On the Perils Of Philosophy

Relativism. Skepticism. Incommunicability. Nihilism. Death.

Philosophy is an extreme intellectual sport. We would like to believe that it is good always, but doing philosophy can be extremely dangerous. Most obvious is the risk of death. Philosophy is littered with those who have been, quite literally, killed for the practice. Socrates, of course, was put to death by the state, but also Boethius, Descartes, and (most recently) Walter Benjamin all got “wacked” for their philosophical views and practices.