Krystine asked:

What exactly is a philosopher and is it hard to be one?

============

The most important virtue of a philosopher is to be serious. And to be serious can be very hard, as at
least Socrates and Bruno and Galileo and Spinoza and Kierkegaard and Nietzsche and Bonhoeffer
had to learn — but many others too. When the Elector of the Palatine invited Spinoza to a
professorship at Heidelberg University, Spinoza declined, saying that even the authority of the Elector
would not protect him from the furor of Lutheran theologians there.

A true philosopher is someone who in ernest wants to know the truth — and then he has everybody
against him who thinks to have the truth found already. For the true believer the search for truth is a
provocation since it presupposes that truth has not been found. He cannot accept that. And in this
sense most "normal" people are true believers of the "common sense truth" too — which may be
simply common nonsense. To ask for the truth is to be a freak like Socrates was. Why ask for the
truth if mom and pop and the teacher and the pastor know it? That's insulting and a sort of arrogance.
Thus Luther has been chided heavily "How do you little monk dare to oppose the most eminent
theologians!" But Luther answered like Socrates: "Since it is not good acting against ones
conscience, therefore I will not revoke. God help me, Amen!"

A philosopher is like a judge, hearing all arguments while seeking the truth, the whole truth and only
the truth — sometimes drawing heat or hate for that from all sides.

In his "glasshouse note" of 25th September 1999 Geoffrey Klempner cites Wittgenstein saying:
"Philosophy should be hard. The philosopher should not seek comfort or stimulus in this or that"
(Glass House Philosopher page 17).

Hubertus Fremerey

32