# Philosophy....which is your closest match? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 6, 2001, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041 "2001-04-06T07:50:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![beergeek279](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@beergeek279](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beergeek279)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/1 "2001-04-06T07:50:31Z")
On a mailing loop that I’m a member of, one of the members posted a link to a site that offers a quiz to match people up to philosophers that most closely match the way they think. I thought I’d post it here to see what philosophies Dopers subscribe to. Anyway, the link is [http://www.selectsmart.com/PHILOSOPHY/](http://www.selectsmart.com/PHILOSOPHY/) …surf on over and post what you get!! Anyway, mine were: 1. Rand (100%) 2. Aristotle (81%) 3. Aquinas (64%) 4. Nietzsche (61%) 5. Mill (60%) 6. Stoics (58%) 7. Hume (58%) 8. Plato (56%) 9. Sartre (56%) 10. Epicureans (55%) 11. Cynics (50%) 12. Hobbes (50%) 13. Kant (48%) 14. Augustine (42%) 15. Bentham (40%) 16. Spinoza (39%) 17. Ockham (36%) 18. Prescriptivism (35%) 19. Noddings (10%) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/2 "2001-04-06T08:16:18Z")
I’m a real pissant, apparently… 1. Kant (100%) 2. Aquinas (96%) 3. Aristotle (87%) 4. Mill (85%) 5. Spinoza (80%) 6. Bentham (68%) 7. Prescriptivism (67%) 8. Rand (62%) 9. Sartre (61%) 10. Nietzsche (57%) 11. Stoics (55%) 12. Epicureans (51%) 13. Ockham (51%) 14. Hume (49%) 15. Noddings (43%) 16. Augustine (38%) 17. Plato (37%) 18. Cynics (17%) 19. Hobbes (17%) Interesting. I’ll have a think about that. While I’m drinking. ---
**Author:** ![Feynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@Feynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feynn)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/3 "2001-04-06T08:18:17Z")
Go figure, the Agnostic finds himself in agreement with Aquinas. Note #20 🙂 1. Aquinas (100%) 2. Sartre (92%) 3. Spinoza (88%) 4. Mill (80%) 5. Kant (79%) 6. Augustine (77%) 7. Aristotle (73%) 8. Noddings (69%) 9. Ockham (68%) 10. Bentham (66%) 11. Stoics (66%) 12. Epicureans (55%) 13. Nietzsche (55%) 14. Plato (50%) 15. Rand (46%) 16. Hume (42%) 17. Prescriptivism (41%) 18. Cynics (34%) 19. Hobbes (28%) 20. Jack Chick (0%) ---
**Author:** ![tatertot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@tatertot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tatertot)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/4 "2001-04-06T08:40:14Z")
**Epicurian** 100% > [@](#): > > Pleasure is the ultimate moral end > Dynamic (passionate) pleasures are bad, passive (mild) pleasures are good > The end result of pleasure is what is significant Yup, I’m all about the pleasure. 😃 Mill (85%) Nietzsche (77%) Aquinas (73%) Aristotle (72%) Sartre (67%) Bentham (58%) Rand (57%) Kant (51%) Hume (48%) Spinoza (48%) Augustine (45%) Hobbes (45%) Plato (43%) Stoics (42%) Ockham (42%) Prescriptivism (41%) Cynics (40%) Noddings (38%) ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/5 "2001-04-06T11:15:41Z")
1. Sartre (100%) 2. Hobbes (99%) 3. Rand (96%) 4. Hume (89%) 5. Aristotle (87%) 6. Nietzsche (86%) 7. Stoics (79%) 8. Noddings (72%) 9. Bentham (65%) 10. Cynics (63%) 11. Aquinas (57%) 12. Epicureans (56%) 13. Spinoza (56%) 14. Plato (53%) 15. Kant (52%) 16. Mill (52%) 17. Augustine (37%) 18. Prescriptivism (31%) 19. Ockham (24%) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/6 "2001-04-06T11:32:22Z")
