It would be very amusing to have a book, if it has not already been written, about the financial adventures of intellectuals over the last few centuries, as we often find them very curious in many biographies. It is fascinating to note that the most common type of intellectual, and above all the genius, is absolutely incapable of a prudent, moderate, intelligent financial life. We often see them in difficulties for long periods, most of the time, if not generated, made much worse by themselves; normally, the state they experience is one of dependence, at the mercy of fortune. There are great heirs, and more numerous ones who have piled up debts, loans and extravagances that only absolute irresponsibility or unjustifiable optimism or complete stupidity could allow. But very few are satisfied with a modest life, paid for by their own efforts, in line with their possibilities and, above all, one that improves as time goes on due to sensible behavior and not a sudden stroke of luck. It is certainly impressive.
The 20th Century Does Not Seem…
The 20th century does not seem to have been enough to demonstrate the risk of politicizing philosophy, nor the disasters that result from interpreting the “act” as a political act, or “responsibility” as a principle that claims the individual as a collective agent. The effort to distort thought and use it as a pretext and resource in this modern factory of activism persists, even though it has been proven to produce nothing but destruction. It is unfortunate, but it does not seem to be with less activism that the current activism can be combated.
It Cannot Be Accepted for a Second…
It cannot be accepted for a second that authors such as Kierkegaard, Pascal and Dostoevsky have been lumped together with figures such as Heidegger and Sartre in this so-called existentialism. In fact, what is most surprising is that it was precisely Sartre who proposed such a bundling, as if he were part of a fictitious current and claiming to have absorbed them all, without being immediately challenged on the absurdity of imagining an evolution from Pascal to Sartre. One can see, for example, that Sartre uses arguments such as “l’existence précède l’essence” or “l’homme n’est rien d’autre que ce qu’il se fait” in order to paint a man isolated from his circumstances, created from nothing and independent from the start, something visibly antagonistic to Christian thought. And it is certainly similar disparities that separate Sartre from many others labeled “existentialists”. Imagining a “philosophical current” that unites them is something that only interests Sartre himself, and it should not convince anyone.
Intelligence Begins With the Ability…
If, as has been said, intelligence begins with the ability to marvel, it also follows that the more the notion of normality spreads, the more difficult it is for intelligence to manifest itself. In other words: starting with the universe, passing through nature, through society and culminating in the details of everyday life, looking at all of this and seeing it as natural, ordinary, instead of being amazed at the extraordinary succession of factors necessary to generate it, is actually restraining the manifestation of intellect.