“Still, all of the philosophers I spoke with made a point of emphasizing how much they admire the spirit behind A.M. Monius’s attempt to help revive metaphysics. They applaud his intellectual commitment, not just his financial one. Zimmerman notes that modern philosophers have rarely had patrons in the way that thinkers like Gottfried Leibniz once did. And though it’s true that Roderick Chisholm was for a short time supported financially by Dr. Albert C. Barnes, wealthy inventor of the medicine Argyrol, in few such cases does the apparent benefactor also serve, as A.M. Monius does, as the chief philosophical instigator and problem poser.”

“Would that there were more nonprofessionals who got jazzed about philosophy!” Zimmerman exclaims. With palpable excitement, he ponders the possibility that the institute might back “slightly broader projects, like a research center”—or better yet, he adds in jest, “support the Mayhem!”

- James Ryerson, “Mystery of the Millionaire Metaphysician,” Slate, (Republished from Lingua Franca) - http://slate.me/wdtUnQ