The Monocled Cock: D&D's List of Greatest Historical Figures

Premier kakos

Again, if you want to nominate someone, please please please use the coloring and tagging I put in the first post. If you don't, there's a good chance I'll miss your nomination or I might assume it's a joke or whatever.

LoserForHireX

Premier kakos wrote: »

<nomination>Aristarchus of Samos</nomination

Archimedes wrote:

You are aware the 'universe' is the name given by most astronomers to the sphere the center of which is the center of the Earth, while its radius is equal to the straight line between the center of the Sun and the center of the Earth. This is the common account as you have heard from astronomers. But Aristarchus has brought out a book consisting of certain hypotheses, wherein it appears, as a consequence of the assumptions made, that the universe is many times greater than the 'universe' just mentioned. His hypotheses are that the fixed stars and the Sun remain unmoved, that the Earth revolves about the Sun on the circumference of a circle, the Sun lying in the middle of the orbit, and that the sphere of the fixed stars, situated about the same center as the Sun, is so great that the circle in which he supposes the Earth to revolve bears such a proportion to the distance of the fixed stars as the center of the sphere bears to its surface.

Aristarchus of Samos lived from 310 BC to 230 BC and during that time, he posited the first known theory of the heliocentric solar system. His theory would be retold by Archimedes, who was read by Ptolemy and compiled into a book on the various ideas about the nature of the universe. This work would much later be read by Copernicus. That's right, Copernicus cribbed his ideas from an ancient Greek dude. Awesome!

God, ancient Greek dudes are awesome....except for the pederasty, that's not really that cool.

Premier kakos

LoserForHireX wrote: »

Premier kakos wrote: »

<nomination>Aristarchus of Samos</nomination

Archimedes wrote:

You are aware the 'universe' is the name given by most astronomers to the sphere the center of which is the center of the Earth, while its radius is equal to the straight line between the center of the Sun and the center of the Earth. This is the common account as you have heard from astronomers. But Aristarchus has brought out a book consisting of certain hypotheses, wherein it appears, as a consequence of the assumptions made, that the universe is many times greater than the 'universe' just mentioned. His hypotheses are that the fixed stars and the Sun remain unmoved, that the Earth revolves about the Sun on the circumference of a circle, the Sun lying in the middle of the orbit, and that the sphere of the fixed stars, situated about the same center as the Sun, is so great that the circle in which he supposes the Earth to revolve bears such a proportion to the distance of the fixed stars as the center of the sphere bears to its surface.

Aristarchus of Samos lived from 310 BC to 230 BC and during that time, he posited the first known theory of the heliocentric solar system. His theory would be retold by Archimedes, who was read by Ptolemy and compiled into a book on the various ideas about the nature of the universe. This work would much later be read by Copernicus. That's right, Copernicus cribbed his ideas from an ancient Greek dude. Awesome!

God, ancient Greek dudes are awesome....except for the pederasty, that's not really that cool.

I don't know. There seems to be a high correlation between pederasty and genius in Ancient Greece. Maybe if we were all pederasts, we'd be super geniuses like the ancient Greeks.

LoserForHireX

Premier kakos wrote: »

LoserForHireX wrote: »

Premier kakos wrote: »

<nomination>Aristarchus of Samos</nomination

Archimedes wrote:

You are aware the 'universe' is the name given by most astronomers to the sphere the center of which is the center of the Earth, while its radius is equal to the straight line between the center of the Sun and the center of the Earth. This is the common account as you have heard from astronomers. But Aristarchus has brought out a book consisting of certain hypotheses, wherein it appears, as a consequence of the assumptions made, that the universe is many times greater than the 'universe' just mentioned. His hypotheses are that the fixed stars and the Sun remain unmoved, that the Earth revolves about the Sun on the circumference of a circle, the Sun lying in the middle of the orbit, and that the sphere of the fixed stars, situated about the same center as the Sun, is so great that the circle in which he supposes the Earth to revolve bears such a proportion to the distance of the fixed stars as the center of the sphere bears to its surface.

