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Your favorite philosopher?

Hume, Russell, Dennett. Probably in decreasing order of importance.

I have a soft spot for the logical positivists/vienna circle, though I am well aware of the criticisms and limitations of their positions. I enjoy the work of people like

I find Popper interesting, but ultimately unsatisfying. I find Quine much more interesting to read as far as philosophy of science goes. Popper seems to be largely accepted as the last word in these parts; I cannot agree, though I wholeheartedly admit I do not have an adequate rebuttal at this time.
 
Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Zeno, Nietzsche, Marx, Hobbes, Nagarjuna, Dogen-zenji, Laozi, Confucius, and the Buddha.

I want to read Machiavelli, but I want to know if he wrote satire or not first :p .

(Bolded are most important to me, not just favourite and disagree with)
 
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I don't like philosophers. I like punk rockers of philosophy, like Nietzsche and Zappa.
 
roger said:
Hume, Russell, Dennett. Probably in decreasing order of importance.

I have a soft spot for the logical positivists/vienna circle, though I am well aware of the criticisms and limitations of their positions. I enjoy the work of people like

I find Popper interesting, but ultimately unsatisfying. I find Quine much more interesting to read as far as philosophy of science goes. Popper seems to be largely accepted as the last word in these parts; I cannot agree, though I wholeheartedly admit I do not have an adequate rebuttal at this time.
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I think although not from reading him but some commentaries on him, that Popper not only believed that a theory was useless if not falsifiable but also that evidence supporting a theory was not evidence for the theory but merely a demonstration that it hadn't been falsified. It seems that his falsification theory was a valuable idea but that extreme Popperism is just a bit ridiculous.

Also, I think there are theories that cannot really be adequately falsified but which are still legitimate. The idea that aliens exist on other planets is not a reasonably falsifiable proposition but could still be shown to be correct.

Another objection seems to be that most scientists don't seem to take much notice of him or his theories when doing science.
 
Socrates/Plato. Philosophy basically begins and ends there - humility to know how how little I know about the world and the awareness that I can learn about it. Popper and Hume are good as well (Popper, specifically, has a great critique on Plato separating him from Socrates).
 
Barber Shop said:
We have been discussing the value (or lack thereof) of philosophy. Some posters have noted that some philosophers are more useful and worthwhile than others.


So...who is your favorite philosopher(s)? Why?

Bertrand Russell is someone I certainly admire.
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Heraclites, Oscar Wilde and Will Rogers.

:)
 
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