Re: I think a LOT of people start with philosophy and then start looking for data to support it

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't logic -- and hence math -- philosophy? philos -- loving + sophia -- wisdom, knowledge.
Archimedes, Euclid, Eratosthenes, Pythagoras -- all philosophers of the first order. A philosopher is (preferably) never dogmatic, small-minded or restrictive to new, even revolutionary ways of thinking. Sometimes you have to have a crazy idea and then go for a nice long walk or experiment with mirrors to come up with answers. Seems to me logic (and math, and computer science in its various manifestations ... ) can always use some great philosophers. Speaking as a mathophobe (?), of course.
Allie