John Henry

It occured to me the other day that Douglas Adams and Lewis Carrol are primarily recognised as novelists, both of them are actually very good philosophers. I won't patronise you with examples, because they're both well known and you can find a lot of their stuff on the net.

Anyone else got any examples of good philosophers who are more recognised for their work in comedy, science, sport or whatever?

John Henry

Jeez, what loser posted this thread?

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"No one was behaving from very Buddhist motives. Then, thought Pigsy, he was hardly a Buddha, nor was he a monkey. Presently, he was a pig spirit changed into a little girl pretending to be a little boy to be offered to a water monster. It was all very simple to a pig spirit."

Baricua2782

lol just kidding just kidding


Many people over look Chris Rock, even George Carlin

John Henry

Not fair: I've got at least four more threads with no replies

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"No one was behaving from very Buddhist motives. Then, thought Pigsy, he was hardly a Buddha, nor was he a monkey. Presently, he was a pig spirit changed into a little girl pretending to be a little boy to be offered to a water monster. It was all very simple to a pig spirit."

hiredgun

It's not that it's a bad question, just one that seems easy enough but is kinda tough to answer when you actually think about it.

How about Jerry Seinfeld?

John Henry

I like it

I just thought of another one: Einstein. Apparently he wrote whole books on philosophy and politics. Can't claim to have read them.

rogue49

Richard P. Feynman.

Physicist, Nobel Prize winner.
Man with a great life
And great thoughts.

myMHz

Randy Newman

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ratbastid

Randy Newman!? His philosophy would be something like: Be a Pepper!

I'd say all art involves or interrelates with philosophy on some level. Music, literature, visual arts, performance arts (including comedy), etc--they're all about exploring and expressing a world-view, which is all that Philosophy is, really.

Think about Steven Wright, for instance!

John Henry

Hey, there's a few Zen patriarch's who'd think that was quite a good philosophy

Magpie0001

EMO PHILLIPS.

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sapiens

Richard Dawkins would be one. He is an evolutionary biologist, but he writes a lot about religion.

John Henry: Relating to your original post, he was good friends with Douglas Adams. He wrote a eulogy for him which can be found here:

http://www.edge.org/documents/adams_index.html

mike059

I vote for randy newman, his early stuff is great....

Lebell

The Velveteen Rabbit.

Dr. Suess.

There is a reason I collect Children's books.

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degrawj

i remember a list i saw on the internet of famous people who had degrees in philosophy. some day, hopfully i will be on that list! :-)

uncle phil

lebell beat me to it...dr. seuss...

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you both get dirty;
the pig likes it.

Macheath

It's hard to know whether "formally" recognizing all of these people as philosophers would be a good or bad thing. On the one hand, their work would gain gravitas in academia, but that might then make them inaccessible to many people who could stand to read some good philosophy.

Personally, I've always been disappointed that people only know Hunter Thompson for "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", which they then say is just all about drugs. His "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72" was a good bit of political science and "Hell's Angels" was some very readable pop sociology.

laughter

I am just finishing a book by Asimov. Defeinitely should be added to the list. Feynman is another good pick, along with Gould or Hawking.

A philosphy of the beauty inherent in existence, and an appreciation of that beauty.

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"Laughter is nothing else but a sudden glory arising from some sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own formerly."
-Thomas Hobbes

muttt

ayn rand comes to mind.

or douglas hofstadter.

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-M

Johnny Rotten

Bill Hicks.

Also Eddie Izzard.

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"The idea that money doesn't buy you happiness is a lie put about by the rich, to stop the poor from killing them." -- Michael Caine

World's King

Dennis Miller.


Okay, so maybe not but it was worth a try.

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ORGAN DONOR

michael luenig

Sun Tzu

George Carlin

Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?

Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.
The planet is fine, the people are fucked.

One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.

If man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes?

I went to a bookstore and asked the sales woman, "Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.

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To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.- Stephen Hawking

SecretMethod70

Carl Sagan. He went beyond consideration of just the stars.

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Le temps détruit tout

"Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

John Henry

Nice answers all round.

Cheers for the link, sapiens, that brought a tear to my eye.

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"No one was behaving from very Buddhist motives. Then, thought Pigsy, he was hardly a Buddha, nor was he a monkey. Presently, he was a pig spirit changed into a little girl pretending to be a little boy to be offered to a water monster. It was all very simple to a pig spirit."

vermin

P.J. O'Rourke

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krazykemist

I will second Isaac Asimov. One of my ex's dad had a huge collection and I read through a few of them while we were together and purchased many more afterwards.

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"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." -- Tolstoy