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Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2026 6:37 am
by Fido
Confucius at the top is brave I'll say. I agree with Buddha being debatable, imo Buddhism is closer to a religion than to a philososophy, but that's a problem with many Eastern philosophers.
Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2026 12:01 am
by Tim
Think his millenia of influence on Chinese as well as broader East Asian culture plus him being arguably #1 most revered philosopher with possible exception of Buddha makes him fairly justified #1.
Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2026 5:05 am
by Fido
But his philosophy is almost exclusively abouth ethics, morals, and the like, there's no epistemology or theory of reality, which are important when talking about the history of philosophy and knowledge, and which shape society and the world in less obvious but no less important ways. Some argue that's the REAL philosophy, as "how to live" is also something covered by religion. Not saying any of this disqualifies him as there's MANY others on the list who didn't write about everything, but hey, since it's the top of the list I thought all ideas should be presented.
Regardless, the bigger issue in the list imo would be the "no written/surviving works" thing. I guess you could make two lists, as having such important thinkers in the HMs kinda looks bad.
Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2026 9:13 am
by ManPerson
Fido wrote: Sun Sep 06, 2026 5:05 am
. I guess you could make two lists, as having such important thinkers in the HMs kinda looks bad.
Agreed.
Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2026 7:58 pm
by Tim
Greatest pre-socratics (Greece)
1. Pythagoras (c. 570 - c. 495 BC) - Pythagoreanism, mysticism
2. Thales (c. 624 - c. 546 BC) - considered the first Western philosopher; natural philosophy; "Everything is water"
3. Parmenides (born c. 515 BC) - Monism; truth/opinion distinction
4. Heraclitus (fl. c. 500 BC) - Fire is the arche; Logos; Flux; Unity of opposites
5. Zeno of Elea (c. 490 - 430 BC) - Monism; Zeno's paradoxes
6. Xenophanes (c. 570 - c. 470 BC) - Polytheistic religious views as human projections; Earth is the arche; The distinction between knowledge and mere true belief
7. Anaxagoras (c. 500 - c. 428 BC) - Nous
8. Democritus (c. 460 - c. 370 BC) - Atomism
9. Leucippus (fl. c. 5th century BC) - Atomism
10. Empedocles (c. 494 - c. 434 BC) - four classical elements; Love and Strife
Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2026 4:28 am
by Tim
On the main list, Žižek looked a little high, Fanon too low so moved them next to each other (at Ayn Rand's expense).
Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2026 2:42 pm
by ManPerson
DDD's gone woke
Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2026 4:58 pm
by Tim
Btw Rand at #100 might be an overcorrection on my part as she does well in popularity, cultural & political influence.
Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2026 6:50 pm
by ManPerson
Curious about Aristotle vs Plato.
Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2026 7:27 pm
by Tim
I'd say influence Plato slightly acclaim Aristotle slightly, body of work dunno.
Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2026 7:27 pm
by Tim
You reckon Aristotle would be a better #1?
Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2026 8:10 pm
by ManPerson
I feel like I usually see him ranked 1st, but I guess that goes with him winning acclaim slightly.
Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2026 3:39 am
by Fido
Tim wrote: Thu Sep 10, 2026 4:58 pm
Btw Rand at #100 might be an overcorrection on my part as she does well in popularity, cultural & political influence.
C'mon, why would you use popularity as a criterion on this list?
Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2026 8:29 am
by Tim
Well, it's not a standalone criterion but part of body work criterion for me but I don't think it should be ignored altogether.
Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2026 1:10 pm
by Sherick
Tim wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2026 7:58 pm
Greatest pre-socratics (Greece)
1. Pythagoras (c. 570 - c. 495 BC) - Pythagoreanism, mysticism
2. Thales (c. 624 - c. 546 BC) - considered the first Western philosopher; natural philosophy; "Everything is water"
3. Parmenides (born c. 515 BC) - Monism; truth/opinion distinction
4. Heraclitus (fl. c. 500 BC) - Fire is the arche; Logos; Flux; Unity of opposites
5. Zeno of Elea (c. 490 - 430 BC) - Monism; Zeno's paradoxes
6. Xenophanes (c. 570 - c. 470 BC) - Polytheistic religious views as human projections; Earth is the arche; The distinction between knowledge and mere true belief
7. Anaxagoras (c. 500 - c. 428 BC) - Nous
8. Democritus (c. 460 - c. 370 BC) - Atomism
9. Leucippus (fl. c. 5th century BC) - Atomism
10. Empedocles (c. 494 - c. 434 BC) - four classical elements; Love and Strife
Hot take but Socrates should be considered a pre-Socratic, in that "pre-Socratic" in actuality means "pre-Platonic" and Socrates, being more literary construct than historical figure when it comes to philosophy, has more in common with his predecessors.
Re: Greatest Western Philosophers
Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2026 8:17 pm
by Tim