Doctors inflict us pain and give us bitter pills, so that we may carry on with our lives for a little longer and, hopefully, better. Philosophers are like doctors of the mind and soul — they make us think hard, so that we may live more, mindfully, with a wider perspective on the world and ourselves. The symptoms and ailments of modern societies may differ from those that Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) and Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) saw in their lifetime, but the pertinence of their wisdom testifies that we might be dealing with the same problems under different circumstances. Maladies like loss of self, herd mentality, loneliness, greed, blind faith, vanity are as tangible now as ever in societies around the world.