Socrates is in prison awaiting execution, and he is doing something he had never done before: writing poetry. When his friends ask him why, he explains that he has always had a recurring dream, a voice that told him to “cultivate and make music” (Phaedo 60e). Socrates had always assumed that by “music” the dream […]
philosophy
Epistemology as a Headache
“Boy, call Charmides and say that I want to introduce him to a physician, in relation to that ailment he told me he was suffering from yesterday.” Then Critias turned to me and explained, “In fact he said recently that he has a headache when he gets up in the morning, so what is to […]
The Dog Is Your Father
In Plato’s Euthydemus, a young man named Ctesippus is trapped by a sophist (paraphrased from Plat. Euthyd. 298e): You have a dog? — Yes, a mischievous one. And the dog is a father? — Of puppies, yes. So the dog is a father. And you have a father? — Yes. So you have a father, […]
The State and its Blood Ties
Moving to Finland and acquiring Finnish nationality were, for me, decisions I made freely, choosing my own path as an individual. However, when I notified my country of origin, it didn’t take it very well. Spain gave me an ultimatum: sign a declaration of loyalty to the fatherland or lose my nationality. That’s right — […]
Beyond Nothing: ‘Meta’ and the Illusion of Depth
The prefix meta- is often used to signal a higher level of discourse—a way of stepping beyond an ordinary subject to talk about it from an external vantage point. But how real is this elevation? Often, meta- creates an illusion of depth rather than adding actual substance. Meta-words are just words Consider the sentence: “A […]
Alice in Academia
(Alice walks past a grand yet imposing university building, a quiet confusion settling over her. Knowledge feels locked away. The experts know things she doesn’t. She hears claims that shape the world—about health, the climate, society—but when she tries to understand them, she finds only barriers. It is as if they are guarding something… A […]