Ought we avoid the toxicity of polarization by a noncommittal floating above the fray that does not commit to one side or the other? I think not. Politics is war. You must take a side. You can’t play the philosopher on the battlefield. A warrior at war cannot be “a spectator of all time and existence,” as noble as such spectatorship is.
A warrior who is fully human, however, will know when to put aside his weapons and take up his pen. He will know that in the end “The pen is mightier than the sword.” But only in the end. Now you are in the field. If you don’t survive the fight, there will be no life left for ‘penmanship.’
OUGHT PHILOSOPHERS FLOAT ABOVE THE FRAY?
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October 5, 2025 Marcus Aurelius talking to the people is the king.
Marcus Aurelius looking at himself talking to the people is the philosopher-king.When Aurelius is talking to the people, he is in the natural attitude, as Robert Sokolowski would say. He is immersed in the world. He looks at such things as the needs of the people, justice, governance, wars. His thoughts and actions are directed at them. He solves problems.
When Aurelius looks at himself talking to the people, he has taken a philosophical turn, if I’m following Sokolowski correctly. He is no longer in the natural attitude. He has stepped back from the world and is concerned not directly with the things in it, but rather how they are given to us in experience. His perspective has changed.
We are always in the natural attitude. It’s not a choice or an option. It’s how we live our lives. Most of the time Aurelius was in the natural attitude. He was concerned with the matters of state. But when he reflected on the world, he would “bracket” the natural attitude temporarily, hold it in suspense, make a philosophical turn away from it, but then return.
Even a philosopher-king would have cause to remove his gladius from his vagina to do battle with the barbarians.
A philosopher who debates the issues of the day is in the natural attitude. Even if he has a highly articulated philosophical position, if he uses it in debate he is not in a philosophical attitude. Now he may “bracket” the world temporarily in order to make a philosophical turn, but when he ventures forth to do battle he is in the natural attitude.
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