Think Thought Thunk

[shanmonster]

I don't normally list results of online quizzes, but this one is particularly interesting. The results aren't such a big surprise--I've considered myself an existentialist for quite some time. Nevertheless, it's fascinating that the results should be borne out this way.

Here is roughly how I align with various philosophers. The irony is I've been studying Plato, lately, and enjoying what I've been finding (although respectfully disagreeing with various aspects).

1. Jean-Paul Sartre (100%)
2. Kant (93%)
3. Nietzsche (87%)
4. Epicureans (84%)
5. John Stuart Mill (80%)
6. Spinoza (77%)
7. Stoics (77%)
8. David Hume (76%)
9. Jeremy Bentham (73%)
10. Thomas Hobbes (71%)
11. Aquinas (69%)
12. Aristotle (66%)
13. Cynics (63%)
14. Nel Noddings (60%)
15. Ayn Rand (57%)
16. Ockham (47%)
17. Prescriptivism (44%)
18. St. Augustine (36%)
19. Plato (34%)

How do you fare?

Comments

Obviously

[minstrel70.livejournal.com]

This will hardly come as a surprise to you, if you've read much of my journal and in particular a number of exchanges I've had with montecristo:

1. Ayn Rand (100%)
2. Aristotle (72%)
3. Jean-Paul Sartre (69%)
4. David Hume (67%)
5. Cynics (61%)
6. Nietzsche (61%)
7. John Stuart Mill (60%)
8. Stoics (60%)
9. Aquinas (59%)
10. Kant (58%)
11. St. Augustine (52%)
12. Jeremy Bentham (47%)
13. Spinoza (46%)
14. Thomas Hobbes (46%)
15. Plato (45%)
16. Ockham (38%)
17. Epicureans (32%)
18. Prescriptivism (27%)
19. Nel Noddings (25%)

[victoly.livejournal.com]

It's kindof shocking that someone can be 93% Kant, 87% Nietzsche, and 80% Mill all at the same time. But then again, this is Shan....

[victoly.livejournal.com]

Just took the quiz, and I was 100% Hume. Makes some sense. I've always had a fondness for what I know of Hume.

The quiz dissapointed me in that it focused solely on ethics and didn't even touch upon epistemology, ontology, or any of the fun stuff.

Also, in their info section, they suggest that Nietzsche he believed that "masculinity, strength and passion are the highest qualities in a person," which I find hard to swallow given all of the emphasis Nietzsche puts on creativity, and on how physical strength isn't really any "better" than being clever and sneaky.

Pardon the outburst, but I needed a break from writing my Husserl paper.

[victoly.livejournal.com]

Upon further inspection, I noticed that the quiz was specifically intended to deal with ethics. Silly me!

Okay, I'll play...

[montecristo.livejournal.com]

1. Aristotle (100%)
2. Aquinas (84%)
3. Ayn Rand (78%)
4. Epicureans (72%)
5. John Stuart Mill (71%)
6. Plato (66%)
7. Nietzsche (63%)
8. Jeremy Bentham (62%)
9. Jean-Paul Sartre (60%)
10. St. Augustine (60%)
11. Thomas Hobbes (59%)
12. David Hume (58%)
13. Spinoza (58%)
14. Cynics (55%)
15. Nel Noddings (44%)
16. Stoics (40%)
17. Ockham (40%)
18. Kant (36%)
19. Prescriptivism (25%)

Where's Brand Blanshard? I have severe doubts about the accuracy of this quiz to show anything meaningful, given what it came up with for me. Mind you, the general trend is okay, but some of these just don't make a great deal of sense.

And you call yourself an Objectivist!

[minstrel70.livejournal.com]

Indeed, I'm rather surprised by your results, and would question the accuracy of the quiz myself except that mine came up squarely where I would've expected. I hope the fact that I noticed Ayn Rand on the list before taking the quiz didn't skew my results, through some subconscious trickery.

Re: And you call yourself an Objectivist!

[montecristo.livejournal.com]

Actually, to be perfectly accurate, I should call myself a student of Objectivism with some excommunicable reservations on certain specifics. As for the quzzie, the questions are rather a dubious means to sort out various philosophies. If you take a look at some of the links and see how the criteria were established you see that there were some grotesque liberties taken.

Re: And you call yourself an Objectivist!

[minstrel70.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. And you're quite right about the questions being a dubious mechanism -- how on earth can a philosophy be sorted out with any accuracy based on, what, 8 multiple choice questions?

Nevertheless, there's a certain amount of truth to the outcome, at least in my case. But then, Ayn Rand is, compared to some of the others, reasonably easy to sum up.