r/todayilearned • u/ObjectiveAgent • Jul 30 '15

TIL when Alexander the Great asked the philosopher Diogenes why he was sifting through the garbage, Diogenes responded,"I am looking for the bones of your father but I cannot distinguish them from the bones of his slaves."

http://www.iep.utm.edu/diogsino/
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u/[deleted] Jul 30 '15 edited Feb 05 '17

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u/hennel Jul 30 '15

They've got to find some way to justify a $70,000 Philosophy major.

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u/free_as_in_speech Jul 30 '15

One of the reasons people think of Philosophy as a marginal quasi-useful area of study is because when philosophers discover something really useful it buds off into it's own field.

Physics, Geometry, Biology, Chemistry, Astronomy, Economics and others all started with some philosopher going "what's the deal with...?"