These guys could start by looking at the word itself: philo-sophia - love of wisdom. Wisdom may depend on knowledge and reasoning, but is not the same as knowledge and reasoning, just as a wise man is not the same as a wise guy. A professor of philosophy may not be much of a philosopher at all. What ordinary men and women of good will and common sense want from philosophy is the same thing the ancients wanted: equanimity - peace of soul. Instead, what they get is goofy neologisms and turgid logic-chopping. A few minutes spent with Marcus Aurelius or Epictetus or Seneca or Montaigne is so much better than any time spent with Heidegger or Bradley or Sartre.
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