[Baby Astronaut]

Either as a job, or hired to pursue their now famous work. For example: Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle for their contributions to philosophy.

And Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein for their contributions to science. Benjamin Franklin for his inventions.

[CaptainPanic]

In those early days, I think it was the other way around. You had to be wealthy to have the time to do science/philosophy.
Ordinary people (the large majority) were doing the ordinary jobs every day.

[swansont]

CaptainPanic, on 7 February 2012 - 09:58 AM, said:

In those early days, I think it was the other way around. You had to be wealthy to have the time to do science/philosophy.

Or you had a patron of some sort, but even this implied some opportunity to be educated, which means you weren't laboring in a field or mine somewhere.

[timo]

Newton became a fellow in Cambridge at age 25, which I believe implies being paid for doing science. According to (German) Wikipedia his scientific career effectively ended when he was transfered to another non-scientist position. Einstein was a professional physicist, and I am quite sure that he expected his employer to pay his salary. Some of his works may stem from a time where he was not paid for conducting research, though. Franklin is well-known only in the US, so I don't know about him.

I don't believe Newton and Einstein were expecting money for their successes. Also, I doubt that any of them was into science only for the money (just as today, there are other fields that you go in if you are only interested in money). But I would imagine that just as any other professional scientist they expected to be paid for their work - at least the part they did on a paid position.

[skanda]

It is still not clear how Socrates (Σωκράτης) made a living , in his own view, he devoted himself to the greatest art or occupation which is philosophy. Similar to this were the oponions of Aristotle(Αριστοτέλης) and Plato(Πλάτων).

[imatfaal]

Plato and Aristotle both ran schools at which the pupils paid for their services

[CaptainPanic]

imatfaal, on 7 February 2012 - 04:19 PM, said:

Plato and Aristotle both ran schools at which the pupils paid for their services

Teaching and doing research are two different things. The OP asked if they were paid for doing philosophy or science.
[edit] oh, I think you were just responding to the comment of skanda - sorry

At the same time, I admit that talking to students can give someone completely new insights. Their open minds can come up with some brilliant ideas. so, in such a way, teaching will lead to discoveries too.

This post has been edited by CaptainPanic: 7 February 2012 - 04:42 PM

[Baby Astronaut]

I had to ask because it seemed that Albert Einstein wasn't hired for pioneering E=mc2, and Benjamin Franklin refused to patent his inventions and wanted them to advance society rather than his pocketbook.

So then I started wondering about the other scientists and even the ancient philosophers.

[shah_nosrat]

Some of the Scientists (not necessarily the above mentioned ) were from an aristocratic family, so they may have been in a better position to pursue academic endeavors, however, regardless of what money the above mentioned Philosophers and Scientists made, I think they were more interested in making contributions to human knowledge and the advancement of that knowledge.

Kind Regards.