Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This chapter examines a criticism of philosophy transmitted in Iamblichus’ De communi mathematica scientia 26, which likely stood at the beginning of Aristotle’s Protrepticus. The criticism is that philosophy is useless because its end—fundamental explanatory knowledge—is unnecessary for, and at times even obstructive to, practical success. The chapter analyses the premises of this criticism and explores whose position it might represent. According to long-standing scholarly consensus, the criticism reflects the views of Isocrates, a contemporary of Plato and Aristotle and a persistent critic of their educational ideals. The chapter argues that this consensus needs clarification: while Isocrates must be one of the critics behind the criticism, the criticism reflects not his position specifically, but rather a widespread contemporary view of philosophy’s uselessness for action.</jats:p>