New member here, really enjoy the concept, appears that participating more rather than lurking moves me up levels which is presumably good,.... so,... Let me say Hello to all you fellow travelers and offer up one of my all time favorite web links,... it is a podcast from King's College of London which reviews the full history of philosophy in 20-25 min segments narrated by an incredibly insightful and witty professor named Peter Adamson. It is a terrific starting point in trying to understand how our intellectual world became what it is,... and even as agnostics studying religious thought is important because within it lies much secular truth,.... once you set aside the dogmatic BS. Anyway, .... enjoy! And looking forward to some good conversation ahead. Can you name the man in the photo?
Be very thankful that you do not live in ancient Greece for you'd likely have some weasel bastard named Meletus accuse you of being an atheist and corrupting the minds of the young - the punishment for which would be either exile or death. Socrates chose death (drinking the poison, Hemlock). What would YOU choose...and why?
His case is a terrific argument for euthanasia. It seems that were it not for religious based opinions euthanasia would be as natural an act as any. The manner in which his ideas were transformed by Plato and the pre-Christian pagans would probably have outraged and saddened him.
Kind of a trick question. That is sometimes identified as Socrates, and sometimes identified as Plato.
Just can't see associating this with Plato given the difference in physical structure of the two men and that this clearly has a rounder, shorter, less athletic look than Plato would presumably with his broad back have had
@XtoG42 Plato comes from the Greek word platon meaning "broad" and presumably refers to his broad shoulders. Not sure how you can tell how broad the shoulders are from just the head. My first guess would be Socrates too, but I was partially corrected by a professor who told me this could be the older Plato as compared to this known bust of a younger Plato:
This will take me some time, but I have bookmarked it. Thanks & welcome!
Thank you....very entertaining and insightful!
Welcome and thanks for sharing the material that is important to you. I will check it out.
In the spirit of reciprocity, my current favorite resource for material that fits your stated purpose is the Sam Harris’s Waking Up Podcast
Huge Sam Harris Fan!! Really enjoy his debates