Philosophy (une autre fois)

Philosophy raises us out of that despondency of thought that we are all accustomed to and which we never encounter any reason to free ourselves from, except when encountering a philosophical work, or by talking with another who is philosophically minded.

But usually such people are too kind in their behaviour with others, and they do not bring up topics that might press upon a friend with their density and, perhaps, gravity. To this, we must learn to be a little less "kind" (though of course, this is only seen as kind within our current social/cultural context) and listen more keenly to our intellectual forefather, Socrates. Society needs 'corruption' and dissent - philosophical discourse is often the very epitome of this dissent, because it obtrudes so ungracefully into the norms of everyday "chatter". Philosophical discourse and political discourse as well, because "kind" society is also often unreflective about the many injustices prevalent in our world, and seem not to be made of strong enough fibre to put such topics in the open space of their sociability.