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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October 5, 2025 One thinks of Socrates, who as a hoplite, a heavy infantryman, literally stepped onto the battlefield during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC):
“His weapons and equipment would have weighed around 66 pounds. He had to travel great distances bearing these, with little sleep, camped outside in the elements, eating basic soldier’s rations, just to engage the enemy in brutal physical combat where few would escape injury or death.
Socrates went on to become a veteran of at least three major battles of the Peloponnesian War. Indeed, he was well-known in Athens not only as a philosopher but also, to some extent, as a war hero. His circle of friends included several military veterans and elected generals….
He saved the life of a young officer (and future general) called Alcibiades, who had been wounded during the Battle of Potidaea. As a consequence, Socrates was nominated for the “prize of pre-eminent valor” but declined to accept the award. He was also known for protecting general Laches, who had been unhorsed during the retreat from the Battle of Delium, when the Athenians were being sorely harassed by the enemy. Laches reputedly commented on the high regard he had for Socrates ‘ever since the day on which you were my companion in danger and gave a proof of your valor such as only the man of merit can give.’”*
Vito
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