Aristarchus of Samos lived from 310 BC to 230 BC and during that time, he posited the first known theory of the heliocentric solar system. His theory would be retold by Archimedes, who was read by Ptolemy and compiled into a book on the various ideas about the nature of the universe. This work would much later be read by Copernicus. That's right, Copernicus cribbed his ideas from an ancient Greek dude. Awesome!

God, ancient Greek dudes are awesome....except for the pederasty, that's not really that cool.

I don't know. There seems to be a high correlation between pederasty and genius in Ancient Greece. Maybe if we were all pederasts, we'd be super geniuses like the ancient Greeks.

I'm citing this as justification in my future man boy love case

Senjutsu

Premier kakos wrote: »

LoserForHireX wrote: »

Premier kakos wrote: »

<nomination>Aristarchus of Samos</nomination

Archimedes wrote:

You are aware the 'universe' is the name given by most astronomers to the sphere the center of which is the center of the Earth, while its radius is equal to the straight line between the center of the Sun and the center of the Earth. This is the common account as you have heard from astronomers. But Aristarchus has brought out a book consisting of certain hypotheses, wherein it appears, as a consequence of the assumptions made, that the universe is many times greater than the 'universe' just mentioned. His hypotheses are that the fixed stars and the Sun remain unmoved, that the Earth revolves about the Sun on the circumference of a circle, the Sun lying in the middle of the orbit, and that the sphere of the fixed stars, situated about the same center as the Sun, is so great that the circle in which he supposes the Earth to revolve bears such a proportion to the distance of the fixed stars as the center of the sphere bears to its surface.

Aristarchus of Samos lived from 310 BC to 230 BC and during that time, he posited the first known theory of the heliocentric solar system. His theory would be retold by Archimedes, who was read by Ptolemy and compiled into a book on the various ideas about the nature of the universe. This work would much later be read by Copernicus. That's right, Copernicus cribbed his ideas from an ancient Greek dude. Awesome!

God, ancient Greek dudes are awesome....except for the pederasty, that's not really that cool.

I don't know. There seems to be a high correlation between pederasty and genius in Ancient Greece. Maybe if we were all pederasts, we'd be super geniuses like the ancient Greeks.

The Super Adventure Club!

CycloneRanger

I don't know how he hasn't been mentioned yet, but I nominate:
<nomination>Albert Einstein</nomination>

And who could forget about:
<nomination>Robert Goddard</nomination>

I'm counting these next two as one entry:
<nomination>Orville and Wilbur Wright</nomination>

And for sheer badassery:
<nomination>Cincinnatus</nomination>

Scalfin

Premier kakos wrote: »

<nomination>Aristarchus of Samos</nomination

Archimedes wrote:

You are aware the 'universe' is the name given by most astronomers to the sphere the center of which is the center of the Earth, while its radius is equal to the straight line between the center of the Sun and the center of the Earth. This is the common account as you have heard from astronomers. But Aristarchus has brought out a book consisting of certain hypotheses, wherein it appears, as a consequence of the assumptions made, that the universe is many times greater than the 'universe' just mentioned. His hypotheses are that the fixed stars and the Sun remain unmoved, that the Earth revolves about the Sun on the circumference of a circle, the Sun lying in the middle of the orbit, and that the sphere of the fixed stars, situated about the same center as the Sun, is so great that the circle in which he supposes the Earth to revolve bears such a proportion to the distance of the fixed stars as the center of the sphere bears to its surface.

Aristarchus of Samos lived from 310 BC to 230 BC and during that time, he posited the first known theory of the heliocentric solar system. His theory would be retold by Archimedes, who was read by Ptolemy and compiled into a book on the various ideas about the nature of the universe. This work would much later be read by Copernicus. That's right, Copernicus cribbed his ideas from an ancient Greek dude. Awesome!

Still wrong, though. Who was the first to figure out that our solar system wasn't the center?

Armored Gorilla

<nomination>Diogenes of Sinope</nomination>

On account of ...

