The philosopher friend?

Me and some colleagues had a lunch discussion about philosophers and their personal difficulties. After a while it dawned on me that when reflecting on the gossippier part of the history of philosophy, the stories about philosophers, there are clear indications that philosophers, especially the prominent ones, are not nice people.

Socrates seems to have been the rudest person around in ancient times. He had a snappy way with people and he indulged in endless monologues. The socratic dialogues are not usually very "dialogic".

The category of rude philosophers also includes Wittgenstein. In his Wittgenstein biography, Ray Monk describes him as a stern, troubled, vain, ascetic and rude man. He is, however, also said to have had a good sense of humour. Think about the following story: Russell informs Wittgenstein that he plans to initiate an institute for peace. Wittgeinstein frowns at the idea. Russell said: Well, I'm sure you would prefer an institute dedicated to war and slavery? Wittgenstein: I would prefer that by far! Based on the things I've read by and about Wittgenstein, I think his friends were a little afraid of him, even if he seems to have been very dedicated to them, very dedicated to any discussion he was involved in.

According to one philosopher, Wittgenstein was a good philosopher exactly because he "was an asshole". (And, indeed, this will maybe seem like a natural thing to say according to a specific version of wittgensteinian methodology.)

Then there is the rest of the ascetic bunch: Spinoza and Simone Weil, for example. (But it would have been great to talk to Weil, I assume) I suppose hanging out with Kierkegaard was not always a blast, either. And can you consider yourself having a jolly drinking moment with Hobbes or Sartre? Or Aristotle? The latter would, I'm afraid, bore you to death with commonsense blabbery.

I suppose Hume or Betrand Russell were perfectly amiable people. "Nice", but not fun or exciting. The same, I believe, goes for people like Donald Davidson.

Kant is an exciting case. Some may consider his writings slightly dull. I don't quite share this opinion myself: his texts contain subtle jokes and intelligent, even deep, passages. Kant seems to have been a complex, rich personality. If we go beyond the fact that he never left Königsberg, he was, according to my information ( = O.L's Kant course), a party lion who had a very deep and loving relation with his servant Lampe. (Some say that Kant stated the immortality of the soul as a postulate in order to console dear Lampe)

It would also be fun to hang out with Nietzsche, despite the fact that his view on friendship was not so pleasant.

And what about Leibniz? For some reason, I am convinced he must have been one hell of a entertaining friend. But who knows.