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 Mafeki
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 How do you define a philosopher? 
#16053623 - 04/06/12 05:06 PM (12 years, 12 days ago) |
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This is inspired by the 'Your Favorite Philosopher?' I personally feel anyone can be one I think it pretty much includes anyone who's intelligent inventors, mathematicians, doctors I consider philosophers maybe my idea of one is off. How do you define a philosopher?
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 LittileSkierDude
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: Mafeki]
#16053629 - 04/06/12 05:08 PM (12 years, 12 days ago) |
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everyone is a philosopher, except maybe those who go through life without questioning or wondering (I haven't met any of these people)
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Mafeki
Umadbro
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Exactly how I feel most people are philosophers.
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mikeisapro
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: Mafeki]
#16054642 - 04/06/12 09:51 PM (12 years, 12 days ago) |
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People who appreciate wisdom, beauty, and truth more than the rabble does.
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Life without drugs lacks substance(s).
Edited by mikeisapro (04/06/12 09:54 PM)
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viktor
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: Mafeki]
#16054979 - 04/06/12 11:13 PM (12 years, 11 days ago) |
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I'd say anyone who has an original thought. This could be from everyone to no-one, but that's my definition.
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"They consider me insane but I know that I am a hero living under the eyes of the gods."
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I AM SWIM
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: viktor]
#16055084 - 04/06/12 11:30 PM (12 years, 11 days ago) |
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If there was no such thing as an original thought,
Would philosophy still exist?
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I would consider almost everyone a philosopher to a certain degree, because we all have to face the issue of death, and that always leads us into questioning thangs.
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MistyMystic
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: I AM SWIM]
#16056125 - 04/07/12 08:54 AM (12 years, 11 days ago) |
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No student of philosophy is a philosopher themselves.
You must have atleast one white hair to be a philosopher.
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Icelander
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: mikeisapro]
#16057442 - 04/07/12 03:15 PM (12 years, 11 days ago) |
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Quote:
mikeisapro said:
People who appreciate wisdom, beauty, and truth more than the rabble does.
I think it's anyone who is chronically depressed and articulate.
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"Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.
" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.
With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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4896744
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: Icelander]
#16057907 - 04/07/12 05:02 PM (12 years, 11 days ago) |
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Quote:
Icelander said:
Quote:
mikeisapro said:
People who appreciate wisdom, beauty, and truth more than the rabble does.
I think it's anyone who is chronically depressed and articulate.
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Live your Life! 
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EternalCowabunga
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: 4896744]
#16058328 - 04/07/12 06:49 PM (12 years, 11 days ago) |
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A philosopher is someone who thinks too much
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mikeisapro
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Quote:
EternalCowabunga said:
A philosopher is someone who thinks too much
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Life without drugs lacks substance(s).
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deCypher
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: Mafeki]
#16062660 - 04/08/12 08:23 PM (12 years, 10 days ago) |
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A philosopher is anyone who frequently asks deep questions and is not satisfied by an easy rote answer (those that are are called theologians  ). They are motivated by the search for truth and are more concerned about understanding a concept than winning a debate (those who are more focused on the latter are sophists).
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We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
  
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saintphotios
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: deCypher]
#16063105 - 04/08/12 09:59 PM (12 years, 10 days ago) |
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This comes up from time to time, and once again I'll have to be the lone voice of dissent. I'm sorry, we're not all philosophers -- no more than we're all engineers because we successfully built a birdhouse at summer camp when we were 12. The only way we can define philosopher is the same way we define any other word... usage. And the word philosopher, outside of these forums, is pretty much exclusive to academia.
This doesn't mean we can't engage in the same kinds of exercises, or participate in the various discussions. But if we're going to water down terms to the loosest possible associations, heating up pizza rolls makes you a chef and checking caller ID makes your a private investigator.
A philosopher is a member of, or is recognized by, academia for their contributions to one or more fields of philosophy. You don't necessarily even need formal education(although it definitely helps). But placing question marks after every sentence.... does not a philosopher make.
