An irreverent incident in a philosophy class in high school

Let me report a little incident I witnessed when I was studying high school/gymnázium in Czechia. It must have been in the 3rd or 4th grade (there were 4 grades). The taught subject was Základy společenských věd (Foundations of social sciences; philosophy was taught as a significant part of that course). The philosophy teacher was expounding something one or another philosopher said, when one of my classmates asked, in Czech: is it then that anyone who spouts this kind of bullshit can be called a philosopher? He would have used the vulgar word "pičovina", which is really quite inappropriate in a classroom context. The teacher took offense and left the classroom. In the next class, the teacher of history came to teach philosophy instead of the offended teacher. The class took quite a different character; it started to resemble much more a history class, recounting dates and items that, from a philosophical standpoint, are trivia. The philosophy teacher returned a little later.

My point: part of my growing up was in a highschool/gymnázium class specialized in mathematics. Some of my classmates were very smart people, having been successful in international math competitions. Most of my classmates were pretty smart. It was in this context that a smart classmate openly called out the badness of some of the philosophy. Another super smart classmate was considered disruptive in physics classes, when, after some exposition from the teacher, he said, in Czech, "but that is nonsense". Whether it was actually nonsense is quite beside the point; the point is the spirit of open inquiry and irreverence.

I love philosophy and have spent inordinate amount of time doing philosophy by means of writing. It is a great pity that much of what comes under that head is pseudo-philosophy, by my assessment. It was greatly refreshing when I discovered Popper and Schopenhauer openly attacking a philosopher considered by some to be one of the greatest philosophers ever: Hegel. Perhaps Hegel is not that bad. I for one tried to read him before I read Popper and I struggled to understand what he was trying to say. Perhaps I could learn something from Hegel if I took more pains. Whether Hegel is good or less good, that is not the point. The point is the spirit of irreverence and open critical inquiry, cemented by the great critical rationalist Popper.

As I think about it, I would recognize myself, my friend T., his friend F. and my another friend D. as philosophers or philosophically minded, totaling four philosophers in a math class. The friend of my friend, F. published a philosophical novel that sees some pretty good reviews. Perhaps this is suggestive of a connection between math and philosophy, one that should better be explored. Perhaps I should have added more classmates under the head of philosopher, or at least semi-philosopher. Leibniz is an example that combines being a mathematician with being a philosopher. Other examples are Descartes, Pascal, Russell and Whitehead.

So much for my tangents and such.

Last update:  22 Dec 2025.