Constantly assaulting Greek social values and questioning everything they believed to be civilized

Diogenes maintained that all the artificial growths of society were incompatible with happiness and that morality implies a return to the simplicity of nature. So great was his austerity and simplicity that the Stoics would later claim him to be a wise man or "sophos". In his words, "Humans have complicated every simple gift of the gods." Although Socrates had previously identified himself as belonging to the world, rather than a city, Diogenes is credited with the first known use of the word "cosmopolitan". When he was asked where he came from, he replied, "I am a citizen of the world (cosmopolites)". This was a radical claim in a world where a man's identity was intimately tied to his citizenship in a particular city state. An exile and an outcast, a man with no social identity, Diogenes made a mark on his contemporaries. His story, however uncertain the details, continues to fascinate students of human nature.

Taking Cynicism to the extreme

When asked how he wished to be buried, he left instructions to be thrown outside the city wall so wild animals could feast on his body. When asked if he minded this, he said, "Not at all, as long as you provide me with a stick to chase the creatures away!" When asked how he could use the stick since he would lack awareness, he replied "If I lack awareness, then why should I care what happens to me when I am dead?" At the end, Diogenes made fun of people's excessive concern with the "proper" treatment of the dead.

The stories told of Diogenes illustrate the logical consistency of his character. He inured himself to the vicissitudes of weather by living in a tub belonging to the temple of Cybele. He destroyed the single wooden bowl he possessed on seeing a peasant boy drink from the hollow of his hands. He once masturbated in public, saying "If only I could soothe my hunger by rubbing my belly."

Telling Alexander the Great to bugger off.

The story goes that while Diogenes was relaxing in the sunlight one morning, Alexander, thrilled to meet the famous philosopher, asked if there was any favour he might do for him. Diogenes replied, "Yes: Stand out of my sunlight." Alexander still declared, "If I were not Alexander, then I should wish to be Diogenes."

Multiple times.

In another account, Alexander found the philosopher looking attentively at a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, "I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave."

Yeah, he doesn't stand a chance, but I'm sort of a fan.

Premier kakos

Armored Gorilla wrote: »

<nomination>Diogenes of Sinope</nomination>

On account of ...

Constantly assaulting Greek social values and questioning everything they believed to be civilized

Diogenes maintained that all the artificial growths of society were incompatible with happiness and that morality implies a return to the simplicity of nature. So great was his austerity and simplicity that the Stoics would later claim him to be a wise man or "sophos". In his words, "Humans have complicated every simple gift of the gods." Although Socrates had previously identified himself as belonging to the world, rather than a city, Diogenes is credited with the first known use of the word "cosmopolitan". When he was asked where he came from, he replied, "I am a citizen of the world (cosmopolites)". This was a radical claim in a world where a man's identity was intimately tied to his citizenship in a particular city state. An exile and an outcast, a man with no social identity, Diogenes made a mark on his contemporaries. His story, however uncertain the details, continues to fascinate students of human nature.

Taking Cynicism to the extreme

When asked how he wished to be buried, he left instructions to be thrown outside the city wall so wild animals could feast on his body. When asked if he minded this, he said, "Not at all, as long as you provide me with a stick to chase the creatures away!" When asked how he could use the stick since he would lack awareness, he replied "If I lack awareness, then why should I care what happens to me when I am dead?" At the end, Diogenes made fun of people's excessive concern with the "proper" treatment of the dead.

The stories told of Diogenes illustrate the logical consistency of his character. He inured himself to the vicissitudes of weather by living in a tub belonging to the temple of Cybele. He destroyed the single wooden bowl he possessed on seeing a peasant boy drink from the hollow of his hands. He once masturbated in public, saying "If only I could soothe my hunger by rubbing my belly."

Telling Alexander the Great to bugger off.

The story goes that while Diogenes was relaxing in the sunlight one morning, Alexander, thrilled to meet the famous philosopher, asked if there was any favour he might do for him. Diogenes replied, "Yes: Stand out of my sunlight." Alexander still declared, "If I were not Alexander, then I should wish to be Diogenes."

Multiple times.

In another account, Alexander found the philosopher looking attentively at a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, "I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave."

Yeah, he doesn't stand a chance, but I'm sort of a fan.

:^: Anyone who lives in a bathtub and back talks the greatest conqueror the world has ever seen deserves a serious nod.

