The Spin of Plato in His Grave IT is no secret that philosophy,
as a way of life rather than a subject to be taken in school,
began and ended with Plato. Some few in every age, like
Epictetus sitting on the curbstone, and Hoffer toting bales on
the docks, have practiced philosophy as Socrates did, but the
academicians know better. Philosophy is not just a subject to
them, but a very hard subject indeed, and full of spiffy terms.
We had a letter from a reader, who sent us thanks for "slowing
the spin of Plato in his grave," and we knew exactly what he
meant. He, after all, was doing no less. In Plato, we see and
hear people sitting around and talking. And, while their way of
talking is not the same as that in which we reminisce and
gossip, it was not all that special either. It was ordinary
human talk called to order from time to time, and frequently
sent off on long but essential detours so that a term might be
thoughtfully defined and a proposition tested. And it is,
therefore, especially for those who imagi