Quote:
Originally Posted by darkw0rker  Hello everyone,
I have a purpose in life. I want to be a philosopher; but what I don't want to become a professor of philosophy....
Is there any way I can make a living as a professional philosopher without being a professor? |
I suppose my first question would be, have you developed your own fundamental philosophy; are you amalgamating segments of other established philosophies to create one of your own; or have you accepted an established-but-alternative philosophy, and wish to help others to accept it also?
In other words, are you developing something that will need to be demonstrated (in thought experiments, at least) to be understood & accepted by others, as in the first two cases, or will you have some measure of public mindshare when you begin?
If you are attempting to make accessible (or 'rehashing') established philosophies (e.g.
Alan Watts,
Eckhart Tolle, or
Leonard Peikoff) then you'll already have a potential market for yourself on the lecturing circuit. To get started, look for online forums dedicated to that philosophy, and begin establishing a name for yourself as an effective critical-thinker amongst your market. Eventually you'll want to publish books on the methods you have developed for reframing peoples' reality, and the metaphors which best communicate your message.
If, like myself, you've developed a fundamentally distinct replacement philosophical model, you'll need to demonstrate it, both through living accordingly, and through metaphorical examples. Here's where being a good writer is critical, because you'll likely need to write more than just a guide on 'How to Live', but also fabricate some believable characters, set them in an analogous environment, and provide them with realistic parables and situations which help the reader to harmonize along with your rationale. (e.g.
Orson Scott Card,
Robert A. Heinlein,
Ayn Rand, and
L. Ron Hubbard)
As Evacorges suggested, 'life coaching' is an excellent way to earn a living while ensuring you have sufficient real-life experiences (your own, and those of your clients) to massage into a readable presentation to fit within your book(s). It does, however, generally require a degree of credibility which is hard to establish in your teens.
If your messages can be communicated and are accessible to a sufficient segment of the public through your music, you might be able to jumpstart your career that way (e.g.
Jello Biafra,
Henry Rollins,
Chuck D.)
I personally earn most of my living through directly coaching individuals and small groups on overcoming sociological mal-programming, dealing with key relationship issues, proactive expectation management, experiencing and maintaining ongoing happiness, and purging undeserved and inappropriate guilt, shame, and embarrassment which inhibit their opportunities for successfulness.
In order to establish myself, I 'piggybacked' on the freshly burgeoning "
Seduction Community's" coattails, by aggressively campaigning against the misogynistic backlash commonly called 'Pick Up Artists', and gathered widespread recognition amongst both that communities' disenfranchised failures, AND its most monumental "successes".
Now I am actively attempting to broaden the scope of my potential audience, by altering (slightly) my presentations into more of a 'stand-up comedy' format, which I am hopeful will allow me to reach a fantastically greater portion of the public. (This had been highly effective throughout history, with such notables as
Bill Hicks,
Chris Rock, and
George Carlin.)
Personal plug moment: A link to my freely downloadable seminar videos, which are REALLY radical, only slightly contentious, and pretty-damned entertaining, (if I say so myself
) is in my signature at the end of this message. While this seminar is tailored towards 'The Seduction Community', its contents apply across-the-board, and I encourage everyone to check 'em out.
Best of luck with your career choice, DW... It's doable, but often a long, slow haul!
Johnny Soporno
Worthy Playboy