A Contemplation by Es-K

Astra Taylor: So, do you have to go to school to be a philosopher?

Cornel West: Oh, God, no. Thank God you don’t have to go to school. No. A philosopher is a lover of wisdom. It takes tremendous discipline, it takes tremendous courage to think for yourself, to examine yourself. The Socratic imperative of examining yourself requires courage.  My man Butler Yeats used to say, “It takes more courage to examine the dark corners of your own soul than it does for a soldier to fight on a battlefield.” Courage to think critically. You can’t talk-Courage is the enabling virtue for any philosopher, for any human being, I think in the end. Courage to think, courage to love, courage to hope.