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Post by disgruntledcolonel on Apr 27, 2009 12:39:16 GMT -5
I'd have to say that my main intellectual/philosophical influences would have to be Tom Paine - in particular 'Common Sense', John Stuart Mill's 'On Liberty' and quite a lot of Howard Zinn's work - All are major influences in my viewpoint of the supremacy of liberal democracy and the freedoms that this brings together.
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Post by captainhooker on Apr 27, 2009 13:06:01 GMT -5
I'm not much into reading philosophy - at least not what I would consider philosophy - I find it boring and tedious. I prefer to read works of fiction or pedagogy that are developed around a particular philosophy and derive the lesson from there.
In that vein, some works that have had a profound influence on me include:
Mina Shaugnessy - Errors and Expectation Hunter Thompson - all works Michel Foucault - Discipline and Punish Henry Thoreau - Walden Ralph Waldo Emerson - Nature Mark Twain - Puddin'head Wilson & Huckleberry Finn Terrence McKenna - Food of the Gods Marshall McCluhan - The Gutenberg Galaxy Dostoevsky - Notes from Underground
those and loads of hallucinogens I ingested between 1995 and 2003
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Post by antichrist on Apr 27, 2009 16:16:22 GMT -5
Dogen Lao Tzu Thich nhat hanh Stephen Hawking (his views on life are amazing, I'm not even going to pretend I fully understand his physics) Monty Roberts (the horse whisperer)
I never understood any deepness in Machiavelli, The Prince just seemed like a lot of common sense.
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Post by devilschaplain2 on Apr 27, 2009 18:12:09 GMT -5
I know this is philosophical influences, but a couple of my major influences aren't philosophers so, here it goes: -Karl Marx (absolutely brilliant critic of capitalism) -Thomas Jefferson & James Madison (the authors of the First Amendment and proponents of Church-State separation) -Noam Chomsky (I owe a lot of my politics to him, and I own most of his books concerning politics....not linguistics though, that's really not my thing) -Sam Harris -Richard Dawkins -Daniel Dennett -Christopher Hitchens (the so-called "Four Horsemen" for their critiques of religion and their views on politics)
So with that, my politics are mostly left-wing and I guess I could describe myself as a scientific materialist.
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Post by dantesvirgil on Apr 27, 2009 20:20:03 GMT -5
Ooh, ooh, I second Michel Foucault!!
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Post by Damen on Apr 30, 2009 3:38:29 GMT -5
My philosophical influences didn't come from a single book or author, but from a minimum of two or three quotes and/or ideas that I felt was worthy of remembering.
The first that I can think of comes from, of all places, Star Trek. The idea of not interfering with the development of another culture. I tend to apply it on a smaller scale, I like to keep my nose out of other people's affairs.
The second comes from Benjamin Franklin when he said; "Those who will sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither and will lose both."
The third is from the Wiccan Rede; "In that it harm none, do what ye will."
If I remember any others, I'll let you know.
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Post by Death on Apr 30, 2009 13:14:13 GMT -5
Bertrand Russell , showed that a life of love is not exclusive to a life of reason
Wu Cheng'en ( not so much a philosopher as a writer on human problems and character)
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Post by captainhooker on Apr 30, 2009 13:33:05 GMT -5
-Karl Marx (absolutely brilliant critic of capitalism) -Thomas Jefferson & James Madison (the authors of the First Amendment and proponents of Church-State separation) Dunno how I managed to forget these, but seconded....and I'll add Ben Franklin, as well. I've always dug the guy - one of the few in history who managed to become a sex symbol by being smart and not pretty. His biography is also a great example of constructive, self-disciplined living.
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Post by mice34 on Apr 30, 2009 18:56:26 GMT -5
I read everything and most of it influences me, but I'm going to say -- Vonnegut. I try to follow his 'humanism with an absurd sense of humour' take on life.
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Post by machiavelli on Apr 30, 2009 19:04:10 GMT -5
Haha I loved Slaughterhouse Five (was it Five?)!
As for me-
Machiavelli - Nietzsche - Shouted ''GOD IS DEAD'' (which is quite amusing and shocking) Locke - James Madison and Thomas Jefferson as well - Adam Smith - Because Capitalism pwns Marxism
Diogenes - for his Cynics philosophy and dog philosophy.
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Post by Nutcase on Apr 30, 2009 22:17:53 GMT -5
Epicurus, Diogenes of Sinope, Peter Singer (for his views on animal rights)…and Frank Herbert for Dune (don’t laugh). All those people have had a serious effect on my personal philosophy. (For the record, however, I disagree strongly with Singer’s views on disability and its ‘negative’ impact on human life.) I can't stress enough how humane and sensible much of the Epicurean philosophy is. I highly recommend it.
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Post by ltfred on May 1, 2009 5:23:17 GMT -5
Dostoevsky - Notes from Underground How the hell did you read that? I got irreversibly confused just by the Cliff Notes! -Karl Marx (absolutely brilliant critic of capitalism) He's also a bastardly bastard when it comes to any of his proposals. 'Revolutionary vanguard', yeah that'll work. But his criticisms are very true. He's awesome. Definately agree. Ooh, ooh, I second Michel Foucault!! I've never read any of his stuff, all I know of him is his debate with Chomsky. Is he worth a read?
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Post by atheiess on May 1, 2009 9:50:35 GMT -5
The first that I can think of comes from, of all places, Star Trek. The idea of not interfering with the development of another culture. I tend to apply it on a smaller scale, I like to keep my nose out of other people's affairs. The first person that jumped into my head was Jean-Luc Picard, even though he's a fictional character. Some of my favorite quotes were his lines, and his attitude about everything was so refreshing. "No being is so important that he can usurp the rights of another." "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life." "In the hands of a con artist, fear can be used to motivate obedience, capitulation, the exploitation of innocent people" "The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged." "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, is all ancient history. Then, before you can blink an eye, suddenly, it threatens to start all over again." The writers borrowed a lot from others, but the idea of Picard as a whole gives me hope for the future. He is a philosophy.
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Post by captainhooker on May 1, 2009 10:28:53 GMT -5
Dostoevsky - Notes from Underground How the hell did you read that? I got irreversibly confused just by the Cliff Notes! I had to read it twice, but what I took away from it was the idea that depending on the goodness of others is a moot exercise. Better to operate on the assumption that everyone is a shithead, so as not to live in perpetual disappointment. Ooh, ooh, I second Michel Foucault!! I've never read any of his stuff, all I know of him is his debate with Chomsky. Is he worth a read? Discipline and Punish is what I know best of him, that and a few random articles. It's a great read, imo - and startlingly revealing if/when paired with McCluhan's Gutenberg Galaxy.
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Post by rookie on May 1, 2009 14:27:37 GMT -5
Boy, do I feel low-brow. I was going to say Joe Walsh. Everything he did was for fun. (Yes, his 'fun" did net him a pile o' money.) That type of attitude really speaks to me.
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