Henroid

Crimson King wrote: »

Elldren wrote: »

Phase I: the conquerors, liberators, and uniters

<nomination>Mao Zedong</nomination>

um Mao Zedong was an evil mass murderer

Well, when the thread title is "Greatest Historical Figures" is in the context of "these guys are great, wish we had more of them," or the context of, "these guys left a pretty big impact on the world with their actions, good or bad."

Because really, if the latter, we should be bringing up people of incredible negativity. Because through their actions, they at least set examples of how not to be for the rest of the world.

Edit - And for people just listing names, can you at least provide why? There's some listed that don't ring a bell right away with me (and I'm sure others).

Grudge

<nomination>Charles Darwin</nomination>

Besides him, I second the nominations for Renée Descartes, Louis Pasteur and Sir Isaac Newton.

Cleonicus

Salvation122 wrote: »

[strike]<nomination>Aristotle</nomination>[/strike]

<nomination>Galileo Galilei</nomination>. Hooray for actually doing experiments instead of sitting in a room hoping that the world is the way that you think it should be.

Seconding, <nomination>Norman Borlaug.</nomination>. It's a shame that people protest the crops that he developed because they are genetically modified.

Another life saver, <nomination>Jonas Salk</nomination>. Jenny McCarthy can stuff it!

<nomination>Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss </nomination>, <nomination>Leonhard Paul Euler</nomination>. Two of the greatest mathematicians of all time.

<nomination>Charles Darwin</nomination> aka Chuck D, <nomination>Gregor Mendel</nomination>. The two men who formed the basis of modern biology.

<nominate>Marie Curie</nominate>, first person to win two Noble Prizes.

I might have a bias toward science...

Dr Mario Kart

I'll future proof with
<nomination>Richard Dawkins</nomination>

In a few hundred years I hope that his selfish gene view of evolution will overtake the individual tinted classical view of evolution.

He's also one of the most outspoken advocates for Atheists in general, but in particular of the American variety, who for such a large minority are still disproportionately distrusted and shunned in public life and public office.

Smug Duckling

<nomination>Taylor Swift</nomination>

Nimble Cat

Crimson King wrote: »

Premier kakos wrote: »

I should clarify, you can nominate as many people as you want.

oh okay

<nomination>Theodore Roosevelt</nomination>

I don't actually know that much about him though, I just know everyone on the internet loves him and that he was the most badass president

He was a well known racist and warmonger. He was pretty badass though.

Ebz123

If we're going for sheer influence, regardless of having done horrible things then:

<nomination>Deng Xiaoping</nomination>

Mao may have unified China but his policies retarded Chinese development, not least because they killed tens or even hundreds of millions of people. Deng Xiaoping managed to survive falling out of Mao's favour (lost his posts, sent to toil in a factory, his son tortured and paralysed) and still came back to beat the Gang of Four after Mao's death and become the undisputed leader. He then set China on it's path of super-fast modernisation towards super-power status.

Gosling

Smug Duckling wrote: »

<nomination>Taylor Sw--

I'm really happy for you, Taylor, Imma let you finish, but Beyonce is one of the greatest historical figures of all time!

Of all time!

chamberlain

Since it seems many of the big names are taken, <nomination> Carl Sagan </nomination>.

As a humorous tribute to him, a Sagan has been defined as a humorous unit of measurement equal to at least four billion, since the lower bound of a number conforming to the constraint of billions and billions must be two billion plus two billion.[22][23] Assuming one uses the short scale definition for billion, there are nearly 100 Sagan (400,000,000,000) stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

Qingu

<nomination>Sargon of Akkad</nomination>
Arguably established the first "empire" as a collection of conquered city-states in history.

<nomination>Hammurabi</nomination>
Babylonian emperor who made the concept of "laws" accessible; his law code formed the basis for Biblical law.

<nomination>Akhenaten</nomination>
Egyptian Pharaoh who established the first monotheistic religion on record (it was short-lived).

<nomination>Moses</nomination>
Some would argue that he passes a threshold from "historical figure" to "legendary figure," but you can make the same arguments about Sargon or Alexander the Great. I think Sigmund Freud's idea about Moses—that he transported Akhenaten's monotheism from Egypt into Mesopotamia and combined it with the nascent cults there to form the Hebrew religion—pretty believable.

