@TuringEquivalent,
Philosophy was at first a necessity for me. I was on this planet after all. At some point, I ironed out the basic ethical questions, married an amazing woman, etc. At some point, it was not a necessity but a privilege, not a task but a deep delight. I found myself reading philosophy instead of literature, Kojeve instead of Dostoevsky, etc. Philosophy has enriched my "being." Philosophy has increased the turning radius of my mind.
I find it embarrassing when I come across certain poses. I see little half-men swollen up with imaginary social significance, the heroes of "critical thinking," teacher's pet, etc. In the end we are dealing with one more voter. One more actor that struts and frets their hour upon the stage.
The "real" world doesn't need you, boys. The Republican party doesn't need you. The weapons manufactures don't need you. The farmers don't need you. What is more ironic than rhetoric that mistakes itself for anti-rhetoric? What is more absurd than the presentation of "credentials" for critical thinking? The same old bunch of idolaters. The same line of zeroes behind some borrowed phallic One. They quote as if from scripture, assure us of their intellectual documentation, which they cling to, if these documents are not fiction, like the bones of dead saints.
I prefer to
love books, and also the great minds that assembled them. Dead men are not authorities but influences. Each man must build his
own house. What absurdity and masochism it is to interpret beauty as a refutation.....
