I closed the poll after 510 votes because it got linked by one non-philosophy site; as it is, it isn't clear to me that everyone voting was answering the question asked (about pernicious influence on philosophy), but perhaps we'll find out in discussion. In any case, here were the top 20
| 1. Martin Heidegger (Condorcet winner: wins contests with all other choices) |
| 2. G.W.F. Hegel loses to Martin Heidegger by 211–124 |
| 3. Michel Foucault loses to Martin Heidegger by 253–81, loses to G.W.F. Hegel by 197–112 |
| 4. Ludwig Wittgenstein loses to Martin Heidegger by 259–112, loses to Michel Foucault by 184–145 |
| 5. Theodor Adorno loses to Martin Heidegger by 240–68, loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 176–120 |
| 6. Rene Descartes loses to Martin Heidegger by 263–100, loses to Theodor Adorno by 150–113 |
| 7. Friedrich Nietzsche loses to Martin Heidegger by 262–92, loses to Rene Descartes by 158–153 |
| 8. Immanuel Kant loses to Martin Heidegger by 273–85, loses to Friedrich Nietzsche by 163–155 |
| 9. Karl Marx loses to Martin Heidegger by 267–73, loses to Immanuel Kant by 160–122 |
| 10. Soren Kierkegaard loses to Martin Heidegger by 285–41, loses to Immanuel Kant by 157–111 |
| 11. Jean-Paul Sartre loses to Martin Heidegger by 270–59, loses to Karl Marx by 141–122 |
| 12. Henri Bergson loses to Martin Heidegger by 259–45, loses to Jean-Paul Sartre by 125–90 |
| 13. Edmund Husserl loses to Martin Heidegger by 286–36, loses to Henri Bergson by 122–85 |
| 14. W.V.O. Quine loses to Martin Heidegger by 273–87, loses to Edmund Husserl by 127–121 |
| 15. Karl Popper loses to Martin Heidegger by 276–73, loses to W.V.O. Quine by 135–104 |
| 16. Rudolf Carnap loses to Martin Heidegger by 272–67, loses to Karl Popper by 119–105 |
| 17. David K. Lewis loses to Martin Heidegger by 269–72, loses to Rudolf Carnap by 114–108 |
| 18. G.E.M. Anscombe loses to Martin Heidegger by 267–49, loses to David K. Lewis by 110–96 |
| 19. John Dewey loses to Martin Heidegger by 265–52, loses to G.E.M. Anscombe by 101–90 |
| 20. George Berkeley loses to Martin Heidegger by 273–54, loses to G.E.M. Anscombe by 97–86 |
| Runners-up: J.L. Austin loses to Martin Heidegger by 266–55, loses to David K. Lewis by 117–96 |
| Donald Davidson loses to Martin Heidegger by 278–60, loses to J.L. Austin by 115–84 |
I confess the results are genuinely puzzling. Mindless hate for Continental figures? Maybe. Three of my favorite philosophers are in the top ten (Foucault, Nietzsche, Marx), though I can agree that Foucault did have some pernicious influence on other philosophers. But Nietzsche? Maybe if influence based on misunderstanding counts. Heidegger, Hegel, Wittgenstein, and (I think) Kant were all in my "top ten" for most pernicious influence, but I imagine my reasons may not have been the typical ones. But Descartes? He seems to be in odd company here! I would have expected both Quine and D.K. Lewis to rate more highly, because they both are representative of a kind of philosophy that has both strong adherents and strong detractors. Perhaps they weren't deemed to be important and influential enough to qualify as having a pernicious influence?
The strength of "dislike" as measured by ranking a philosopher #1 for pernicious influence varies quite a bit, and doesn't entirely track the top 20 ranking. Heidegger, to be sure, leads with 105 #1 votes, and Wittgenstein and Hegel are next up with 49 #1 votes each. But Kant (#8 overall) is not far behind with 37 #1 votes, well ahead of Nietzsche (17 #1 votes), Marx (29 #1 votes), Foucault (12 #1 votes), and Adorno (also 12 #1 votes). Indeed, it is surelys triking that "top ten" philosophers like Nietzsche, Foucault and Adorno got fewer #1 votes than Quine (24 #1 votes), David K. Lewis (20 #1 votes), and Descartes (33 #1 votes). David Hume, who was nowhere near the top 20, received 10 #1 votes as most "pernicious." Others who appeared in the "top 20" who received relatively little intense hate: Sartre (6 #1 votes), Kierkegaard and Popper (8 #1 votes each), and Anscombe (no #1 votes). Of course, perhaps these are judgments that these figures, while "pernicious" in their influence, aren't influential enough to warrant a #1 ranking.
Comments are open for readers to explain their votes. Signed comments will be preferred. I'll weigh in with my own explanation after awhile.