<nomination>Paul</nomination>
Historically, more important than Jesus as Paul was the one to really develop the theology surrounding Jesus-as-savior and expand and evolve Jesus' cult. Though obviously Jesus should be included too.

big l

Armored Gorilla wrote: »

<nomination>Diogenes of Sinope</nomination>

On account of ...

Constantly assaulting Greek social values and questioning everything they believed to be civilized

Diogenes maintained that all the artificial growths of society were incompatible with happiness and that morality implies a return to the simplicity of nature. So great was his austerity and simplicity that the Stoics would later claim him to be a wise man or "sophos". In his words, "Humans have complicated every simple gift of the gods." Although Socrates had previously identified himself as belonging to the world, rather than a city, Diogenes is credited with the first known use of the word "cosmopolitan". When he was asked where he came from, he replied, "I am a citizen of the world (cosmopolites)". This was a radical claim in a world where a man's identity was intimately tied to his citizenship in a particular city state. An exile and an outcast, a man with no social identity, Diogenes made a mark on his contemporaries. His story, however uncertain the details, continues to fascinate students of human nature.

Taking Cynicism to the extreme

When asked how he wished to be buried, he left instructions to be thrown outside the city wall so wild animals could feast on his body. When asked if he minded this, he said, "Not at all, as long as you provide me with a stick to chase the creatures away!" When asked how he could use the stick since he would lack awareness, he replied "If I lack awareness, then why should I care what happens to me when I am dead?" At the end, Diogenes made fun of people's excessive concern with the "proper" treatment of the dead.

The stories told of Diogenes illustrate the logical consistency of his character. He inured himself to the vicissitudes of weather by living in a tub belonging to the temple of Cybele. He destroyed the single wooden bowl he possessed on seeing a peasant boy drink from the hollow of his hands. He once masturbated in public, saying "If only I could soothe my hunger by rubbing my belly."

Telling Alexander the Great to bugger off.

The story goes that while Diogenes was relaxing in the sunlight one morning, Alexander, thrilled to meet the famous philosopher, asked if there was any favour he might do for him. Diogenes replied, "Yes: Stand out of my sunlight." Alexander still declared, "If I were not Alexander, then I should wish to be Diogenes."

Multiple times.

In another account, Alexander found the philosopher looking attentively at a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, "I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave."

Yeah, he doesn't stand a chance, but I'm sort of a fan.

I am loling hard at the masturbation story.

Henroid

Qingu wrote: »

<nomination>Hammurabi</nomination>
Babylonian emperor who made the concept of "laws" accessible; his law code formed the basis for Biblical law.

I could've sworn he just plays WoW. And makes posts on forums about combining GTA with other games.

Spoiler:

goddamn that joke is old

Henroid

big l wrote: »

Armored Gorilla wrote: »

The stories told of Diogenes illustrate the logical consistency of his character. He inured himself to the vicissitudes of weather by living in a tub belonging to the temple of Cybele. He destroyed the single wooden bowl he possessed on seeing a peasant boy drink from the hollow of his hands. He once masturbated in public, saying "If only I could soothe my hunger by rubbing my belly."

I am loling hard at the masturbation story.

That line is so good.

Qingu

Oh! I may have missed this, but if not:

<nomination>Motherfucking MUHAMMAD</nomination>
Started a cult that, within a single generation, unified all of Arabia and then went on to quickly conquer significant parts of the Christian world. His legacy is the largest (in terms of actual "practicing" people) religion in the world today.

If you judge "historical importance" by the extent to which you establish an ideology that is not deviated from over the ages, Muhammad may be the most historically important person of all time. (Of course, there are other ways to judge historical importance).

Ethan Smith

<nomination>Cicero</nomination>

Probably the most badass lawyer of all time. Basically, the first case you get as a lawyer is always supposed to be one where you take on some badass motherfucker and you're supposed to lose. Cicero did this by taking on the governor of Sicily in a corruption case, which would be like a guy coming out of grad school going and suing the governor of Jersey.