I would appear to be the first Spinozist here. But I think they should replace the choice “doesn’t matter/dislike all answer choices” with “I refuse to answer on the grounds that this question is a load of crap”. 1. Spinoza (100%) Click here for info 2. Cynics (98%) Click here for info 3. Aquinas (90%) Click here for info 4. Bentham (89%) Click here for info 5. Epicureans (81%) Click here for info 6. Stoics (79%) Click here for info 7. Aristotle (72%) Click here for info 8. Mill (65%) Click here for info 9. Noddings (62%) Click here for info 10. Hobbes (60%) Click here for info 11. Augustine (59%) Click here for info 12. Rand (59%) Click here for info 13. Sartre (57%) Click here for info 14. Kant (50%) Click here for info 15. Ockham (49%) Click here for info 16. Plato (47%) Click here for info 17. Nietzsche (46%) Click here for info 18. Prescriptivism (39%) Click here for info 19. Hume (38%) Click here for info ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/7 "2001-04-06T11:37:46Z")
Another Spinozian, I reckon. 1. Spinoza (100%) 2. Nietzsche (96%) 3. Aquinas (86%) 4. Cynics (84%) 5. Stoics (84%) 6. Rand (83%) 7. Aristotle (81%) 8. Noddings (72%) 9. Hume (71%) 10. Augustine (70%) 11. Epicureans (66%) 12. Sartre (61%) 13. Mill (59%) 14. Hobbes (58%) 15. Kant (56%) 16. Bentham (54%) 17. Ockham (51%) 18. Plato (33%) 19. Prescriptivism (20%) ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/8 "2001-04-06T12:36:10Z")
Apparently I’m all about the pleasure too … I’m not sure that’s a good thing, but I’m in good company (_smiles at **tater** _) 1. Epicureans (100%) 2. Aristotle (91%) 3. Mill (89%) 4. Spinoza (86%) 5. Bentham (84%) 6. Noddings (83%) 7. Kant (81%) 8. Aquinas (79%) 9. Nietzsche (79%) 10. Sartre (77%) 11. Rand (75%) 12. Prescriptivism (63%) 13. Hobbes (60%) 14. Stoics (58%) 15. Hume (50%) 16. Ockham (50%) 17. Cynics (42%) 18. Augustine (21%) 19. Plato (18%) ---
**Author:** ![dpr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dpr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dpr)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/9 "2001-04-06T12:48:00Z")
Well I don’t actually agree with a lot of it, but in the ineterests of fairness I’ll post my results: 1. Sartre (100%) 2. Nietzsche (97%) 3. Spinoza (87%) 4. Epicureans (86%) 5. Stoics (85%) 6. Noddings (77%) 7. Kant (73%) 8. Hume (72%) 9. Aquinas (69%) 10. Bentham (68%) 11. Hobbes (64%) 12. Mill (59%) 13. Aristotle (54%) 14. Cynics (51%) 15. Augustine (49%) 16. Ockham (45%) 17. Plato (40%) 18. Prescriptivism (38%) 19. Rand (26%) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/10 "2001-04-06T12:59:53Z")
1. Sartre (100%) 2. Kant (84%) 3. Mill (84%) 4. Epicureans (74%) 5. Bentham (72%) 6. Nietzsche (59%) 7. Spinoza (59%) 8. Hume (58%) 9. Aquinas (55%) Everything else was below 50%. FWIW, and from what I know of philosophy, I would have thought Nietzsche would be higher and Mill lower, but who am I to argue with a computer program? ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/11 "2001-04-06T13:16:36Z")
1. Kant (100%) 2. Sartre (85%) 3. Stoics (81%) My guess upfront was Sartre. After reading the highlights of both, I stick to that choice. How it hooked me up with Kant for 100% is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Damhna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Damhna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damhna)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/12 "2001-04-06T13:16:41Z")
1. Sartre (100%) 2. Spinoza (96%) 3. Nietzsche (82%) 4. Kant (68%) 5. Hume (66%) 6. Stoics (60%) 7. Aquinas (59%) 8. Noddings (57%) 9. Augustine (55%) 10. Ockham (52%) 11. Epicureans (49%) 12. Bentham (48%) 13. Mill (46%) 14. Prescriptivism (46%) 15. Hobbes (42%) 16. Aristotle (36%) 17. Cynics (32%) 18. Plato (23%) 19. Rand (20%) Sartre? Ehhhhhhh what are you going to do ? No seriously , what are you going to do? ---
**Author:** ![scratch1300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/13 "2001-04-06T13:53:51Z")
I suppose I’m very rarely stable… 1. Kant (100%) 2. Prescriptivism (91%) 3. Mill (88%) 4. Plato (69%) 5. Rand (67%) 6. Bentham (65%) 7. Aquinas (60%) 8. Augustine (50%) 9. Ockham (49%) 10. Epicureans (43%) 11. Aristotle (41%) 12.Spinoza (27%) 13.Noddings (20%) 14.Stoics (19%) 15.Cynics (16%) 16.Sartre (15%) 17.Hume (12%) 18.Nietzsche (7%) 19.Hobbes (0%) ---
