The Quizbowl Resource Center

So, I'm the best at quiz bowl on my team, and my coach wants me to help the freshmen and sophomores with philosophers/philosophy even though I really don't know much beyond the basics. Why am I here, do you ask? I need some help. First off, I am going to have to ask the kind folks here to give me a list of the most common philosophers in quiz bowl. This is a list of mainly the western philosophers, like the Greeks, but also includes the most important modern ones like Kierkegaard and Sartre. What I'm talking about here is essentially a frequency list of 30 philosophers.

Then I am going to divide these philosophers up and assign them to these little peons I'm in charge of. I'm going to introduce them to the concept of quiz bowl -- that is, I'm going to tell them to write 5-7 line questions on these philosophers with clues in descending order of difficulty. I'm going to have them report back to me with their questions and if I don't like what they've done I'm going to revise them and tell them what they've done wrong, then I'm going to set them free and have them do it again. They'll come back and we'll hold practice basically on the questions they wrote. If I'm not pleased I'll make powerpoints on these philosophers and I'll have them take notes on them until their fingers fall off and then all will be well.

But first. . . I need some philosophers. Will anyone be willing to assist me?

this list is probably more extensive than you want, but it's a good start

Actually, it's pretty much along the lines of what I wanted. But if anyone has anything else, feel free to post. Thanks a million!

I actually have been working on a list pretty similar to what you describe. I'll email it you when I get home.

It's a novel, but Sophie's World is good. I need to reread it so I can get some philosophy questions...

Just off the top of my head (I may have missed a few)

Sophocles
Plato
Aristotle
Bacon
Locke
Rousseau
Mill
Bentham
Kant
Hobbes
Aquinas
Derrida
Descartes
Chomsky
Berkley
Spinoza
Machiavelli
Hume
Hegel
Nietzsche
Kierkegaard
Sartre
Schopenhauer
James
Pierce
Heidegger
Foucault
Marx
Russel
Wittgenstein
Husserl
Frege
Rawls

Nuclear Densometer Test wrote:Just off the top of my head (I may have missed a few)

Sophocles

I didn't know that Oedipus Rex or Antigone were famous philosophical tracts.

quantumfootball wrote:

Nuclear Densometer Test wrote:Just off the top of my head (I may have missed a few)

Sophocles

I didn't know that Oedipus Rex or Antigone were famous philosophical tracts.

According to my English teachers, all works of literature are philosophical...

Hiyo? I think a typo may have been made and Socrates was meant.

MaS

Captain Sinico wrote:Hiyo? I think a typo may have been made and Socrates was meant.

MaS

That would make much more sense, because I thought it was weird that they didn't have socrates listed at all...

Yeah, how can you forget this guy?

Captain Sinico wrote:Hiyo? I think a typo may have been made and Socrates was meant.

MaS

truth.

John Henry Newman.

Nuclear Densometer Test wrote:Just off the top of my head (I may have missed a few)

Sophocles
Plato
Aristotle
Bacon
Locke
Rousseau
Mill
Bentham
Kant
Hobbes
Aquinas
Derrida
Descartes
Chomsky
Berkley
Spinoza
Machiavelli
Hume
Hegel
Nietzsche
Kierkegaard
Sartre
Schopenhauer
James
Pierce
Heidegger
Foucault
Marx
Russel
Wittgenstein
Husserl
Frege
Rawls

Maybe it's just me, but some of these guys (i.e. John Rawls and Jacques Derrida) I've only heard as like third part bonuses. I think all the big names are covered here though.

Nuclear Densometer Test wrote:Just off the top of my head (I may have missed a few)
Pierce

That's "Peirce" by the way, pronounced like "purse."

KHAAAAN please wrote:John Henry Newman.

Yeah, a guy that almost only ever comes up in high school as a relatively infrequent clue about Edward Elgar is totally a legitimate suggestion for people to learn about if they want to get lots of points in high school quizbowl.

Carangoides ciliarius wrote:

Nuclear Densometer Test wrote:Just off the top of my head (I may have missed a few)
Pierce

That's "Peirce" by the way, pronounced like "purse."

Also noted for having a freaking awesome beard

jdeliverer wrote:

Carangoides ciliarius wrote:

Nuclear Densometer Test wrote:Just off the top of my head (I may have missed a few)
Pierce

That's "Peirce" by the way, pronounced like "purse."

Also noted for having a freaking awesome beard

Nietzsche beard > Peirce beard

All the philosophy you'll ever need.

Karl Marx had the one beard to rule them all.

ryandillon wrote:

jdeliverer wrote:

Carangoides ciliarius wrote:

Nuclear Densometer Test wrote:Just off the top of my head (I may have missed a few)
Pierce

That's "Peirce" by the way, pronounced like "purse."

Also noted for having a freaking awesome beard

Nietzsche beard > Peirce beard

All the philosophy you'll ever need.

All of the pictures I have seen only show Nietzsche with a mustache, so I would go with Peirce.

But Nietzsche had quite the 'stache to trump those of other philosophers.

Sophocles
Plato
Aristotle
Bacon
Locke
Rousseau
Mill
Bentham
Kant
Hobbes
Aquinas
Derrida
Descartes
Chomsky
Berkley
Spinoza
Machiavelli
Hume
Hegel
Nietzsche
Kierkegaard
Sartre
Schopenhauer
James
Pierce
Heidegger
Foucault
Marx
Russel
Wittgenstein
Husserl
Frege
Rawls

All joking aside, this list looks more or less fine, although it seems a bit light on ancient philosopher IMO.

grapesmoker wrote:Karl Marx had the one beard to rule them all.

Oh, Engels was also pretty well endowed.