Which philosopher speaks to you the most?

[Hellish Ore]

Emil Cioran's persuasive pessimism is something else.

 

[AllCatsAreGrey]

I really couldn't pick one. I resonate with many, including Cioran. A few that have my attention currently are: Gilles Delueze, Baruch Spinoza, and Lauren Berlant.

 

[sserafim]

Emil Cioran's persuasive pessimism is something else.

I recently became aware of his "If we could see ourselves as others see us, we would vanish on the spot". What do you think he meant by that?

 

[Celerity]

Probably Schopenhauer though I am by no means well-read enough in philosophy to really back that up. Came up with one of the most depressing philosophies ever but still tried to shoehorn in some arguments for hope. Sounds like me.

 

[username8888]

Diogenes of Sinope

 

[Waiting for death]

Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche.

 

[CandyK__]

Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari

 

[Rapière]

I haven't really found my philosopher yet. Nietzsche has greatly influenced my way of thinking but his overall pathos doesn't quite resonate with me. Then there is Zen -- hard to pin down a single philosopher here --, which has grown very close to my heart, yet it's strong emphasis on peace and tranquility feels too out of touch with the noise and chaos of the modern world for me to practice it regularly. Maybe if I lived in monastery...

 

[Aburach]

Schopenhauer is hard to beat. I like that in contrast to Leibniz, who genuinely (as far as I remember from my student days) tried to argue that this is the best of all possible worlds (!!!), Arthur S's view was that it is the worst of all possible worlds, and that the will to live and struggle for everything is the structural source of human torment. Therefore, denial of that will (where/if possible) is key.

Unless suffering is the direct and immediate object of life, our existence must entirely fail of its aim. It is absurd to look upon the enormous amount of pain that abounds everywhere in the world, and originates in needs and necessities inseparable from life itself, as serving no purpose at all and the result of mere chance. Each separate misfortune, as it comes, seems, no doubt, to be something exceptional; but misfortune in general is the rule.

 

[Kore]

The Schopenhauer message which hit me the heaviest was how he perceived existence to be a perpetual battle between longing and boredom, or boiled down to a nutshell - there is no lasting peace, only greed. We lust for that which we don't have, and once we finally have it, soon grow bored. You can apply this to everything from eating a simple meal to achieving your loftiest goals. Made me stop and think lmao.

Life swings like a pendulum backward and forward between pain and boredom.

 

[dreambound]

Doug Stanhope.....well he's sort of a philosopher ??????

 

[Boller Bryant]

Friedrich Nietzsche, Albert Camus and Franz Kafka. They're my favorite philosophers. Friedrich Nietzsche introduced me to Nihilism, Albert Camus introduced me Absurdism and Franz Kafka's book "Metamorfosis" is one of my favorite book ever. It truly describes my life.

 

[real person]

ted kaczynski ofc