Unsung Philosophical Heroes :)

[Gary Childress]

Who are your unsung philosophical heroes (if you have any) and why--meaning philosophers whom you learned from who aren't common university curriculum names but people who had (and presumably still have) a positive influence on your philosophical development, maybe a professor who just struck you as a well "centered" thinker but who doesn't make intellectual "headlines". So please no Nietzsche's or Kant's or other "big" names. They get celebrated plenty of places elsewhere.

I think my all time unsung hero would be Emmett L Holman of George Mason University.

http://philosophy.gmu.edu/people/eholman

I took two classes from him, Political Philosophy and Philosophy of Mind. His class on Philosophy of Mind was a "phenomenal" experience for me at the time I took it (please pardon a small pun there). The thing I liked most about professor Holman was that he is a first rate thinker and at the same time one of the most straightforward and unpretentious people I had ever met. Literally the guy was St. Francis except he was not a theist. I think he may have been agnostic on matters of religion but I'm not 100% on that. I almost took his Philosophy of Religion course but I had to drop out due to mental health issues.

But he could take even a volatile topic like Political Philosophy and present it in the most academic manner. To this day I don't know what his political views are or were. He kept his personal politics out of the class and yet engaged us to think about issues and ideas. to me that is the mark of a great educator. I have since formed many of my own views on politics and various philosophical matters but I think I can safely say that Professor Holman did not teach me what to think. He just taught us the issues and ideas and let us form our own opinions. A true scholar if I ever did meet one.

This post goes out in tribute to you professor Holman!

Now who are your "unsung" philosophical heroes? Please share...

[Dalek Prime]

Peter Wessel Zapffe; Nowegian, deceased.
David Benatar; South African.

For being unafraid to argue, well I may add, philosophy generally unaccepted by most of mankind.

And to a young woman, Sarah Perry, for brilliantly doing the same, though she's been through so much.

[Obvious Leo]

This is a no-brainer. Billy Connolly.