In “The Philosopher”, Sherwood Anderson deals with a story of Dr. Parcival who has a view of life or a philosophy of his own by a limited experience of childhood. Parcival lives according to the distorted values affected by his mother and elder brother, but it is merely the lives of others, not by his own life. A line of conduct or a philosophy of his own he tries to explain to the young reporter George Willard is that he could be a superior person if he hated and despised others. His cynical philosophy is clearly evident when he refuses to go out and attend a dead girl in Winesburg. Although he acts on philosophy based on his own superiority and contempt for others, he feels guilty for denial of a medical treatment as a doctor and fears the revenge of townspeople. I can highly appreciate the value of “The Philosopher” in that Anderson depicts a story of grotesque artistically who lives a life by the values of others, fails to communicate with the surrounding people, and finally lose a chance to correct a distorted philosophy and to restore a separated relationship with others.