We’re going to see that political, social, and religious forces had a lot to do with the way philosophy progressed, and even the fact that philosophy could happen at all. It’s an obvious, but easily overlooked, fact: philosophy occurs only in a society that can produce philosophers. Usually this has meant that philosophy happened in close proximity to wealth and power. It’s naive to think that philosophy can be practiced, and preserved, without some degree of economic and political stability and support. Yet it’s cynical to think that