What was even worse was that the man who was the governor's lawyer was destined to become one of the Tribunes, which meant that he could simply pardon him once he was elected in a couple of months. So Cicero was faced with a problem--most of the time, there is a process where you have an introduction, and then the opposing attorney is allowed a retort just as long. So Cicero had this 20 page introduction, and he was worried because he needed time. And then he realized--he could skip the introduction and just have the witnesses make their case.

So he basically invented the modern method of being an attorney. And then he resisted Caesar's rule until he was crucified.

Podly

<nomination>Socrates (via Plato)<nomination>

(This is assuming that we can believe that Plato is recounting what Socrates said and that he was not using Socrates as his mouthpiece.)

Socrates is the most influential person on our thinking EVER. He was the first to codify many of the laws of logic, and he was pretty much the one who nailed down the whole "one being per one essence thing," which is pretty much how we view the world today. His socratic method is still the major method of intellectual investigation today, and he was the best ever at foiling the sophists. Were it not for Socrates, we would have neither Plato nor Aristotle, and we would be thinking of the world in an entirely different way.

It's also very likely that we owe our idea of "true love" to socrates, since he was the one in all the symposia who tried to get past the problems of pederasty (how can I screw young boys while protecting their dignity, how hold is too old, etc) and assailing what the actual essence of loving is. Socrates is the first person who schematized how love could be "equal" for two people. Before that, loving had always been spoken of in terms of active/passive, master/servant.

Socrates is also a TOTAL badass, what with the hemlock and the wooing Alcibiades and whatnot.

MrMister

Podly wrote: »

He was the first to codify many of the laws of logic

If we're going for mathematical acheivement, and especially logical acheivement, then it would be remiss not to consider Gottlob Frege.

Podly

<nomination>Goerg Cantor<nomination>
<nomination>Kurt Gödel<nomination>

Cantor, alongside Riemann and a few other Germans, was a driving force behind the formalization and foundation of contemporary mathematics. He also formalized and conceptualized the way in which we talk about infinity. Gödel was awesome because of he showed how the formalization of math meant that there were an infinite number of true mathematical truths that cannot be proven by the current system of math. Both get brownie points for being Mathematical Platonists and batshit insane.

<nomination>René Descartes</nomination>

Second in philosophy only to Socrates, and along with Pascal invented classical mathematics. If you use the word "subjective," you are more or less being Cartesian. He put the subject at the forefront of philosophy and conceptualized a way in which subjectivity was not subjectum, not under substantia, but was the active element in being human. Also used his cartesian coordinates to allow for algebraic truths to be expressed geometrically, and vice-versa, which was a huge advancement for mathematics. Also advocated vivisection and had weird theories of optics, and believed in a sort of proto-string theory

And, for my personal favorite

<nomination>Gottfried Von Leibniz</nomination>
• The father of modern logic
• Created the only currently sustainable form of rationalism, in my opinion
• Invented calculus
• Invented the calculator
• Invented binary languages, and thereby, combined with the calculator, the computer
• Was the advocate and architect for the first independent library
• Proposed an early form of fractal geometry
• His relativistic physics presaged quantum mechanics
• Proposed the earth having a molten core, and thereby continental drift and pangea
• Proposed systemic feedback, and was credited as being an early cyberneticist

Cons
•Was one of the first weeaboos

But, back to pros

•Had some of the bitchinist hair ever

Podly

MrMister wrote: »

Podly wrote: »

He was the first to codify many of the laws of logic

If we're going for mathematical acheivement, and especially logical acheivement, then it would be remiss not to consider Gottlob Frege.

Yes, but then we'd have to discuss Russell and Ayer and my head would explode.

Vapid

<nomination>Napoleon Bonaparte</nomination>
Military genius, prudent ruler who promoted meritocratic behavior, charismatic man.

<nomination>Dr. Sun Yat-Sen</nomination>
Committed his life to changing China into a republic. The greatest modern Chinese leader.

<nomination>Siddhartha Gautama</nomination>
Founder of Buddhism.

