If a man is concerned with abstract ideas then perhaps that's all he contributes to the world. Some people want to see things a certain way and will sacrifice their lives for seeing it that way, that's the beauty of life, people are free to choose the good, the beautiful, and the true or any combination of each which is their own beauty, truth, or good in whatever order they choose it. No one can step in are correct them if they think they are wrong, it's not their right. It's the right of people to choose to live a certain way and to experience the world in whichever way it's handed to them with whatever premises that they have in their minds.

Take for instance a starving artist. In art it's in fact the case this this is common:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starving_artist

Some artists due to their state may for instance cut off their ears like Pablo Picasso. This is a common co-occurrence with art. Society has done nothing to alleviate this problem in that other than a few recognized artists, the large morass go completely unsupported and fall into obscurity. In fact when society tries to rehabilitate such artists they attempt to do some by giving them remedial jobs that do not do justice to their perspective or talent, but such is the fate of the artist in that either they get market recognition or they fall into their own obscurity and may not even be known in their lifetimes.