"Top 5" Intellectuals and Philosophers

[Xomic]

You do realise that "The Prince as satire" is revisionist horse manure peddled by Machiavelli followers who want to distance themselves from the negative connotations of the term "Machiavellian"? The Prince is a straight political treatise. I personally feel attempts to rehabilitate it as a "satire" are pointless examples of Parody Retcon, since there is nothing wrong with the Realpolitik that Machiavelli advocates.

Then how do you reconcile it with his other works?

[Georgism]

You do realise that "The Prince as satire" is revisionist horse manure peddled by Machiavelli followers who want to distance themselves from the negative connotations of the term "Machiavellian"? The Prince is a straight political treatise. I personally feel attempts to rehabilitate it as a "satire" are pointless examples of Parody Retcon, since there is nothing wrong with the Realpolitik that Machiavelli advocates.

Then how do you reconcile it with his other works?

DID.

[Andaluciae]

Plato, Hume, Russell, Confucius, and I don't know. Maybe Hegel, maybe Kant, maybe...


...KIERKEGAARD!

Not really. I just think he's got a great name for the philosophical pantheon.

[Tokyoni]

Kim Il-Sung - For further codifying this line of thought, as well as highlighting the proper relations between the theory and practice, intellectuals and workers in the quest to oppose imperialism, promote self-determination, and end the exploitation of capitalism.

There's North Korean apologism, and then there's claiming that Kim Il-Sung was a philosopher.

He wrote NUMEROUS works highlighting a new line of philosophical thought (Juche) he developed and guided a nation to that end. If that doesn't qualify as a philosopher, I'm not sure what definition you're using of the term.

[Dread Lady Nathicana]

Trotskylvania: We do not call our opponents names on the forum. Everyone should know that by now. It's common sense. *** Warned *** for flaming.

Neo Art: Persistent flamebaiting. Given your own track record, it has been decided that a *** 3-day Ban *** is the most appropriate action. I'd respectfully suggest that you take the time to reconsider your methods on your return. And to remember that regardless of what others may or may not do, this does not give you carte blanche to respond as you like. Nor does trying to be clever in responses mean you're not breaking rules. Due notice given - there will be no further warnings on this count. The next step will be a 7-day ban, and after that, deletion.

Conservative Morality: You have also earned a *** Warning *** for flamebaiting. As with NA, it doesn't matter if someone is baiting you into it - do not respond in kind.

[Central Slavia]

There's North Korean apologism, and then there's claiming that Kim Il-Sung was a philosopher.

He wrote NUMEROUS works highlighting a new line of philosophical thought (Juche) he developed and guided a nation to that end. If that doesn't qualify as a philosopher, I'm not sure what definition you're using of the term.

The work being a blind alley buildup on marxism-leninism.
Kim Ir-sen was a revolutionary hero i agree, but ever since he died North Korea is going rather worryingly

[EnragedMaldivians]

You do realise that "The Prince as satire" is revisionist horse manure peddled by Machiavelli followers who want to distance themselves from the negative connotations of the term "Machiavellian"? The Prince is a straight political treatise. I personally feel attempts to rehabilitate it as a "satire" are pointless examples of Parody Retcon, since there is nothing wrong with the Realpolitik that Machiavelli advocates.

Then how do you reconcile it with his other works?

Discourses of livy I assume?

Machiavelli supported a republic as the best form of government, but he valued internal stability more than any ideal form of government. Thus in his mind, "the prince" should be vested with the authority to override conventional understandings of morality, because a prince secure on his throne rules a stable domain. At bottom, he was a nationalist over all else.

The logic is that the ends justify means. Very simple. It is NOT a satire.

[Josh Sinister]

5. Whatever mad genius came up with Existentialism.
4. B.F Skinner
3. Edward Said
2. Sigmund Freud
1. Charles Darwin

Honorable Mention:
As much as I hate her guts, Ayn Rand still makes you think; even if those thoughts are "I want to kill this idiot."

EDIT:
Plato, deserves a spot, too.

[Kushtor]

No Particular order

-Richard Dawkins
-Ludwig Wittgenstein
-Siddartha Gautama
-Stephen Hawking
-Charles Darwin

but philosophy itself is only useful as a disposable filler for gaps in knowledge

[North Suran]

You do realise that "The Prince as satire" is revisionist horse manure peddled by Machiavelli followers who want to distance themselves from the negative connotations of the term "Machiavellian"? The Prince is a straight political treatise. I personally feel attempts to rehabilitate it as a "satire" are pointless examples of Parody Retcon, since there is nothing wrong with the Realpolitik that Machiavelli advocates.

Then how do you reconcile it with his other works?