<nomination>Yongle Emperor</nomination>
Considered one of the greatest Chinese Emperors, he sponsored the massive Ming expeditions that spanned all the way to Africa. Protected China against the Mongols, designed the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, and oversaw a Golden Age of Chinese prosperity.

<nomination>Laozi</nomination>
Founder of Taoism, can be considered the first libertarian

Podly

Vapid wrote: »

<nomination>Napoleon Bonaparte</nomination>
Military genius, prudent ruler who promoted meritocratic behavior, charismatic man.

Yes.... prudent

Vapid

Podly wrote: »

Vapid wrote: »

<nomination>Napoleon Bonaparte</nomination>
Military genius, prudent ruler who promoted meritocratic behavior, charismatic man.

Yes.... prudent

no one's perfect. subsequently, David is also a great painter.

Qingu

<nomination>Peter Singer</nomination>
Author of Animal Liberation, he basically founded the modern vegetarian/vegan movement and provided the basis for its continued moral philosophy. Also (arguably) an important proponent of utilitarianism in general.

<nomination>John Lennon/The Beatles</nomination>
I don't know much about the Beatles, but they seem to have been the focal point for spreading the memes of the 1960's, which fundamentally and irrevocably changed Western culture.

<nomination>Simone de Beauvoir</nomination>
French philosopher, basically the founder of modern feminism.

Podly

Singer also advocates abortions after the third trimester

aka

infanticide

Podly

band name dibs on aka infanticide

Bogart

Meritocratic behaviour like making his relatives kings and rulers of conquered countries that his armies pillaged and put to the sword?

LoserForHireX

Bogart wrote: »

Meritocratic behaviour like making his relatives kings and rulers of conquered countries that his armies pillaged and put to the sword?

How do you judge merit if not by family relation?

Qingu

Podly wrote: »

Singer also advocates abortions after the third trimester

aka

infanticide

You don't need to equivocate when Singer also advocates actual infanticide.

Singer's moral structure is based on the concept of consciousness. He says that a third-trimester fetus, or a newborn infant, has about the same conscious development and intellectual activity as a farm animal that we would feel little qualms about slaughtering. This soon changes as infants gain a sense of "self" and an intellectual development surpassing animals, at which point they would deserve the same rights as other human beings.

Now, it's easy to simply discount anything Singer says by yelling "HE WANTS TO KILL BABIES," but this is more like name-calling than an actual counterargument to his moral philosophy. It's not like people who oppose this have some comparably consistent or rational moral philosophy in mind, they just don't like the idea of killing babies.

Podly

Qingu wrote: »

Podly wrote: »

Singer also advocates abortions after the third trimester

aka

infanticide

You don't need to equivocate when Singer also advocates actual infanticide.

Singer's moral structure is based on the concept of consciousness. He says that a third-trimester fetus, or a newborn infant, has about the same conscious development and intellectual activity as a farm animal that we would feel little qualms about slaughtering. This soon changes as infants gain a sense of "self" and an intellectual development surpassing animals, at which point they would deserve the same rights as other human beings.

Now, it's easy to simply discount anything Singer says by yelling "HE WANTS TO KILL BABIES," but this is more like name-calling than an actual counterargument to his moral philosophy. It's not like people who oppose this have some comparably consistent or rational moral philosophy in mind, they just don't like the idea of killing babies.

Well he's the worst kind of utilitarian -- the kind who think that they have access to truth. I have no problem with utilitarians who ground their philosophy in pragmatism: I disagree with them, but they are usually well founded. Dudes like Singer, however, who try to take a stance that somthing is truthfully moral or immoral, however, are filled with self-contradictions.

But, then again, that's not the purpose of this thread. I'm just going to not vote for him

PantsB

<nomination>Charles Martel</nomination> aka Charles the Hammer.
If we're going to military figures, you have to include him. He halted Islamic expansion into Europe at the Battle of Tours, established the Carolingian/Frankish Empire which would dominate Europe for the next century+

and his grandson <nomination>Charlemagne</nomination> aka Charles the Great

Podly

<nomination>Joseph Patrick Kennedy I</nomination>

Father and founder of the only real American political dynasty, the Kennedys.