In antiquity anybody of some stature (citizens) would be toiling with philosophy – it was simply a way of entertaining oneself. A leisure activity – a way to contemplate the truth of the universe. They dialogued together, trying to find answer to questions regarding existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind and language. Philosophy practiced in this way, might have been considered a hobby today – something you practised in your free time as form of entertainment.
A citizen of Athens or Corinth were – to the standards of today - most likely very rich, owning estates and slaves alike. Working wasn’t the central part of their life – quite simply because they didn’t not need to. Of course, some organizing of the estate and some trade was necessary to keep the leisure life a float. As such they worked – which in old Greek roughly translate to “un-leisure” – only to be able to leisure. But being mostly free from the occupation of work, gave these citizens the most important precondition for being able to entertain oneself with philosophy; time.
Toiling with any sort of complexity – one needs time to explore and contemplate them. I think the level of complexity is what determines the accessibility of the endeavour – the more complex the more time and effort one needs to apply. Of course, with applied time and effort to any such complexities comes arises a certain skill – which inherently is sort of elitist. As when philosophy today is often practiced in academia – where people are scholars of philosophy. As such, when it is practised as an occupation – as a profession – it is fair to say it’s somewhat elitist. Because, any occupation of a professional nature is inherently elitist – they use jargon and apply skills or talents it takes time to learn. As when you go to your elitist doctor or dentist – they are professionals, their elitist in what they do. Without any connotation, the same can be said about scholars of philosophy.
What about today’s practical philosophers – the ones whom have implement the contemplative life fully – are they elitist? They are probably the ones whom have dedicated the most time to the contemplation and practice of philosophy – potentially making the complexity of their skill and jargon, the least accessible. And of course, less accessibility inherently means more elitism. Now, it seems philosophy might be elitist, especially when there is an unbalance of time spent. If one can’t be freed from the occupation of work - one might not have the time or the energy of entertaining philosophical thoughts. A question then regarding this, is whether just a little time spent on complexities like philosophy, can be relevant to people – or if there is a certain threshold of time and effort that is needed before it’s fruitful. This question of whether time efficient, easy accessible and non-complex philosophy consumption is a good or even possible thing – is something we shall explore more this week. As always, please feel free to write us if you have something to say or if you feel strongly about this – or just if you have a lingering question.