Leiter Reports The 20 "Most Important" Philosophers of All Time _With nearly 900 votes cast_ (http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2009/05/the-final-round-who-are-the-20-most-important-philosophers-of-all-time.html ) , we now know: 1. Plato (Condorcet winner: wins contests with all other choices) 2. Aristotle loses to Plato by 367–364 3. Kant loses to Plato by 411–328, loses to Aristotle by 454–295 4. Hume loses to Plato by 534–166, loses to Kant by 533–176 5. Descartes loses to Plato by 597–117, loses to Hume by 356– 269 6. Socrates loses to Plato by 548–101, loses to Descartes by 327–270 7. Wittgenstein loses to Plato by 610–85, loses to Socrates by 385–193 8. Locke loses to Plato by 659–29, loses to Wittgenstein by 311–239 9. Frege loses to Plato by 611–86, loses to Locke by 279–256 10. Aquinas loses to Plato by 642–57, loses to Frege by 289–284 11. Hegel loses to Plato by 615–82, loses to Aquinas by 288–285 12. Leibniz loses to Plato by 650– 36, loses to Hegel by 281–266 13. Spinoza loses to Plato by 653–49, loses to Leibniz by 281–207 14. Mill loses to Plato by 645–39, loses to Spinoza by 272–247 15. Hobbes loses to Plato by 647–47, loses to Spinoza by 269– 245 16. Augustine loses to Plato by 663–46, loses to Mill by 296–247 17. Marx loses to Plato by 653–52, loses to Augustine by 305–248 18. Nietzsche loses to Plato by 691–63, loses to Marx by 327–269 19. Kierkegaard loses to Plato by 622–106, loses to Nietzsche by 330–256 20. Rousseau loses to Plato by 638–41, loses to Kierkegaard by 280–209 Berkeley was a close runner-up for the top 20. The top six are not surprising (though they wouldn't have been my top six, but that's another matter), but after that the results reveal how radically people's conceptions of philosophy diverge. Wittgenstein ahead of Locke, Hegel, Spinoza, Mill et al.? Augustine ahead of Marx and Nietzsche? Aquinas in the top ten? What explains it? --------------------------------------------- My own list, in case anyone is interested- Great Philosophers BR ratings
* = LHOHH Love Him Or Hate Him, the list is about importance, not preference. < = Radical Centrist ideas part of his philosophical system or can be interpreted as implicit. 1. Plato < 2. Aristotle 3. Kant < 4. Aquinas < 5. Nietzsche* 6. Hume 7. Hegel < 8. Descartes 9. J.S. Mill < 10. Machiavelli* 11. Marx* 12. Vico < 13. Heraklitus 14. Locke 15. Pythagoras < 16. Rousseau* 17. Dewey 18. Condorcet 19. Sartre* 20. Kierkegaard < Runner-up: Bertrand Russell* --------------------- Another 5 who are too important not to mention: Dharmakriti (or Dignaga, it is difficult to make up my mind) Avicenna Feuerbach < Plekhanov Collingwood < -------------------------- Philosophers I don't know enough about to evaluate fairly: Charles Sanders Peirce William James Heidegger Ortega y Gasset Parmenides Burzoe Sankara Husserl Maimonides Spinoza Leibniz Hobbes Frege Suarez Berkeley Whitehead Wittgenstein Notes: Socrates is so intertwined with Plato that making a distinction is impossible for me. Taken on his own, to the extent this is possible, could well put him a the top of the list. There are a number of major "thinkers" of history who certainly influenced the ideas of generations of people but who were not philosophers as such, for instance: Saint-Simon, Erasmus, Hakuin, Turgot, and Sun Tzu. There also are great thinkers who were theologians rather than philosophers, with Augustine at the top of that list. In case anyone is interested, this is my list of the 20 most important philosophers: -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
