Five Favorite Philosophers

Prompted by a recent posting at Mormon Metaphysics, I’ve decided to list my favorite philosophers here and provide explanations for why they are my favorite. Bear in mind as you read that these are my personal favorites and these are my explanations for why they happen to be my personal favorites.

1) Alexius Meinong. Perhaps it was his awkward writing style or it was his outlandish metaphysical theory of objects (gegenstandstheorie) that enamored me the first time I read him. I found his theories so peculiar that I could not help but read everything I could about him.

Although his views were peculiar, his views were consistently peculiar. He “bit the philosophical bullet” in almost every defense of his theory of objects. I imagine that he was aware of the logical problems the theory of objects raised for objects like “squircles” or “golden mountains,” but that didn’t stop him from attempting to produce a logical system that captured these non-existent (subsistent) objects.

His philosophical views have impacted my philosophical views greatly, and I – at least partially – honor him by naming my blog after a line from his “Theory of Objects,” “There exist objects that do not exist.”

2) Ludwig Wittgenstein. What can I say but “it’s Wittgenstein.” There are more stories circulating about Wittgenstein’s behavior toward other philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians than any other person I know of. The stories, probably some of them are urban legend, make him an interesting fellow indeed. When you come right down to it, though, he had a lot of interesting things to say. Much of what he’s said come in the form of aphorisms. It takes a great deal of effort to manipulate these aphorisms into an argument, but it can be done.

I also enjoy his work because he’s not afraid to mention and to discuss nonsense. Nonsense comes up more in his works than anybody else’s work. Sometimes he uses the term to dismiss someone else’s work. Other times he broods over it. Anyone in philosophy should read parts of either the Tractatus or the Philosophical Investigations. They are very enjoyable to read, but they are difficult to read.

3) Jan Lukasiewicz. He was the Polish logician who devised a three-valued logic. I find his writings innovative and creative. I take these two traits to be the hallmark of any good philosopher.

I guess I’m also partial to Lukasiewicz because we share a common heritage. His family is from the same part of Poland as my family is from.

Many of Lukasiewicz’s works were formal, but I think many of them can be translated for other parts of philosophy. For instance, I think we could devise an ethical system using the same sorts of techniques Lukasiewicz used in logic.

4) G.E.M. Anscombe. She is underrated as a philosopher in her own right, but her contributions to philosophy far outweigh anybody else in the philosophy of action and practical reasoning to date.

I had never read Anscombe before starting the doctoral program at Utah. Boy, I was missing out! Her works, particularly “Modern Moral Philosophy” and her book Intention, are very rich pieces of philosophy. Her writing has the tendency to be obscure in spots. Nevertheless, the “why?” question she raises in Intention has serious implications for action theory. It has helped others explain what action is, and the work has helped work out an enormous literature on intentional action.

Moreover, she has been a noted translator and executor of Wittgenstein’s works. Without her service, we might not have access to Wittgenstein’s works.

Finally, only now is she being recognized for her defense of Catholic theological and social doctrine. We need only read her essays “On Transubstantiation” and on sexual ethics to realize she was a tremendous advocate of Catholic philosophical thought.

5) St. Anselm. I spent an entire Lent reading and re-reading Anselm’s Proslogion. Each time I read it I became more and more convinced that the ontological argument for God’s existence was the most powerful of all the arguments.

Whenever I have a free moment, I usually pick up the Proslogion and read through it.

HT: Mormon Metaphysics