Ayn Rand (The Fountainhead, specifically), Julius Evola, and Anton LaVey (even though I don’t fully agree with his philosophy as it’s very materialistic, but I found his ideas eye opening). It’s an odd list, but these are the top three that stand out that. I could add Stephen Flowers to this list, even though he’s more of a historian in esoteric and religious matters, his books are what got me interested in a lot of different religions and cultures.
Malcolm X, Henry Thoreau, David Friedman, Prophet Muhhamad (as), my father, Locke, George Galloway, Chomsky, John Stossel, and Michael Crichton. The first two instilled a strong libertarian foundation in me at a young age.
Especially Thoreau, he’s my favorite philosopher period. Malcolm X may seem odd for some people here, but I never had such an urge for freedom, and an understanding that not only can groups change, but more significantly individuals. Now I know there is no difference. George Galloway is one of my favorite politicians, though he is a socialist. Crichton is a general influence, I love his books.
Rock on!
Hmm, post deleted?
hmmm… never thought of this before, but i would say: Milton Friedman, Richard P. Feynman (here’s a great take on his views on social scientists), Douglas Adams, and Henry Hazlitt
The great Count Tolstoy!
!
+1 Orwell. 1984 was one of those books that changed my life.
Non-economists
W.V.O. Quine, Daniel Dennett, Douglas Hofstadter, Richard Dawkins, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Arthur Schopenhauer, Michel Foucault, Richard Posner, Herman Melville, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Paul Churchland, Steven Pinker, Edward O. Wilson, Ray Kurzweil, Herbert Spencer, William Graham Sumner, Alan Turing, HP Lovecraft, Chuang-tzu
Economists
Alfred Marshall, Leon Walras, Vilfredo Pareto, George Stigler, Gary Becker, David Friedman, Robert Lucas, Bryan Caplan, Steven Landsburg
Jesus.
Great one.
I applaud your genius in being able to understand Chuang-tzu, that guy is one of the hardest chinese philosophers for me.
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoevsky, who defended natural law and opposed moral relativism.
Einstein, Sagan, Bill Nye, Michio Kaku, Adam Smith, Jefferson, Paine, Socrates, Hume, Orwell, Bruce Lee, Jesus, Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu, most prophets of Judaism (not Moses!), pre-neolothic man, Darwin, Dawkins, Corporate Avenger (both of them), Tyler Durdin (do ficitonal characters count?), Rush, the Beatles, Machiavelli (more as an enemy tho), Henry II, my friends and family… wow, this list could go on a little time. For anyone I forgot, I still love ya!
I don’t see why my original post was deleted tho, maybe cuz I said Marx and Trotsky (yes, they are still in my list, just being honest.) …?
EDIT: Carlin and Chomsky, the most important two.
2pac , malcolm x , joseph stalin and lady gaga
Richard Feynman, Richard Bach, Douglas Adams, Charles Bukowski (i wanted to overthrow the government but all i brought down was somebodys wife :)), Richard Dawkins, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, George Orwell, Walt Whitman, Percy Shelley, Friedrich Nietzche, Henry David Thoreau, Bertrand Russell…
Schopenhauer, Nietsche, Mencken, Zed,
Tom Palmer, David Friedman, Milton Friedman, Saint Aquinas.
Come to think of it, no.
First and foremost Hal Varian for his exemplary intermediate microeconomic textbook, and all those cited therein, which at once taught me intermediate micro and sparked my interest in further study of economics.
And then in no particular order, Cowen, V. Smith, Schelling, Kahneman & Tversky, Hanson, Caplan, M. Friedman, Becker, Akerlof and a few others I’m probably missing out.