All great philosophers have in one way or the other been against democracy. And this is something we must always have into account. From Socrates and his “who will rule the boat” question, to Nietzsche, Plato and Heidegger, all great philosophers have been away from the masses. It could not be the other way around anyway. You see, when a man (or a woman) reaches a certain level of philosophical maturity he is inherently and automatically distinguished by the masses. The masses which as Adorno have been the demise of culture.

Philosophy is full of questions troubling the open minded. When was the last time you thought that the masses are open minded? Philosophy is based on the love of someone for sophia. When was the last time you thought the masses have such a profound love affair with wisdom?

As I have explained in another article, Knowledge IS NOT and CANNOT be free and accesible (see here) to all. Knowledge is not something you can gain with popular (and for the masses) tools like… Wikipedia. (see here and here for more on that) The masses cannot comprehend Philosophy. Masses are just to read popular magazines which – if they prevail – will eventually destroy anything that is left from real philosophy. When was the last time you relied on Cosmopolitan for a deep philosophical question you had?

In any case and as Pascal Bruckner pointed out, when a priviledge of the few reaches the masses, it loses the essence of its very nature. For example once upon a time cars were the priviledge of few. When cars became available to everyone, we started having rush hour traffic. Now the priviledged are the ones which can walk to their home every day without a car…

In the old days we had Parmenides and Heracletus. Now we have thousands of people writting their stupidities everywhere. In the old days we have a dozen of valuable books which everyone tried to get a glimpse at. Now we have thousands of stupid books available and a dozen ones which are worth among them, but which you have to really struggle in order to find them. The masses will certainly NOT be among the ones who try…

We HAVE managed to destroy our most beloved thing.

Knowledge has become Data… Philosophy has turned into rumblings…