...in their writing, that is. A reader comments:
As a TA, I always emphasize the importance of writing clearly. This isn't a matter of who I think is right, or even who I enjoy reading because I find their ideas fruitful or interesting; it's a matter of who writes well. Who would others suggest as good philosophers I should tell students to emulate? (Perhaps "hold up as an ideal" is better than "emulate". I'm not sure anyone should be trying to write like (say) Lewis, but I think it's good to read him with an eye on his style.) I have my own favourites, but it would be interesting to know who others would pick.
Interesting question. It's easy to say whom students should not emulate: John McDowell, Christopher Peacocke, Martin Heidegger, the charlatan Jacques Derrida, among others. Some engaging stylists, like Quine or (very differently) Nietzsche, are not philosophers one would encourage students to emulate either, because they are unlikely to do it well needless to say. My own picks for philosophers students should strive to emulate: Jaegwon Kim, Philip Kitcher, Thomas Nagel, H.L.A. Hart, Michael Forster, G.A. Cohen, Raymond Geuss, among others. Comments are open; non-anonymous comments strongly preferred, as usual.
