But given that philosophy just didn't really emerge elsewhere, it seems like it's a pretty contingent fact about human beings. If it weren't for Plato and Aristotle, there just might never have been anything like it at all. And then what the hell would we do with our time?
Major philosophical traditions seem to have arisen independently three times: In Greece (following Thales and Anaximander), in India (following the Upanishads and Śramaṇa), and in China (following the Confucian texts). That's a pretty high success rate for large, long-lasting literary civilizations. It also suggests a selection effect; philosophy-like things probably arise frequently and just aren't recorded as well in most cultures.
'Philosophy', though, is probably too coarse a category for us here. More interesting would be 'philosophy vibrant and robus...
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?