Anyway, I do not deny that Heidegger is at least as influential<VBG>
heh. I'm only uncomfortable with the thought of having Jaspers alone on the list. By the way, I find Jaspers far more interesting and meaningful when I read an essay or two. Largely because I don't read either German or Greek, it's very difficult for me to make sense of Heidegger's bizarre word-play.
As I said in my first message on this mini-topic (that doesn't seem to have much traction with other contributors), my sense is that the influence of Jaspers is growing.
In the 70s when I was a philosophy major it would have been easy to say Heidegger was far more influential. Since the death of the two, Jaspers seems to have gained even greater stature than he had before. I wouldn't be surprised to see his influence eventially eclipse that of Heidegger. It's just that I don't think that has happened just yet.
On Husserl... I just thought I'd throw it out there for consideration. But I agree, he's probably not quite right for the list. As you said, it's mostly through Heidegger, but also Sartre and Maurice Merleau-Ponty that phenomenology was maintained. Even then, Husserl's definition of it is usually presented in contrast to Heidegger. It's better to use one of the other names.
That's also the reason that I don't include Russell, although I think there are better arguments to his inclusion. Time isn't on his side, really. Like Husserl, his primary work is early in the century. Although his influence was wide, it was largely eclipsed by that of his students.
Another philosopher's name that suffers the same fate is John Dewey, but he might be worth including anyway. Even though he isn't one of the significant philosophers of the era, he is certainly one of the most prominent educators.
His influence on educational theory and practice spread beyond the US to Asia and Europe and still reverberates today. He was also a prominent commentator and essayist in the years before WW II, helping to define a significant shift in American policy. (Although, it's a shift that is still decried by many on this thread.) |
