What are your areas of interest?

[isostheneia]

I know there was a similar poll last year, but I'd be interested to see what this year's pool of applicants is interested in studying.

 

I wish I could've added a few more categories, but polls on TGC are limited to 20 answers. Hopefully the "other" option will suffice.

 

It'd probably be helpful if folks only select their main areas of interest, but hey, I'm not the boss of you.

[Infinite Zest]

Polls like this remind me how expansive the field is.

 

On that note, one vote for other!

[Nastasya_Filippovna]

Somewhat related, who have been some of the most influential philosophers you have all studied? As far as continental I would say Nietzsche (I am, however, only interested in German Idealism - 19th century continental) and as far as analytic, Donald Davidson. Perhaps it was because the undergrad institution I went to had a lot of continental enthusiasts, but I was always amazed at the lack of awe and reverence Davidson inspired in my fellow students! I think he is simply profound. 

[isostheneia]

Somewhat related, who have been some of the most influential philosophers you have all studied? As far as continental I would say Nietzsche (I am, however, only interested in German Idealism - 19th century continental) and as far as analytic, Donald Davidson. Perhaps it was because the undergrad institution I went to had a lot of continental enthusiasts, but I was always amazed at the lack of awe and reverence Davidson inspired in my fellow students! I think he is simply profound. 

 

If Hegel counts as continental, then he's definitely the most influential on me from that philosophical genre. If not, I like Foucault and Merleau-Ponty as well. There are a lot of continental philosophers that have been influential on me in that I've learned a lot from attempting to engage seriously with their texts. Attempting to work through, for instance, Being and Time or Truth and Method have been important parts of improving my interpretive skills.

 

But in terms of influencing the views that I hold, and the debates that I'm interested in working on, I think analytic philosophers have been a lot more influential. Sellars and McDowell are particular favorites of mine, but I love Evans, Davidson, and Brandom as well. So I totally agree with your assessment of Davidson, Nastasya!

[Infinite Zest]

Somewhat related, who have been some of the most influential philosophers you have all studied? As far as continental I would say Nietzsche (I am, however, only interested in German Idealism - 19th century continental) and as far as analytic, Donald Davidson. Perhaps it was because the undergrad institution I went to had a lot of continental enthusiasts, but I was always amazed at the lack of awe and reverence Davidson inspired in my fellow students! I think he is simply profound. 

 

Quine, Evans, Davidson, Dretske, and Burge all made me think pretty hard.

[overoverover]

Somewhat related, who have been some of the most influential philosophers you have all studied? As far as continental I would say Nietzsche (I am, however, only interested in German Idealism - 19th century continental) and as far as analytic, Donald Davidson. Perhaps it was because the undergrad institution I went to had a lot of continental enthusiasts, but I was always amazed at the lack of awe and reverence Davidson inspired in my fellow students! I think he is simply profound.

Frege, hands down. But after that, Evans, Russell, and David Lewis. I have a super soft spot for early Heidegger.

A few living philosophers I've found super insightful as I've worked through issues: Mark Schroeder at USC, Seth Yalcin at Berkeley, Scott Soames at USC, and Agustín Rayo at MIT.

[overoverover]

Oh, and Bob Stalnaker may be the most profound living philosopher. The man is a genius.

[Nastasya_Filippovna]

If Hegel counts as continental, then he's definitely the most influential on me from that philosophical genre. If not, I like Foucault and Merleau-Ponty as well. There are a lot of continental philosophers that have been influential on me in that I've learned a lot from attempting to engage seriously with their texts. Attempting to work through, for instance, Being and Time or Truth and Method have been important parts of improving my interpretive skills.

 

But in terms of influencing the views that I hold, and the debates that I'm interested in working on, I think analytic philosophers have been a lot more influential. Sellars and McDowell are particular favorites of mine, but I love Evans, Davidson, and Brandom as well. So I totally agree with your assessment of Davidson, Nastasya!

Great list! You know Hegel is one of my top too- in my last semester I took a course on German Idealism and I became enamored with Hegel. It's painful because I feel to truly appreciate him, I'd have to spend a lifetime studying Hegel (and within the context of German Idealism alone), but I truly hope to study him enough to at least have strong working/academic knowledge of him because I perhaps see in him what many people see in Marx, a true social ideal (yet with the added appeal of an ingenious ontology ). Kant, while I admire him and of course concede his brilliance, never moved me. Hegel was inspiring!

[Infinite Zest]

Frege, hands down. But after that, Evans, Russell, and David Lewis. I have a super soft spot for early Heidegger.

A few living philosophers I've found super insightful as I've worked through issues: Mark Schroeder at USC, Seth Yalcin at Berkeley, Scott Soames at USC, and Agustín Rayo at MIT.

 

I've forgotten so many! Nice list.

[overoverover]

Thanks!

I don't consciously realize how indebted to Evans I am sometimes, but then I'll make a point in class or in a paper and say to myself, "Damn, I read that in Varieties of Reference!"

[NathanKellen]

Somewhat related, who have been some of the most influential philosophers you have all studied? As far as continental I would say Nietzsche (I am, however, only interested in German Idealism - 19th century continental) and as far as analytic, Donald Davidson. Perhaps it was because the undergrad institution I went to had a lot of continental enthusiasts, but I was always amazed at the lack of awe and reverence Davidson inspired in my fellow students! I think he is simply profound. 

