One Flew Over to the Dark Side

[Eleatic Stranger]

Invented symbolic logic; Cartesian geometry; infinitesimal calculus; the notion that human beings have innate rights, and how to structure a government around that; Philosophy itself - which, if anything has intrinsic value it's certainly one of the best qualified to claim that; the grounding for any number of ethical or political movements; etc.

Or did you mean something far more immediate and personal? I hear Wittgenstein made a great nurse when he worked at a hospital, though given his personality I'm slightly suspicious.

 

[Libertarian]

Can anyone think of anything a leading philosopher has done to improve the lot of humanity- compared to, say, a leading truck driver, an average washroom attendant, or a mediocre DJ?

Don't our best writers/thinkers/philosophers create and refine ideas that trickle down to those of us who aren't such great writers/thinkers/philosophers? We each certainly don't reinvent the wheel for ourselves.

Maybe some of the philosophers I've read have never done anything so grand as deliver beer to a liquor store, but they have helped shape my thinking, which -- call me egotistical -- could be at least as important as slaking my thirst or handing me a towel.