Philosophical Dictionary
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Do You Really Know What You Know, You Know?
By C.M. Black
In which we discuss epistemology in the terms of Socrates and his final dialogue, the Apology. What do we know? How do we know it? We touch on this from the context of the founder of Western philosophy. -
Socrates Memes Explained: Corrupting the Youth, the Hemlock and David’s Death of Socrates
By Markus Uehleke
Socrates memes keep returning to two scenes: a trial for corrupting the youth of Athens and a cup of poison in a prison cell. We read the charge in Plato’s Apology, the death in the Phaedo and Jacques-Louis David’s famous painting, then check the memes against them. How much did the internet get right? -
“Define Normal”: The Socrates Meme and Why Definitions Are So Hard
By Markus Uehleke
“Why can’t you just be normal?” Socrates, in the meme, screams back: define normal. He asked questions like that all day, unpaid, and they got him into trouble. Wittgenstein doubted that we need definitions at all, yet health systems and diagnostic manuals depend on them. Who gets to say what normal means?
