I asked my students what had replaced in our modern society the role in ancient times played by philosophers. They said:
Google (top answer)
Scientists or science
The President
Social media
Religion
Historians (I laughed at this)
Misc. examples of celebrity culture
Conversation
Replying to
The big secret is nobody ever had any use for philosophers. They always had to moonlight doing other shit to pay the bills.
Even in "ancient times". When you read Aristophanes, Socrates and his ilk appear as a bunch of weirdos nobody likes.
Of course there are cases like Marcus Aurelius, but in general, did philosophers ever have much impact on classical societies?
1
I think philosophers have always had huge *impact*. They were just very rarely rewarded in proportion to it within their lifetimes, whether the impact was good or bad, they generally got something between nothing and death for their labors.
1
2
Show replies
That's not a secret. Philosophy is pursuit of wisdom for its own sake. If you want "wisdom for the sake of useful" choose sophistry.
1



