A short, CRITICAL History of Philosophy (Chapter 29)

Was George Orwell A Disguised Philosopher?

Quite a few of those placed within the designated ranks of the major philosophers displayed a far greater talent for artful writing than sound thinking. Take Plato and Rousseau. All too frequently they represent the triumph of style over substance. Yet they were not the only influential philosophers whose fame was awakened as much by their literary talents as what they had to say. Augustine, Machiavelli, Pascal, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche were also superb writers.

However, not every well-known philosopher has offered up his ideas in a silky tone. Spinoza is a notoriously boring writer. So is Hegel.

More remarkable are the instances in which a famous author’s lack of skill at writing is readily apparent. That’s a particular issue with respect to Jacques Derrida. Indeed, to call him a poor writer is generous. It would be hard to imagine that one could write much worse than he did and be read at all. This is curious as he is among the most discussed theoreticians of language in the field.

This is odd, no? After all, most of us wouldn’t trust a mechanic to work on our car who didn’t know which wrench to use. Nor would we employ a plumber to fix our drainpipes if he didn’t know how to turn a faucet. That someone lacks the ability to write clearly or to present his ideas in an engaging fashion raises questions about whether he has any particular insight into the use of words.

This is especially problematic in light of new brain research with functional magnetic resonance imaging machines (fMRI). fMRI studies suggest that people typically solve problems without making use of the language centers of their brains. It seems instead that they come up with an answer and then turn their solution into a verbal form by which they express the conclusions that they have already arrived at. This appears to be the case, for example, with attempts to solve algebra problems.