[Aedes]

Strange list.

I'm not sure Socrates belongs on a list of great philosophers. Very little of his actual philosophy is known, and it's difficult to distinguish it from Plato's philosophy.

I'd put Descartes in the top 3 or 4, though -- not because he's so relevant now, but he singlehandedly killed both scholasticism and the long, tired, endless Aristotle-worship that had been happening for more than 1500 years. While I personally find Nietzsche incredibly insightful, I think Descartes did more for philosophy than Nietzsche did. Nietzsche was part of a huge movement, whereas Descartes ended one era and began a new one.

Kant belongs in the top 5, and probably so does Spinoza.

As for Russell, do you mean Bertrand or Walter? Bertrand Russell does belong at least among the greatest of the 20th century, with incredibly meaningful contributions to the philosophy of language, mathematics, and logic.

Walter Russell, well... I don't really count him as a philosopher at all, let alone a great one -- reading his work is what I'd imagine my college chemistry class would have been like had I been taking high doses of hallucinogenic mushrooms at the time.