**Author:** ![BunnyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BunnyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyGirl)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/14 "2001-04-06T17:17:06Z")
I’ll only post the top 10: 1. Bentham (100%) 2. Mill (91%) 3. Epicureans (74%) 4. Aquinas (72%) 5. Aristotle (70%) 6. Kant (68%) 7. Spinoza (64%) 8. Sartre (56%) 9. Cynics (52%) 10. Noddings (51%) I have no idea who Bentham is. I’m off to find out. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/15 "2001-04-06T17:36:38Z")
1. Mill (100%) 2. Bentham (85%) 3. Epicureans (79%) 4. Sartre (75%) 5. Kant (73%) 6. Rand (59%) 7. Aquinas (55%) 8. Aristotle (54%) 9. Prescriptivism (53%) 10. Spinoza (44%) However, as I don’t read much philosophy, I suppose I now have some homework to do… ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/16 "2001-04-06T17:49:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BunnyGirl \* > \*\*I have no idea who Bentham is. I’m off to find out. \*\* Well, don’t lose your head on the way, **Bun!** 100% Aquinas, here. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/17 "2001-04-06T17:50:31Z")
Well, at least I can outconsume Hegel. That’s something to be proud of. 1. Hume (100%) 2. Stoics (98%) 3. Aristotle (92%) 4. Aquinas (86%) 5. Kant (83%) 6. Nietzsche (82%) 7. Ockham (79%) 8. Sartre (76%) 9. Mill (75%) 10. Augustine (70%) 11. Plato (62%) 12. Spinoza (60%) 13. Rand (59%) 14. Cynics (55%) 15. Epicureans (55%) 16. Hobbes (55%) 17. Noddings (55%) 18. Prescriptivism (53%) 19. Bentham (44%) Before I started, my guess had been Zhuang Zhi. Still is. Most of my responses were “doesn’t matter/don’t like the choices.” Anyway, isn’t this is the same site that told me the religion for me would be Sikhism? –sublight. ---
**Author:** ![Falula\_Guinea\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@Falula\_Guinea\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falula_Guinea_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/18 "2001-04-06T17:50:43Z")
1. Nietzsche (100%) 2. Hume (82%) 3. Epicureans (73%) 4. Aristotle (73%) 5. Stoics (71%) Not sure what this means, but those questions really made me think! ---
**Author:** ![Medea\_s\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Medea\_s\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medea_s_Child)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/19 "2001-04-06T18:13:26Z")
Here’s my results, but I think they are wrong. 1. Epicureans (100%) 2. Aquinas (81%) 3. Spinoza (81%) 4. Mill (73%) 5. Aristotle (65%) 6. Nietzsche (65%) 7. Augustine (64%) 8. Sartre (63%) 9. Hobbes (56%) 10. Bentham (54%) 11. Rand (48%) 12. Ockham (46%) 13. Plato (43%) 14. Stoics (40%) 15. Cynics (38%) 16. Noddings (37%) 17. Kant (36%) 18. Hume (31%) 19. Prescriptivism (30%) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041/20 "2001-04-06T18:42:41Z")
1. Augustine (100%) 2. Spinoza (97%) 3. Aquinas (89%) 4. Kant (64%) 5. Mill (61%) 6. Bentham (61%) 7. Nietzsche (58%) 8. Sartre (58%) 9. Epicureans (56%) I seem to be the first Augustinian here. Just goes to show the lasting impact of a Catholic upbringing, I suppose . . . But the setup sucks as a whole, because it ignored all non-Western philosophers. My real philosophy draws more from Eastern sources. Since this filters everything through a European sieve, the results come out distorted. Really, now. I might have expected this cultural chauvinism to be inevitable back in the 1950s (had computers been enabled for such a task back then), but to pretend that the world (especially the online world) is not a global village is just plain false. It is a fact that plenty of Asians and other non-Westerners are likely to log in. Can you treat their civilizations & philosophical contributions as nonexistent and still be intellectually honest? I mean, who gives a fuck about Sartre or Ayn Rand when Lao Tze, Shankara, the Dalai Lama, and al-Ghazzali have a lot more to say to you? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-which-is-your-closest-match/61041.md?page=2)