I think I'm probably one of those people who only fancies themselves as philosophically minded. I certainly haven't read many of the great historical philosophers, which is a nuisance when they come up in quizzes.
Whether that undermines what I say about the subject I don't know. I should have thought, though, that philosophy is at least somewhat personal. How we see the world is shaped by our own experiences. I'm not a fan of letting other people do my thinking for me if I can help it, which probably means I'm not planning on reading Heidegger, Wittgenstein or Kant any time soon.
Agree with Woof, my formative thinking was coloured by Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Hawkeye Pierce and Bernard Black.
Whilst it's true in many ways that nothing (especially people) changes, there is a limited amount of patience I have with the concept that someone can just have a bit of a think, write their ramblings down and be hailed as a Philosopher, so I tend not be pay them that much heed ( which I'm sure they'd be really worried about ;-)
A problem with identifying philosophers who might appear to have influenced one's thinking is that it could be that the relevant thoughts were already in one's mind when one encountered the philosophers who simply happened to think the same way.
However my own list would include Plato, Nietzsche and Heidegger.
Everyone is a philosopher. Most people will have influences from family, friends, experiences, etc. I doubt even the most well-known philosophers thought it "first".
I am thinking of influences that set out to remodel society, politics, and policies.
Trying to understand our personal motivations as individuals and groups, nations, for happiness, avoidance of conflict, beliefs etc.
Many years ago I was quite taken with Marx, but then realised its many flaws.
I suppose most of us support Democritus, unless you are a Remainer or an EU Commissioner.
//I prefer to think for myself// but do we?
Is our thinking like a river with many tributaries?
Nature, nurture, experiences, social pros and cons?
And the ideas we have been exposed to and adapt in some form as our own ideas?
Just a thought.
Yes, of course we are all the sum of our experiences and our society, our likes and our dislikes etc, but do I go looking for philosophical guidance? No, I think, like Naomi, most people prefer to think for themselves, however they happen to be modelled.
No of course not, we're all prone to the same e, but our personality types and our upbringing will lead us to deal with those influences in different ways. For example I always SNOPES everything I read online because my parents taught me to be even handed and fair and to do that you need to have solid information, and if something you base an opinion or decision on is 'fake news' then you can't possibly do that and it has massive ramifications. x