HeadlineSocrates

 

A pair of newspaper clippings surfaced recently:

  • "Socrates and Regis: The final answer on wisdom" was the title of a column by Brad Buchholz in the Austin American-Statesman (7 May 2000, sent by my Mother — thanks, Mom!). It's a funny take on the current fascination with big-money trivia quiz shows, via a sketch of one with Socrates as a hypothetical contestant. Buchholz spotlights the shallow selfishness of our so-called culture. He ends with a quote, attributed to Crates: "One part of knowledge consists in being ignorant of such things as are not worthy to be known."
  • "For the Homeless, Rebirth Through Socrates" appeared on the front page of the Sunday New York Times (7 March 1999, rediscovered during housecleaning by my wife — thanks, Paulette!). It's a deeply moving article by Ethan Bronner about philosophy classes for the homeless. At Notre Dame, at Bard College, and at several other schools an experimental program offers these individuals — poor, abused, addicted, lost — a chance to encounter the classics. This is tough work: university-level readings, lectures, and exams. A surprisingly large number of people on the streets are ready to hack it. Bronner quotes a few:

  • "Those of us in the grip of addiction use this process to rethink our lives. Socrates makes clear that you have to have the courage to examine yourself and to stand up for something. A lot of us have justified our weaknesses for too long a time." — Michael Newton * "When you come out of the fog of addiction, you thirst for knowledge. You feel there is so much you missed. ... When Socrates talks about the pleasure of knowledge, I know exactly what he means." — Ted West * "It is hard to find beauty when you are in the situation we are in. But I have come to realize through the reading that, in some ways, everybody is homeless. You can be sitting in your fancy penthouse apartment looking out at the world but your life can be hollow. Now my mind is active, I have picked up a lost thread." — Denis Kazmierczak

    • In some ways, everybody is homeless....

    Tuesday, May 30, 2000 at 20:57:19 (EDT) = 2000-05-30

    TopicSociety - TopicPhilosophy

    (correlates: Comments on Where Was God, MovementForeAndAft, DiagnosisMortality, ...)