Has philosophy ever been important or relevant to anyone besides the privileged upper class? Seems like a rich boys hobby, at its heart.
You serious nigga?
There's been plenty of philosophers who were basically poor beggars
Just as an example from the Greek world: Diogenes
>>891199
Diogenes chose to live like that. He didn't come from a poor family.
>>891184
To ask what does it mean to be a good man, what should I do, who should I be are all philosophical questions. Everyone, whether explicitly or implicitly uses ethical thinking to operate. Being aware of ethics explicitly helps one in everything they do in life.
>>891184
Yeah, think Marx and socialism, or the Enlightenment and liberalism.
Funny enough, these ideologies played roles in toppling some privileged upper classes and instating others.
It's true that when you work 14 hours a day and are malnourished, your intellect will inevitably be underdeveloped, and because of that you can't really do philosophy.
>>891184
Well it was the aristocrats who could sit around thinking all day.
>>891184
Basically what this guy >>891759 said.
Ideologies are just a niche topic discussed by niche academic crowd, groups outside of academia are indifferent to them, unless someone can see a particular ideology as a mean to gain more rights and economic influence for his particular group, while retaining the rhetorical aspect of doing something for a cause and not to please a lobbying group.
>>892433
Well this might just be my protestant cultural sphere talking, but I feel that even if the labor itself isn't too taxing or time consuming, the idea of getting more information for the sake of information itself is foreign to someone pragmatically oriented to the point that they always keep questioning the usefulness or utility of newly developed information.
Socrates was a homeless man that preached to little kids until his mind was recognized.
>>891744
This
Privileged upper class is all what matters. Filthy plebeians ruin and degrade everything.
Stoicism was hugely popular with the plebs of the Roman Empire
>>891184
Rome literally had loads of poor philosophers, spreading various teachings on the streets, in the fields, wherever.
Some of these in Palestine claimed to fulfill the promised messianic prophesies of Jewish scriptures.
One of them actually was, or got lucky, depending on your beliefs.
>>892755
The labor of plebs are the reason Patricians can exist in the first place, you cunt
>>891184
Philosophy deals with big questions about how culture, political, ideology and such should be. It's only natural that's goign to be more important to aristocrats than plebs.
Early philosophers were very adament about this. Plato saw philosoph as highly elitst and thought it should only be taught to a small ruling class. Heraclitus said only the smartest people can actually understand the true Logos.
Even into the later world people like Voltaire were saying that the plebs should stay out of the intellectual sphere. Nietzsche went even further and said teaching everyone to read would "ruin thinking". There was an idea that lower class culture would corrupt higher thinking. And if you have seen how badly schools have to dumb down philosophy and the humanities just so that they can give everyone a passing grade you'd be inclined to believe this.
>You will never be a philosopher King who is also an Ubermench!
>neoplatonists
>>891184
No, and more importantly, everyone who isn't upper economic class and top racial class of humanity either holds disdain for philosophy, or can't into it at all.
Idleness is the premise of thought. Idleness, beasthood and godhood is the premise of philosophical thought. No other group of people have a right to it, and this is why all of the philosophers have been of the same variety, economically and racially (within context of the times they lived in).
>>891184
Philosophy is an approach, not a hobby.
>>891184
I was born poor, however had good opportunities come my way that allowed me to go to university for free. I majored in Philosophy. Got a law degree from a T14 school. I work as a junior associate, in 5 years I might get a partnership.
I'm putting 1/3 of my money away. By the time I am 40-50 I hope to at least have 2 million saved away that I can invest at 6% yearly interest.
If all that works out I'll be able to live off the interest and pursue philosophy.
>tl:dr
You need to have money to be able to think all day but being born rich is not a prerequisite for it.
>>892843
>>You will never be a philosopher King who is also an Ubermench!
but you'd be compelled to destroy yourself instantly by your opposing halves, and that would be unpleasent
I guess, but the lower class is irrelevant so who cares lol