Edited by saintphotios (04/08/12 10:00 PM)
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Mafeki
Umadbro
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: saintphotios]
#16063401 - 04/08/12 11:10 PM (12 years, 9 days ago) |
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I don't know someone who thought of the Tesla coil and wanted to electrify the world so they could light a light bulb by putting it in the ground or a mathematician who thought up such great math formulas seems like a philosopher to me.
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4896744
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: saintphotios]
#16064544 - 04/09/12 09:43 AM (12 years, 9 days ago) |
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Quote:
saintphotios said:
This comes up from time to time, and once again I'll have to be the lone voice of dissent. I'm sorry, we're not all philosophers -- no more than we're all engineers because we successfully built a birdhouse at summer camp when we were 12. The only way we can define philosopher is the same way we define any other word... usage. And the word philosopher, outside of these forums, is pretty much exclusive to academia.
This doesn't mean we can't engage in the same kinds of exercises, or participate in the various discussions. But if we're going to water down terms to the loosest possible associations, heating up pizza rolls makes you a chef and checking caller ID makes your a private investigator.
A philosopher is a member of, or is recognized by, academia for their contributions to one or more fields of philosophy. You don't necessarily even need formal education(although it definitely helps). But placing question marks after every sentence.... does not a philosopher make.
So you are saying a philosopher is someone with a degree in philosophy? I would have to agree after thinking about it. You made a good point about someone who engineers something isn't usually considered an engineer unless they have a degree.
On the other hand, this thread was asking for your personal definition of the word. It was basically asking for your own personal emotional connotations of the word 'philosopher'. With that being the case, all the answers given were valid imo.
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Live your Life!
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saintphotios
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: 4896744]
#16066518 - 04/09/12 06:01 PM (12 years, 9 days ago) |
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Quote:
So you are saying a philosopher is someone with a degree in philosophy? I would have to agree after thinking about it. You made a good point about someone who engineers something isn't usually considered an engineer unless they have a degree.
Well no... like I said, a degree certainly helps, but it isn't required. Terence McKenna is one example. He never had a philosophy degree(that I know of), but he was recognized for contributions and societal acceptance as a person contributing to the philosophical community at large.
Quote:
On the other hand, this thread was asking for your personal definition of the word. It was basically asking for your own personal emotional connotations of the word 'philosopher'. With that being the case, all the answers given were valid imo.
My point was that there are no personal definitions. Definitions hinge on usage, despite whatever personal connotations we may incorrectly attach to that usage. Not stray to far off topic and make this about lexicography... but if we take the word boat, and to me that means a condiment normally eaten on sandwiches -- there's no validity to me holding that "personal definition." I'm simply mistaken about the meaning of the word "boat."
So if the thread asked what a philosopher does, instead of what a philosopher is, then I'd agree with lots of the answers given. Maybe I'm just splitting hairs, but language is important to me 
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4896744
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: saintphotios]
#16066805 - 04/09/12 07:19 PM (12 years, 9 days ago) |
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So you think a person can only become a philosopher once they reach a certain level of fame in the academic community? What is the level they much reach to be accurately labeled as a philosopher?
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Live your Life!
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saintphotios
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: 4896744]
#16066879 - 04/09/12 07:31 PM (12 years, 9 days ago) |
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Lexicography is no hard science... there certainly an extent to which usage varies. So there's no solid answer. Some would argue McKenna isn't a philosopher. And they could make a totally valid argument for it. There will be figures like this that are debatable and there will have to be room for disagreement. Although, I think this will be the minority of cases. In most cases, the philosophy community will either recognize a person as within the fold or not. And those judgement may or may not change over time, just like language.
It's easier to say what a philosopher is in principle... whether or not any particular individual satisfies that criteria is up for debate.
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4896744
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Re: How do you define a philosopher? [Re: saintphotios]
#16066990 - 04/09/12 07:49 PM (12 years, 9 days ago) |
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There is no right answer, only consensus among certain people. That is why I don't really care how people choose to define words as long as they convey their intended meaning efficiently.
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Live your Life!
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