What was the story with me and philosophy?
Even in high school I was fascinated by issues in philosophy. But that was soon enough after WWII that you did not find Kant, Hegel or any German philosophers in the library or book stores.
So I studied in my spare time the available authors. [That is when I was walking by the book stores on the way to the public library after school to wait for my dad to pick me up after his work day.]
But one way or another, I got the idea that British-American philosophy was not going anywhere. Just a vacant lot. Empty and meaningless.
[However when I did get to Shar Yashuv in NY [a very great Litvak yeshiva] the rosh yeshiva did encourage me to continue my secular studies. So on the side, I did study some of the existentialists.
I did see the Ramchal [Rav Moshe Chaim Lutzatto] had a lot of depth. However, I still look at the issues as being somewhat unsettled.
In any case, looking at the rishonim, some like Aristotle and some do not. Still, my impression is that philosophy is important, but not after Plato, Aristotle and Plotinus [Neo Plato].
[In my view, Kant and Hegel fit into Plotinus. I see Hegel as a modified form of Plotinus]
