Judging from what made him smile, he was interested in philosophy only as a competition.
As a display of virtuosity. An instrumental value (verbal dexterity) becomes an end in itself. Technique for technique’s sake. Cleverness for cleverness’ sake. Not necessarily competition against anyone in particular, but evaluation versus a standard and the general population distribution of those evaluations.
As a display of virtuosity. An instrumental value (verbal dexterity) becomes an end in itself. Technique for technique’s sake. Cleverness for cleverness’ sake. Not necessarily competition against anyone in particular, but evaluation versus a standard and the general population distribution of those evaluations.