>>69260I partly agree with your assessment. Many people today do indeed approach philosophy only academically—they read Kant, Marx, or Nietzsche to reproduce their ideas accurately, not to truly grasp them. Philosophy then becomes a kind of intellectual ornament, not an existential exploration. Nevertheless, I consider it indispensable precisely for this reason. Philosophy is not merely a means of self-affirmation, but a tool for self-examination. Those who only concern themselves with ideas that support their own worldview are not practicing philosophy, but rhetoric. Therefore, it is important to also read those thinkers whose positions one rejects—such as Marx or Nietzsche—in order to sharpen one's own perspective and understand why one disagrees with them. Philosophy demands that one can tolerate multiple viewpoints and that one constantly re-examines the question of truth and meaning. Many "academic followers" do not do this; they study systems of thought without developing their own independent thinking. But therein lies the real task: to understand philosophy once again as a living practice, not as a collection of quotations or theories.