>>Izzat so? Well, if Leo Strauss was a "philosopher"
>>then I would have to
>>accord the same honor to the estimable Phineas T.
>>Barnum,
>>Me, I think this game is boring. I even think that Ayn
>>Rand is a Real Philosopher, just a very bad one. But
>>not because I think her political views are
>>reprehensible. I respect the work of a lot of people
>>whose politics I despise. Nietzsche. Plato. Hobbes.
>>Lenin. Schmitt. Heidegger. Hayek. Posner.
>>
>>
I agree. I was going to reply to the old "Ayn Rand's not a real
philosopher" with something similar. As far as I'm concerned, the job of
"philosopher" is open to anyone who wants to try, and Rand was as much a
philosopher as anyone else. Doesn't mean agree with her ideas, which
strike me as pretty silly. Heck, Baudrillard's considered a philosopher,
but he's every bit as silly as Rand.