Central and East European
Society for Phenomenology

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179036

Socrates and plato

understanding the world and changing it

Debra Nails

pp. 295-313

Abstract

As Socrates is said to have been attracted to the natural philosophy of Anaxagoras in his youth, Bob Cohen's PhD was in physics, and the textbook he authored in that subject is still widely used. As Socrates irritated powerful Athenians who put him on trial, Bob ran honourably afoul of the McCarthyites and was consequently denied tenure at Wesleyan (where he was later to be named a trustee). True, there was no hemlock, but his brush with academic oblivion was a harsh lesson in the importance of institutional support. While I would not presume to pronounce what his motives were in founding, with Marx Wartofsky, the Center for the Philosophy and History of Science, the Boston Colloquium for the Philosophy of Science, the Boston Philosophy of Science Association, and various affiliated editorial and other projects, I have no compunctions whatever about championing the important consequences of the establishment of those institutions.

Publication details

Published in:

Gavroglu Kostas, Stachel John, Wartofsky Mark W (1995) Science, mind and art: essays on science and the humanistic understanding in art, epistemology, religion and ethics in honor of Robert s. cohen. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 295-313

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-011-0469-2_17

Full citation:

Nails Debra (1995) „Socrates and plato: understanding the world and changing it“, In: K. Gavroglu, J. Stachel & M.W. Wartofsky (eds.), Science, mind and art, Dordrecht, Springer, 295–313.