On the Caricature of Philosophers

Most philosophers and theologians are presented as mere caricatures. The commentators don’t understand the men, and thus the commentators do not understand their thinking. We then take these caricatures, build summaries and foist them upon students. The students become victims of our inadequacies. We need to escape this trap. We must risk engaging the student directly with the thinker. We need to get out of the way.