As the drama of Plato's dialogue, the Theatetus, begins Socrates is on his way to the courthouse, where he will be charge and convicted to death for not believing in Athenian gods and corrupting the youth. Just prior to his arrival... Continue Reading →
Left to my own devices at lunch time, I set a spoon on fire while making soup. Rather than panicking, I efficiently dunked the spoon in the soup and stirred. And now I have a master chef tip for improving... Continue Reading →
There were five cedar trees in my backyard. They are no more. They didn't flower. They were kind of straggly looking. And one day I had had enough. The shovel, however, was in the shed. The shed was locked. I... Continue Reading →
If asked what they think about Shakespear's play Hamlet most people have strong feelings - they either love the dark, brooding and philosophically searching main character or they hate what they take to be Hamlet's angst-ridden indecisiveness. By way of... Continue Reading →
In Aristophanes' comedic play Lysistrata, the woman of Greece, led by Lysistrata, combine forces with the women of Sparta and those of surrounding areas to wage war on their husbands. They hope that by withholding sex they will be able... Continue Reading →
Sometimes my dog Tim does things that he shouldn't. Like the time he ate the right shoe of two different pairs. Or when he jumped up and broke the ceiling fan. Or when, just prior to Thanksgiving dinner, he lunged... Continue Reading →
The novel Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper is a story about both losing and recollecting yourself in the love and life of another. Set 60 odd years after the Second World War, the novel is primarily... Continue Reading →
Stop me if you've heard this one. An Athenian, a Spartan and a Cretan walk into Hades.... The Laws, while ostensibly about the creation of a perfect city, like Plato's other dialogues, it is also about the desire for wisdom,... Continue Reading →
In the Republic, Plato argues that an education in poetry or art more broadly understood is essential to the education of children. In one of my favourite passages, he says that we must "seek out craftsmen who are by nature... Continue Reading →
