(See Caliban's message below.)
I can't recall if the BBC polling has presented a list of criteria by which voters are to consider in their choice of philosophers for greatness.
But I am certain that Caliban has not put up such a list of criteria by which we are to judge the greatness of a philosopher. Pity.
Somebody here voted for Hume, without any explanation for his vote. If I were to ask my daughter why that voter chose Hume? Perhaps my daughter who is very fond of humor just like me would tell me, "Probably because Hume is easy to recall because it is very close to the word 'home'". And she would also remind me -- that also is the way during election days many voters write down the names of candidates whose names are easy to recall.
I would like to suggest the following criteria to consider in the choice of a philosopher for greatness:
The advocacy of life, liberty, equality, fraternity, and the pursuit of happiness.
On those criteria Aristotle is not great at all, because he conveniently perpetuates the social system already favorable to himself and his kind during his times, namely, people living on the labor and deprivations of slaves.
Likewise he holds women only a little above slaves.
It takes a very great heart and mind to see into the truth of life, liberty, equality, fraternity, and pursuit of happiness for all men and women, and take the great leap to transcend one's own convenience of self-arrogated privileges.
On the equality of men and their fraternal kindship, Christ and Buddha are greatest of philosophers, for teaching that all men are the same: with Christ, brothers under one Father, God; with Buddha, for not recognizing the caste system.
And you know how Aristotle justifies slavery? Slaves are such from nature, so also free men are such from nature. One indication of slaves is that they have a bigger physical body but less mind, whereas free men have a more delicate body but superior mind. Women have less mind than men and their body is smaller compared to men's.
See? all so convenient to themselves, the free men living over and on the labor, sweat, and blood of slaves, and women.
On the basis of life, liberty, equality, fraternity, and the pursuit of happiness, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mandela are greatest of philosophers; so also the women who started the campaign for women's suffrage and more recent women who fought for women's emancipation and rights and equality.
On another front, Aristotle says that war is necessary for peace. I think he means so that they, he and his people, all free men, in contrast to slaves, can live peaceably and most comfortably over the slave labor of the peoples they conquer by war. Didn't I say that he is the bad teacher of the bad pupil, Alexander, who is nothing great to me, but an ignoble megalomaniac.
About the scientific outlook of Aristotle or his being inclined toward the empirical method of acquiring knowledge, I read in Bertrand Russell that he maintained women had fewer teeth than men.
Russell had a good laugh recalling that Aristotle had two wives and never ever bothered to look into their mouths and to count their teeth. So much for his empirical method based on observation.*
Susma
*Males have more teeth than females in the case of men, sheep, goats, and swine; in the case of other animals observations have not yet been made: but the more teeth they have the more long-lived are they, as a rule, while those are short-lived in proportion that have teeth fewer in number and thinly set. (The History of Animals, book 2, part 3)
Currently:
Aristotle: 4
Friedrich Nietzsche: 3
Rene Descartes: 1
Hume: 1
susmariosep : 1
I hear Marx is currently leading the BBC poll. [sfty]
I'd suggest readers ignore the noise in this thread.
Could we hear a few reasons for your choices?
