My guess at the standard Western canon in philosophy: Plato, Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca, Epicurus, Cicero, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Voltaire, Descartes, Berkeley, Leibniz, Hume, Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Mill, Marx, Freud.
... Some observations: I think it’d be all men. Though if I went on maybe Beauvoir would be included, and Wollstonecraft might sometimes get a mention. There are huge time skips. Professional philosophers will typically have encountered many of these at least a little bit, but...
... it’s fairly normal to have not much more than basic knowledge of their thought. E.g. my knowledge of Cicero is entirely rudimentary. I thus think the western canon plays some but limited role in organising our teaching, and much less role in research for most professionals...
... I’m genuinely not sure if this state of affairs would be to the satisfaction or deeply disturbing to defenders of the western canon in the broader cultural discourse.
You can follow @lastpositivist.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled:

By continuing to use the site, you are consenting to the use of cookies as explained in our Cookie Policy to improve your experience.