The poll is now closed; with 600 votes cast, here are the results for "the top 40":

1. Ludwig Wittgenstein (Condorcet winner: wins contests with all other choices) 2. Gottlob Frege loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 261–160 3. Bertrand Russell loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 280–137 , loses to Gottlob Frege by 218–156 4. John Stuart Mill loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 280–135 , loses to Bertrand Russell by 204–178 5. W.V.O. Quine loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 291–150 , loses to John Stuart Mill by 214–198 6. G.W.F. Hegel loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 290–130 , loses to W.V.O. Quine by 214–210 7. Saul Kripke loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 314–138 , loses to G.W.F. Hegel by 224–213 8. Friedrich Nietzsche loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 290–117 , loses to Saul Kripke by 209–207 9. Karl Marx loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 359–95 , loses to Friedrich Nietzsche by 254–138 10. Soren Kierkegaard loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 358–124 , loses to Karl Marx by 230–213 11. Rudolf Carnap loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 345–90 , loses to Soren Kierkegaard by 245–194 12. John Rawls loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 379–80 , loses to Rudolf Carnap by 212–175 13. David K. Lewis loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 352–92 , loses to John Rawls by 211–166 14. G.E. Moore loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 362–59 , loses to David K. Lewis by 188–152 15. Donald Davidson loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 342–50 , loses to G.E. Moore by 171–158 16. Martin Heidegger loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 351–63 , loses to Donald Davidson by 188–161 17. Edmund Husserl loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 336–51 , loses to Martin Heidegger by 169–140 18. Hilary Putnam loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 338–51 , loses to Edmund Husserl by 148–138 19. William James loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 347–42 , loses to Hilary Putnam by 151–146 20. Charles Sanders Peirce loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 333–40 , loses to William James by 145–109 21. Alfred Tarski loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 323–55 , loses to Charles Sanders Peirce by 132–109 22. J.L. Austin loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 346–29 , loses to Alfred Tarski by 131–126 23. P.F. Strawson loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 339–42 , loses to J.L. Austin by 137–127 24. Karl Popper loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 344–47 , loses to P.F. Strawson by 135–127 25. G.E.M. Anscombe loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 326–35 , loses to Karl Popper by 137–128 26. Jean-Paul Sartre loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 355–54 , loses to G.E.M. Anscombe by 145–139 27. John Dewey loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 344–28 , loses to Jean-Paul Sartre by 138–134 28. Wilfrid Sellars loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 348–29 , loses to John Dewey by 123–116 29. Arthur Schopenhauer loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 352–30 , loses to Wilfrid Sellars by 129–117 30. Henry Sidgwick loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 302–29 , loses to Arthur Schopenhauer by 108–105 31. Alfred North Whitehead loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 333–24 , loses to Henry Sidgwick by 108–86 32. Michel Foucault loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 357–31 , loses to Alfred North Whitehead by 123–121 33. Bernard Williams loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 337–29 , loses to Michel Foucault by 128–127 34. Gilbert Ryle loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 347–23 , loses to Bernard Williams by 113–110 35. Maurice Merleau-Ponty loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 329–32 , loses to Gilbert Ryle by 112–107 36. Franz Brentano loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 326–26 , loses to Maurice Merleau-Ponty by 111–100 37. Michael Dummett loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 343–26 , loses to Franz Brentano by 106–92 38. Jurgen Habermas loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 340–22 , loses to Michael Dummett by 115–97 39. Hannah Arendt loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 336–29 , loses to Jurgen Habermas by 107–98 40. Simone de Beauvoir loses to Ludwig Wittgenstein by 336–30 , loses to Hannah Arendt by 110–100

I do hope some sociologist is prescient enough to hold on to these results; I imagine they will look both startling and revealing to the philosophers of 2059--though I'd expect some of "the top ten" to be the same (e.g., I'd imagine that Wittgenstein, Nietzsche, Mill, and Marx will be there--perhaps even Hegel, Frege and Russell). I was surprised by Kierkegaard's climb in the last few days. It is also interesting to see how much better Kripke fared than Lewis when we switched from first-past-the-post to Condorcet.

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