In 2020 and 2021, public discourse in Germany and elsewhere was largely dominated by the coronavirus pandemic. All scientific disciplines were requested to speak, but of course the contributions of the social sciences and, above all, philosophy received special attention. The fact that philosophers, some of them very famous or at least very well represented in the media, leaned out the window in evaluating events, was soon discussed at a meta-level. Diagnosis was made of “the failure of philosophy” or – more vaguely – the failure of the public intellectuals, and on social media one could repeatedly experience lengthy phases in which the impression could arise that “philosophy” was a dirty word. Was, or at least a catchy word for a certain way of talking about head and neck.