Recently I've seen a spate of articles along the lines of "what philosophy can do for you", focusing on the high results that philosophy students score on standardised tests, the marketability of philosophical skills, and the impressive earning potential of philosophy graduates.
Having refined his literary talent while developing his philosophical skills, Pico issued his manifesto in the form of a letter to the renowned Ermolao Barbaro, using the occasion and the genre to show, like Plato in the Phaedrus, how rhetoric could equip a philosopher to defend his calling against rhetorical assault.
The Nobility and Excellence of Women is remarkable in several respects, aside from its philosophical and rhetorical skill.
A masterpiece of both philosophical and literary skill, it has significantly influenced writers for more than 2000 years from the Han dynasty to the present.
When we visited her Beijing studio to interview her about her work and sources of inspiration (see the resulting video above), Lingnan impressed us with her ability to recite long passages from ancient Chinese philosophical texts a rare skill among China's youngsters.
Reinach's philosophical and didactic skills were so admired that several members referred to him as their true teacher in phenomenology (cf. Conrad-Martius 1921, Ingarden 1968, 408f, Stein 1965, 195, von Hildebrand 1975, 78).
Chisholm was typical of the best philosophers of his day and ours in his combination of philosophical acumen and rhetorical skill.
It's just that most of them were not chosen in an especially meritocratic way, if by "meritocratic" we mean "judged superior according to an objective standard of ability" (like an examination of philosophical knowledge and literary skill).
Their main philosophical interest was in dialectical skill and accomplishment, including the development and resolution of logical paradoxes.
