[ExI] living philosphers of import

[Tomasz Rola]

On Sun, 12 May 2013, Gordon wrote:

> Someone online just a moment ago asserted that most people in that forum 
> could probably not name an any important living philosophers. I know of 
> several and named them. 
> 
> I thought it would be interesting to ask this same question of my 
> friends here on ExI. Who are the most important living philosophers? And 
> why?

Few years ago I would have said Stanislaw Lem. Because he explored 
interactions between humans, science and technology, as well as few other 
aspects of our existence not so often touched by other philosophers - as 
far as I can tell, of course. Nowadays, I really don't know. Is there 
someone else who, for example, wrote about a guy come to one Saturnian 
moon and driving a bot to another base, being stunned by miraculous 
landscape built by nature, in absence of man, never seen before, never 
intended to be seen by anyone, created by just a random process - hinting 
there was universe of such miracles, never to be explored to the end, at 
least not by this particular human or his contemporaries. Lem might have 
not always been right (nobody is) but it seems the empty place he left is 
not so easily filled.

However, philosophy is hardly my interest, I admit it. Other than some 
practical kind of it, which blends with doing things instead of 
speculating about me sitting in a cave or me being some monad or something 
like this (well, who cares, really, as long as the stuff is not done). So 
I guess this makes me a member of School of Pragmatism :-). Indeed, C.S. 
Peirce, from what they write in wiki about him, I could pin this guy on my 
wall - scientist-philosopher, this is cool. Not alive, however. And not a 
great idol for modern students, since he didn't make money (he died 
destitute and for long while before he couldn't afford to heat a house 
even in winter). So, if we exclude the guys who research some strange 
ideas, some "interpretation of the world" or "structure of experience", it 
would not be surprising if we were left with Santa Claus and Mickey Mouse.

Thanks God I am not great philosophy admirer, this makes my critique less 
credible :-).

Regards,
Tomasz Rola

--
** A C programmer asked whether computer had Buddha's nature.      **
** As the answer, master did "rm -rif" on the programmer's home    **
** directory. And then the C programmer became enlightened...      **
**                                                                 **
** Tomasz Rola          mailto:tomasz_rola at bigfoot.com             **