The mind that harbors philosophy should, by its soundness, make the body sound also....it is philosophy that teaches us how to live.
-Montaigne

In past ages, philosophers played a central role in society and government, and their ideas were a powerful force for good or ill. When ill effects were feared to outweigh the good, the philosopher could be silenced by banishment or death.
In twentieth-century America, philosophers seem remote from workaday life, and it comes as a surprise if a philosophy text catches the censor's attention. If a work is banned, the cause is most likely the philosopher's politics.