Who is your favorite philosopher?

[Talvikki]

Who is your favorite philosopher?
My favorite philosophers are Spinoza and schopenhauer!

SPINOZA


SCHOPENHAUER

 

[Sakura94]

Honestly, Paul Churchland. I'm intersex and so always felt like a freak as that's how I was seen.
Studying his beliefs has made me always push for deeper scientific explanation and not rely on folk theories for anything. The more you understand yourself the greater control you have.

Schopenhauer was an enjoyable read. I have not read him in a while though.

 

[Nolan96]

Brigitte Bardot

 

[OctoberDusk]

Michel Foucault. I'm mostly familiar with his literary criticism, but I found a lot of interest there. And I think a lot of his ideas are proving true with the Internet, ubiquitous cameras, and a rise in authoritarianism.

Although in an hour I might change my mind and say Bertrand Russell. I especially like the idea to continually re-evaluate ideas and realize we're all just making our best guess at everything. I don't like the idea of a world government, however. The governments that have come closest to achieving that were all horribly inhumane.

 

[newave3]

Tucker Carlson

 

[whatevs]

I'm on team Schopie over here. Not a fan of his lack of living what he preached but I read Nietzsche, Camus, Plato/Socrates, one book of Fichte, a little bit on Stoics, skimmed Kant (no thanks), probably some more, and he always stood up to me as someone that really penetrated into the heart of reality, which is what a philosopher should do, not have some bullshit social commentary to prop up Cultural Marxism and the lunacy of modernity.

Some people be hatin' on Arthur because he dabbed on women and Jews but that had nothing to do with his philosophy, knowwhatimsayin'?

 

[freedompass]

Also Schopenhauer. Emil Cioran (think I got the name right?) is a suitably gloomy read too 'the trouble with being born' and 'on the heights of despair'. I have yet to read the Benatar book 'better never to have been' but want to. The Camus strain of existentialism as seen in The Fall and The Stranger. Hey you can see I like my pessimistic philosophy and antinatalism.

 

[its-about-time]

I don't think I have any one favorite. I guess my real favorite is Jung who I consider a philosopher of psychology- he influenced philosophy anyhow. I am rooted in pessimistic and existential ideology and like reading around there, so of course Sartre pops up a lot - I really, really liked "Nausea." Cioran's "On The Height of Despair" was moving and very relatable. As was Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning." I strangely have a memory of attending a seminar by Frankl in my high school or middle school years, but I know this can't be true as he died the year after I was born… Emerson's "Self-Reliance" is one I re-read often enough when I'm struggling, though I haven't lately, maybe it's time.

I also really enjoy this little passage from Jacob Appel— worth looking up and reading beyond this one paragraph:

"Each person is born with the probability of experiencing suffering and with each encounter with happiness the probability for suffering increases, therefore in a world governed by mathematics few will have the fortune of a life worth living. The question of why not commit suicide can only be answered positively by the fortunate or the ignorant."

Of course Camus' whole Sisyphus thing points to the contrary, that the suffering should be embraced, but I don't recall him addressing what Sisyphus might choose if he were allowed to kill himself…

 

[TheLastFemaphrodyke]

Who is your favorite philosopher?
My favorite philosophers are Spinoza and schopenhauer!

SPINOZA


SCHOPENHAUER

Wherein, I find many of Spinozas and Scopnehauers works interesting and I can agree with many of them, I also find them both to be rather misogynistic and unworthy of full admiration.
Nietzsche's views more align with my own introspection. Perspectivism, the caste system and the role of tragedy resonate with me very strongly.

 

[outatime_85]

I don't think I have just one as a favorite.

The following books are on my table:

Nietzsche:

The portable Nietzsche

The Basic Writings of Nietzsche

The Gay Science

The Will to Power

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Jung:

The Undiscoved Self

Modern Man in Search of a Soul

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Schopenhauer: On the Suffering of the World

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De Spinoza: Ethics, and On the Improvement of the Understanding

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Stoics:
Epictetus: The Discourses, The Handbook, Fragments
Marcus Aurelius: Meditations

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Albert Camus: The Myth of Sisyphus

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Martin Heidegger: Being and Time

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Eastern Philosophy:
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching
Sun Tzu: The Art of War
Miyamoto Musashi: The Book of Five Rings

 

[seaweaves]

Just focusing on dead philosophers only, I'd say Dewey and Peirce, Zhuangzi, Hume, Fanon, du Bois. A clear pragmatism lean I guess

 

[AndrewWood'sDeath]

Probably my interpretation of Nietzsche because I am aware that often my interpretation deviates from whatever the fuck I am "supposed to" get out of his works and then William Barrett and I do really enjoy B.M. Kedrov but not necessarily because I love all of his work or even every part of any of his works lmao but because I enjoyed his dissection of our craving for constant advancements and understanding in science. I probably would have had a lot more to say about this topic a couple years ago but I barely read anymore other than science textbooks and research articles which is a shame. Seeing this whole philosophy section of threads has made me regret that quite bit and I do miss the thought holes that philosophy books used to take me on.

