The Rage of Heraclitus: Reflections on the Difficult Relationship between the Philosopher and the Masses

The relationship between the masses and the philosopher has, at least in the West, been strained from its beginning. One of the most notorious ancient philosophical deriders is Heraclitus, an archetype in this respect, not only because he has been the first Greek philosopher turning his aversion of the masses into a philosophical theme, but also because the dynamics of his attitude towards them seem to encapsulate emblematically what is possibly the defining aspect of this attitude. Looking closely at Heraclitus, who in a sarcastic verse was called a mob-hater, may help us understand the nature of philosophical disdain for the masses, the subject of this chapter. Understanding what may be wrong with a philosopher's disdain for the masses presupposes understanding the logic of that disdain: its origin and what in particular accounts for Heraclitus' "cantankerousness". Keywords:Greek; Heraclitus; Masses; mob-hater; Philosopher; philosophy; relationship