Proles and polls; Philosophy.(Britons seem about to vote Marx history's greatest philosopher)

Economist (US), The, June, 2005

A spectre haunts the BBC

"DEMOCRACY is the road to socialism", wrote Karl Marx: Britons seem to agree. Communism is in disarray these days, but BBC listeners have put its top brain at the front of a poll to find history's greatest philosopher.

Charlie Taylor, the man behind the vote, said Marx had "built up a commanding lead" over Ludwig Wittgenstein, an Austrian philosopher of language, in second place.

Voters have until the first week of July to choose from a list of 20 philosophers picked by "In Our Time", a highbrow radio discussion programme. (recent topics include theology in 12th- century Paris and "The Sublime: Defining the State of Awe".)

What explains Marx's comeback? Rick Lewis, editor of Philosophy Now magazine, puts...

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