Classical philosophy’s detachment from everyday life stems from treating things as inert objects.

Evidence

For Heidegger, the philosophers’ second-biggest mistake (after forgetfulness of Being) has been to talk about everything as though it was present-at-hand. But that is to separate things from the everyday ‘concernful’ way in which we encounter them most of the time. It turns them into objects for contemplation by an unconcerned subject who has nothing to do all day but gaze at stuff. And then we ask why philosophers seem cut off from everyday life! — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 216

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: ‘Why philosophers seem cut off from everyday life’ as diagnosed by Heidegger — how treating the world as spectacle estranges thought from living.
• CANDY: ‘An unconcerned subject who has nothing to do all day but gaze at stuff’ is an archly quotable line.
• XREF: connects to: The being of everyday objects is veiled by their instrumental function