classics digests, reflections and reviews
The Case of Socrates It is a historical fact that Socrates was convicted of impiety and sentenced to death by an Athenian court in 399 BC. It is a matter of dispute whether the verdict was just and whether Socrates was right to submit to the State of Athens and not escape with the aid of his friends. In a recent blogpost, a Thomist philosopher stated that Socrates went too […]
Read moreIn the past few years, I’ve written many posts lamenting the defeat of reason and the rise of tyranny in our time. The inevitable consequence of these is the demise of justice. So I hope my readers would forgive me if, in my pessimistic and cynical frame of mind, I’m not terribly enthused about the current protests for social justice: I tend to think of the phenomenon not as a […]
Read moreI cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues. To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate one’s self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one’s own powers.” –Sherlock Holmes “The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter Although I was raised in a culture which ranks humility as a virtue, I never understood why it is a virtue, […]
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The Nature of Time It is ignorance to think time to be a measure or number of motion according to antecedent and subsequent, as Aristotle said, or what in motion is quantitative, as Speusippus did, or extension of motion and nothing else, as did some of the Stoics, defining it by an accident and not comprehending its essence and potency, Pythagoras, when asked what time is, answered, the soul of […]
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In his Confessions, Augustine writes that he studied Platonism before converting to Christianity. Of all philosophies, Platonism most approximates Christianity, so the former serves to prepare his mind for the latter. But perhaps more importantly, familiarity with both enables him to discern the preeminence of Christianity over philosophy. Augustine devotes the last three books of Part I of City of God, Books VIII to X, to a discussion of Platonism. […]
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Socrates The first who directed the entire effort of philosophy to ethics, all who went before him having expended their greatest efforts in the investigation of nature. However, it cannot be certainly discovered whether Socrates did this because he was wearied of obscure and uncertain things, and so wished to direct his mind to the discovery of something manifest and certain, which was necessary in order to the obtaining of […]
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As an armchair Platonist, I find Locke’s idea of toleration lacking in justice for the following reasons: The Goods of Man According to Locke, states and churches are founded on the voluntary and rational consent of people who share common interests. The common interests of the people of any state is to protect their lives and properties, and the common interests of the churchgoers is to obtain the salvation of […]
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