Kierkegaard: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kierkegaard/

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (b.1813, d. 1855) was a profound and prolific writer in the Danish "golden age" of intellectual and artistic activity. His work crosses the boundaries of philosophy, theology, psychology, literary criticism, devotional literature and fiction. Kierkegaard brought this potent mixture of discourses to bear as social critique and for the purpose of renewing Christian faith within Christendom. At the same time he made many original conceptual contributions to each of the disciplines he employed. He is known as the "father of existentialism", but at least as important are his critiques of Hegel and of the German romantics, his contributions to the development of modernism, his literary experimentation, his vivid re-presentation of biblical figures to bring out their modern relevance, his invention of key concepts which have been explored and redeployed by thinkers ever since, his interventions in contemporary Danish church politics, and his fervent attempts to analyse and revitalise Christian faith. Kierkegaard burned with the passion of a religious poet, was armed with extraordinary dialectical talent, and drew on vast resources of erudition.

[liverleef]

Without a doubt it's Eric Hoffer (The longshoreman philospher)

[tman_ndsu08]

Quote by: Disinterested Because his name resembles a vulgar term for female genitalia, I cannot take him seriously.

Since this is the philosophy board, I'll bring this up:

isn't it kind of a paradox that female genitals have a name? I mean, if you think about it, you're giving a name to a hole, which isn't really anything. In fact, it could be better defined as a lack of something since it's just a space with the purpose of being filled.

[Disinterested]

May I quote King James RSV Genesis?

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Sounds to me like God was going down on female genitalia.

But that's just me.

[CJFreeman]

Quote by: Mia Dante. Because he said Hell is other people...and I agree.

I believe that was Jean Paul Sartre, not Dante.