Conversation with a Philosopher

If you could sit down to dinner with a philosopher from any period in time, who would you choose? What would you converse about? What do you think they would say about life in the U.S. as it is today?


There are many philosophers I would be interested in speaking to, but I would probably choose Socrates. Although, if he is anything like Plato describes him as in The Republic, I may regret my decision :shock:

My screen namesake William of Ockham would be cool, then probably Hobbes and possibly Locke.

I would sit with Soren Kierkegaard (Søren Kierkegaard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) and discuss man's relationship with God through faith.

I'd sit down with Thomas Jefferson with a copy of the Constitution and go line by line asking "Ok so what the fark did you and those guys mean by this?"

Descartes so I could wake his ass up. :lol:

Soh Crates

Wiseone said:

I'd sit down with Thomas Jefferson with a copy of the Constitution and go line by line asking "Ok so what the fark did you and those guys mean by this?"

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Interesting. Jefferson was definitely in my top three. I'd probably go with James Madison to find out how to interpret the Constitution. I'd certainly like to hear about Sally Hemmings though!

Averroes (ibn Rushd) and I think we'd talk about existentialism. In all honesty, I'd prefer to have dinner with Raphael and ask him who is who in his School of Athens painting.

Siddhartha or Laozi.

reefedjib said:

I would sit with Soren Kierkegaard (Søren Kierkegaard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) and discuss man's relationship with God through faith.

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If I met him, I'd probably stab him in the face. What person sits down and says "I'm bad at everything, so I'm going to devote my life to making things more complicated, and people will think I'm a genius!"?

Honestly, I'd probably want to sit down with Laozi or Al-Jazari and Heron respectively. Admittedly Al-Jazari and Heron aren't really philosophers, but it'd be fascinating to see how their minds worked.

Politically, I'd be very interested to sit down with Ernesto Guevara. A lot of his thoughts come out in his writings but I'd love to hear his actual thoughts on different subjects.

Hmm. Confucius and Nietzsche. Instead of conversing with either directly, I think I would rather simply watch them argue and I would be enlightened. I'd only ask questions if I had to.

But seriously, I have an interest in the works of Jean Baudrillard.

Hoplite said:

If I met him, I'd probably stab him in the face. What person sits down and says "I'm bad at everything, so I'm going to devote my life to making things more complicated, and people will think I'm a genius!"?

Honestly, I'd probably want to sit down with Laozi or Al-Jazari and Heron respectively. Admittedly Al-Jazari and Heron aren't really philosophers, but it'd be fascinating to see how their minds worked.

Politically, I'd be very interested to sit down with Ernesto Guevara. A lot of his thoughts come out in his writings but I'd love to hear his actual thoughts on different subjects.

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Hey, don't **** with my philosopher, especially when you go and choose Che. I'd impale him on a **** covered pike.

I would love to converse with any of the Avatars(Jesus, Krishna, Buddha and Zoroaster). I doubt they would have enything new to say about our modern world, as most of their teachings were timeless.

Korimyr the Rat said:

Hmm. Confucius and Nietzsche. Instead of conversing with either directly, I think I would rather simply watch them argue and I would be enlightened. I'd only ask questions if I had to.

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I am intrigued at the idea of watching two different philosophers debate topics. Wish I had thought of that in time to make it the topic of the thread. If I had to watch a debate between two philosophers, I would probably choose Thomas Jefferson and Karl Marx. Although, I would love to see Voltaire in a debate and find out just how witty he was.

This picture looks like Heaven to me.
I once lived in Bullhead City AZ. It wasn't HELL but you could see it from there. It's Called Needles CA. :2bow: Thank you.

Many consider the Greek ARISTOTLE to be the greatest Philosopher of all time, however many the theologians would argue the greatest Philosopher of all time to be Jesus Christ, and therefore he would be my choice.

You may argue that he was not the Son of God, and to that I say fine it does not take away from his Philosophy or teaching.

His existence is not in question because records show he was a real person, leaving the only question to be his deity.

I would like to discuss what man has become since his departure from this plane of existence, compared to his hopes for us.

I can think of no more enlightening conversation, and just think if for a minute of how wonderful it would be just to be in his presents knowing he has been the single most influential individual to ever walk the face of the earth.

I invite everyone to watch the following and think of the questions you might like to ask based on his words.

Helvidius said:

If you could sit down to dinner with a philosopher from any period in time, who would you choose? What would you converse about? What do you think they would say about life in the U.S. as it is today?


There are many philosophers I would be interested in speaking to, but I would probably choose Socrates. Although, if he is anything like Plato describes him as in The Republic, I may regret my decision :shock:

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Great thread it made me think but only for a few seconds. I came to my decision because I have had an NDE & OBE when I stopped breathing for a few minutes a while back, and that made up my mind for me. I learned that day there is something more that we, or at least I can't fully explain. But I have my theory on the subject.

Thanks for bring us this thread, it's great food for thought.