The Philosopher: Difference between revisions

In a comedy series, particularly [[Sadist Show]]s and dark comedies, however, '''The Philosopher''' is extremely rare and if they do exist, may vary from the [[Only Sane Man]] to the [[Butt Monkey]]. Perhaps due to the [[Viewers are Morons|assumed anti-intellectualism of television culture]], or simply the perception that people who like to ponder the nature of life never get around to ''doing'' anything useful, the fact that this character "thinks too much" is likely to get him [[Talk to the Fist|punched]] or killed off, mostly if the philosopher is a [[Wide-Eyed Idealist]] (cynics are often portrayed as [[Deadpan Snarker]]s). An alternative tactic is to have said idealist [[Too Clever by Half|ponder something at great length]] [[Straw Vulcan|while coming to no useful conclusion, whereupon]] [[The Ditz]] (or [[Brain Chain|other appropriate character type]]) [[Too Dumb to Fool|will pipe up with]] [[Cutting the Knot|a mind-numbingly simple and effective solution]].

 

 

Compare [[The Fatalist]]. The [[Warrior Poet]] may have aspects of this... Indeed, if '''The Philosopher''' holds his own in combat, they'll often overlap. May also be an [[Erudite Stoner]].

* Sostratos in ''[[Over the Wine Dark Sea]]'' is this. He is an amateur of course and his job was as an [[Intrepid Merchant]]. Though when you think about it a number of famous philosophers were "dabblers" held jobs that had little relation to philosophy. Socrates was a farmer and Marcus Aurlerius was an Emperor and [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]] was a Literature professor and so on.

** Not surprising, since, except for philosophy professors and the now-obsolete job of court philosopher, no one is going to pay you to sit around and philosophize. Viewed economically, even full-time sages have the "job" of beggar or monastery factotum.

* Marco Polo and Kublai Khan in ''[[Invisible Cities]]'', who spend most of their time sitting around and talking about cities rather than trading and ruling, respectively.

* Most of Raymond Smullyan's dialogues (for instance in ''This Book Needs No Title'' or ''5000 BC'') feature surprisingly understandable and humorous philosophers.

* Lister, in ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', was surprisingly effective as The Philosopher, but his more intelligent insights and musings were often undermined by the plot - ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' is, after all, a comedy.

** One particularly memorable example of Lister's more thoughtful attributes can be found in "Justice"; after escaping a world where law-abiding behaviour is cleverly enforced by turning the effects of any misdeed back on the perpetrator (for example, hitting someone means ''you'' get hurt), Lister reflects on how the nature of reality has to be unfair in order to allow for free will...then promptly falls down a manhole mid-rant, much to his comrades' relief.

* Chris Stevens spun many philosophical musings between records on ''[[Northern Exposure]].''

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' kind of averts this with [[The Quiet One|Oz]], who apparently has an elaborately philosophical internal monologue, but one that only becomes apparent when Buffy gains the ability to read his thoughts.

[[Category:Intelligence Tropes]]

[[Category:Philosophy Tropes]]

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