I thought it might be fun and informative to discuss who are our favorite philosophers are and why they are our favorites. If you don't have a favorite, perhaps you would care to discuss your favorite philosophers or those who have had the most influence on your life. To get this discussion started I would like to begin by placing no restrictions on who and what qualifies as a philosopher. You decide. The philosopher and his/her philosophy and teachings can be religious, secular, both, neither, whatever. If you don't have a favorite philosopher but have a favorite piece or work of philosophy feel free to discuss that, too. Why is it your favorite? I'll get to mine later, but for now I just wanted to get the ball rolling. PS. I realize that there may be a thread similar to this lurking somewhere in the Way Back Machine but I since I didn't see one recently I thought I'd open a new discussion and entertain your toughest on this.
I find philosophers that I agree with to be quite tedious. Not only will they have to be quite precise for me to agree with them, I find myself being on my guard if I hear philosophy that seems too persuasive to me. I don't want to boast that I am free of biases, I just found actively agreeing with philosophical points a demanding endeavour. Therefore, my "favourite" philosophers are often people I disagree with. Nietzsche was a bit bonkers, but he had some astute observations and knew how to write with impact.
French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes (1596 - 1650) who pondered existence and deduced we must exist in one shape or another by the fact of questioning existence. - Cogito ergo sum which is Latin for "I think therefore I am." Austrian physicist and philosopher Ludwig Boltzmann (1844 - 1906) who created the formula S = k log W that proves that travelling backwards in time will always result in traveling back to a different timeline no matter what you do thus answering the question if you shot your own grandfather, would you disappear?; the real answer is no you would not, but he worked out that you couldn't because it's a different timeline due to chaos, he even engraved this equation onto his everlasting tombstone as a sign post for time travelers to work out that no matter what, their timeline's set and this is another timeline; entropy or chaos theory.
How anyone imagines any philosopher could hold a candle to the Him Who reportedly stilled the tempest, walked on water, healed the sick and raised the dead, I don't suppose I'll ever know.
Has any theologian/philosopher ever hypothesized that that was all bunk written to control a populous when the Christians took Rome and gave us Vatican City? I mean, before me? Raise the dead, virgin birth; these are two things we know with every common sense and natural law are lies; so any religion based upon this is designed to control you as a mechanism to stop the masses from over throwing Rome; before it was Roman Gods, then it was almighty God, I mean, think about it; the Bible says the Devil is the father of all lies; how do we know this is not a lie and really God is evil and the church a relic from a bygone form of governance? That's not to say faith doesn't have its purpose or that God doesn't exist, but organised religion and The Holy Bible are written by a bunch of dead people to control a populous.
So.....exactly how did this ruse convince over half the world it is fact for over 2000 years? That would be a miracle in itself.
I spose my favorites are those who get it so wrong as to prompt me to figure out why they're wrong, thus clarifying and solidifying my own position. Which leads me to the same answer as above: me.
I admit to dodging a bullet in life considering others weren't so lucky and had to be raised to learn the church; they never had stories of time travelers or aliens in the bible tbh, and honestly, it's clear as day that Christianity's one big lie to control the masses dating back from when Rome stopped having Caesars and started having Popes; I was raised knowing these things taught to me by my family so I didn't have to worry about going to Hell, I was raised not to hurt a fly because that would cause suffering to the fly because I was raised by an Atheist who believes in Aliens and count my stars since it made me me and not all hung up like others of the same ethnic background as me who attended the Church (Church of England). To me, The Holy Bible is great and real if you have faith in Time Travel and regard it as evidence of Time Travel.
My agnostic buddy who frequented our college Bible studies was convinced that god was just a computer with unlimited processing power and access to time travel. And Im not positive that he's incorrect.
Time's relative and is a law of psychics; space, time, all relative to each other and distorted with gravitational pull and motion and even direction. Your Agnostic friend was basing thinking God was a computer with unlimited processing power with the ability to travel through time based on what?
