Which philosopher has influenced your way of thinking the most?
And do you think that philosophy is gradually losing its relevance with swiftly advancing scientific and empirical methods of understanding nature?
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John Locke.
And no, science needs philosophy. Philosophy asks the questions, formulates the theories, and then science tests them. Not to mention science rests on a philosophical foundation.
My least favorite if prob Daniel Dennett. I recently gave "Consciousness Explained" a try, even got the audiobook. I couldn't do it. He managed to take an interesting topic, and make it uninteresting.
Science has superseded it's philosophical origins, just as wheels are better for no longer being made from wood. Science is self policing now, and it's results are self evident and speak both for it's validity and objectivity. Again you see to misunderstand what the word theory means in a scientific context, but it is in fact the pinnacle of scientific thought.
I agree about Dennet's book, which might have been better entitled "consciousness cured", I persevered as long as I could bear it. It's now sequestered on my Kindle sadly.
Who is my favorite philosopher? I am not sure. Who is your favorite sociologist?
Durkheim and Du Bois if he's considered a sociologist lol.
Durkheim or Foucault
Philosophy is a very broad term. Here are some definitions:
1.
the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct.
2.
any of the three branches, namely natural philosophy, moral philosophy, and metaphysical philosophy, that are accepted as composing this study.
3.
a particular system of thought based on such study or investigation: the philosophy of Spinoza.
4.
the critical study of the basic principles and concepts of a particular branch of knowledge, especially with a view to improving or reconstituting them: the philosophy of science.
5.
a system of principles for guidance in practical affairs.
Science:
1.
a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws: the mathematical sciences.
2.
systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.
3.
any of the branches of natural or physical science.
4.
systematized knowledge in general.
5.
knowledge, as of facts or principles; knowledge gained by systematic study.
I think there is no need to connect philosophy and science too strongly. It is very important to keep ideas and concepts discrete and only make connections where they are cIearly demonstrable.
I don't have a favourite philosopher but all those who are widely recognised and published offer some insight into the way various people think and approach questions and issues.
Most freethinkers are probably our own philosophers, learning from all and following none.
I guess I should have asked, 'which philosopher/free thinker has influenced you the most?'
'I think there is no need to connect philosophy and science too strongly. It is very important to keep ideas and concepts discrete and only make connections where they are cIearly demonstrable.'
I don't think I was trying to connect philosophy and science, although they are strongly related.In fact certain branches of philosophy have died out and turned into established scientific fields like physics (natural philosophy), even psychology was once considered a branch of philosophy.
I actually think most, if not all, philosophers were just early psychologists.
I wouldn't say most, but I have found Nietzsche's analysis of human psyche quite insightful.
Some philosophers tackled the human mind directly, like Descartes. But anyone that contributed to the field of epistemology, was really just analyzing psychology. How we know anything and how it relates to the outside world. For example, Plato's Allegory of the Cave is about perception. Democritus' perceptual theory, Aristotle's laws of association, Locke and his "blank slate," Kant's perceptual theory, Berkeley's ideas.. Dualism? Nominalism? Realism? Solipsism? Philosophers cared a lot about the human mind, reality, and knowledge, and these are all questions now being answered by psychologists. Even morality is studied by psychologists now.
Thomas Paine hands down my favorite! Although I might add James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton. Although they are not considered philosophers, what they did was give voice to a philosophical idea. They made the idea of individual rights a practical thing. Reading the Federalist Papers is enlightening!
Other major influences, David Attenborough, and Carl Sagen.
I'd consider them philosophers.
I tried reading the federalist papers after I heard the Hamilton play.
Hamilton wrote most of the Federalist Papers. Also, Hamilton was the quintessential success story coming from nothing to become a wealthy, well educated, and respected man. Aaron Burr was a self-serving asshole and should have been arrested for treason long before he killed Hamilton.
I have not yet read any of Hamilton's works.I will give it a try.
No philospher!
Karl popper or Aristotle... Technically have had the biggest influence on me in that their work; their thoughts promulgated successive generations of thoughts and work that ultimately had a great influence on not only me, but the world. More personally, Immanuel Kant, David Hume, Bertrand Russell, Fransis Bacon, Friedrich Nietzsche and many others have influenced me more directly as well.
Philosophy is not a separate thing from science. Science can be seen as a branch of philosophy. There is this modern interpretation that philosophy is just something that philosophers do and it consists of thinking and argument. But it's something most of us do. But no-one more than scientists and mathematicians. Debates about politics and morality and religion are all philosophical debates. I daresay, one would indeed find oneself in quite a different world without it... And atheism might be so uncommon as to be discounted as an anomaly. Further still, the scientific method would not exist and our world would likely be one of savagery and pure survival. Philosophy is literally the love of knowledge. Is it losing its relevance? No. It has never been more relevant.
"Philosophy is not a separate thing from science. Science can be seen as a branch of philosophy."
Exactly. I don't know why I got so many dislikes for saying this exact same thing. Philosophy is how we demarcate between pseudo-science, non-science, and science. The empiricism that science relies on, and the rationalism that mathematics stems from are both branches of epistemology, which is philosophy.
'Debates about politics and morality and religion are all philosophical debates.'
Sure, but I have heard many people suggest that moral questions can be answered reliably by scientific methods, which I highly suspect.I am sure that in the future, especially with heavy progress in scientific methods, even more so in the field of neuroscience, we might be able to answer 'what we ought to do' questions.But I still think philosophy has a long way to go.There will always be questions that science cannot answer.Certain issues raised in our society based on ethical grounds and moral behaviour will always necessitate sound philosophical arguments for a long time to come.
@Aposteriori: "Philosophy is literally the love of knowledge. (...) it's something most of us do. (..) It has never been more relevant".
Thanks for bringing up this issue. Philosophy and Science are inextricable, as actually these are from our daily lives. I don't agree on doing a false dichotomy either and people like Sagan, Dawkins, Russell, who would be among my favorite, are evidence for what great philosophers empirical scientists can become, because philosophy it's also part of their job.
Regarding @Mohammad Ali's questions, what a difficult one. I'd say -apart from those forementioned-: Noam Chomsky, one of my classical frameworks; Simone de Beauvoir, Clara Campoamor or Ayaán Hirsi Ali for being also role models; Derrida, Foucault, Lacan and Hitchens, because they defy my worldview for the better.
I concur.
You have mentioned some of my favourites, especially Noam Chomsky and also Ayaan Hirsi Ali, whose views, being an ex Muslim I can most definitely value and relate to.Not familiar with Lacan's works though.
Le Guin
Vonnegut
Herbert
Heinlein
Clark
Pohl
Bear
Dick
Asimov
George Carlin,
Russell, Spinoza, Hitchens, Hume, Harris and Dawkins i quite enjoy.
If you are of a camp that thinks that all thought is philosophy, then of course math and science are descendants of it. But they have something philosophy is not typically associated with: rigor.