Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Who Are the Best Looking Philosophers?

So, a student yesterday asked who were the best looking analytic philosophers, not convinced that there actually were any. My initial response -- aside from yours truly, of course -- was Moritz Schlick whom I'd always thought had that handsome strict German professor thing working for him. The student wasn't impressed.

To be shallow, one of the fun things about attending meetings of the American Philosophical Association is looking at name tags and getting to see what your philosophical heroes actually look like in real life. I remember first seeing Michael Friedman, one of the finest scholars and smartest humans alive, and thinking, "Oh my God. He's a short, bald, Jewish guy. He writes so much taller with more hair. Maybe there is hope for me in this field, yet."

So, pulling from the entire history of the field and allowing liberal use of the term "philosopher", who are the best looking philosophers? We'll accept nominations in any standardly recognized category.