“The fact that you can't be Shakespeare doesn't mean you shouldn't write plays. So just because you can't reach the height of genius doesn't mean that you shouldn't experiment with that form, which we really don't do in philosophy.”
Very Bad Wizards · Art & Philosophy · November 2026
Context
David Pizarro had just said most philosophers could never match Plato's dramatic skill. Sommers replies that falling short of genius is no reason for philosophers to avoid writing in dialogue form.
Transcript
Very Bad Wizards
Around 46:50 into the episode
Tamler Sommers
I.e., podcasts.
David Pizarro
Long-form podcasts. Rambling,
Tamler Sommers
fucking late-night podcasts.
David Pizarro
Well, it's true that this only works in dialogue with you. Yeah. Right? No,
Tamler Sommers
totally. And also, the fact that you can't be Shakespeare doesn't mean you shouldn't write plays. So just because you can't reach the height of genius doesn't mean that you shouldn't experiment with that form, which we really don't do in philosophy.
David Pizarro
Yeah. Because it could be cringe. I get it.
Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.
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