# Who is your favorite philosopher? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 13, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142 "2009-12-13T21:25:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/1 "2009-12-13T21:25:10Z")
I was reading an [article](http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2009/12/21/091221taco_talk_packer) where it was mentioned that one of Obama’s favorite philosophers is Reinhold Niebuhr. Niebuhr is probably best known for his serenity prayer. One of his big ideas was that people should not surrender when faced with insurmountable challenges, but should do the best they can even if they cannot win. So for this thread pick your favorite philosopher and explain at least of their ideas that made them your favorite. Recommend a book if possible. My favorite is [Peter Singer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Singer), who wrote what I consider my [bible](http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Ethics-Peter-Singer/dp/052143971X). He is mostly known for his theories on animal rights, which I agree with, but I like him because of his understanding of ethics. It would take a while to do a good job of explaining it, but here is a brief explaination from Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > His most comprehensive work, Practical Ethics (1979), analyzes in detail why and how beings’ interests should be weighed. His principle of equal consideration of interests does not dictate equal treatment of all those with interests, since different interests warrant different treatment. All have an interest in avoiding pain, for instance, but relatively few have an interest in cultivating their abilities. Not only does his principle justify different treatment for different interests, but it allows different treatment for the same interest when diminishing marginal utility is a factor, favoring, for instance, a starving person’s interest in food over the same interest of someone who is only slightly hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/2 "2009-12-13T21:40:41Z")
I’m a philosophy professor, and I don’t have a favorite. As my undergrad thesis advisor once put it, “It ain’t pornography.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/3 "2009-12-13T21:49:47Z")
Hen3ry (the “3” is silent), author of the famous words, “Life is like a sewer. What you get out of it depends on what you put into it.” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/4 "2009-12-13T21:58:14Z")
Hands-down, Friedrich Nietzsche. He didn’t ignore the fact that life is inherently meaningless, full of suffering, arbitrary, and horrible; yet he refused to let nihilism have the final say. If we aren’t born with a purpose in life, damn it, let’s make one. And let’s do it based on what makes us feel most powerful and alive. Better yet, let’s find meaning in our suffering, rise to meet our enemies, grow stronger from the conflict, let’s learn to live life with 1,000 contradicting truths and only accept the philosophies that have practical application to our own lives. My beloved Nietzsche. He was batshit crazy and proud of it. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/5 "2009-12-13T22:23:04Z")
Descartes, mainlly because I never put Descartes before the horse. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/6 "2009-12-13T22:28:24Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Hands-down, Friedrich Nietzsche. > > He didn’t ignore the fact that life is inherently meaningless, full of suffering, arbitrary, and horrible; yet he refused to let nihilism have the final say. If we aren’t born with a purpose in life, damn it, let’s make one. And let’s do it based on what makes us feel most powerful and alive. Better yet, let’s find meaning in our suffering, rise to meet our enemies, grow stronger from the conflict, let’s learn to live life with 1,000 contradicting truths and only accept the philosophies that have practical application to our own lives. My beloved Nietzsche. He was batshit crazy and proud of it. And yet ultimately he succumbed to the abyss that he stared into. I have a soft-spot for Nietzche as well. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/7 "2009-12-14T00:27:50Z")
My soft spot is for Thomas Hobbes.Or maybe Hobbes the Tiger. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/8 "2009-12-14T00:39:18Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > Descartes, mainlly because I never put Descartes before the horse. Yes, but Nietzsche is pietzsche. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/9 "2009-12-14T00:43:20Z")
Confucius. Q ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/10 "2009-12-14T01:02:28Z")
> [@Docta\_G](#): > > I’m a philosophy professor, and I don’t have a favorite. As my undergrad thesis advisor once put it, “It ain’t pornography.” Because you are only allowed to have a favorite porn video? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/11 "2009-12-14T01:07:15Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > Because you are only allowed to have a favorite porn video? :dubious: OK, I’ll be blunt: I think the question is somewhat juvenile. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/12 "2009-12-14T01:09:12Z")
Even though he’s a wax-headed strawman, I’ll pick [Jeremy Bentham](http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Bentham-Project/Faqs/auto_icon.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/13 "2009-12-14T02:01:10Z")
> [@Docta\_G](#): > > OK, I’ll be blunt: I think the question is somewhat juvenile. I got that from your first response. A reason (for your disapproval of my question) is what I’m after. ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/14 "2009-12-14T02:48:11Z")
Bruce ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/15 "2009-12-14T03:39:02Z")
Pogo Possum: We have met the enemy and he is us. The hurrieder we goes, the behinder we gets. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/16 "2009-12-14T03:57:08Z")
Aristotle, because though I generally suck at remembering quotations, two of his from N. Ethics have stood out. You can take umbrage and counter much, but these explain so much. Also, they are beautifully written, though perhaps that’s a debt to the translator: _The utter servility of mankind comes out in his preference for a bovine existence._ and _Happiness is the activity of the soul in accordance with virtue._ The latter were my first words to my newborn son a few months ago. Despite their epigram nature, there is a lot behind each. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/17 "2009-12-14T14:51:28Z")
I don’t have a favorite, per se, but I tend to prefer philosophers who don’t anchor their systems in tautologies… ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/18 "2009-12-14T15:05:21Z")
[Monty Python] "Oh, waiter. This conversation isn’t very good. " [/Monty Python] ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/19 "2009-12-14T15:28:48Z")
Tom Waits. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142/20 "2009-12-14T15:30:40Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Hands-down, Friedrich Nietzsche. > > He didn’t ignore the fact that life is inherently meaningless, full of suffering, arbitrary, and horrible; yet he refused to let nihilism have the final say. If we aren’t born with a purpose in life, damn it, let’s make one. And let’s do it based on what makes us feel most powerful and alive. Better yet, let’s find meaning in our suffering, rise to meet our enemies, grow stronger from the conflict, let’s learn to live life with 1,000 contradicting truths and only accept the philosophies that have practical application to our own lives. My beloved Nietzsche. He was batshit crazy and proud of it. You’re a Nietzschian?! I never would have guessed. > [@Nametag](#): > > My soft spot is for Thomas Hobbes.Or maybe Hobbes the Tiger. Agreed. I would definitely say Bill Watterson, although I haven’t read very many philosophers, so there’s that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-philosopher/521142.md?page=2)