Most influential philosopher of all time?

Most influential philosopher

  • John Locke

    Votes: 5 29.4%
  • Voltaire

    Votes: 1 5.9%
  • Isaac Newton

    Votes: 4 23.5%
  • Karl Marx

    Votes: 7 41.2%
  • John Calvin

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Gilbert Ryle

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Friedrich Engels

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    17

kmad

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Mostly from the enlightenment

I voted for John Locke because he argued that humans are a product of their environment, ultimately turning into the cornerstone for modern educational systems and how parents raised their children. Locke did a lot of other good stuff too :cool:
 
Not the best poll...I must say. Marx AND Engels, but no Plato or Aristotle. Gilbert Ryle? He died in 1976, how could he possibly be the most influential philosopher of all time. Newton's not even strictly speaking a philosopher. Voltaire :lol:

But to answer the question, it's got to be either Aristotle or Plato. I happen to think that Aristotle is one of the most important men in history. He systemitized science, in fact, he created it and transmitted it to the medieval Islamic and, more importantly, christian world.

Sorry to start your thread off negatively, but I'm voting for the non-existent other.
 
I don't agree with any of those...I would say Socrates because he demanded that everyone question the reality around them.
 
I should have put "Other".. and those ancient philosophers I totally forgot about, next time I make a poll I'm doing some more planning :p
 
Of the people on the poll I vote Isaac Newton, but if it's about the modern meaning of the word philosopher, or better said, the modern general view of what a philosopher is then I guess Marx and Voltaire.
Forgeting the poll (which is in fact very limited), my vote would go to Aristotle. He's not my favourite, but he has to be the most influential.
 
Where's Socrates? Aristotle? Lao Tzu?

Newton wasn't a philosopher. He was a scientist, an alchemist, a loony and a crank, but not a philosopher.
 
Like I said before, I kinda rushed this poll, didn't give it much thought.
 
karl marx was amazing. political views or not.
 
which one? i like this one. i went thru 6 in one day and this is the only one that feels right here at cfc.
 
sween nice avatar of the movie natural born killers.liked that movie:D
philiosists in the poll:Voltaire
not in the poll:plato,and that other greek guy but can't remember his name.
 
Yeah you leave a lot out: Hobbes, Rousseau, Socrates, Aristotle, Decartes, etc. But especially Immanuel Kant: IIRC he came up with "the ends don't justify the means" though I could be wrong. But he did come up with some other important developments about the human mind. Also Occam and Aquinas are important.
 
Socrates. None of these people compare.
 
Where are Kant, Hegel and Kirkegaard? Spinoza, Shopenhauer, Wagner, Luther, Augustine, Marcus Areleus, Confucious, I Ching, Lao Tzu, Moses, Mohamed, Bhudda, etc. The list of canddidates is rather longer I think. I lean to Moses personally, with nods to Bhudda and Mohamed.

J
 
Confucious would definitly be up there since his philosophies become national policie of China.
 
Originally posted by onejayhawk
Where are Kant, Hegel and Kirkegaard? Spinoza, Shopenhauer, Wagner, Luther, Augustine, Marcus Areleus, Confucious, I Ching, Lao Tzu, Moses, Mohamed, Bhudda, etc. The list of canddidates is rather longer I think. I lean to Moses personally, with nods to Bhudda and Mohamed.

J

You might add Zarathustra, or Abelard, or Hobbes, or Hume, or Smith, or Plotinus, or Aquinas, or Leibniz, not to mention philosophical megastars like Plato, Aristotle and Descartes
 
Isn't there a 10 choice limit?

And don't you get the picture: I made this poll in about 20 seconds, I didn't really think.
 
Originally posted by kmad
Isn't there a 10 choice limit?

And don't you get the picture: I made this poll in about 20 seconds, I didn't really think.

I think there are 20 options.
 
Originally posted by sween32
karl marx was amazing. political views or not.

All the good stuff from Marx belongs to other thinkers. What he thought of on his own is pretty much crap...
 
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