Madness: a form of love

Why Study Philosophy? There are many reasons to study philosophy, from moral, to practical, to hedonistic/Epicurean (the philosophy of pleasure associated with 3rd century B.C. garden philosopher, Epicurus), to scientific, to even religious. Once we recognize that we don't know the ultimate answers to the most ultimate questions about how we should live, and the nature of the Divine and reality in general, the remaining desire to live a morally good life, a pious life, a happy life, of even simply an honest life, seems to compel us, as the great philosopher, Socrates, (who said 'All I know is I know nothing') famously maintained, to devote ourselves to this quest. In fact, as Plato famously argued, our ordinary, pre-philosophic beliefs are similar to living in a dark cave never having once glimpsed the light; we simply grow up acquiring beliefs much like an uncleaned shelf acquires dust over the years, never inquiring into the their ultimate basis. We are like a tree al...

*the proceeding paragraphs are intended merely as an inspirational speech, with no intent to provoke hatred or (terribly vulgar) political action of any kind - only steely self-love in all the disowned, most spat upon and despised parts of ourselves and the determination, resolve and beatific self-realization that has the potential to make possible* *** It is the most hated and hateful men who society instinctively looks to for leadership. Though at first the herd respond with resistance, they already sense his superior strength, and this apparent reluctance is merely a socio-biological mechanism by which they test its authenticity and further temper it, like a sword in a smithy, to finest steel. Thus, today, we see that the only real players still vying for popular consciousness and approval, for our future, are Trump and the Far Left (as a group), respectively the most hated and the most hateful. All the rest are paper tigers. Nobody really cares about any of them. (Hilar...