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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>On Sun, May 12, 2013 Gordon <<a href="mailto:gts_2000@yahoo.com" target="_blank">gts_2000@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>> Someone online just a moment ago asserted that most people in that forum could probably not name an any important living <span style='font-size:12.5pt'>philosophers</span>. I know of several and named them. <span style='font-size:12.5pt'>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?<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>The closest I can come is John Nash. It isn’t entirely clear to me if his work was philosophy or traditional mathematics, two originally-separate disciplines which are gradually merging.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Philosophy is one of those things where dying is almost a requirement for recognition. We refrain from naming buildings after living people, for otherwise there is a constant risk of the honoree going off and doing some silly thing. Our philosophers are our modern society’s RSPs (Royal Smart Persons.) We look collectively silly when our RSPs go off the track. Note that in general Nobel Prize winners have plenty of life left and plenty of time for human foibles after the award has been presented. You can likely think of good examples of post-Nobel foibliness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div></div></body></html>