Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-6747658-20130401084750/@comment-4913740-20130612122959

But from the series' perspective, we see them as dead characters.

When Solid Snake and Otacon find the information that the "Patriots" have been dead for hundreds of years, it is 2009 in chronology. This means that the Philosopher's would've been dead since 1909.

But MGS3 reveals they've died out during the Great Depression. The Great Depression began in 1929. They would've been dead by Snake Eater.

So by bringing a character back from the dead, Kojima is bringing back a Philosopher, one of the original Wisemen's Committee, from our perception that he is dead, as Code Talker, a Wise Man denied his homeland.