Materialism>idealism
I’m not trying to get into a whole debate, it’s just interesting to me the way some people cling to these idealist philosophers. Same w the stoics imo. As a guy who used to read all of them… they’re useless to actually understanding life. Like it can be helpful to read them in order to understand how the Western worldview evolved, but they really shouldn’t be taken as some sort of handbook - which many seem to do. (reactionaries). People who read Nietzsche or Plato and think they have some sort of secret insight is my biggest red flag irt pseudo-intellectual who is just going to waste your time… same with Dostoevsky btw.
Confucius is based af though.
Edit: Also, yes these kinds of people exist- my former mentor/boss who spent decades at a white shoe DC law firm would accept any idea if you found a quote by Plato to justify it lmao.
Have a soft spot for Brothers Karamazov, it made me think of a soap opera since it was beyond over the top pure drama. It’s been many, many years since I’ve read it though, probably would scoff at it now since he makes a lot of use of stereotypes and is heavy-handed with his morality and strawmen.
Second on the stoics.
Funny story;
When I lived in the city I used to use the bus since it was cheaper than parking down town (and less stressful). There was some dude in a fedora proudly reading a book on Aristotle on the bus, so some other dude comes by (we’ll call him bus philosopher) asks the fedoraed dude about what he’s reading, gets a little in depth, then suddenly says Aristotle is for intellectual lightweights and walks away. Dude was pissed.
I thought I was going to get pwned myself since some time I was reading Hegel’s phenomenology of spirit on my phone and the bus philosopher caught sight of me, he was actually helpful since I was still struggling through it.
I just hated the Eternal Husband so much lol. I love Tolstoy though.
LMAO that’s hilarious. That’s like a real life mysterious stranger.
Hope to read Tolstoy soon, I like to focus on one book at a time, once I get through this nonfic I’m hoping to read Anna Karenina.
The bus philosopher was always doing that to people on the bus, and if not, he was usually debating some other dude about religion. Bus rides were never a dull moment.
I love stuff like that. Spice of life…
I do one one fiction at a time usually and like 8 non fictions lol. Reading Red Mars as my fiction right now and I really like it.
I wonder what he does in life.