On the opposite side of that, my greatest influence is Dummett. I'm so sad that I never had a chance to meet him. Apparently the Dummett/Davidson debates were legendary.

[overoverover]

On the opposite side of that, my greatest influence is Dummett. I'm so sad that I never had a chance to meet him. Apparently the Dummett/Davidson debates were legendary.

Timothy Williamson's retrospective or whatever on the development of analytic philosophy in the last 50 years or so has some great Dummett stories (and happens to be a great piece)!

[dgswaim]

Somewhat related, who have been some of the most influential philosophers you have all studied? As far as continental I would say Nietzsche (I am, however, only interested in German Idealism - 19th century continental) and as far as analytic, Donald Davidson. Perhaps it was because the undergrad institution I went to had a lot of continental enthusiasts, but I was always amazed at the lack of awe and reverence Davidson inspired in my fellow students! I think he is simply profound. 

Bas van Fraassen, E.A. Burtt, Pierre Duhem, P.F. Strawson, Kant, Ludwik Fleck, Quine, Hans Halvorson, T.S. Kuhn

[Nastasya_Filippovna]

Bas van Fraassen, E.A. Burtt, Pierre Duhem, P.F. Strawson, Kant, Ludwik Fleck, Quine, Hans Halvorson, T.S. Kuhn

ahh Kuhn! Kunn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions was one of my definite "Yes!!" moments in philosophy And the quine I've read is brilliant, although limited- one of my goals in the next few months is to read more after I'm done with my current pile on the reading list. Even when you don't necessarily agree with the thesis, you cannot deny the brilliance of his thought and execution of his arguments. 

[dgswaim]

ahh Kuhn! Kunn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions was one of my definite "Yes!!" moments in philosophy And the quine I've read is brilliant, although limited- one of my goals in the next few months is to read more after I'm done with my current pile on the reading list. Even when you don't necessarily agree with the thesis, you cannot deny the brilliance of his thought and execution of his arguments. 

I often find that I'll agree with the conclusions of Quine, but I disagree with the premises that support his conclusion; that is, I agree with a lot of what he argues for, but for a different set of reasons. And yes, that dude was a philosophy machine.

[brettmullga]

Wow, look at Phil Math/Logic! I recall Ethics and specifically Metaethics being much more popular AOI last year. 

[overoverover]

Yeah, this is a really odd sample of the profession! You'd think there'd be fewer math/logic types, and the dearth of (meta)ethics is strange.

[dgswaim]

Or maybe everyone is coming around to the idea that math/logic + philosophy = amazing!

[Establishment]

I'd wager, to my own chagrin, most of the interest is phil math/phil logic, and less so mathematical logic.

[dgswaim]

But mathematical logic is the best! I especially love debates over proof theory and model theory... Mucho fun.

[Euromaniac]

19th and 20th century continental, esp. in relation to modern philosophy is my thing.

[Cecinestpasunphilosophe]

There are seven more votes for philosophy of religion than I had expected to see. How encouraging!

 

In terms of philosophers who have had an important influence on me thus far, a lot of them are historical (Plato/Aristotle/Augustine/Aquinas/Kant/Nietzsche etc.). As to more modern authors, Wittgenstein's later works roused me from an early dogmatic slumber in my junior year, Vlastos and Hadot have profoundly shaped how I read ancient philosophy, MacIntyre and Anscombe have both had important roles in forming my approach to ethics, and Swinburne's work on analytic philosophy of religion has been inspirational. 

[isostheneia]

There are seven more votes for philosophy of religion than I had expected to see. How encouraging!

 

In terms of philosophers who have had an important influence on me thus far, a lot of them are historical (Plato/Aristotle/Augustine/Aquinas/Kant/Nietzsche etc.). As to more modern authors, Wittgenstein's later works roused me from an early dogmatic slumber in my junior year, Vlastos and Hadot have profoundly shaped how I read ancient philosophy, MacIntyre and Anscombe have both had important roles in forming my approach to ethics, and Swinburne's work on analytic philosophy of religion has been inspirational. 

 

I suppose it's probably less odd than it sounds, but I wouldn't have imagined many philosophy of religion specialists to list Nietzsche as a major influence. Cool nonetheless, and I love Hadot as well.

[Cecinestpasunphilosophe]

I suppose it's probably less odd than it sounds, but I wouldn't have imagined many philosophy of religion specialists to list Nietzsche as a major influence. Cool nonetheless, and I love Hadot as well.

 

Rosenzweig wrote that Nietzsche was the first philosopher "to see God face to face - even if only to refute him." Rosenzweig himself is a bit of an outlier in many regards, but at least I'm in good company! 

[Nastasya_Filippovna]

Rosenzweig wrote that Nietzsche was the first philosopher "to see God face to face - even if only to refute him." Rosenzweig himself is a bit of an outlier in many regards, but at least I'm in good company! 

I think it is fascinating too that as someone interested in philosophy of religion that you like Nietzsche. I am an avid fan of Kierkegaard (and not philosophy, but Dostoevsky has been the greatest influence in my life, personally), and I am also a huge fan of Nietzsche. I think there are some themes in both Kierkegaard's and Nietzsche's works that would be fascinating to compare and analyze and frankly I'm not sure how much scholarship has been devoted to that (could be, because I've only ever personally explore scholarship devoted exclusively to Nietzsche).