Talk:Appeal to money

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Some content from http://evolutionwiki.org/wiki/Appeal_to_Poverty http://evolutionwiki.org/wiki/Appeal_to_Wealth Herr FüzzyCätPötätö (talk/stalk) 17:32, 9 August 2015 (UTC)

"Socrates, Sun-Tzu, and Spinoza were all poor" - really?

If "Socrates, Sun-Tzu, and Spinoza were all poor", then a rather wide definition of "poor" (basically equivalent to something like "not conspicuously wealthy") has to be employed. All three can be described as literati and were essentially men of leisure - especially when contrasting their living standards with those of a large slice, indeed probably the majority, of their contemporaries (basically the huge section of their societies which were smallholders, tenant farmers, labourers, paupers, peasants, or even outright slaves). ScepticWombat (talk) 15:57, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

That seems somewhat valid. Perhaps it's contrasting wealth today and wealth in the past? αδελφός ΓυζζγςατΡοτατο (talk/stalk) 16:29, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

Ah, I see. I'll correct to "poorer than" the current wealthy schmucks mentioned in the next sentence. ScepticWombat (talk) 16:42, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

IMHO Sun-Tzu and Socrates are bad examples because we don't know that much about either... Whether Spinoza was poor is a matter of debate, certainly not a "clear-cut" case... Aren't there better examples to be found? Carpetsmoker (talk) 16:43, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

Faraday looks like a good one Carpetsmoker (talk) 16:44, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

Add him in! Sir ℱ℧ℤℤϒℂᗩℑᑭƠℑᗩℑƠ (talk/stalk) 17:30, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

I immediately thought of Diogenes of Sinope as arguably a more fitting substitute for Socrates in the "poor philosopher" role. Also, for some reason I can't quite put my finger on, George R. Price sprang to mind, although he was more of an enigmatic or paradoxical character. Oh, and how about the "mathematical monk" Paul Erdős? ScepticWombat (talk) 17:52, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

As for Socrates; to the extent that we can trust the sources (here, Plato's dialogues), Socrates was described as being wealthy enough to fight as a hoplite in the Peloponnesian War, meaning that he could afford the quite expensive arms and armour necessary for this - not an indication of poverty (the poorer Athenian citizens would instead sign up either as skirmishers in the Athenian army, or, more importantly, as rowers in the Athenian navy). ScepticWombat (talk) 18:03, 19 October 2015 (UTC)