Here's the post was he really respected at the time? If not when did he become respected enough to be referenced on Reddit today/is he just referenced as a silly story from history?
Similarly, were people just more accepting of such behavior at the time? I just cannot image someone getting away with this in recent times and still carry the title 'philosopher'. Are there any examples of similar figures in the past 100 years? 50 years?
Not trying to discourage answers obviously, but you may want to ask this over on /r/philosophy as well.