Category: Radio
4
Date: 13.07.2005
Printable version
Out of a shortlist of twenty of the best known, most
respected and influential philosophical thinkers, nominated by the In
Our Time audience, Karl Marx has been voted the Greatest
Philosopher of all time by Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 listeners.
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With an astonishing 28 per cent of the 30,000 votes
cast, Marx - championed by author and journalist Francis Wheen
- was the clear winner.
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Runner-up, with 12.7 per cent of the vote, was Scottish
philosopher David Hume, championed in the poll by modern day philosopher
and author, Julian Baggini.
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Wittgenstein, championed by Jonathan Sachs
and nominated by, amongst others, Will Self, garnered
6.8 per cent of the vote and came in third.
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In Our Time, presented by Melvyn Bragg,
ran the online poll over a period of five weeks and attracted over a
million hits to its extended website.
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The programme will be devoting tomorrow's edition (9.00-9.45am,
Thursday 14 July, Radio 4) to a discussion of Marx and his ideas.
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From celebrities to newspapers, it seems everyone has
a favourite philosopher.
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The Guardian came out in favour of Kant; The Economist
urged potential voters to support David Hume; and The Independent plumped
for Wittgenstein then changed its mind, playing on Wittgenstein's famous
change of philosophical position.
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Celebrities also came out in force to support their
greatest philosopher too - Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2 DJ Terry Wogan
backed Marcus Aurelius; Anne Robinson nominated Nietzsche;
Mariella Frostrup came out in favour of Kierkegaard;
Stephen Fry nominated Plato; and John Humphrys
plumped for French footballer turned actor Eric Cantona!
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The twenty-strong shortlist was decided after a first
round; those with the highest number of votes went through to the next
round where they had a specialist advocate, an expert academic who put
the case forward for voting for that particular philosopher.
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The final stage of the vote began on 6 June when listeners
were able to vote for a philosopher from the final shortlist via the
Radio 4 website.
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The vote ended at midnight on 7 July.
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The In Our Time Greatest Philosophers Vote special:
Thursday 14 July on Radio 4, 9.00-9.45am
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Notes to Editors
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Since the vote started, the MP3 downloads for In Our
Time have increased by 50 per cent. The programme now records 30,000
downloads a week. Half of all downloads across Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio are from In
Our Time.
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Before the vote, the In Our Time website was getting
150,000 hits a week. That built to a peak of 300,000 during the vote
and has settled to around 220,000 a week now. In Our Time is currently
the most popular Radio 4 programme on the internet after The Archers.
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The Melvyn Bragg newsletter has increased by 2,000
subscribers during the vote and now goes out to nearly 15,000 people
every week.
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| Nominee |
% Accepted votes |
| 1. Marx |
27.93% |
| 2. Hume |
12.67% |
| 3. Wittgenstein |
6.80% |
| 4. Nietzsche |
6.49% |
| 5. Plato |
5.65% |
| 6. Kant |
5.61% |
| 7. Aquinas |
4.83% |
| 8. Socrates |
4.82% |
| 9. Aristotle |
4.52% |
| 10. Popper |
4.20% |
