Is philosophizing a luxury of the rich?

Question

Can we only engage in pondering the meaning of life, when we are not busy trying to survive?

Were there any great philosophers who were wretchedly poor?

Answer 1

Philosophy is the pasttime of the disaffected, idle and over educated. It is normally the young of the bourgoursie who conduct most of it. The poor are either too busy or unable to clearly describe their feelings of discontent. The rich are either too busy or too comfortable to participate in philosophy.

Answer 2

anyone can be a philosopher, but historically speaking, most of the great scholars until modern times (the last 100-150 years) have been generally wealthy; their wealth afforded them the time and money to spend their leisure in contemplation. This is true for alot of the great scientists, mathematicians, etc. as well. It is only since the industrial rev. that a substantial number of people have been allowed the luxury of more free time than work time. If you were a laborer a few centuries ago, chances are you were a subsistence farmer and that you worked all day everyday. Only landed people, the aristocracy, could afford to spend time enjoying science, literature, philosophy, etc.

As far as philosophers who were wretchedly poor, Diogenes was an ancient greek philosopher who despised and rejected material wealth, as well as the lifestyle associated with it. Entire schools of philosophy preach this, most notably eastern philosophies/religions, such as buddhism, although most religions atleast in the classical sense place emphasis upon living frugally, like the lives of monks.

Answer 3

No, I don't think so. A person becomes a philosophizer when they sense a need for for greater meaning and clarity in life, and begin searching for truth. Anyone can do that, but I would say that the poor and disadvantaged are more likely to ponder these things than the rich because they need help. If you already have everything in life, it's harder to be aware of the injustices in society or a void in your soul.

Answer 4

When one ponders, "why," one is philosophizing.
Several of the best "philosophies" or "schools of thought" were born out of oppressed times or dark periods in man's history.
Former prisoners (ie.Sarte) came up with great philosophical systems. Thought is the only true freedom. It has survived every attempt to suppress it. It is less a luxury of the rich and more a burden of the intelligent.

Answer 5

One doesn't have to be rich to philosophize.

When one ponders the meaning of life, I believe it is natural. In a sense, I call it dreaming. Rich or poor, people always think about the meaning of their life and what it could be.

Answer 6

philosophizing was invented as salvation from being poor caused by the rich, philosophies were the results of punishment, a comment would fly out of the mouth of victim and they would form listener to hear the tails of wretchedly lives they lived. and philosophies on solution to avoid the persecution, are the staggering statistic of the proponderousness of how many wrongs make a right?, it led to the founding of religion

Answer 7

Well...perhaps. In the sense that thinking is a luxury. If your basic needs (food, water, shelter etc) weren't being met you certainly wouldn't have the time to sit around & ponder life's meaning. You'd just be trying to survive. It's once all the basic needs are met that you feel you need something more...

Answer 8

Historically, it was very much a rich man's pastime, this has only really changed significantly changed with mass-media...

Philosophizing however, is something that everyone does, you may think it is whinging, whining, bit*ching or whatever, but ultimately any kind of discussion could be defined as such, should the philosophizer choose...

What do you think people do when they are drunk?!

Answer 9

I somewhat agree with your basic premise. This is in accordance with Abraham Maslow's "grumble theory." Simply, there is a hieararchical order placed on our needs and desires when considering our survival on different levels.

The basics for physical survival are quite obvious. In order to survive physically we need air, water, food, shelter, sex, nurturing, peace in our community / lack of violence etc; Today, these things come to us only if we have enough money.

Once we attain the basic, physical necessities for survival we progress to the next level of survival. Here we need the security, and the nurturing that loving relationships can foster. Then we need to survive on an intellectual level.

This is where "philisophizing" comes in. We need to understand where we, others, our thoughts and the thoughts of others "fit" into this world. We need a clear vision as to who and what we are. We need to understand our surroundings so we may bring about a sense of control over our lives that ultimately leads us to our desired goals.

Long story short (is that possible now?), we need philisophy for intellectual survival and direction in life. But, you can't acheive this until your basic needs in life (that ultimately involve some degree of financial security) are met.

Answer 10

Philosophy is about how you live your life. The greatest contemporary philosopher is not rich or poor. But he knows how to live. His name is Homer Simpson.