Two ways. Firstly, the use of the term "prince" to describe the hypothetical ruler can be easily explained by the fact that monarchies were the most common form of governance at that time, and also that the term "prince" does not necessarily mean a monarch, but rather someone in a position of power (remembering that "prince" is derived from the Latin "princeps", which simply means "the first" or "chief"). Secondly, Machiavelli explicitly identifies that his use of the term "state" in the treatise refers to "all forms of organisation of supreme political power, whether republican or princely".

As such, it is easy to reconcile the republicanism of Discourses on Livy with the content of The Prince. I think it is fairly clear that Machiavelli was a classical republican, and The Prince is meant simply as a treatise on the benefits (and perhaps even necessity) of ruthless and pragmatic politics, which is why he uses Cesare Borgia - amoral man, great politician - as an example.

[Threlizdun]

-Noam Chomsky
-Rosa Luxembourg
-Emma Goldman
-Karl Marx
-Leon Trotsky
Those are my favorite philosophers. I'm personally an anarcho-syndicalist communist, with most of my views being based off of Chomsky.

[Ragnarsdomr]

These are merely writers that have influenced me largely. By no means will I call them the greatest intellectuals and thinkers, but they've given the most significant additions to my life.

5. Harry G. Frankfurt - Rather unknown, he wrote a tiny little book called On Bullshit: as the title insinuates, it's an analysis of what constitutes bullshit, the purpose of it, and why it was invented. About the size of a small to medium sized essay, but highly useful, and it's helped me clarify to myself how to better tell the difference between malice and indifference.

4. John Keegan - The guy who really got me into obsessively reading historical treatises. I started with A Brief History of Warfare, and from there moved onto his books on generalship and military intelligence. He's been highly helpful in my knowledge about the mechanics and social consequences of war, and therefore deserves a spot on this list better than Clausewitz.

3. Terry Eagleton - Well, he wrote On Evil, which summed up a definition of true evil quite well for me, in a way that I could logically agree with. So, it's given me a way to better argue legal arguments, and just debates in general.

2. Philip K. Dick - Not a philosopher, but his novels The Man in the High Castle, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly have all influenced my determining what counts as real, and what isn't, as well as political views and opinions on drugs and addictive substances.

1. Walter M. Miller - Again, not a philosopher, but A Canticle for Leibowitz was the book that pushed me towards Monarchism and away from Communism; towards Theism and away from Atheism. It may be fiction, but it was a beautifully realized book, and it's a shame that he didn't write more works apart from Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman

[The Corparation]

1)Isaac Asimov
2)Aristotle
3)Shakespeare
4)Da Vinci
5)My Speech and Debate teacher. He's just plain awesome.

[Otrenia]

These are the ones I agree with/ am influenced by the most
1) Voltaire
2) Thomas Paine
3) Thomas Jefferson
All three defenders of classical republican principles and virtues

4) Daniel Quinn
Author of Ishmael, which I highly recommend, which has me thinking the neo-tribalism may be a good idea

5) Sir Robert Filmer
Defender of the divine right of kings, with I don't agree with in RL but it's fun to imagine

[Ordo Drakul]

Machiavelli scores closest to a threadjack! YAY! I win Philosophy!











so where's my cookie?

[Exemplis]

1. Newton
2. Maxwell
3. Turing
4. Einstein
5. Eratosthenes

[Free Soviets]

Daniel Quinn
Author of Ishmael, which I highly recommend, which has me thinking the neo-tribalism may be a good idea

oddly, quinn has come up more than once in classes i've taken. he's got a piece in this encyclopedia of religion and the environment (i assume its out now, but i only had pre-press copies of some articles) that made its way into a course on the subject. and a fairly big name colleague/prof of mine has mentioned him during a seminar on climate change and society. so he's not entirely out there, haha.

[Tauric Cilicia]

Stalin
Hitler
Caesar
Machiavelli
Heydrich/Bukharin

:3

[Mike the Progressive]

Homer....Simpson.

[New Manvir]

The Dos Equis Guy.

[Free Soviets]

Harry G. Frankfurt - Rather unknown, he wrote a tiny little book called On Bullshit: as the title insinuates, it's an analysis of what constitutes bullshit, the purpose of it, and why it was invented. About the size of a small to medium sized essay, but highly useful, and it's helped me clarify to myself how to better tell the difference between malice and indifference.

his other work is worth a look too. and he's a super nice guy in that old philosophy professor sort of way.

[Mike the Progressive]

The Dos Equis Guy.

^This.

[Science-Oriented Scots]

The Dos Equis Guy.

The Dos Equis Guy has been bested.

[Mike the Progressive]

The Dos Equis Guy.

The Dos Equis Guy has been bested.

But he's...uh, you know, well he's uh the "b" word, he's a basketball player!

[Science-Oriented Scots]

The Dos Equis Guy has been bested.

But he's...uh, you know, well he's uh the "b" word, he's a basketball player!

Can the Dos Equis Guy dunk?

Didn't think so.