I decided to lower the intellectual level of this board and talk about philosophy. So debate away about the poll question! (and yes, I know that many of these choices don't even come close)
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
While I don't think any of them actually came close. I think that Hobbes' view of man is similar to our view of fallen man. But we also believe that man is the son of God, and thus is a God in embryo, which is a stark contrast to Hobbes' misanthropic view. I've always been intrigued by Jung's concept of the super ego, but I feel that, despite initially showing much promise, it is inherently flawed. I think that Descartes' famous statement, "I think, therefore I am" was the seed of a belief that we hold; that we are eternal in nature, and always have been, and always will be. Much of the contemporary thought of Descartes' time was that maybe we were all a figment of someone's imagination, that maybe we really didn't have any permanent existence as such. I think it's essential for understanding our divine nature to realize that we actually do exist in a permanent way.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
I've never heard of any of these guys... okay I've heard of them, but I have no idea what they have to say, and have never been a huge fan of the philosophies of men... unless they're the philosophies of Ray... and then I'm a huge fan...
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
I'm glad Ray took the fall and said he wasn't familiar with these guys so that none of the rest of us had to admit our ignorance... I really am less educated in the ways of philosophy than I am in the ways of historical figures...
My guess would be that he who lived during the time of the Enlightenment probably had the closest philosophy of man to the truths of the restored Gospel.
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It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
Hobbes believed that the natural man is selfish, violent, carnal, ... That fits what is taught by King Benjamin, however this is the natural man, and we believe that man is also spiritual, and is innocent until the age of accountability.
Anyway I believe that out of that list John Locke comes the closest. I don't think it's coincidence that the Declaration of Independance has underpinning in the philosophy of Locke.
Many of the Greek philosophers had many truths, but they also had many falsehoods (Such as the body is completely bad), which ended up being a major contributor to the great apostasy.
I am not entirely sure if Issac Newton counts as a philosopher. But he sure was one mathematician/physicist, and was reasonably religious. Of course John Calvin was also religious, but his philosophy of predestination has major problems as well.
(Actully to be honest I'm not sure if my vote is entirely accurate since I don't know who Carl Jung, Matin Heidegger, Arthur Schopenhaur, of Pierre Gassendi are )
I choose CS Lewis and Dante. I think if we put their philosophies on religion into a jar, shook it up, and poured it out, then we would have something pretty close to LDS religion. Did I also mention that I'm my own grandpa?
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