The Philosopher as Actor

[Philosophy Now]

by Peter Rickman

https://philosophynow.org/issues/7/The_Philosopher_as_Actor

[Jai]

Philosopher and Actor - The analogy between philosopher and actor gives much room for exploration. It is NOT entirely new. In the times of Socrates, the true philosopher is distinguished from the sophist; the sophist being like one who acts like a philosopher but is NOT, the sophist in ways like a salesman. The psychologist William James, I forget the name of the text, talks about distinctions among scholars and philosophers a ‘tough minded’ or ‘tender minded’, a kind of persona of emotional identity. In the same line, the psychologist C. Jung called E. Kant a ‘pure thinking type’ in terms of his psyche. Also there are philosophers of a more spiritual inclination who see their teaching as a way of putting forth a previously written script from god. A good actor and good philosopher are both creators and artists in different forms.