Maybe I'll try to get back into it better. :' \

Edit: Also like many philosophers William Barrett often disagrees with himself and my favorite book by him is definitely Death of the Soul so those are generally the ideas that I think of as his philosophy.

 

[ornitier199]

The Stone.

 

[The Disinherited]

None, they all feel like such blowhards and philosophy seems to be such an intrinsically negative subject (with its founding father Socrates' famous quote "all I know is that I know I nothing" or something like that) so it's hard to think endearingly of philosophers. Having said that.... there is something courageous in attempting to live a Godless life and facing up everyday to the suffering that that entails so I've my sympathies for ALL the major existentialists... (Nietzsche, Heidegger, Camus (who rejected the title), and Sartre) as well as the tortured God believing ones (Kierkegaard and Dostoyevsky). Surprised no Shitgenstein, Popper, Marx, Freud or Arendt on anyone's list, we're pretty homogeneous it seems.

 

[seaweaves]

with its founding father Socrates' famous quote "all I know is that I know I nothing" or something like that

I mean, (a) his productive skepticism is, while overquoted, an underappreciated selfcritical approach today; (b) while he's the western daddy to most, there were tonnes of presocratics in greece, not to mention many older sources of philosophy outside the greek tradition, including eg the egyptians that the greeks lifted a lot from (unless we're doing that thing where philosophy has to be greek because philosophy is a greek word bullshit).

Surprised no Shitgenstein

His life is fun (from the poker story, to his being fired from school teaching, to his decision to upend himself, to making architects quit, etc), and select bits of his philosophy are useful, but not a particular influencing one for me, no.

But then again, most my fave philosophers are currently alive. I can't list them without this account becoming less anonymous to certain people, so I'm a bit limited in counterpoints admittedly.

 

[outatime_85]

This has just been added to my table of books.

Stoic Philosophy of Seneca: Essays and Letters - Moses Hadas Translation

 

[BruhXDDDDD]

I disagree with Epicurus on a few things, but I love him just for not rejecting all the spiritual mumbo jumbo of his time.

 

[CoalmineCanary]

Started investigating Deleuze and Guattari because self-punishment is a thing I guess.

Deleuze and Guattari - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[unredeemable]

Camus has always resonated with me on a deep level. The way he describes the struggle to keep fighting in the face of this senseless absurdity called life. Haven't read anything of his in ages. The Plauge sounds really good right now.

 

[Judah]

Marcos Perez Jimenez​

 

[AnnonyBox]

Ligotti, author of Conspiracy Against the Human Race, if he counts.

 

[Meretlein]

Peter Zapffe

 

[thankyouforthis]

Ones I like a lot who have been mentioned: Camus, Jung, Nietzsche, Lao Tzu/Zhuangze (aren't these the same person? I thought Lao Tzu invented/went by Zhuangze...?)
One like the ones mentioned so far to add: Husserl (but I'm not an expert; just read 2 I really liked)
I also like philosophers in the black radical tradition, such as Robert F. Williams and Sundiata Acoli; as well as anarchofeminists like Lucy Parsons and Luisa Capetillo.

 

[Euthanza]

Murad Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian

He answered Albert Camus and solved his own question with euthanasia while "we're still in dark age"

There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the rest — whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories — comes afterwards. These are games; one must first answer.

 

[jandek]

Seems to be a common answer, but Schopenhauer is probably the most accurate description of the world as I've experienced it, even though I don't always agree with him. Nietzsche is enjoyable to read sometimes. I also like the fragments of Heraclitus.

 

[ghqkiiia2]

Ones I like a lot who have been mentioned: Camus, Jung, Nietzsche, Lao Tzu/Zhuangze (aren't these the same person? I thought Lao Tzu invented/went by Zhuangze...?)
One like the ones mentioned so far to add: Husserl (but I'm not an expert; just read 2 I really liked)
I also like philosophers in the black radical tradition, such as Robert F. Williams and Sundiata Acoli; as well as anarchofeminists like Lucy Parsons and Luisa Capetillo.

Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi are different people, Lao Tzu was almost 200 years older than Zhuangzi, although they are usually classified in the same school, Taoist.

 

[thankyouforthis]

Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi are different people, Lao Tzu was almost 200 years older than Zhuangzi, although they are usually classified in the same school, Taoist.

Gotcha. So what about that butterfly story? Do you know the one in which someone dreams he's a butterfly and then wakes up wondering if that was a dream, or if being a person is? Was that Zhuangzi?

 

[ghqkiiia2]

Gotcha. So what about that butterfly story? Do you know the one in which someone dreams he's a butterfly and then wakes up wondering if that was a dream, or if being a person is? Was that Zhuangzi?

Yes, the story you mentioned was indeed raised by Zhuangzi. One day he woke up from a dream, in which he became a butterfly. Then, he wondered that is there a reliable way to tell whether what really happened was that him dreamed of being a butterfly, or it was a butterfly dreamed of being him?

 

[Fragile]

To this man, I owe my understanding of dignity and virtue.


Diogenes, the most honest cynic.

 

[annique]

I like Frege (logics), Wittgenstein (philosophy of language) and Albert Camus (existentialism)