The Great Philosophers, Now With Smiles
Have you ever noticed how dour the great philosophers look in their portraits?
Martin O’Neill, senior lecturer in politics at the University of York, decided to put a happier spin on the history of philosophy. Here’s the result:
He used FaceApp to, uh, “improve” the portraits. The music is a nice touch.
Still versions are publicly viewable at his Facebook photo page.
(Related: Philosopher-Celebrity Lookalikes)
It makes me nervous when philosophers smileReport
It was funny…Report
Fun trivia: there’s a good reason why most portraits done in this period have no smiles. Dentistry didn’t kick off as a profession until way after the 17th and 18th century. So most of our philosophers probably had bad teeth and didn’t want to show it for posterity to see!Report
LinkedIn profile pictures of professional philosophers.Report
Imagine a grinning philosopher, say some contempories, take your choice. Would you buy into the theory of a grinning Searle, Nozick, or whoever? Or would they remind you of Alfred E Newman in some cases? Kidding, but dealing with serious issues yields serious countenances. Then again, there are many philosophers who have written about humor and comedy.
Maybe we need to take ourselves less seriously, lighten up, and have portraits taken with michevious smiles or clown noses!Report