Who Is Your Favorite Philosopher?

Comte De Maistre

[ComtedeMaistre]

That was the question that George W. was asked in the 2000 campaign. Unfortunately, the questioner failed to provide a precise definition of how to define a philosopher.

A useful definition of a philosopher is anybody who has ever written a book on ideas. Anybody. Whether he is an economist, theologian, politician, mathematician, soldier, boxer, musician, historian, artist, psychologist, sociologist, anthropologist, biologist, physicist, athlete, etc, etc, etc.

Yes, I do recognize Yogi Berra as a notable philosopher. Even Barry Goldwater, notwithstanding the fact that his book, "Conscience of a Conservative" was ghost-written for him.

Certainly, if some of the well-read freepers know of philosophers noted for conservative ideas, their contributions are certainly welcome.

For my part, my favorite philosopher is the anti-enlightenment thinker, Joseph de Maistre (also known as Comte de Maistre). I regard him as the most authentic conservative intellectual of all time. Reading his works made me realize how the spread of moral relativism can endanger civilization.

[kesg]

Ayn Rand or Aristotle (very close call).

[annyokie]

Ayn Rand was an alchoholic nutbag. She wrote some great books, but her personal behavior was outrageous.

[opbuzz]

Lao Tzu

[annyokie]

Excellent.

[ChadGore]

Re:personal behavior was outrageous.

Then how do you feel about Churchill ?

[Burkeman1]

Aristotle, Machiaveli, and Edmund Burke.

[Sam Cree]

Did she live with Frank Lloyd Wright for awhile?

[RealEstateEntrepreneur]

Ayn Rand, no contest.

I also believe capitalism would not be gaining over socialism over the last few decades, had she not given capitalism a moral standing.

[Reeses]

Would you guess Aristotle was a conservative and Plato a liberal? It seems to me the two major branches of thought have been with us for a long time, probably in similar percentages.

[annyokie]

Jung was a nut. Freud was a genius, IMO. Stupid dream theories excepted.

[Wallaby]

Two notable philosophers have died this past month:

• Bernard Williams 1929 - 2003
• Georg Henrik von Wright 1916 - 2003

[Othniel]

Deity aside (namely Jesus), my favorites are:

CS Lewis & RC Sproul in the serious category.

Edmund Blackadder in the Everything Else category.

[annyokie]

No, she did not. Frank liked 30 years younger gals than he.

[Sam Cree]

I have heard that Roark was modeled after Wright.

[annyokie]

Are we speaking of philosophers or public figures? Churchill was an alkie, as well.

[Duramaximus]

"Robert Heinlein"

Excellent choice, certainly at the top of my list.

[ztiworoh]

Yeah, I will admit Anthem was a good book, the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged were just a little too preachy for me. She was not a master of subtlety by any means.

[annyokie]

I liked "The Fountainhead". Her other books sucked, IMO.

[BOOTSTICK]

I am.

[Katya]

From old to new: GW Leibniz....followed by JW Goethe, Rudy Steiner and Ayn Rand. Pardon the teutonic bias...strangely I consider Rand an American genius intellectually, despite her Slavonic blood lines.