[Arthur Gordon Pym]

Originally Posted by Gnist

I don't know if someone can be a great philosopher and a scumbag - I tend to think of magnitude in terms of virtue

Yes, of course, I stand corrected. I did not express myself properly. A philosopher - if he is to be a truely great philosopher - must pursue virtue as well. Intellectual skills alone don't suffice.

In fact, I wanted to say that someone can both possess great intellectual skills and be a scumbag in the moral sphere. Wherefrom it could be deduced that he does not use his intellectual skills properly.