A bit of a silly thing to say, even if it is tounge-and-cheek.
I disagree and reject your labelling. I'd go as far as calling your objection naive.The difference between things-that-philosophers-do and the things that Machiavelli did point to important distinctions in reality. Regardless of whether or not 'philosopher' is stretched to include people that are atypical of the class it remains important to at least acknowledge that there is a difference that is being glossed over.
A- I was not saying that Machievalli wasn't a political scientist- the distinction is considerably vague and I know so little I don't consider an assertion in the negative justified. However, to claim it was a disservice would imply it was somehow insulting to suggest he was a philosopher. Would it be a disservice to Einstein to suggest he was a biologist? No- however silly it would be in that less ambigious case. B- If we take examples in the period between, say, 1400 and 1600 of "political scientists", and "political philosophers", th...
Since LessWrong is a major congregation point for certain philosophical ideas, and because people here tend to be more objective (in the sense of not being self-deluded) than elsewhere, I thought I'd ask people's views.
To be clear, by "Greatest Philosopher" I am referring not to the most correct philosopher in human history but the one who deserves the most credit for advancing human philosophy towards being more true.
Off the top of my head I would say that a prime candidate would be Hume- amongst other things he rejected the idea of a soul, realised to a much greater extent than his predecessors the limits of human knowledge, and opposed the idea that reason is somehow an objective force that can make priorities independent of emotions.
Aristotle deserves considerable credit relative for his time but doesn't make the list because although it wasn't his fault his ideas were dogmatically accepted and held back both science and philosophy later on.
Your thoughts?