Socrates & King

From before the November 2008 election. Dyson repeats Obama’s answer to whether King would support his candidacy. I’m sure Socrates would agree with Obama’s answer.

We had a rollicking time in class today. Heather, on of our TA’s, gave a great follow-up presentation on argumentation. But the “star” of the day was “himself”! That one: Mr. Thoreau. I admit I got a tad bit carried away. But it was for a good cause: just to make Thoreau “come alive”.

One of the things that inspires me about Socrates, Thoreau, Gandhi, and King is that they were able to speak truth to power. There had to have been times when it was difficult; we know there were times when it was dangerous. What we’ll be able to learn from them this semester is yet to [...]

Sigh. When introducing myself to the class this semester, I remarked that although I’m the first tenured philosopher at SF State who is an African American, I’m not only African American philosopher who has taught here. I pointed to my very closely shorn hair (Spring shearing!) and gave the hint that this very, very radical [...]

We only briefly discussed the general issue of how LGBTQ discrimination does or does not fall under the umbrella of the kind of discrimination King addressed. Given the court cases in the California on Prop. 8, and the legislative processes going on across the country, it is topic that deserves more discussion next time around.

I’ve read the US Constitution, but must admit I haven’t read the California constitution. A quick Google search yielded the following. I excerpted some of the Articles that deal with “equal rights”.

This from CNN about the protests in Iran: “I’m afraid but … it’s not a good way just to sit at home and do nothing,” the protester, who asked to be identified only as “Hesam” for safety reasons, told CNN. “If I want to change the condition, if I want to have a better life, [...]

Having been immersed this semester in discussions of civil disobedience, it’s impossible for me, at least, to not keep Socrates and King in mind when I learn of social unrest and injustice in the world. Would an Iranian Socrates willingly allow himself to be taken to Evin prison? I admit this hypothetical is a difficult [...]

It’s for a worthy cause. Otherwise, I simply can’t fathom doing it myself. I’m glad to see that the topic is democracy. It’s evidently taken Mr. Muzawazi two-and-a-half years to face the prospect of yet another marathon speech. But starting on Wednesday, December 9, at noon local time, the 25-year-old law student commenced what is [...]