Philosophy was born in a time of massive self deception. I don't mean that a lot of people suddenly thought, "Wow, if I study this stuff, I can surely get a good job and end up popular, rich, and happy!" No. You can go to your local university's philosophy department and see that this is not the inevitable result of serious pondering. It won't typically look like life on a cruise ship, unless it's one ... with norovirus. But then, the academic study of a thing is rarely the thing itself. Philosophy is a path, a way of life, and not a profession.
The Athens around Socrates was full of people who thought they knew things that they didn't know at all. Many of them arrogantly presumed they had life figured out. And Socrates realized they didn't even have themselves figured out. Through intensive questioning, he unearthed a massive amount of self deception all around him. And once he started charting the possibility of an alternative, young people began to respond. This activity of philosophy was something different. This alternate path departing from smug prejudice and personal delusion might offer light and air and hope.
And so, given the massive self deceptions of our own time, we can be optimistic that, perhaps, philosophy will be reborn out of its own ashes and lead us once more to that light, and air, and hope.
