A short, CRITICAL History of Philosophy (Chapter 23)
If Great Philosophy Is Eternal, Why Is The Field So Prone To Fads? And How Could The Great Philosophers Have Known So Much About Life, When So Few Ever Married Or Raised Children?
Raphael’s painting The School of Athens depicts Plato and Aristotle, among others.
Brian Leiter is an influential current commentator on philosophy. This is not a consequence of any great depth displayed in his writing. Leiter frequently defends Karl Marx, and he has argued that religious liberty deserves no more protection than any other type of freedom. The best thing that can be said about Leiter is that he has sometimes defended controversial writers and thinkers who have come under attack. He’s a relatively unimaginative author who presents predictable liberal shibboleths.
So, the main reason that Leiter has come to be well-known isn’t his ideas. Rather, it draws from the popularity of a series of blogs he has created that comment on what’s happening in the world of academic philosophy. The one that generates the most interest is a poll in which voters can rank the importance of past philosophers. Leiter conducts it online through a contest which is akin to a beach bathing beauty contest. The most recent survey appeared in 2009.
This was the outcome:
1. Plato defeats Aristotle by 367-364.
2. Aristotle loses to Plato by 367–364.
Kant loses to Plato by 411–328, loses to Aristotle by 454–295.
Hume loses to Plato by 534–166, loses to Kant by 533–176.
Descartes loses to Plato by 597–117, loses to Hume by 356–269.
Socrates loses to Plato by 548–101, loses to Descartes by 327–270.
Wittgenstein loses to Plato by 610–85, loses to Socrates by 385–193
Locke loses to Plato by 659–29, loses to Wittgenstein by 311–239
Frege loses to Plato by 611–86, loses to Locke by 279–256
Aquinas loses to Plato by 642–57, loses to Frege by 289–284
Hegel loses to Plato by 615–82, loses to Aquinas by 288–285
Leibniz loses to Plato by 650–36, loses to Hegel by 281–266
Spinoza loses to Plato by 653–49, loses to Leibniz by 281–207
Mill loses to Plato by 645–39, loses to Spinoza by 272–247
Hobbes loses to Plato by 647–47, loses to Spinoza by 269–245
Augustine loses to Plato by 663–46, loses to Mill by 296–247
Marx loses to Plato by 653–52, loses to Augustine by 305–248
Nietzsche loses to Plato by 691–63, loses to Marx by 327–269
Kierkegaard loses to Plato by 622–106, loses to Nietzsche by 330–256
Rousseau loses to Plato by 638–41, loses to Kierkegaard by 280–209
One of the most striking results was that Heidegger did not make the list. Yet, just a few years before, a poll of academic philosophers had concluded that Heidegger and Wittgenstein were the two greatest philosophers of the twentieth century. In less than a decade, Heidegger had gone from being one of the greatest thinkers to being canceled. (We will examine how and why this happened in the next chapter.) Conversely, Gottlob Frege, long thought to be a minor figure only of interest to a select few scholars, was suddenly considered to be a more significant philosopher than Aquinas, Hobbes, Augustine, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.
Another, more scientific list, is put out using search engine frequency. This comes from a group called Academic Influence. This is its list in 2024:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Jonathan’s Substack to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.