Philosophy as a sport

"Valéry would like to see the metaphysician’s role, whose fitness, according to Carnap, reduces to that of a ‘musician with no musical talent’, replaced by the philosopher openly assuming the role of a trained and seasoned sportsman of the mind.”
In invoking the philosophical poetry of anti-philosopher Paul Valéry, Jacques Bouveresse questions the survival of a field that claims to justify its “almost total disinterest in confirming that its ideas match reality, by the belief that by ignoring such verification we can open our minds to nearly unlimited possibilities.”