Are there any philosophers or writers that have inspired you enough that you explain a lot of your thinking using their ideology?

I’m with Nietzsche, don’t hit me :)

It is kind of pointless to quote him or “Seine Werke” most of the time, so I don’t.

@TaoSan
I’m not into violence, heh, unless it’s sexual and asked for
why do you think it’s pointless? do you find most people to be philosophically challenged?

@Simone_De_Beauvoir

Well, Hegel, Nietzsche, Hegel, Nietzsche, not a relationship of love and understanding ;)

But fun aside, either people don’t know the thought models of Nietzsche, or they come up with some weird hypothesized connection with Nazi Germany, which is total humbug of course.

@TaoSan
they don’t have to have a good relationship for me to still understand both and accept from each what I like and yes as people they lived each in a context that people can misinterpret

In terms of writers: I could categorize my whole life based solely on the works of Kerouac. In terms of philosophers: I’m still finding where I fit best, but these days i’m reading a ton of Steiner since I want to teach at Waldorf schools eventually. He may have said some ridiculous bs (what philosopher didn’t at one point or another?), but I still believe a good deal in what he has to say.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir

Yeah, with Nietzsche the whole “going insane” towards the end just added to some of his writings and hypotheses being perceived as “inflammatory”.

But then, he certainly wasn’t a humble mind :)

@TaoSan
Nietzsche as well.

@adreamofautumn
I do like some of Kerouac
sometimes, he gets too all over the place for me, in his writing
i also have a sore spot about the beat generation: no one ever mentions women of the movement

@JamesL
hey, love
:)
isn’t that a bitch to spell?

@Simone_De_Beauvoir
Hello!
Definitely, most notably when I think about it. Otherwise I spell it correctly…for the most part.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir I have that sore spot too. I think my love for Kerouac stems from some years of being young, manic and ready to just go, go, go. My mum actually confiscated “On the Road” for awhile because she was convinced I was just going to hit the road one day!

I have to say that Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now and A New Earth) has really struck a cord with me. I almost hate to admit it because I the Oprah tie but oh well. His teachings absolutely align with how I have felt about my spirituality long before I read his books. It was awesome to have my beliefs validated by such an amazing human being.

probably but i’m bad at trivia.

i like eckahart tolle too, essiensess.

Oddly, the one I cite probably more than any other has turned out to be A. J. Ayer. This is not as it ought to have been and not as I meant it to be, but it does seem to be true nonetheless.

I’m sure there is a philosopher or writer that agrees with this standpoint, but the closest thing I can think of is Sigmund Freud. Aside from his more controversial beliefs, such as subconscious homosexual and incestual tendancies in children, I agree with his belief in strong subconscious feelings that drive our every social interaction; feelings that are grounded in our evolutionary past.
I believe that a lot of our actions, thoughts and words in society can be attributed to our tribal past. Examples would include ‘gentlemanly’ acts that protect and nurture women, who used to rely on men for protection; infidelity, based on the males traditional habit of moving from tribe to tribe, mating with as many females as he can in order to propagate his genes; and the very existance of large social events, displaying the link between mankinds love for company and the protection of remaining in a pack to defend from possible predators.

I could go on, but I would get boring very quickly :P

All of the existentialists, really. But above all Sartre. I took a whole class dedicated to the life and philosophy of Neitzsche. Intersting man, especially his relationship with women. His life helps one to understand his misogyny.

@Skysong my school has a statue dedicated to Freud in our main square. We were apparently the only college he spoke at in the US (rumor has it our President at the time pissed him off so badly he went home, but who knows if that’s true?!).

No one philospher, but definitely some for various subjects.

Like politically/socially/economically, you could explain my philosophy most succinctly as Emma Goldman + Gandhi + Patricia Hill Collins and Dorothy Smith (considering how rambly my summary would be otherwise). Oh, wait… forgot to add in dialectics and Gramsci (in terms of recognizing the role of culture, relative to economics and the distribution of power). Have never read him, but am sure at least some of the thinkers who’ve influenced me were in turn influenced by him.

In terms of metaphilosphy, a framework to allow all my many leanings/ideas to fit comfortably together, Ken Wilber is the only one person who would give a good clue to my general schema.

Jung influenced my view of psychosocial dynamics – you really get a sense of that stuff operating somewhat similarly to the dynamics of nature, fluid motions, tectonics &tc. from him. Ernest Becker’s view of life projects in order to cope with our mortalness (eg. his the Denial of Death) really made sense to me.

@Simone_De_Bouvoir Have you seen the site dedicate to the women of the Beat generation? It was somewhere on SU, can’t find it atm (arg – unless the url has changed, it’s no longer up; looks like there’re books out about them, now, tho – you easily have read them, of course) Was one for halloween a few years back; and their experiences/thoughts certainly fed into the feminist awakening a bit later, i believe. It’s so depressing to see forced backwards gender roles in supposedly progressive/artsy/radical movements, even aside from the hypocrisy it’s so… ick.

My philosophical views are based a great part on his teachings.

As far as writers go, I’ve always felt that Robert could speak for me without censure.

You didn’t ask but I feel this list would be incomplete without acknowledging my political leanings.

If one is gifted with any originality, one starts very early constructing an own philosophy. Influences are fine, but if one stops by taking over ideas of other people without developing them, one is a poor addition to philosophy in general, because the spirit of philosophy is exactly this: Own thinking.

@resmc
yep i’ve seen the site

My favorite contemporary philosopher is Ashleigh Brilliant, and I often quote his copyrighted saying. He has discovered a way to write philosophy and make a living at it.
http://ashleighbrilliant.com/

@Simone De Beuvoir Oh wonderful, seeing it’s down now.

@Yarnlady… apparently most or many of his are copyrighted, since they’re published in books – so, would you mind sating my curiousity by sharing what the saying is?

@resmc: Yes, his sayings(philosophy) are all copyrighted, and I refer to all of them (i.e. saying = sayings) You might enjoy romping through some here:
http://ashleighbrilliant.com/catalog.html

@Yarnlady Ah, i see! Those are quite amusing, and true… nice how many of them could easily be relatable by anyone.