Plato’s use of drunkenness, mainly in the Symposium but also in the Phaedrus, is a metaphor designed to defend Socrates’ philosophical inspiration and its civic benefits (more...)

In this piece I discuss Plato’s description of Socrates’ philosophical inspiration as “drunkenness” and/or Dionysian mania; Plato’s metaphor draws on earlier Greek poetry, including Euripides and his popular play “The Bacchants,” where Dionysus is praised as the inventor of “liquid drink of the grape”. (more...)

I know that we’re about philosophy here, not religion, but perhaps we can make an exception and get into the right mindset for Christmas. (more...)

Erich Fromm and Richard Taylor on the perils of capitalism. (more...)

On March 28, 585 BC, Thales of Miletus was supposed to have observed an eclipse of the Sun. But what date was it for him? A short history of the difficulty of knowing the date. (more...)