My favorite philosopher would have to be Rene Descartes, the "Father of Modern Philosophy." I mean, obviously his most famous (some would say cliche) contribution is "I think therefore I am." But what truly makes him the most intriguing to me personally, is the often forgotten, beginning of that quote, "I doubt, therefore I think." Basically stating that all that each of us have access to is what's in our mind, which introduces the question: what exactly is the external world? Reality really only exists in the subjective experience, so what should we doubt as being truly real? Do our senses deceive us? Is there an evil deceiver that is manipulating what we perceive as our world? It's an interesting question, because I remember once talking to a friend about whether we all see colors the same. Is my "red" the same as her "red"?
Something that's interesting about Descartes, is that he's actually also extremely renowned for his mathematical prowess - he introduced the Cartesian coordinate system, which was basically fathering analytical geometry. He also was a key contributor to the Scientific Revolution. Which kind of plays into his philosophical beliefs that are grounded in a questioning attitude, which characterizes scientists and mathematicians. Which also explains his wise quote, "It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well." And use it well, Descartes did.
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