There’s a very simple answer to the titular question of this piece. No, Socrates cannot be an alligator. That’s so obvious you might be wondering why I’m bothering to say it. Well, last week, I read an article called All Possible Worlds. In it, Timothy Andersen talks about the idea of multiple universes and how…
In the Republic, Plato sets out to answer the question, “What is justice?” Along the way, Socrates* and his interlocutors raise the question of who leads the more pleasant life, the just or the unjust. They bring it to extremes. They assume that the unjust person gets away with it, so to speak. People don’t…
The death penalty has been in the news a lot lately. I read recently that Oklahoma has approved nitrogen gas as a way to kill people. The Boston Marathon bombing trial is in its sentencing phase. There have also been several high profile executions gone wrong. And, of course, The Supreme Court just heard oral…
I’m sure you have heard that Leonard Nimoy died. I, like almost everyone else, will forever think of him as Mr. Spock. And I, unlike most people, will forever think of Mr. Spock as my first philosophy teacher. Of course everyone associates Spock, and all Vulcanians (that’s what they were called in the original TV…
